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Water is crucial for birds, especially during hot weather. However, the availability of water, and its use by birds in modern anthropogenic habitats, is far from understood, especially outside arid regions. Here, we analyze a large nationwide dataset collected in the temperate zone and present an overview of small water resources used by birds in urban and rural habitats in Poland. We investigated the proportion of birds using free-standing water, preferences for various water sources, and factors and threats influencing drinking and bathing behaviour. Birds using water resources are represented by various taxonomic and ecological groups. Species composition differed slightly due to environmental conditions in the vicinity of the water resource and the background species composition. In total 51 species were observed using water, representing 64% of the 80 species recorded in the vicinity. The probability of water usage was positively related to temperature, which further emphasizes the importance of water under future climate-warming scenarios. We show that small water resources, including those provided by people, were less likely to be used by birds than resources resembling natural waters (puddles, ponds, fountains). This novel finding may have particular importance for avian conservation planning, including appropriate behaviour for nature lovers (providing water sources and reducing stress to birds due to predation risk). Finally, we assessed potential threats to bathing and drinking birds, such as moving cars, risk of drowning, and the presence of predators. Any kind of surface water is currently beneficial for wild birds inhabiting human modified landscapes. During heatwaves and droughts access to water can be crucial for many birds. Unfortunately, such extreme events are predicted to become more frequent and more severe under climate change. Therefore, we would encourage further research in the use by birds of free-standing water, similar to the many studies of birdfeeders in winter, and to consider the maintenance of diverse sources of accessible water in environmental management.

COST – European COoperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research – is the oldest and widest intergovernmental European network for cooperation in research. COST Action 725 (running from 2004 to 2009) aimed at and succeeded in establishing a European data base of phenological observations, classifying the data according to one common system and using the data in scientific peer reviewed papers. COST725 organized many workshops and conferences that helped to bring together not only the European, but also the global, phenological community. One of the highlights of COST725 was the boxed entry "Phenological responses to climate in Europe: the COST725 project" in the AR4 of IPCC in 2007. And last, but not least, although the action ended in April 2009 a follow up will be launched in 2010 under EUMETNET/ECSN.

Stream water chemistry in the Cyff and Gwy subcatchments within the headwaters of the River Wye has been monitored regularly since 1980. In the Gwy, which is a predominantly semi-natural grassland catchment, land use has remained relatively static over the monitoring period, whilst the Cyff catchment is more buffered because of base cation inputs from agricultural improvement and ground water sources. Using a variety of statistical techniques, the long-term data are examined for evidence of trends after eliminating seasonal effects. The results highlight some of the difficulties associated with the analysis of longterm water quality data which show considerable variability over a variety of timescales. Some of this variability can be explained in terms of hydrochemical responses to climatic extremes and episodic events such as large atmospheric inputs of seasalts. The long-term fluctuations in solute concentration underline the continuing need for maintaining consistent long-term monitoring at sensitive upland sites if underlying trends related to gradual changes in pollutant deposition or climate are to be detected with any certainty.

Our data, collected in the extreme east of Europe, show that a significant biological effect of climate change has been experienced even in territories where temperature increase has been the lowest. This study documents the climatic response of pedunculate oak ( Quercus robur) growing near its north-eastern limits in Europe. It demonstrates the potential of oak trees in old-growth forest to act as proxy climate indicators. Many factors may influence the temporal stability of the growth-climate, acorn crop-climate and first leafing-climate relationships. Climate data, climatic fluctuations, reproduction, genetics and tree-age may relate to this instability. Our results stress that an increase in climate variability or climatic warming resulting from warmer winters or summers could affect the oak population in eastern Europe in a similar way to that in western Europe. These findings, from remnants of oak forest in the middle Volga region of Russia, allow a further understanding of how species could be affected by future climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the search for evidence of climate‐change impacts has been intense. Long‐term and not so very long‐term data are being examined for evidence of climatic response. Three commonly used methods involve (i) correlation with an ever‐increasing number of climatic variables, (ii) examining trends through time and (iii) a comparison between two points in time. In this paper we provide examples designed to emphasize the need for impassionate and critical examination of findings, the so‐called ‘eclectic’ approach, involving a combination of empirical and conceptual evidence. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Airborne remote sensing using a Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) has been used to map intertidal surfaces (vegetated and unvegetated at low tide) on the East Coast of England for the Land-Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS). This paper describes how ground radiometry with a Spectron spectroradiometer has been used to examine spectra for a range of surfaces and to compare different CASI bandsets for discrimination of different classes of intertidal vegetation and sediments. CASI in spatial mode records data in up to 14 programmable wavebands in the visible and near-infrared spectral range. Different CASI bandsets have been devised for different purposes (some within this project with the aid of Spectron data). A range of these bandsets are compared on simulated CASI data derived from Spectron ground radiometry. Principal component analysis and discriminant analysis show that these CASI bandsets are capable of separating spectra from 10 key surfaces, but that the various bandsets differ little in their effectiveness and that precise waveband selection is not critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]