How the Organic Food System Supports Sustainable Diets and Translates These into Practice.

Organic production and consumption provide a delineated food system that can be explored for its potential contribution to sustainable diets. While organic agriculture improves the sustainability performance on the production side, critical reflections are made on how organic consumption patterns, understood as the practice of people consuming significant amounts of organic produce, may also be taken as an example for sustainable food consumption. The consumption patterns of regular organic consumers seem to be close to the sustainable diet concept of FAO.

Impact of pre-harvest light spectral properties on health- and sensory-related compounds in broccoli florets.

Background: Plants grown at different latitudes experience differences in light spectral composition. Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var italica) plants were grown in climate-controlled chambers under supplemental wavelengths (red, far-red, red + far-red or blue) from light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Phytoestrogens and their metabolites in bulk-tank milk: effects of farm management and season.

Phytoestrogens have structures similar to endogenous steroids and may induce or inhibit the response of hormone receptors. The objectives of the present study were to compare the effects of long-term vs. short-term grassland management in organic and conventional dairy production systems, compare organic and conventional production systems and assess seasonal variation on phytoestrogen concentrations in bulk-tank milk.

Long-Term Conditioning to Elevated pCO2 and Warming Influences the Fatty and Amino Acid Composition of the Diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis.

The unabated rise in anthropogenic CO₂ emissions is predicted to strongly influence the ocean's environment, increasing the mean sea-surface temperature by 4°C and causing a pH decline of 0.3 units by the year 2100. These changes are likely to affect the nutritional value of marine food sources since temperature and CO₂ can influence the fatty (FA) and amino acid (AA) composition of marine primary producers.

Evidence of rapid change in genetic structure and diversity during range expansion in a recovering large terrestrial carnivore.

Recovery of natural populations occurs often with simultaneous or subsequent range expansions. According to population genetic theory, genetic structuring emerges at the expansion front together with decreasing genetic diversity, owing to multiple founder events. Thereupon, as the expansion proceeds and connectivity among populations is established, homogenization and a resurgence of genetic diversity are to be expected.

Saturating light and not increased carbon dioxide under ocean acidification drives photosynthesis and growth in Ulva rigida (Chlorophyta).

Carbon physiology of a genetically identified Ulva rigida was investigated under different CO2(aq) and light levels. The study was designed to answer whether (1) light or exogenous inorganic carbon (Ci) pool is driving growth; and (2) elevated CO2(aq) concentration under ocean acidification (OA) will downregulate CAext-mediated [Formula: see text] dehydration and alter the stable carbon isotope (δ (13)C) signatures toward more CO2 use to support higher growth rate. At pHT 9.

Olfactory cues from different plant species in host selection by female pea moths.

In herbivorous insects specialized on few plant species, attraction to host odor may be mediated by volatiles common to all host species, by specific compounds, or combinations of both. The pea moth Cydia nigricana is an important pest of the pea. Volatile signatures of four host plant species were studied to identify compounds involved in pea moth host selection and to improve previously reported attractive volatile blends.

First Report of Dollar Spot, Caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, of Creeping Bentgrass in Norway.

In September 2013, symptoms similar to dollar spot caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa F.T. Benn.

Chemical composition of vegetation along urbanisation gradients in two European cities.

Accumulation of particulate matter (PM) and metals on leaves of three deciduous woody species was studied along urbanisation gradients in Stavanger and Warsaw. Differences between rural and urban sites explained most of the observed variation in leaf chemistry, followed by differences between regions. Highest leaf accumulation of elements was found in Warsaw, but also composition of elements differed between the cities.

Bacterial communities associated with surfaces of leafy greens: shift in composition and decrease in richness over time.

The phyllosphere is colonized by a wide variety of bacteria and fungi; it harbors epiphytes, as well as plant-pathogenic bacteria and even human pathogens. However, little is known about how the bacterial community composition on leafy greens develops over time. The bacterial community of the leafy-green phyllosphere obtained from two plantings of rocket salad (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) and three plantings of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) at two farms in Norway were profiled by an Illumina MiSeq-based approach.

Responses of earthworms to repeated exposure to three biocides applied singly and as a mixture in an agricultural field.

The study aimed at investigating effects of three differently acting biocides; the insecticide esfenvalerate, the fungicide picoxystrobin and the bactericide triclosan, applied individually and as a mixture, on an earthworm community in the field. A concentration-response design was chosen and results were analyzed using univariate and multivariate approaches. Effects on juvenile proportions were less pronounced and more variable than effects on abundance, but effects in general were species- and chemical-specific, and temporal variations distinct.

Bicarbonate uptake via an anion exchange protein is the main mechanism of inorganic carbon acquisition by the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) under variable pH.

Macrocystis pyrifera is a widely distributed, highly productive, seaweed. It is known to use bicarbonate (HCO3 (-) ) from seawater in photosynthesis and the main mechanism of utilization is attributed to the external catalyzed dehydration of HCO3 (-) by the surface-bound enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CAext ). Here, we examined other putative HCO3 (-) uptake mechanisms in M.

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch).

Genetic engineering is an important tool for introducing desired genes into poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch). We describe in this chapter an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation protocol for poinsettia.

Overwintering of herbaceous plants in a changing climate. Still more questions than answers.

The increase in surface temperature of the Earth indicates a lower risk of exposure for temperate grassland and crop to extremely low temperatures. However, the risk of low winter survival rate, especially in higher latitudes may not be smaller, due to complex interactions among different environmental factors. For example, the frequency, degree and length of extreme winter warming events, leading to snowmelt during winter increased, affecting the risks of anoxia, ice encasement and freezing of plants not covered with snow.

An integrated approach for assessing influence of agricultural activities on pesticides in a shallow aquifer in south-eastern Norway.

The study examines the influence of agricultural activities on pesticides in groundwater in an area with fluvial deposits of sand with a top layer of sandy silt and silt, intensive cultivation of potatoes and cereals, and drinking water supplies of households from local groundwater wells. Information about local agricultural practice and washing sites for pesticide spraying equipment, properties of soils and deeper deposits, hydrogeology and groundwater flow, simulations of pesticide leaching, and contents of pesticides and nitrate in groundwater samples from drinking water wells was used to explore extension and reasons of pesticide contamination of groundwater. Pesticides were found in a majority of the sampled wells.

Admixture and gene flow from Russia in the recovering Northern European brown bear (Ursus arctos).

Large carnivores were persecuted to near extinction during the last centuries, but have now recovered in some countries. It has been proposed earlier that the recovery of the Northern European brown bear is supported by migration from Russia. We tested this hypothesis by obtaining for the first time continuous sampling of the whole Finnish bear population, which is located centrally between the Russian and Scandinavian bear populations.

Surface properties and chemical composition of corncob and miscanthus biochars: effects of production temperature and method.

Biochar properties vary, and characterization of biochars is necessary for assessing their potential to sequester carbon and improve soil functions. This study aimed at assessing key surface properties of agronomic relevance for products from slow pyrolysis at 250-800 °C, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), and flash carbonization. The study further aimed at relating surface properties to current characterization indicators.

Meiospores produced in sori of nonsporophyllous laminae of Macrocystis pyrifera (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) may enhance reproductive output.

Different lamina of Macrocystis pyrifera sporophytes (i.e., sporophylls, pneumatocyst-bearing blades, and apical scimitars) in a wave-sheltered site were found to be fertile.

Spatial and temporal distribution of the leaching of surface applied tracers from an irrigated monolith of a loamy vineyard soil.

Fresh water scarcity is an increasing problem worldwide. Strategies to alleviate water scarcity include the use of low-quality water for irrigation. The risk of groundwater contamination by pollutants in this water is affected by soil heterogeneity and preferential flow.

Accumulation of particulate matter and trace elements on vegetation as affected by pollution level, rainfall and the passage of time.

Particulate matter is harmful to human health. To reduce its concentration in air, plants could be used as biological filters, accumulating particulate matter on their foliage. In a study carried out at three sites with differing pollution levels and exposure to precipitation, the capacity of evergreen species (Taxus baccata L.

UVB-induced DNA and photosystem II damage in two intertidal green macroalgae: distinct survival strategies in UV-screening and non-screening Chlorophyta.

Ultraviolet-B-induced (UVB, 280-315 nm) accumulation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and deactivation of photosystem II (PS II) was quantified in two intertidal green macroalgae, Ulva clathrata and Rhizoclonium riparium. The species were chosen due to their shared habitats but contrasting UVB screening potentials. In the non-screening U.

Attraction of pea moth Cydia nigricana to pea flower volatiles.

The pea moth Cydia nigricana causes major crop losses in pea (Pisum sativum) production. We investigated attraction of C. nigricana females to synthetic pea flower volatiles in a wind tunnel and in the field.

Synergistic sub-lethal effects of a biocide mixture on the springtail Folsomia fimetaria.

The toxicity of three biocides, esfenvalerate, picoxystrobin and triclosan, on adult survival and recruitment of juveniles was studied in the springtail Folsomia fimetaria, both in single and mixture experiments. Recruitment of juveniles was more sensitive to biocide exposure than adult survival. The concepts of concentration addition and independent action returned almost identical toxicity predictions, though both models failed to predict the observed toxicity due to synergistic deviations at high exposure concentrations.

Spatiotemporal analysis of predation by carabid beetles (Carabidae) on nematode infected and uninfected slugs in the field.

The dynamics of predation on parasites within prey has received relatively little attention despite the profound effects this is likely to have on both prey and parasite numbers and hence on biological control programmes where parasites are employed. The nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is a commercially available biological agent against slugs. Predation on these slugs may, at the same time, result in intraguild predation on slug-parasitic nematodes.