Minimising farm crop protection pressure supported by the multiple functionalities of the DISCUSS indicator set.

Sustainable crop protection (SCP) has many facets. Farmers may therefore perceive transition to SCP as very complex. The Dual Indicator Set for Crop Protection Sustainability (DISCUSS) can handle this complexity.

A dual indicator set to help farms achieve more sustainable crop protection.

Background: Farmers are being called to use plant protection products (PPPs) more consciously and adopt more sustainable crop protection strategies. Indicators will help farmers to monitor their progress towards sustainability and will support their learning process. Talking the indicators through in farmers' discussion groups and the resulting peer encouragement will foster knowledge acquirement and can lead to changes in attitudes, norms, perception and behaviour.

Performance of High Arctic tundra plants improved during but deteriorated after exposure to a simulated extreme temperature event.

Arctic ecosystems are known to be extremely vulnerable to climate change. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios project extreme climate events to increase in frequency and severity, we exposed High Arctic tundra plots during 8 days in summer to a temperature rise of approximately 9°C, induced by infrared irradiation, followed by a recovery period. Increased plant growth rates during the heat wave, increased green cover at the end of the heat wave and higher chlorophyll concentrations of all four predominating species (Salix arctica Pall.