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Some 15 years after the Web first captured the popular imagination most journals are published in dual print and electronic formats and many are still published in print only. The digital metamorphosis of established journals seems stuck in the transition zone. Publishers are reluctant to turn their backs on existing revenue streams from print subscriptions, even if they are declining. Library subscriptions are not the only piece of the puzzle for many journals, such as those that largely rely on print advertising revenue. For society publishers, membership-related factors further complicate the situation.

As stewards of their collections, libraries have a responsibility to ensure that the digitization agreements they enter into protect the public domain and provide for innovative uses of digital files beyond keyword searching. This article brings together a number of articulations of core library interests in digitization partnerships, identifies six key interests against which potential agreements should be evaluated, and urges libraries and their institutions to make full use of their leverage to ensure the global digital library is open and dynamic. A checklist accompanying the article suggests some of the questions negotiators might ask themselves as they consider their objectives in entering an agreement.

Riparian zones form the interface between stream and terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role through their vegetation structure in determining stream biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and regulating human impacts, such as warming, nutrient enrichment and sedimentation. We assessed how differing riparian vegetation types influence the structural and functional composition (based on species traits) of stream invertebrate communities in agricultural catchments. We characterized riparian and stream habitat conditions and sampled stream invertebrate communities in 10 independent site pairs, each comprising one “unbuffered” reach lacking woody riparian vegetation and a second downstream reach with a woody riparian buffer. Forested riparian buffers were associated with greater shading, increased gravel content in stream substrates and faster flow velocities. We detected changes in invertebrate taxonomic composition in response to buffer presence, with an increase in sensitive Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa and increases in key invertebrate species traits, including species with preference for gravel substrates and aerial active dispersal as adults. Riparian vegetation independently explained most variation in taxa composition, whereas riparian and instream habitat together explained most variation in functional composition. Our results highlight how changes in stream invertebrate trait distributions may indirectly reflect differences in riparian habitat, with implications for stream health and cross-ecosystem connectivity.

New information and communications technologies are changing the way publishers and librarians view the dissemination and availability of scholarly research. When research results are available widely and freely, science advances most effectively. Due to this and the fact that journal prices are inordinately high, open access in the scientific journal publishing industry has come to the foreground as a widely anticipated cost-reducing option.

The exchange of information enabled by the Internet has swept away many limitations on research and learning and promises to fundamentally change the conduct of science. For the first time in history, we have a practical opportunity for efficient, unlimited sharing of information at virtually no cost beyond that of providing it to the first reader. As a result, the scientific paper and its historic container, the journal, are poised for change. Increasingly, research funders are adopting policies that facilitate the sharing of information and realize the benefits of digital scholarship.

Over 75% of all lakes and 40% of all rivers in the EU are found in the Nordic countries. Freshwater biomonitoring according to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) has been adopted by all Nordic countries and forms an integral part of management efforts to preserve and restore the ecological quality of freshwaters and their ecosystem services. Current identifications of organisms used in WFD biomonitoring are based on expert morphological identification; an approach that is time consuming and prone to errors. Molecular identification methods could alleviate many problems but thus far have not been rigorously tested for use in routine monitoring. Using a questionnaire, we consulted Nordic experts to assess opinions on the applicability of these methods in routine biomonitoring. Further, we validated the practical use of molecular metabarcoding identification for use in freshwater aquatic macroinvertebrate monitoring in all Nordic countries. A total of 297 waterbodies including both lakes and streams were sampled which constitutes the single largest validation test of the method so far. Experts in each country sampled macroinvertebrates according to their national protocols with only minor modifications and samples were analyzed using a standardized laboratory protocol. The results of this study indicate that in most cases identifications using molecular DNA-based methods were highly congruent with traditional expert-based identifications. However, the study also revealed the importance of using unified guidance documents. Several samples showed signs of DNA degradation, affecting reliability of the method. Nordic experts generally recognized molecular identification methods as playing a major role in future biomonitoring, if issues associated with the current lack of unified methodology are resolved. Based on this study, we suggest that concerted Nordic or European efforts towards implementation and standardization of DNA-based methodology should be undertaken to swiftly ensure the use of this promising tool into WFD compliant monitoring. © Nordic Council of Ministers 2020

Riparian habitats are important ecotones connecting aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, but are often highly degraded by human activities. Riparian buffers might help support impacted riparian communities, and improve trophic connectivity. We sampled spider communities from riparian habitats in an agricultural catchment, and analyzed their polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content to quantify trophic connectivity. Specific PUFAs are exclusively produced by stream algae, and thus are used to track uptake of aquatic resources by terrestrial consumers. Riparian spiders were collected from 10 site pairs situated along agricultural streams, and from five forest sites (25 sites total). Each agricultural site pair comprised an unshaded site with predominantly herbaceous vegetation cover, and a second with a woody riparian buffer. Spider communities differed between site types, with web-building spiders dominating woody buffered sites and free-living spiders associated with more open habitats. PUFA concentrations were greatest overall in free-living spiders, but there was also evidence for increased PUFA uptake by some spider groups when a woody riparian buffer was present. Our results reveal the different roles of open and wooded riparian habitats in supporting terrestrial consumers and aquatic-terrestrial connectivity, and highlight the value of incorporating patches of woody vegetation within riparian networks in highly modified landscapes.