The Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops (GMHT) were conducted in the UK from 2000 to 2002 on beet (sugar and fodder), spring oilseed rape and forage maize. The management of the crops studied is described and compared with current conventional commercial practice. The distribution of field sites adequately represented the areas currently growing these crops, and the sample contained sites operated at a range of management intensities, including low intensity. Herbicide inputs were audited, and the active ingredients used and the rates and the timings of applications compared well with current practice for both GMHT and conventional crops. Inputs on sugar beet were lower than, and inputs on spring oilseed rape and forage maize were consistent with, national averages. Regression analysis of herbicide-application strategies and weed emergence showed that inputs applied by farmers increased with weed densities in beet and forage maize. GMHT crops generally received only one herbicide active ingredient per crop, later and fewer herbicide sprays and less active ingredient (for beet and maize) than the conventional treatments. The audit of inputs found no evidence of bias.

The effects of herbicide management of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) beet, maize and spring oilseed rape on the abundance and diversity of soil-surface-active invertebrates were assessed. Most effects did not differ between years, environmental zones or initial seedbanks or between sugar and fodder beet. This suggests that the results may be treated as generally applicable to agricultural situations throughout the UK for these crops. The direction of the effects was evenly balanced between increases and decreases in counts in the GMHT compared with the conventional treatment. Most effects involving a greater capture in the GMHT treatments occurred in maize, whereas most effects involving a smaller capture were in beet and spring oilseed rape. Differences between GMHT and conventional crop herbicide management had a significant effect on the capture of most surface-active invertebrate species and higher taxa tested in at least one crop, and these differences reflected the phenology and ecology of the invertebrates. Counts of carabids that feed on weed seeds were smaller in GMHT beet and spring oilseed rape but larger in GMHT maize. In contrast, collembolan detritivore counts were significantly larger under GMHT crop management.

Changing air quality has been one of the most important drivers of change for bryophytes and lichens in Britain and Ireland over the 20th Century, with acidic pollutants such as sulphur dioxide having large effects on the ranges and abundances of many species. At the same time, expert amateur and professional naturalists have put enormous efforts into recording the distributions of species within these groups. These efforts have provided much evidence for declines and recoveries within the bryophytes and lichens, with species distribution data being linked to airborne pollutants in many different ways. We provide a broad overview of some of the changes that have occurred in affected species, using biological records collected by national recording schemes to illustrate the various effects of air pollution; we also review the direct and indirect impacts of air pollutants on these groups. Environmental change affecting one group of species is also likely to cascade to other groups where trophic or other relationships exist between them. Using data from the volunteer‐based National Moth Recording Scheme, we provide the first evidence for an indirect association between reductions in air pollution and increases in lichenivorous moths. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, ●●, ●●–●●.

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for research. Most schemes sample sites that are self-selected by contributors and therefore tend 20 to cover locations that are rich in butterflies. To provide a more representative assessment of 21 butterfly populations, the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) was developed with a 22 stratified-random sample of survey sites across the UK. We compare butterfly trends from the 23 WCBS locations against those measured from traditional butterfly transects which are typically 24 located in areas of good quality semi-natural habitats. Across the 26 species analysed, there was a 25 significant positive relationship between trends measured from the two schemes between 2009 and 26 2013, the period when both schemes were operating fully. There was a tendency (17 out of 26 27 species analysed) for these changes to be greater within WCBS compared to traditional BMS 28 transects, although this effect was not consistent across comparisons between pairs of consecutive 29 years. When assessing these individual year-to-year changes, there was however a significant 30 correlation between the two schemes in all cases. Over relatively short time periods, weather 31 patterns are likely to dominate butterfly population fluctuations and lead to comparable trends 32 across monitoring schemes. Over longer time periods, differences in land management may affect 33 habitat condition differently for protected areas versus the wider countryside and it is therefore 34 important to maintain comprehensive butterfly monitoring programmes to detect and interpret 35 such effects. 36 3