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Species-rich semi-natural grasslands have been lost during the last century due to agricultural intensification. This has had large negative consequences for many specialised species, including grassland butterflies. To prevent further loss, management regimes in the remaining grasslands must maintain habitat quality over time, and we therefore need to understand the habitat preferences of specialised species and how different management regimes affect their survival. We studied the egg-laying preferences of the threatened marsh fritillary butterfly in relation to host plant properties, microclimate and management (grazing) on Gotland, Sweden. Moreover, we followed the survival of eggs and larvae from 27 egg batches during a period of 8 months (from June 2020 to March 2021) in grazed and ungrazed areas. We found 92 egg batches in total and the average number of eggs was 184.5. Egg-laying probability increased with increasing host plant size and abundance, and environmental variables associated with a warm microclimate (low grass cover, low vegetation height and south-facing edges). The 27 egg batches that were followed over time had on average 203 eggs in June. Roughly 28% of the eggs developed into larvae, and about 17% of these survived over the entire study period, resulting in an overall 4.7% survival. Egg survival was higher in ungrazed habitats compared with grazed; in March (post-hibernation), there were almost nine times more eggs in ungrazed habitats. This study highlights the complex habitat ecology of specialised butterflies and underscores the detrimental impact of intense grazing, advocating for rotational grazing or mowing regimes. We study oviposition preferences and survival of both eggs and larvae (post-hibernation) for the marsh fritillary, in relation to host plant availability, microclimate conditions and grazing management Egg-laying probability increased with increasing host plant size and abundance, and environmental variables associated with

1. Established butterfly survey methods that are useful for monitoring species that are widely distributed and numerous may be less accurate for more rare species. We therefore need new monitoring approaches.2. We describe a plot-based survey method, where butterflies or larvae nests are counted within 1-ha grid cells. The aim was to compare this grid method with more traditional transect counts and evaluate both methods in relation to high-quality capture-mark-release (CMR) population estimates (reflecting the 'true' population). We do this using data from a large population of the marsh fritillary butterfly in Sweden. Moreover, we followed the overall population trend from 2017 to 2021 for both adult butterflies and larvae.3. Results showed a higher detection probability using the grid method compared with transect counts, which for adult butterflies seem to be explained by time effort. Moreover, grid surveys of adult butterflies showed a clear significant relationship with the estimated 'true' population size from CMR, while transect counts did not. For larvae, both methods showed significant relationships with the estimated adult population size, but the grid method found 5.7 times more larvae. The overall popu-lation fluctuated significantly across years. In years with low densities, the transect method largely failed to detect the species.4. The grid method seems more reliable for detecting the marsh fritillary and for estimating its population size, and thus, tracking the population trend. We propose this novel method to be integrated into surveys and monitoring of biodiversity, especially when focusing on rare habitat specialists that are normally underrepre-sented in monitoring based on volunteer counts.

1. Established butterfly survey methods that are useful for monitoring species that are widely distributed and numerous may be less accurate for more rare species. We therefore need new monitoring approaches.2. We describe a plot-based survey method, where butterflies or larvae nests are counted within 1-ha grid cells. The aim was to compare this grid method with more traditional transect counts and evaluate both methods in relation to high-quality capture-mark-release (CMR) population estimates (reflecting the true population). We do this using data from a large population of the marsh fritillary butterfly in Sweden. Moreover, we followed the overall population trend from 2017 to 2021 for both adult butterflies and larvae.3. Results showed a higher detection probability using the grid method compared with transect counts, which for adult butterflies seem to be explained by time effort. Moreover, grid surveys of adult butterflies showed a clear significant relationship with the estimated true population size from CMR, while transect counts did not. For larvae, both methods showed significant relationships with the estimated adult population size, but the grid method found 5.7 times more larvae. The overall popu-lation fluctuated significantly across years. In years with low densities, the transect method largely failed to detect the species.4. The grid method seems more reliable for detecting the marsh fritillary and for estimating its population size, and thus, tracking the population trend. We propose this novel method to be integrated into surveys and monitoring of biodiversity, especially when focusing on rare habitat specialists that are normally underrepre-sented in monitoring based on volunteer counts., Funding Agencies|Cementa AB; Svenska Forskningsradet Formas

It remains unclear to what extent yearly weather variation and spatial variation in microclimate influences the outcome of interacting plant-animal species and whether responses differ between life stages. We collected data over several years on 46 ha on File Hajdar, Gotland, Sweden, and executed a complete mapping of larva nests (n = 776) and imago (n = 5,952) of the marsh fritillary butterfly Euphydryas aurinia and its host plant Succisa pratensis. The phenology of the butterflies and the major nectar plants visited varied among years. The duration of the adult flight period decreased with increasing ambient air temperatures. The density of butterflies, host plants, and host plant leaf size increased between years with increasing precipitation in the preceding year, and decreased with increasing average ambient air temperature in the preceding year. In 2021-2022 we deployed a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a high-resolution thermal sensor to measure spatial variation in surface temperatures in the study area. We found that survival from the egg to the larva stage increased with increasing surface temperature and host plant density. Host plants and larva nests generally occupied warmer microhabitats compared to imago butterflies. The results further suggested that the relationships linking surface temperature to the densities of imago, larva, host plants, and leaf size differed qualitatively between years. In 2017, larva nests and host plant density increased with increasing surface temperatures, and butterflies showed a non-linear response with a density peak at intermediate temperatures. As a result of the extreme drought in 2018 there was a reduction in maximum leaf size, and in the densities of plants, larvae, and butterflies. Moreover, the slopes of the relationships linking the density of larvae, butterflies, and plants to temperature shifted from linear positive to negative or curvilinear. Our findings demonstrate how yearly weather variation and heterog

Objectives: To provide an update of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management recommendations to account for the most recent developments in the field. Methods: An international task force considered new evidence supporting or contradicting previous recommendations and novel therapies and strategic insights based on two systematic literature searches on efficacy and safety of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) since the last update (2016) until 2019. A predefined voting process was applied, current levels of evidence and strengths of recommendation were assigned and participants ultimately voted independently on their level of agreement with each of the items. Results: The task force agreed on 5 overarching principles and 12 recommendations concerning use of conventional synthetic (cs) DMARDs (methotrexate (MTX), leflunomide, sulfasalazine); glucocorticoids (GCs); biological (b) DMARDs (tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab), abatacept, rituximab, tocilizumab, sarilumab and biosimilar (bs) DMARDs) and targeted synthetic (ts) DMARDs (the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors tofacitinib, baricitinib, filgotinib, upadacitinib). Guidance on monotherapy, combination therapy, treatment strategies (treat-to-target) and tapering on sustained clinical remission is provided. Cost and sequencing of b/tsDMARDs are addressed. Initially, MTX plus GCs and upon insufficient response to this therapy within 3 to 6 months, stratification according to risk factors is recommended. With poor prognostic factors (presence of autoantibodies, high disease activity, early erosions or failure of two csDMARDs), any bDMARD or JAK inhibitor should be added to the csDMARD. If this fails, any other bDMARD (from another or the same class) or tsDMARD is recommended. On sustained remission, DMARDs may be tapered, but not be stopped. Levels of evidence and levels of agreement were mostly hig

Grazing generally benefits grassland biodiversity as it prevents shrub and tree succession. However, too intense grazing may have negative effects for example many grassland insects. EU-subsidies for grazing of some habitats, aimed at promoting biodiversity, still require a relatively intense grazing, and could therefore have negative consequences for some species. We quantified how such grazing affects habitat quality for the marsh fritillary butterfly, and how this influence its colonization-extinction dynamics and persistence. Specifically, we studied a metapopulation on Gotland (Sweden), where the marsh fritillary occupies unfertilized calcareous grassland with a naturally slow succession. We quantified the difference in larvae autumn nests between grazed and ungrazed habitat, and used this difference to adjust the 'effective area' of 256 habitat patches in a 50 km(2) landscape. We then parameterized a metapopulation model based on the occurrence pattern of the adult butterfly, and simulated future population development under different grazing regimes. The results showed that ungrazed habitat harbored 4.8 times more nests than grazed habitat. Reducing the 'effective area' of grazed patches accordingly increased the local extinction probability and decreased colonization. Grazing all suitable habitat reduced the occupancy by over 80%, while no grazing increased the occupancy by up to 40%, based on projections of future dynamics. Current grazing is clearly too intense, and EU-subsidies are here, thus, a conservation measure with negative consequences for a threatened butterfly. To prevent this, subsidies for grazing need to be more flexible and better adapted to the prevailing soil conditions and requirements of the target species.

Denna skrift är en kortversion av publikationen i "Landskap i långsiktig planering". Det är dels en beskrivning av den metodik som projektet utarbetat, dels en redogörelse för en pilotstudie i Västra Götalands län, som fungerat som testarena för metodutvecklingen. Projektet ingår i forsknings- och innovationsportföljen "Mer nytta för pengarna.", Författarna samarbetar under namnet "Befaringsbyrån", Landskap i långsiktig planering – en tillämpning och implementering av den europeiska landskapskonventionen

Underlag till Regionala utvecklingsprogrammet (RUP) och länsplan i Västmanland. Forsknings och innovationsprojektet "Landskap i långsiktig planering" syftar till att finna, utveckla och testa arbets- och analysmetoder där landskapet utgör arenan för planering. Genom att hantera fakta och kunskap om natur, kultur, naturgeografiska förutsättningar samt landskapets funktion på nya sätt, ska vi bättre bidra till att de transportpolitikens hänsynsmål nås och till att attraktiva landskap bibehålls och utvecklas., Författarna samarbetar under namnet ”Befaringsbyrån”., Landskap i långsiktig planering – en tillämpning och implementering av den europeiska landskapskonventionen

Landskapskaraktärsanalysen har tagits fram som ett kunskapsunderlag till åtgärdsvalsstudie för väg 190, framtagen under 2012-–2013. Ambitionen har varit att landskapliga funktioner ska utgöra förutsättningar för åtgärder, när en tidig, bred behovsanalys görs för stråket kring väg 190 mellan väg 45 och Sollebrunn. Underlaget är en precisering av den regionala landskapskaraktärsanalys som tagits fram för Västra Götalands län i Trafikverkets FOI-projekt "Landskap i långsiktig planering"., Författarna samarbetar under namnet ”Befaringsbyrån”, Landskap i långsiktig planering – en tillämpning och implementering av den europeiska landskapskonventionen

Sweden' s transport policy targets and Sweden' s signing of the European Landscape Convention are important starting points for the work of the Swedish Transport Administration. Activities must contribute to the furthering of Sweden' s environmental quality targets and to the maintenance of attractive landscapes and the facilitation of their development. This report describes the background to a project and the methods developed to carry it out, and the application of these methods to a pilot study in the county of Västra Götaland., Landskap i långsiktig planering – en tillämpning och implementering av den europeiska landskapskonventionen

Previous research has pointed out the negative impact of traffic noise on wildlife adjacent to major roads, but despite the scientific evidence, the impact of traffic noise in natural environments is rarely assessed, and even more rarely mitigated, in road planning, in Sweden as well as in most other countries. It has been argued that the reason to this shortcoming is the lack of a practical method to assess this impact on natural environments. We developed a desktop method for assessing the traffic noise impact on areas of importance for nature conservation, with special emphasis on important bird sites. The method output is a calculation of the effective habitat loss due to traffic noise for each site, based on dose-effect relationships presented in literature, available GIS data on selected habitat types, official road data, and a simplified model for noise distribution. The method has a dual purpose; to estimate the impact of traffic noise on birds at larger geographic scales, and to identify priority sites for mitigation efforts. We applied the method in two Swedish regions with relatively low or moderate road and traffic densities. The results from these case studies pointed out that i) at regional level, the impact zone covers a small part of the land area (0.6 and 3.3% of lower and higher density regions, respectively), ii) for certain important bird habitat types, >10% of sites are within the impact zone, iii) the impact from traffic noise represents an effective loss of 0.02-1.7% of the total area of the selected habitat types. The latter figures can be taken as estimates of the present conservation debt of traffic noise. The results indicate that traffic noise may have a disproportionate impact on some important bird habitats. Because bird sites are often rich also in other taxa, and in addition tend to be important areas for outdoor recreation, we argue that traffic noise may have a broad impact on nature conservation, and that mitigation efforts shou

Projektet "Landskap i långsiktig planering" syftar till att utveckla en metodik där landskapet tydliggörs och används som en av utgångspunkterna vid långsiktig planering av infrastruktur. Metodiken bygger på existerande metoder för landskapskaraktärisering. Det som utvecklas specifikt är en riktad analys av infrastrukturåtgärdernas påverkan, att metodiken ska fungera i tidiga skeden i långsiktig planering och tillämpning i den regionala skalan. Projektet har bedrivits som en fallstudie i Västra Götaland., Landskap i långsiktig planering – en tillämpning och implementering av den europeiska landskapskonventionen