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The purpose of this paper is to identify the importance of floodplains in preserving biodiversity, and call attention to alternative ways of managing floodplains in relation to probable scenarios of climate change.

In total, 20 water bodies on the floodplain at Flisa along the River Glomma (Hedmark County, Eastern Norway) were investigated with regards to crustacean zooplankton and water beetle species richness.

Both on a national and regional scale, the species diversity in the investigated water bodies was high. A total of 57 crustacean plankton and 77 water beetle species were recorded. Of these, ten and eight were new records of zooplankton and water beetle species in Hedmark County, respectively. Seven recorded water beetle species were specified in the 2010 Norwegian Red List of Species. Further, the localities on the Flisa floodplain are relatively unique with regard to the composition of species compared to other investigated localities in Hedmark County.

Floodplains are intensively used and are considered as among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. More frequent and less predictable floods can be expected in the future due to climate change's influence. In some settings more frequent larger floods may work to re‐establish the connectivity, but larger floods might also result in demand for construction of more extensive flood mitigation measures.

The results from this case study underpin the high biodiversity of floodplains, an ecosystem infrequently examined in Norway. The results of this study are of importance regarding management and maintenance of ecosystem services (e.g. biodiversity and water retention) from floodplains.

The statement of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, coming so quickly after the ban on the use of cyclamates in food and drink in the United States, indicates that the new evidence of carcinogenesis in animals, placed at the disposal of the authorities by the U.S. F.D.A., has been accepted; at least, until the results of investigations being carried out in this country are available. The evidence was as new to the U.S. authorities as to our own and in the light of it, they could no longer regard the substances as in the GRAS class of food additives. It is, of course, right that any substance of which there is the slightest doubt should be removed from use; not as the result of food neuroses and health scares, but only on the basis of scientific evidence, however remote the connection. It is also right that there should always be power of selection by consumers avoidance is usually possible with other things known to be harmful, such as smoking and alcohol; in other cases, especially with chemical additives to food and drink, there must be pre‐knowledge, so that those who do not wish to consume food or drink containing such additives can ascertain from labelling those commodities which contain them.

Reviewing the Food Standards Report on Misdescriptions contained in this issue—the terms, names, phrases widespread in the field of agriculture and food—one cannot fail to notice the impressive role that words generally play in everyday use of language, especially in those areas where widespread common usage imports regional differences. The modern tendency is to give to words new meanings and nowhere is this so apparent as in the food industry; the Food Standards Committee considered a number of these. The FSC see the pictorial device as making a deeper impression than mere words in relation to consumer preference, which is undoubtedly true. Even Memory can be compartmentalized and especially with the increasing years, the memory tends to become photographic, retaining visual impressions more strongly than the written word. Auditory impressions depend largely on their accompaniments; if words are spoken with the showing of a picture or sung to a catchy tune, these will be more strongly retained than mere words on a printed label. At best, pictorial devices give rise to transient impressions, depending on the needs and interests of the viewer. Many look but do not see, and as for spoken words, these may “go in one ear and out of the other!”.

In order to mitigate the effects of climate change, the UK government has set a target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Agricultural GHG emissions in 2017 were 45.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e; 10% of UK total GHG emissions). Farmland hedgerows are a carbon sink, storing carbon in the vegetation and soils beneath them, and thus increasing hedgerow length by 40% has been proposed in the UK to help meet net zero targets. However, the full impact of this expansion on farm biodiversity is yet to be evaluated in a net zero context. This paper critically synthesises the literature on the biodiversity implications of hedgerow planting and management on arable farms in the UK as a rapid review with policy recommendations. Eight peer-reviewed articles were reviewed, with the overall scientific evidence suggesting a positive influence of hedgerow management on farmland biodiversity, particularly coppicing and hedgelaying, although other boundary features, e.g. field margins and green lanes, may be additive to net zero hedgerow policy as they often supported higher abundances and richness of species. Only one paper found hedgerow age effects on biodiversity, with no significant effects found. Key policy implications are that further research is required, particularly on the effect of hedgerow age on biodiversity, as well as mammalian and avian responses to hedgerow planting and management, in order to fully evaluate hedgerow expansion impacts on biodiversity.

An indicator of the ecological damage done by the Aral Sea disaster is the fate of species that made use of this lost ecosystem. In this paper, two water birds, the spoonbill (Platalea leucorogia L) and the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) are discussed. Primary research by the author shows that both species adapted to changed conditions by extending into regions not previously within range and using human-formed rather than natural environments. The spoonbill has made extensive use of new ponds and lakes formed by rising water tables in the Bukhara region. The heron has taken advantage of urban and human occupied settings for expanded settlement. Both are thriving in new environments but their old range in the Aral region is no longer suitable for their survival.

The purpose of this paper introduces entomophagy as an alternative food consumption (AFC) capable of contributing to food well-being (FWB) among Western consumers. Specifically, it provides a conceptual framework where key factors related to the acceptance and adoption of insects and insects based foods are identified. This paper takes a sociocultural, symbolic and contextual perspective to offer marketers and public policymakers a set of recommendations to promote entomophagy as a sustainable and healthy food practice to help consumers achieve their FWB.

In this paper, first, the authors review the literature on entomophagy from its rise to establishment in different food cultures by considering two main perspectives as follows: historical and sociocultural. Second, the authors review the salience of entomophagy as an important AFC capable of addressing sustainability and food health issues. Finally, the authors propose a framework in which the authors define key factors related to the acceptance and adoption of an insects-based diet in Western food cultures. The identification of these factors will help marketing and public policymakers to set up educational programs and strategies to promote entomophagy as a sustainable and healthy food practice within different Western food cultures, and thus, help consumers to achieve their FWB.

To identify the key factors influencing the acceptance of entomophagy as AFC, this paper provides a summary of the core motivators characterizing the acceptance and adoption of insects and insect-based foods in Western food cultures. Specifically, the authors identify the key factors influencing the acceptance of entomophagy as food consumption in Western food cultures and based on the extant literature by Batat et al. (2017) the authors provide an entomophagy framework that includes both idiocentric and allocentric factors considering the adoption of insects and insect-based foods in Western food cultures. Table I provides a summary.

The authors believe entomophagy has the potential to generate societal benefits, as its appeal at the social (hunger in the world), environmental (reducing meat consumption and its impact on ecology) and health (less calories and nutritive food) level.

The research contributes to creating new knowledge that simulates debate among public policy and marketing scholars about entomophagy as a novel food in Western food cultures. The focus on key factors related to its acceptance and adoption of Western food cultures calls for empirical evidence to be tested in the marketplace using possibly different insect categories and other novel foods. Further, the framework should stimulate thinking about ways the authors can change consumers’ negative perceptions of disgusting food. Marketers and policymakers can achieve it by making their practices more efficient in terms of promoting sustainable AFC, as well as with efficient policy initiatives focused on supporting AFC, including the regulation of insect introduction.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to and overview of this special issue titled “Municipalities addressing climate change: a case study of Norway”. It provides the rationale for the project leading to the special issue while summarizing the issue's contents and outcomes.

Seven research institutes in Norway were brought together for a five‐year project examining adaptation to extreme weather in Norway at the municipal level.

The project led to individual and collaborative research linked to policy advice for Norwegian municipalities. Barriers and opportunities to act locally regarding extreme weather were identified, giving ways forward through more science along with policy and action possibilities.

Only three main sectors were covered: drinking water supply, cultural heritage, and flood risk reduction. Extreme weather affects other sectors too, but no advice is given regarding those areas.

The project led to fact sheets, a web site, and engagement with practitioners at the municipal level in two ways. First, providing science‐based advice that can be used by those working for municipalities. Second, providing practical advice to scientists regarding what practitioners seek from research.

The work will contribute to improving how Norwegian municipalities consider and address extreme weather, in the context of climate change amongst other hazards, along with further social and environmental changes affecting municipalities.

This special issue represents an interdisciplinary, cross‐sectoral approach towards useable science. It is also relatively original in providing an interdisciplinary approach for the case study of Norway.

Anthropologists commonly accept that generous food sharing is universal to small-scale subsistence populations. This paper uses observational data from a Mikea community in southwestern Madagascar to demonstrate the following: (1) Most foods are rarely shared, i.e. transferred between households; exceptions are prepared food and livestock meat; (2) Clusters of closely related households feed each other’s members reciprocally, and inconsistent with kin selection, unrelated affines are the major distributors; and (3) Tolerated theft and market value explain why livestock meat is widely shared, why scroungers are invited to share vegetal foods but rarely do, and why small game and honey are both actively defended (by hiding, theft) and scrounged (by demand sharing).

Early detection of forest fires offers the chance to put the fire out before it gets out of control. The purpose of this paper is to look into nature and to learn how certain insects detect remote forest fires. A small group of highly specialized insects that have been called pyrophilous is attracted by forest fires and approaches fires sometimes from distances of many kilometers. As a unique feature some of these insects are equipped with infrared (IR) receptors, which in case of two species of jewel beetles (family Buprestidae) are used for fire detection.

The paper has investigated the IR receptors of the pyrophilous beetles with various morphological techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, neuroanatomy and the paper also investigated the thermo-/mechanical properties of the IR receptors by nanoindentation. Data were used for subsequent modeling of a biomimetic technical sensor. Finally, a macroscopic prototype was built and tested.

This biological principle was transferred into a new kind of uncooled technical IR receptor. A simple model for this biological IR sensor is a modified Golay sensor in which the gas has been replaced by a liquid. Here, the absorbed IR radiation results in a pressure increase of the liquid and the deflection of a thin membrane. For the evaluation of this model, analytical formulas are presented, which permits the calculation of the pressure increase in the cavity, the deformation of the membrane and the time constant of an artificial leak to compensate ambient temperature changes. Some organic liquids with high thermal expansion coefficients may improve the deflection of the membrane compared to water.

Results so far obtained suggest that it seems promising to take the photomechanic IR receptors of pyrophilous jewel beetles as models for the building of new uncooled IR sensors. The beetle receptors have been shaped by evolution since thousands of years and, therefore, can be considered as highly optimized sources of inspiration for new technical sensors suitable for remote fire detection.