We present the results of an inventory and status assessment of alien species in Norway. The inventory covered all known multicellular neobiota, 2496 in total, 1039 of which were classified as naturalised. The latter constitute c. 3% of all species known to be stably reproducing in Norway. These figures are higher than expected from Norway’s latitude, which may be due a combination of ...

The relative contribution of bryophytes to plant diversity, primary productivity, and ecosystem functioning increases towards colder climates. Bryophytes respond to environmental changes at the species level, but because bryophyte species are relatively difficult to identify, they are often lumped into one functional group. Consequently, bryophyte function remains poorly resolved. Here, we explore ...

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority ...

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic ...

Målet med denne rapporten er å synliggjøre kunnskapsbehov som er viktige for å sikre trygg mat og opprettholdelse avbiologisk mangfold i årene som kommer.Vitenskapskomiteen for mattrygghet (VKM) utarbeider og kommunisereruavhengige, vitenskapelige uttalelser, blant annet risikovurderinger og nytte-risikovurderinger. Hovedmålet til VKM er å sikre trygg mat og opprettholdelse av biologisk mangfold.

The steering committee of VKM has self-initiated a mandate for an opinion on microplastics based on recently published international and/or national reports complemented with literature from December 2016 to February 2019. The mandate requested a summary of the state of knowledge on the presence of microplastics in the environment and the implications for the ecosystem, terrestrial and aquatic ...

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) requested the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) to provide an overview of substances in foods, drinks and dietary supplements that may constitute a potential health risk for humans, based on the VKM members’ expert judgements. VKM was further requested to perform a ranking of these substances. Additionally, VKM should ...

The aim of the present report is to highlight research needs and data gaps that are of future importance for food safety and protection of biodiversity. The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) produces and communicates scientific opinions, i.e. risk-and risk-benefitassessments, with the main goal of securing food safety and protection of biodiversity.