The impacts of agricultural land use are far-reaching and extend to areas outside production. This paper provides an overview of the ecological status of agricultural systems across the European Union in the light of recent policy changes. It builds on the previous review of 2001 devoted to the impacts of agricultural intensification in Western Europe. The focus countries are the UK, The Netherlands, Boreal and Baltic countries, Portugal, Hungary and Romania, representing a geographical spread across Europe, but additional reference is made to other countries. Despite many adjustments to agricultural policy, intensification of production in some regions and concurrent abandonment in others remain the major threat to the ecology of agro-ecosystems impairing the state of soil, water and air and reducing biological diversity in agricultural landscapes. The impacts also extend to surrounding terrestrial and aquatic systems through water and aerial contamination and development of agricultural infrastructures (e.g. dams and irrigation channels). Improvements are also documented regionally, such as successful support of farmland species, and improved condition of watercourses and landscapes. This was attributed to agricultural policy targeted at the environment, improved environmental legislation, and new market opportunities. Research into ecosystem services associated with agriculture may provide further pressure to develop policy that is targeted at their continuous provisioning, fostering motivation of land managers to continue to protect and enhance them.

Ecological impacts of early 21st century agricultural change in Europe: a review. J Environ Manag

Ecological impacts of early 21st century agricultural change in Europe - a review.

http://coldcreek.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Production-from-pollinators.pdf

How much does agriculture depend on pollinators? Lessons from long-term trends in crop production

The Birds of the Western Palearctic

Earthworms find in soil the energy, nutrient resources, water and buffered climatic conditions that they need. According to the food resource they exploit and the general environmental conditions, earthworms can be grouped into different functional categories which differ essentially in morphology, size, pigmentation, distribution in the soil profile, ability to dig galleries and produce surface casts, demographic profiles and relationships with the soil microflora. Soil characteristics are both the determinant and the consequence of earthworm activities, since these animals greatly influence the functioning of the soil system. When present, they build and maintain the soil structure and take an active part in energy and nutrient cycling through the selective activation of both mineralization and humification processes. By their physical activities and resultant chemical effects, earthworms promote short and rapid cycles of nutrients and assimilable carbohydrates. Thus earthworms represent a key component in the biological strategies of nutrient cycling in soils and the structure of their communities gives a clear indication of the type of soil system that they inhabit.

Earthworm activities and the soil system.

Rarity and decline in bumblebees - : A test of causes and correlates in the Irish fauna

An oceanic cruise (October 2007) revealed the widespread occurrence of Pelagia noctiluca in the NE Atlantic just prior to a major fish kill induced by P. noctiluca in Irish coastal waters.

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Widespread occurrence of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca in Irish coastal and shelf waters

The objectives of land reclamation range from restoration of derelict industrial wasteland for amenity purposes to improvement of infertile soils for agricultural production. The success of conventional reclamation techniques may be limited by poor soil structure and low inherent soil fertility. Evidence linking earthworm activity with good soil structure and fertility has stimulated research into earthworm ecology in reclaimed soils. This chapter reviews published work on this topic and presents preliminary data on the effects of introducing earthworms to cut-over peat sites in Ireland.

Earthworms and land reclamation

The earthworm fauna along a gradient from undisturbed mineral soil to an artificial acid peat soil up to 25 cm deep and ca . 30 yr old was studied in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. The peat held only 15% of the total numbers of worms in the mineral soil and 9% of the biomass, but 9 out of the 12 species recorded were present in the peat. Aporrectodea caliginosa, A. tuberculata and Allolobophora chlorotica were the most numerous species in the mineral soil but were scarce in the peat where the surfaced-welling, pigmented species L. rubellus, L. castaneus and Satchellius mammalis were most abundant. Low pH and shortage of suitable food were considered to be the main factors limiting earthworm populations in the peat.

Earthworm distribution and abundance along a mineral-peat soil transect

The Twite Carduelis flavirostris is one of only three passerines included on the red list of Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland. As part of a study on its ecology, we investigated the local movement patterns of two populations of Twites in Counties Mayo and Donegal between January 2006 and July 2008. The breeding populations studied comprised over 40 of an estimated 54–110 breeding pairs in Ireland. Colour ringing was used to identify individual Twites in the field. In the course of this study, 492 birds were ringed, of which 480 were caught outside the breeding season; 57 (12%) were resighted on their breeding grounds. The breeding birds spent most of the winter season within 28 km of their breeding areas. We also describe the size and structure of the home ranges of 11 Twites radio tracked over four periods – March, May, June and August – on the Mullet Peninsula, County Mayo, in the northwest of Ireland. The results of this study suggest that Irish Twites are mainly sedentary and that their popula...

Don Cotton

Papers

Rarity and decline in bumblebees - : A test of causes and correlates in the Irish fauna

Widespread occurrence of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca in Irish coastal and shelf waters

Earthworms and land reclamation

Earthworm distribution and abundance along a mineral-peat soil transect

The movement patterns of two populations of Twites Carduelis flavirostris in Ireland