Agriculture plays a large role in the management of water in the EU. However, there is little consistent information on water use in irrigation. New EU supported research has estimated how much water is used for irrigation in European countries, providing a framework to analyse agricultural pressures on water quantity.

Climate change poses a large threat to African agriculture, but there is little research on how to respond. A recent study indicates that traditional adaptation methods are not enough and international collaboration is needed in ‘planned adaptation’ by collecting and conserving certain crops for the future.

A recent study investigates the factors that affect a farmer’s decision to convert to organic farming in Latvia and Estonia. A combination of social factors, such as peer pressure, and economic influences, such as subsidies, were found to be more important than either factor individually.

Phosphorus is a major pollutant of surface waters, contributing to poor water quality. A recent study investigated best management practices to reduce the over-application of phosphorus and minimise phosphorus losses from agriculture in four regions across Europe and North America.

Adverse effects of climate change on agriculture will counteract any improvements in reducing levels of child malnutrition in the developing world, according to a new report, which calculates that twenty-five million more children will face malnutrition by 2050.

A new global study is the first to quantify the potential of water management strategies to increase crop production. It indicates that a combination of harvesting run-off water and reducing evaporation from soil could increase global crop production by 20 per cent.

Removing wheat and sorghum crop residue after harvest, such as stalks, stubble and leaves, may cause more harm than good according to new research. Results indicate that removing residue can increase nutrient and sediment levels in water runoff, and decrease organic carbon stored in the soil.

A number of standards and initiatives exist to minimise the negative environmental impacts of growing crops for biofuels. New research has reviewed these standards and recommended minimally acceptable criteria in the areas of biodiversity, agricultural practices, and mitigation of indirect land-use change.

Indonesia’s plans to double palm oil production by 2020 have obvious financial benefits, but implications for food, biodiversity and carbon stocks are not so clear. A new model predicts the impacts of five possible palm oil production strategies and indicates the best approach is to target degraded and agricultural land that is most productive for palm oil.

Global population growth since 1850 has been largely enabled by commercial phosphorus and nitrogen fertilisers. The availability of these nutrients for food production relies upon steadily diminishing resources of natural gas and phosphorus rock. A recent study suggests that to secure a long-term affordable food supply, policy intervention is needed to conserve these essential resources.

Biochar is increasingly mixed into farm soils to improve crop productivity and maintain carbon stocks. However, it can change the way that pesticides applied to the same soil behave, according to a new study. The researchers suggest that farmers may also need to follow new guidelines on pesticide application if they add biochar to their soil.

Large-scale cultivation of bioenergy crops on marginal land is unfeasible, according to a recent study. While limiting bioenergy crops to less productive land could cut the sector’s impact on food prices, the financial incentive to grow crops on more productive land may be too strong for landowners to ignore, the researchers suggest.

The presence of wild bees alongside honeybees was found to increase almond orchard production in a recent study. The findings demonstrate how increased biodiversity enhances ecosystem services, such as pollination, and provide an opportunity to increase agricultural yields whilst also benefitting wildlife.

Certain vegetables take up heavy metals from contaminated water used for irrigation, a new study finds. The researchers grew vegetables in greenhouses similar to field conditions in Greece and found that concentrations of nickel and chromium increased in potatoes and onions, but not in carrots, when irrigated with water containing contaminant levels similar to those found in industrial wastewater.

The widespread use of higher-yielding improved varieties of crops as part of the ‘Green Revolution’ has averted the conversion of between 18 to 27 million hectares of forests, woodlands and pastures in the period 1965 to 2004, according to a recent study. However, its authors caution that the relationship between these crops and land use change is complex, and good governance is needed to protect biodiversity from future expansion of agricultural land.

Restoration of upland bog habitats by blocking drainage channels has caused concern among some sheep farmers that this will reduce the quality of grazing areas. However, UK researchers have shown that drainage does not encourage growth of plants favoured by sheep, nor do sheep use drained areas more. Therefore they conclude such restoration measures are unlikely to detrimentally affect sheep grazing.

Soil erosion is an important issue in Europe, with consequences for water quality, ecosystem services supply and crop production. In this study, researchers enhanced an existing model to estimate soil loss and create an updated map of soil erosion across the EU. The authors say the tool can simulate the effects of land use changes and management practices and will support effective policy decisions.

Health experts have called for a proactive, joined-up approach to public health in Europe under a changing climate. A recent study has examined the evidence for the influence of the climate on infectious disease and proposes a new integrated network for environmental and health data.

Widespread use of antibiotics to prevent and treat infections in people and animals as well as for promoting growth in livestock is causing environmental contamination. A new study highlights the need for extra measures to reduce environmental pollution from antibiotics. Such pollution can increase the risk of diseases caused by bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics.

Monitoring the effects of chemicals in the human body provides useful data for assessing and managing environmental risks to health, but it also raises ethical questions about how the results of such studies should be reported to participants. New research suggests that changes are needed to the research process to allow study participants to play a greater role in interpreting, disseminating and using the results.

Contrary to some established views, the local animal population is unlikely to be the major source of resistance diversity for Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 in humans in Scotland, according to a study. The researchers suggest that a broader approach to fighting antibiotic resistance is needed, which goes beyond focusing solely on curbing the use of antibiotics in domestic animal populations.

The health risks to humans of using recycled water to irrigate crops needs to be carefully managed. New research has demonstrated that ???managed aquifer recharge??? can be just as effective as conventional water treatments in improving the quality of recycled water for use in irrigation.

Pollen allergy is a common cause of allergic respiratory diseases such as hay fever and asthma. A recent continent-wide study suggests that rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the last 30 years may be increasing pollen counts especially in European cities, which could have serious consequences for public health.

The damaging health impacts of some key air pollutants can occur at lower atmospheric concentrations than indicated by the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality guidelines, set in 2005 and currently used in Europe. This is according to a new WHO report, which assesses scientific evidence to help inform European air pollution policies.

A target level of 20 micrograms of phosphorus per litre of lake water could help keep many lakes safe for recreation by restricting the growth of harmful algal blooms, European research suggests. The scientists analysed the relationship between phosphorus levels in medium- and high-alkalinity lakes, the growth of cyanobacteria blooms and the concentrations of cyanobacteria that trigger World Health Organization (WHO) warnings.

People exposed to fine particle (PM2.5) and ozone pollution are at increased risk of suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, according to a recent Finnish study. Cardiac arrest is more likely within 24 hours after exposure to PM2.5 and up to several days after exposure to ozone.

The impact of air quality on public welfare is important to policy development. However, it is difficult to make a clear link between the two when air pollution tends to be reported at a country level and wellbeing is an individual measure. A new study takes a step further towards linking the two by analysing regional level air quality across the EU and relating it to levels of life satisfaction.

The worldwide decline of pollinators could increase cases of vitamin and micronutrient deficiencies in humans, new research suggests. For instance, pollination is needed for the crops that produce half of all plant-derived vitamin A across much of south-east Asia. Furthermore, areas which depend most on pollination for micronutrient supply tend to be poorer and already at higher risk of deficiencies.

For people in the UK to eat the recommended 280 grams of fish per week, the country would have to rely on aquaculture and increasingly on imports of both wild and farmed fish from poorer countries, a recent study has revealed. This can have social and environmental implications and the researchers urge governments, particularly in developed countries, to consider nutritional advice in a global context, to minimise the impact of fish exports from poorer countries.

The application to crops of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate) recovered from waste water may cause antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) present in this fertiliser to enter the food chain. Chinese researchers who conducted this study on Brassica plants suggest that ARGs in struvite pass from the soil into the roots of the plant, and from the roots to the leaves, via the bacterial community already present. The results of this research highlight the need for struvite production methods and agricultural practices that minimise the risk of antibiotic-resistance transmission from struvite to humans or animals via the environment.

Outside the laboratory, living organisms are never subject to single stressors at set doses. In the real world, they face an intricate array of physical, chemical and biological environmental stressors that vary in space and time. The problem of assessing these complex risks for human health and the environment is a great challenge for scientists and regulators alike. For example, even if Maximum Permissible Concentrations (MPCs) for individual contaminants are not exceeded in water, in combination they can still be potentially hazardous to wildlife. This thematic issue reports on scientific research which can help us overcome some of the challenges associated with assessing the combination effects of chemicals.

Policy measures to protect biodiversity must be scientifically sound in order to deal with the complexity of nature and the human pressures on nature. This thematic issue reports on research which can help policy makers understand biodiversity in water and different ways in which human activity can be managed to ensure both wildlife and humans benefit from healthy aquatic and marine ecosystems.

Forests can play a critical role in the mitigation of climate change, but at the same time, climate change is threatening the health and condition of forests. Therefore their protection and adaptation is essential. The EU has adopted a green paper on 'Forest protection and information in the EU: preparing forests for climate change'. This special thematic issue provides current information on the dynamics and relationships between forests and climate change and insight into the role of forest management and ecosystem services in protecting EU forests.

Continued reductions in air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are essential, as they pose serious threats to both people's health and the environment across the world. Air quality and climate policies can provide mutual benefits and there can also be trade-offs. This thematic issue reports on research which helps us understand the relationship between air pollution and climate change and how the two policy areas can be integrated to produce the greatest results.

Through a combination of human activities and climate change, the European environment is dehydrated. This thematic issue explores potential water management measures aimed at enhancing and safeguarding the water storage potential of Europe's ecosystems and aquifers.

Brownfield regeneration and land use planning are complex issues which encompass many different environmental, economic and social dimensions. This Thematic Issue brings together quality research into brownfield regeneration, which highlights insights and successful strategies from across Europe and beyond.

Nanomaterials – at a scale of one thousand times smaller than a millimetre – offer the promise of radical technological development. Many of these will improve our quality of life, and develop our economies, but all will be measured against the overarching principle that we do not make some error, and harm ourselves and our environment by exposure to new forms of hazard. This Thematic Issue explores recent developments in nanomaterials research, and possibilities for safe, practical and resource-efficient applications.

Important factors in the creation and maintenance of effective Environmental Enforcement Networks (EENs) have been shared by the International Network on Environment Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), one of the first EENs to emerge. By disseminating these ‘lessons learned’ the INECE hopes to facilitate the creation of effective EENs in emerging networks, such as those in Eastern Africa, Western Africa and South America.

Managing landscapes effectively requires the involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders. The views and interests of these different groups can be effectively integrated by agri-environment 'collaboratives' — a type of bridging organisation which can be found in varying forms in Europe. Using data from Germany and the Netherlands, a study concludes that these groups make important contributions to landscape management, ranging from implementing policy to generating income.

In a new study, Spanish researchers describe a method specifically designed for measuring and characterising noise from building sites. They claim the method could help shape future policy related to noise pollution caused by the construction industry and provide important information to help reduce construction noise.

New research has analysed some of the issues around the implementation of the EU's Environmental Noise Directive (END) by Member States. It demonstrated large differences in the way noise levels are calculated and geographically mapped between countries and called for more standardised and clearer guidelines.

A new World Health Organisation (WHO) study has estimated that the health impact of environmental noise in western Europe could be up to 1.6 million healthy life years lost annually through ill health, disability or early death.

Noise pollution in urban areas can harm our physical and mental wellbeing, and can have damaging effects on urban wildlife. Now, researchers from China have shown for the first time how a ‘land use regression method’ can be used to model urban noise and predict the effects of future planning decisions on noise levels.