Research of conservation systems in agricultural soils management, as well as the positive results of their application, in light of present time's rise of environmental, climate, economic and other challenges, presents the utmost imperative for successful and sustainable agricultural production. The soil is increasingly being emphasized as the center of events and the source of numerous environmental-anthropogenic intertwined interactions. Due to soil degradation, one of the primal environmental integrators, the proper functioning of the agro-ecological system becomes unstable and questionable.

The aim of these studies is to determine the level of degradation of selected components of the physical, chemical and biological soil complexes by comparison of conventional and conservation soil tillage systems. Also, defining positive measures and procedures for stopping, preventing and mitigating anthropogenic and natural degradation processes in the soil at different agro-ecological research sites will be of great pertinence to environmental protection, agricultural producers, scientific and professional community, decision-makers, and will certainly serve as a basis for further scientific research.

http://www.activesoil.eu/index.php/en/111-project-summary

Soil BON supports the development of a global community for the observation, understanding, and prediction of soil biodiversity, being a forum to network groups to advance methods for observing soil biodiversity including integration of information across spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales. This includes addressing capacity building needs from observations to informatics, helping to integrate existing and new field data following agreed international standards.

To deliver open, comprehensive, and globally representative methods and harmonised datasets on soil micro-, meso-, and macrofauna in conjunction with soil functions. To explore effects of climate, land use, and other environmental variables on soil animal communities, soil food web structure, and resistance. To assess the efficiency of current nature conservation approaches in protecting soil animal communities. To relate soil animal communities and food webs with soil functioning across climates, soil and land use types. To establish a global soil fauna expert network for soil biodiversity monitoring and other collaborative projects. To reinforce local collaboration networks and local expertise in soil zoology.

European authorities and stakeholders urgently need reliable tools for monitoring and evaluating the environmental condition of soils within policy assessment in context of numerous EU directives. The focus of the EUdaphobase Action is on creating the structures and procedures necessary for developing an open Europe-wide soil biodiversity data infrastructure.

The ultimate goal of EUdaphobase is to establish a pan-European soil-biological data and knowledge warehouse, which can be used for understanding, protecting and sustainably managing soils, their biodiversity and functions. A focal approach is to combine available soil biota’s distributional & trait data with indispensable environmental metadata to gain insight into functional relationships in soils and to predict the state of ecosystem services (ESS).

The activities follow an information flow from data providers to users of assessment tools. The data warehouse will host and allow open sharing of data. Intermediate in the project is developing standardized terminologies, data quality-control protocols and ecological traits used as proxies for soil ESS. The Action will curate, harmonize, quality check and standardize existing data according to protocols agreed upon during the Action.

Innovative procedures to operationalize assessments of the state of soil concerning biodiversity and ESS will be offered. For this, specific analytical tools will be developed for applied uses of policy, management and regulatory agencies. These tools will recognize and visualize (i.e. on maps) functional biological characteristics of soils related to type, use and management practices as well as determine and delineate ecosystem services, baselines, relationships and set the basis for forecasting changes.

https://www.eudaphobase.eu/the-action/

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are proven to have potential for alleviation of biotic stress in plants and activation of mycorrhiza-induced resistance. However, there are significant gaps in the knowledge on bioprotection efficiency of AMF against the plant viruses and no investigations were conducted on the grapevine. In this project we will address the functional interplay among the grapevine-AMF-viruses, having in mind the following: global importance of viticulture, grapevine high affinity to the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, AMF potential to alleviate biotic stress and lack of studies on plant-AMF-virus interactions at any woody crop. In order to elucidate the gaps in the knowledge on the functional interactions between grapevine, viruses and AMF and to estimate AMF potential to modify grapevine virus infection, we will set up two greenhouse experiments and one sub-experiment. The project objectives are: 1. to determine how pre- and post-inoculation with AMF affects grapevine physiological and molecular responses to virus infection; 2. to quantify temporal and spatial dynamics of virus infection after the grafting, depending on the rootstock mycorrhizal status; 3. to explore whether common mycorrhizal network between virus free and virus infected grapevine can be a pathway for virus warning signalling; 4. to strengthen scientific capacity of the Institute for Adriatic Crops by introducing functional genomics into its research of plant-microorganisms interactions. We will achieve consolidation of complementary research and equipment through established connections between four research institutions from Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. In view of sustainable agriculture and the necessity of new tools development, the proposed topic is of importance for evaluating the benefit of AMF application in an integrated viral management in viticulture.

Amphibians and reptiles have been until recently the only two vertebrate classes not directly considered in the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pesticides. The risks posed by these products on amphibians and reptiles have been assumed to be covered by assessments conducted on other vertebrates. The European Union published in 2013 the two first regulations incorporating specifically amphibians and reptiles into pesticide ERA. Following this legal requirement, the competent EU agency, the European Food Safety Authority, published in February 2018 a scientific opinion reviewing the state of the science relative to pesticide ERA for amphibians and reptiles. The scientific opinion constitutes the basis for the future development of a guidance document that will detail the procedures to be followed for possible pesticide authorization. The scientific opinion highlighted the scarcity of knowledge and identified those aspects that should be addressed before the elaboration of the guidance document to guarantee a protective ERA for amphibians and reptiles while keeping vertebrate testing to a minimum. The Action PERIAMAR will establish a multidisciplinary network of scientists from research institutions, regulatory agencies, chemical industry, environment-focused NGOs, and research private business that will analyse the available information and design an ERA protocol for possible implementation in the future guidance document. In addition, networking, training and dissemination activities will contribute to create a critical mass capable to address those knowledge gaps requiring further research on the long term, in order to maintain an ERA scheme safe enough to protect amphibians and reptiles from pesticide impacts.

Hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) are known vectors of various pathogenic microorganisms to animals and humans, and are therefore the subject of research in medical and veterinary parasitology. In the fauna of Croatia, 23 species of hard ticks classified into five genera have been identified, several of which are distinguished by their high vector potential. In the protection of domestic animals, pets, and humans from hard ticks, different acaricides with different effectiveness and duration are used. The aim of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of various natural solutions (essential oils) and plant extracts as potential repellents against hard ticks. Essential oils and plant extracts have a minor impact on the environment and on human and animal health, and may serve as a substitute for various acaricides (pesticides). Sampling of ticks will be carried out by flag dragging method over the course of two years in different habitats in eastern Croatia (Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem). The sampled ticks will be exposed to different concentrations of essential oils (medicinal sage, lavender, peppermint, lemongrass, rosemary, Javan citronella) and plant extracts for certain time units. The results of this research can contribute to the protection of domestic animals (pets) and their owners from tick invasion during their time in nature.

https://www.eudaphobase.eu/the-action/

The Republic of North Macedonia with global warming and climate change, with its geographic position, moderate climate, urbanization, demographic structure, socio-economic position and trade faces with the danger of a possible outbreak of tropical and subtropical diseases (West Nile virus (WNV), Dengue, Chikungunya, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Yellow Fever, Cache Valley Virus (CVV), La Crosse Encephalitis (LACV), etc.), as well as the occurrence of diseases that have already been eradicated in the Republic of North Macedonia (Malaria) and which are transmitted by vectors (mosquitoes). During 2011, 2012, and 2019, several human cases of West Nile fever were registered and laboratory confirmed in the Republic of North Macedonia. The analysis of the monitoring of mosquitoes in 2010 in the Republic of Macedonia showed that 51 species of mosquitoes from the family Culicidae occur. In 2014, a new species (Coqillettidia buxtoni) was discovered. In 2016, entomological research was done in the southern and south eastern regions of Macedonia, which proved the presence of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). Already in 2017, it was spread in Dojran, Skopje (central city area, Keramidnica). In 2019, the monitoring carried out in the territory of the City of Skopje showed a significant expansion of Aedes albopictus. Such changes in the species composition of mosquitoes are proven by their continuous monitoring. When we have the results of scientific research, we approach the organization of a plan and methods for suppression. In order to be successful, we need to organize the exchange of good practices with partners, encourage and guide them towards ecological thinking and mass education of the population and the people employed in the local self-government, and initiate the adoption of a National Plan for the control of vectors and vector-borne diseases by the Central Government. The goal of the project is to advance mosquito control.

Dutch elm disease has caused massive dieback and mortality of elms (Ulmus spp.) in North America and Europe. The disease has spread to the territory of Croatia and is having an extremely severe impact on the elms populations in Croatian forests. Two successive pandemics of this disease were caused by invasive pathogenic fungi - the species Ophiostoma ulmi and the species Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, which is divided into subspecies O. novo-ulmi ssp. novo-ulmi and ssp. americana. Today, the disease is primarily caused by O. novo-ulmi, but in certain periods since the appearance of the disease, the ranges of different causal agents have overlapped. As the reproductive isolation between them was not complete, hybridization occurred, which significantly affected the population structure as well as the evolution and adaptation of this extremely virulent elm pathogen. Currently, fertile hybrids of two subspecies of O. novo-ulmi are present in a greater or lesser proportion in most natural populations in Europe. In order to adapt to changes in the environment, plant pathogens rely on phenotypic plasticity, migrate to new areas or evolve. A better understanding of the response of pathogens to environmental changes is particularly important in the context of increasingly pronounced climate change. However, the ability of the phytopathogenic fungus O. novo-ulmi to adapt to environmental changes has not been well studied. The aim of this project is to investigate the influence of temperature changes on O. novo-ulmi, including growth rate and virulence, as well as indicators of oxidative stress and antioxidant response of different isolates. Sexual reproduction of O. novo-ulmi, which contributes to increasing diversity, is possible only between individuals of different MAT types, which is determined by alternative idiomorphs MAT-1 and MAT-2 at the MAT locus. To date, the determination of MAT types of O. novo-ulmi has relied on in vitro pairing with isolates of known MAT type while monitoring perithecia development. This project will optimize the use of molecular methods to determine MAT types, which will significantly improve the determination of the MAT types ratio in O. novo-ulmi populations and thus improve the methodology of research of this important plant pathogen. The obtained results will provide important insights into the relationship between the diversity and population structure of the DED pathogen and its ability to adapt to environmental factors, which could be applied in epidemiological predictions as well as for the implementation of protection and conservation measures for elms.

Restore4Life demonstrates the multiple socio-economic benefits generated by a holistic and transdisciplinary approach for the restoration of freshwater and coastal wetlands in the Danube basin that will contribute to new blue-green infrastructure supporting regional climate change resilience and mitigation. Restore4Life engages in 4 demonstration sites and 6 monitoring sites all across the Danube basin to make evident that increased delivery of key ecosystem services, as water and pollutant retention, carbon sequestration and tourism opportunities as well as improved resilience of water-dependent habitats will produce multiple socio-economic synergies that also provide opportunities for sustainable businesses and investments. Implementation of activities basically aiming to restore lateral connectivity in riverine corridors will be supported by a Restore4Life long term wetland restoration service/ Restore4Life Wetland Reconstruction Accelerator that combines timely integrative wetland management with a novel level of societal engagement. The Accelerator will provide tested indicators, monitoring approaches and decision support to identify adapted and future-oriented restoration goals, techniques and holistic road maps. Citizens and stakeholders will be empowered to engage in the co-design of projects by establishing stakeholder communities of practice, by twinning of similar projects at different realization stage, citizen science, thematic mobile apps and the use of multiple communication channels with special focus on visual, hands-on interactive information flow that promotes emotional links to water shaped environment. The various tools generated by Restore4Life also including handbooks for business audiences and targeted restoration roadmaps will secure the efficient replication of restoration activities in associated regions. In collaboration with similar mission activities, Restore4Life thus efficiently supports integrative social and economic. /p>

https://restore4life.eu/