A new tool to map the major worldviews in the Netherlands and USA,and explore how they relate to climate change

For addressing climate change, public support for changes in policy is needed, as well changes in individual lifestyles. Both of these appear to be intimately related with people’s worldviews. Understanding these worldviews is therefore essential. In order to research and ‘map’ them, we translated the theoretical ‘Integrative Worldview Framework’ (IWF) into an empirical, quantitative approach. We constructed a worldview-scale aiming to distinguish between four major worldviews – labeled traditional, modern, postmodern, and integrative – and explored their interface with opinions and behaviors with respect to climate change. The survey was conducted with representative samples of citizens in the Netherlands and the USA (n = 527 and n = 556). The hypothesized worldviews were found in the data with a reasonable degree of reliability, especially in the Dutch sample. We also found consistent relationships between these worldview-clusters and a range of opinions, political priorities, and behaviors. In both countries postmoderns and integratives displayed significantly more concern about climate change as well as more sustainable behaviors, compared with moderns and traditionals. The implications of these findings for environmental policy and social science are noteworthy.     

The perceived psychological distance of climate change impacts and its influence on support for adaptation policy

Factors influencing support for climate mitigation policy in the United States are well researched, however, research regarding individuals’ support for climate adaptation policy is relatively sparse. This study explores how an individual’s perception of climate change impacts may influence their support for adaptation actions. Results of a survey of the U.S. public (n = 653) indicates that individuals who believe climate change impacts are unlikely to happen or will primarily affect other people in other places are less likely to be concerned about climate change impacts and less likely to support climate adaptation. However, an individual’s support for climate change adaptation measures is not influenced by their perception of when climate change impacts will occur even when taking into account concern for climate impacts. Critical for policy-makers, a belief that climate adaptation measures will not be effective attenuates the relationship between psychological distance, concern for climate change impacts, and adaptation policy measures. Our results indicate that to effectively communicate about climate change, policy-makers should emphasize that: (i) climate change impacts are occurring, (ii) that their constituents are being affected now, or will be in the future, and (iii) communicate that adaptation measures can be effective in addressing risks associated with climate change impacts.     

The impact of climate change mitigation on water demand for energy and food: An integrated analysis based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

Climate change mitigation, in the context of growing population and ever increasing economic activity, will require a transformation of energy and agricultural systems, posing significant challenges to global water resources. We use an integrated modelling framework of the water-energy-land-climate systems to assess how changes in electricity and land use, induced by climate change mitigation, impact on water demand under alternative socioeconomic (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) and water policy assumptions (irrigation of bioenergy crops, cooling technologies for electricity generation). The impacts of climate change mitigation on cumulated global water demand across the century are highly uncertain, and depending on socioeconomic and water policy conditions, they range from a reduction of 15,000 km³ to an increase of more than 160,000 km³. The impact of irrigation of bioenergy crops is the most prominent factor, leading to significantly higher water requirements under climate change mitigation if bioenergy crops are irrigated. Differences in socioeconomic drivers and fossil fuel availability result in significant differences in electricity and bioenergy demands, in the associated electricity and primary energy mixes, and consequently in water demand. Economic affluence and abundance of fossil fuels aggravate pressures on water resources due to higher energy demand and greater deployment of water intensive technologies such as bioenergy and nuclear power. The evolution of future cooling systems is also identified as an important determinant of electricity water demand. Climate policy can result in a reduction of water demand if combined with policies on irrigation of bioenergy, and the deployment of non-water-intensive electricity sources and cooling types.     

Exceedance of modern ‘background’ fine-grained sediment delivery to rivers due to current agricultural land use and uptake of water pollution mitigation options across England and Wales

Excessive loss of fine-grained sediment to rivers is widely recognised as a global environmental problem. To address this issue, policy teams and catchment managers require an estimate of the ‘gap’ requiring remediation, as represented by the excess above ‘background’ losses. Accordingly, recent work has estimated the exceedance of modern ‘background’ sediment delivery to rivers at national scale across England and Wales due to (i) current agricultural land cover, cropping and stocking, and (ii) current land use corrected for the uptake of on-farm mitigation measures. This sectoral focus recognises that, nationally, agriculture has been identified as the principal source of fine sediment loss to the aquatic environment. Two estimates of modern ‘background’ sediment loss, based on paleolimnological evidence, were used in the analysis; the target modern ‘background’ (TMBSDR) and maximum modern ‘background’ (MMBSDR) sediment delivery to rivers. For individual (n = 4485) non-coastal water bodies, the sediment ‘gap’ in excess of TMBSDR and MMBSDR, due to current land cover, cropping and stocking, was estimated to range up to 1368 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ (median 61 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and 1321 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ (median 19 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), respectively. The respective ranges in conjunction with current land cover, cropping and stocking but corrected for the potential impact of on-farm sediment mitigation measures were up to 1315 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ (median 50 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and 1269 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ (median 8 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Multiplication of the estimates of excess sediment loss corrected for current measure uptake, above TMBSDR and MMBSDR, with estimated maximum unit damage costs for the detrimental impacts of sediment pollution on ecosystem goods and services, suggested respective water body ranges up to 495 £ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and 478 £ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Nationally, the total loss of sediment in excess of TMBSDR was estimated at 1,389,818 t yr⁻¹ equating to maximum environmental damage costs of £523 M yr⁻¹, due to current structural land use, compared to 1,225,440 t yr⁻¹ equating to maximum damage costs of £462 M yr⁻¹ due the uptake of on-farm sediment control measures. The corresponding total loss of sediment in excess of MMBSDR was estimated at 1,038,764 t yr⁻¹ equating to maximum damage costs of £462 M yr⁻¹, compared with 890,146 t yr⁻¹ and £335 M yr⁻¹ correcting excess agricultural sediment loss for current implementation of abatement measures supported by policy instruments. This work suggests that the current uptake of sediment control measures on farms across England and Wales is delivering limited benefits in terms of reducing loadings to rivers and associated environmental damage costs.     

Modeling increased demand of energy for air conditioners and consequent CO2 emissions to minimize health risks due to climate change in India

Developing countries situated mostly in latitudes that are projected for the highest climate change impact in the twenty-first century will also have a predictable increase in demand on energy sources. India presents us with a unique opportunity to study this phenomenon in a large developing country. This study finds that climate adaptation policies of India should consider the significance of air conditioners (A/Cs) in mitigation of human vulnerability due to unpredictable weather events such as heat waves. However, the energy demand due to air conditioning usage alone will be in the range of an extra ～750,000 GWh to ～1,350,000 GWh with a 3.7 °C increase in surface temperatures under different population scenarios and increasing incomes by the year 2100. We project that residential A/C usage by 2100 will result in CO₂ emissions of 592 Tg to 1064 Tg. This is significant given that India's total contribution to global CO₂ emissions in 2009 was measured at 1670 Tg and country's residential and commercial electricity consumption in 2007 was estimated at 145,000 GWh.     

Differentiation of countries’ future commitments in a post-2012 climate regime: An assessment of the “South–North Dialogue” Proposal

The “South–North Dialogue” Proposal, developed by researchers from developing and industrialised countries, outlined equitable approaches to mitigation. These approaches were based on the criteria of responsibility, capability and potential to mitigate, and include deep cuts in industrialised (Annex I) countries and differentiated mitigation commitments for developing countries. This paper quantitatively analyses the implications of the proposal for countries’ emissions and costs. The analysis focuses on a “political willingness” scenario and four stabilisation scenarios. The analysis shows that stringent stabilisation targets imply that many developing countries would have to take on quantitative mitigation obligations by 2030, even when the Annex I countries take on ambitious mitigation commitments far beyond the Kyoto obligations. The “political willingness scenario” will probably not suffice to limit a warming of the Earth's atmosphere to below 2 °C.     

‘Formiguers’, a historical system of soil fertilization (and biochar production?)

‘Formiguers’ are structures similar to charcoal-kilns that were used to burn piles of biomass with a soil cover in order to produce fertilizers for agricultural plots. Their use was widespread in Spain up to the 1960s and similar structures are still in use in India and Bhutan. Our objective was to study the effects of the ‘formiguer’ on its soil cover in terms of changes in nutrient availability. We built an experimental 0.5-m³ ‘formiguer’ with 68 kg of plant material with a 12% moisture content and 550 kg of soil with a 16% moisture content. The content of organic carbon and mineral nitrogen decreased in the soil cover as a result of burning. After aerobic incubation all samples had a similar content of mineral nitrogen. Exchangeable potassium and total and labile phosphorus increased after burning as a result of the soil cover mixing with the ashes of the biomass as the ‘formiguer’ collapsed during burning in the first two cases, while mineralization of organic compounds produced the increase in labile phosphorus. This input of nutrients for the agricultural plots occurs at a net loss of 0.4–2.5 Mg organic C ha^?1. Very small amounts of charcoal were produced and this may be the reason for their low occurrence in soils today. Burning of ‘formiguers’ required the harvest of vegetation from a considerable forest area (10–25 ha per hectare of agricultural land) and represented a significant disturbance of these systems.     

Metal-cored arc welding process for joining of modified 9Cr-1Mo (P91) steel

In the present work, metal-cored arc welding process was used for joining of modified 9Cr-1Mo (P91) steel. Metal-cored arc welding process is characterized by high productivity, slag-free process, defect-free weldments that can be produced with ease, and good weldability. Toughness is essential in welds of P91 steel during hydro-testing of vessels. There is a minimum required toughness of 47 J for welds that has to be met as per the EN1557:1997 specification. In the present study, welds were completed using two kinds of shielding gases, each composition being 80% Argon + 20% CO₂, and pure argon respectively. Microstructural characterization and toughness evaluation of welds were done in the as – weld, PWHT at 760 °C – 2 h and PWHT at 760 °C – 5 h conditions. The pure argon shielded welds (‘A2’ and ‘B2’) have higher toughness than 80% argon + 20% CO₂ shielded welds (‘A1’ and ‘B1’). Pure argon shielded welds show less microinclusion content with low volume fraction of δ-ferrite (<2%) phase. Themo-calc windows (TCW) was used for the prediction of equilibrium critical transformation points for the composition of the welds studied. With increase in post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) duration from 2 h to 5 h, there was increase in toughness of welds above 47 J. Using metal-cored arc welding process, it was possible to achieve the required toughness of more than 47 J after PWHT at 760 °C – 2 h in P91 steel welds.     

Streamwater phosphorus and nitrogen across a gradient in rural–agricultural land use intensity

This paper provides an overview of the impacts of rural land use on lowland streamwater phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) concentrations and P loads and sources in lowland streams. Based on weekly water quality monitoring, the impacts of agriculture on streamwater P and N hydrochemistry were examined along a gradient of rural–agricultural land use, by monitoring three sets of ‘paired’ (near-adjacent) rural headwater streams, draining catchments which are representative of the major geology, soil types and rural/agricultural land use types of large areas of lowland Britain. The magnitude and timing of P and N inputs were assessed and the load apportionment model (LAM) was applied to quantify ‘continuous’ (point) source and ‘flow-dependent’ (diffuse) source contributions of P to these headwater streams. The results show that intensive arable farming had only a comparatively small impact on streamwater total phosphorus (TP loads), with highly consistent stream diffuse-source TP yields of ca. 0.5 kg-P ha^?1 year^?1 for the predominantly arable catchments with both clay and loam soils, compared with 0.4 kg-P ha^?1 year^?1 for low agricultural intensity grassland/woodland on similar soil types. In contrast, intensive livestock farming on heavy clay soils resulted in dramatically higher stream diffuse-source TP yields of 2 kg-P ha^?1 year^?1. The streamwater hydrochemistry of the livestock-dominated catchment was characterised by high concentrations of organic P, C and N fractions, associated with manure and slurry sources. Across the study sites, the impacts of human settlement were clearly identifiable with effluent inputs from septic tanks and sewage treatment works resulting in large-scale increases in soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) loads and concentrations. At sites heavily impacted by rural settlements, SRP concentrations under baseflow conditions reached several hundred μg-P L^?1. Load apportionment modelling demonstrated significant ‘point-source’ P inputs to the streams even where there were no sewage treatment works within the upstream catchment. This indicates that, even in sparsely populated rural headwater catchments, small settlements and even isolated groups of houses are sufficient to cause significant nutrient pollution and that septic tank systems serving these rural communities are actually operating as multiple point sources, rather than a diffuse input.     

Policy implementation of catchment-scale flood risk management: Learning from Scotland and England

Recent years have seen a gradual adoption of a “catchment-scale” approach to flood risk management into European policy-making which, amongst other objectives, promotes rural land use change to reduce flood risk. While some exploratory studies of land managers’ attitudes exist, research is lacking on how public policies can be mobilised locally to implement these ideas. Two local initiatives were analysed in the transboundary River Tweed basin in Scotland and England during which public authorities negotiated with land managers. A combination of documents (N = 21) and interviews (N = 63) forms the basis of the data analysed. The results showed that implementation is highly dependent on the local policy framework, the activities of implementers, and land managers’ responses to (combination of) policy instruments. Several factors were identified influencing implementation such as devolution arrangements (i.e. from national to regional/local), the level of local interest on flood risk, local attitudes to compromise and collaboration, available policy instruments, and the existence of participatory catchment organisations. With limited scope for stand-alone regulatory action or funding in the short term, synergies and measures promoting co-benefits in flood risk management should be further sought in the Water Framework Directive River Basin Management Plans, as well as in cross-compliance and the new agri-environment-climate strategies of the common agricultural policy.     

Comparison of registry methodologies for reporting carbon benefits for afforestation projects in the United States

No mandatory national program currently exists to mitigate climate change in the US Consequently, voluntary programs and mandatory state-level programs are multiplying to allow users to register emission-offset activities, creating multiple often contradictory measurement and recording standards.For the land use sector we examined a hypothetical project: tree planting on rangelands in California. We apply four sets of protocols from the following registries – the California Climate Action Registry, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the USDOE 1605(b) program – and compare the results to the ‘actual’ net sequestration and also briefly compare them to international protocols such as the relevant Clean Development Mechanism methodology. Carbon in land use can be estimated accurately, precisely and cost-effectively, but to achieve this requires good protocols. As predicted, the consequence of applying different protocols for reportable carbon was significant. The choice of measurement pools, the handling of the baseline and the issue of uncertainty led to a baseline estimate of 0–66,690 t CO₂-e, and final sequestered carbon totals (after 60 years) that varied between 118,044 and 312,685 t CO₂-e—a factor of 2.5 difference. The amount reported under 1605(b) is the closest to “actual” with CCX entity reporting the most divergent.     

The social and spatial distribution of temperature-related health impacts from urban heat island reduction policies

Cities are developing innovative strategies to combat climate change but there remains little knowledge of the winners and losers from climate-adaptive land use planning and design. We examine the distribution of health benefits associated with land use policies designed to increase vegetation and surface reflectivity in three US metropolitan areas: Atlanta, GA, Philadelphia, PA, and Phoenix, AZ. Projections of population and land cover at the census tract scale were combined with climate models for the year 2050 at 4 km × 4 km resolution to produce future summer temperatures which were input into a comparative risk assessment framework for the temperature-mortality relationship. The findings suggest disparities in the effectiveness of urban heat management strategies by age, income, and race. We conclude that, to be most protective of human health, urban heat management must prioritize areas of greatest population vulnerability.     

Risky business: Engaging the public on sea level rise and inundation

To examine whether U.S. public opinion may become as sharply polarized on adaptation responses as it has been on mitigation policies, we surveyed a sample of urban coastal residents in Maryland (n = 378). We then tested the impact of a community deliberative event (n = 40) with small-group sea level rise discussions as a depolarization strategy. Cultural worldviews which contribute to politically polarized beliefs about climate were predictive of perceptions of sea level rise risk. Living close to flooding hazards also significantly predicted respondents’ perceptions of household or neighborhood risks, but not of risks to the entire county. The event significantly increased topic knowledge among all participants and, among those with a worldview predisposing them to lower risk perceptions, significantly increased problem identification and concern about impacts. These results suggest small-group deliberation focused on local problem-solving may be an effective tool for reducing the polarizing effects of cultural worldviews on decision-making.     

Assessing the likelihood of catchments across England and Wales meeting ‘good ecological status’ due to sediment contributions from agricultural sources

This paper is concerned with estimating the gap between current and compliant losses of suspended sediment from the agricultural sector in England and Wales in relation to achieving ‘good ecological status’ (GES) in freshwaters by 2015. Given the emphasis on strategic information for policy support, the assessment necessitated a novel modelling methodology for predicting mean annual total suspended sediment loads (SSL) and time-weighted suspended sediment concentrations (SSC). GES was defined as the guideline annual average SSC of 25 mg l⁻¹ cited by the EC Freshwater Fish Directive. Total suspended sediment inputs to all rivers across England and Wales were estimated using a national sediment source apportionment exercise detailing the contributions from diffuse agricultural and urban sources, eroding channel banks and point sources. The total SSL estimated for each Water Framework Directive (WFD) sub-catchment (n = 7816) across England and Wales was used in conjunction with predicted flow exceedance to derive corresponding SSC time-exceedance plots. Spatial variations in modelled time-averaged SSC compared well with available monitoring data. Given the focus upon national scale, the predictive power of the SSC model (r² = 33%) was considered realistic. The modelling approach provided a means of mapping the probability of annual average SSC being less than the 25 mg l⁻¹ standard for GES due to sediment losses from all potential, as well as from agricultural sources only. In order to meet GES in non-compliant catchments, suspended sediment losses from diffuse agricultural sources will typically need to be reduced by up to 20%, but by as much as 80% in isolated cases.     

Evaluation of two soil carbon models using two Kenyan long term experimental datasets

RothC and Century are two of the most widely used soil organic matter (SOM) models. However there are few examples of specific parameterisation of these models for environmental conditions in East Africa. The aim of this study was therefore, to evaluate the ability of RothC and the Century to estimate changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) resulting from varying land use/management practices for the climate and soil conditions found in Kenya. The study used climate, soils and crop data from a long term experiment (1976–2001) carried out at The Kabete site at The Kenya National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL, located in a semi-humid region) and data from a 13 year experiment carried out in Machang’a (Embu District, located in a semi-arid region). The NARL experiment included various fertiliser (0, 60 and 120 kg of N and P₂O₅ ha⁻¹), farmyard manure (FYM—5 and 10 t ha⁻¹) and plant residue treatments, in a variety of combinations. The Machang’a experiment involved a fertiliser (51 kg N ha⁻¹) and a FYM (0, 5 and 10 t ha⁻¹) treatment with both monocropping and intercropping. At Kabete both models showed a fair to good fit to measured data, although Century simulations for treatments with high levels of FYM were better than those without. At the Machang’a site with monocrops, both models showed a fair to good fit to measured data for all treatments. However, the fit of both models (especially RothC) to measured data for intercropping treatments at Machang’a was much poorer. Further model development for intercrop systems is recommended. Both models can be useful tools in soil C predictions, provided time series of measured soil C and crop production data are available for validating model performance against local or regional agricultural crops.     

Moving towards ambitious climate policies: Monetised health benefits from improved air quality could offset mitigation costs in Europe

Air quality and related health effects are not only affected by policies directly addressed at air pollution but also by other environmental strategies such as climate mitigation. This study addresses how different climate policy pathways indirectly bear upon air pollution in terms of improved human health in Europe. To this end, we put in perspective mitigation costs and monetised health benefits of reducing PM_2.5 (particles less than 2.5 μm in diameter) and ozone concentrations.Air quality in Europe and related health impacts were assessed using a comprehensive modelling chain, based on global and regional climate and chemistry-transport models together with a health impact assessment tool. This allows capturing both the impact of climate policy on emissions of air pollutants and the geophysical impact of climate change on air quality.Results are presented for projections at the 2050 horizon, for a set of consistent air pollution and climate policy scenarios, combined with population data from the UN's World Population Prospects, and are expressed in terms of morbidity and mortality impacts of PM_2.5 and ozone pollution and their monetised damage equivalent.The analysis shows that enforcement of current European air quality policies would effectively reduce health impacts from PM_2.5 in Europe even in the absence of climate policies (life years lost from the exposure to PM_2.5 decrease by 78% between 2005 and 2050 in the reference scenario), while impacts for ozone depend on the ambition level of international climate policies. A move towards stringent climate policies on a global scale, in addition to limiting global warming, creates co-benefits in terms of reduced health impacts (68% decrease in life years lost from the exposure to PM_2.5 and 85% decrease in premature deaths from ozone in 2050 in the mitigation scenario relative to the reference scenario) and air pollution cost savings (77%) in Europe. These co-benefits are found to offset at least 85% of the additional cost of climate policy in this region.     

The role of indicator choice in quantifying the threat of atmospheric ammonia to the ‘Natura 2000’ network

New ‘critical levels’ (CLE) for assessing the effects of atmospheric ammonia on sensitive ecosystems have recently been adopted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) of 1 and 3 [2–4] μg NH₃ m^?3 of ambient air (including water vapour), for different species sensitivities and their associated habitats. Based on these values, we examined how indicator choice affects estimates of stock-at-risk in the European ‘Natura 2000’ network.We applied an atmospheric model, FRAME, to estimate surface air concentrations of ammonia at 5 km and 1 km resolution for the UK network of Natura sites, optionally including calibration with the National Ammonia Monitoring Network. As a base indicator, we estimated the overall percentage area of the UK Natura network that exceeded critical level thresholds (‘Area Weighted Indicator’, AWI). We compared this with an alternative approach, estimating the percentage number of Natura sites where the critical level was exceeded (‘Designation Weighted Indicator’, DWI), which we consider more relevant under the terms of the Habitats Directive.Using the AWI (with 1 km calibrated ammonia), we estimate that 11.2%, 1.3% and 0.2% area of the UK Natura network exceeds the critical level values of 1, 2 and 3 μg NH₃ m^?3, respectively. By contrast, using the DWI, the equivalent exceedances are 59.1%, 23.6% and 9.8%. The highest regional exceedance (DWI, critical level 1 μg NH₃ m^?3) was calculated for England (91.9% exceeded), and the lowest for Scotland (24.0% exceeded). High resolution maps show that the larger threat estimated by the DWI approach is explained by (i) an anti-correlation between NH₃ concentration and Natura site area and (ii) the fact that exceedance over part of a Natura site is considered to represent a threat to the integrity of the whole site.     

The precautionary principle and environmental persistence: prioritizing the decision-making process

There is continuing activity among regulatory bodies to assess and prioritize chemicals used in commerce based on their potential to be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT). Reliable data needed to perform a PBT hazard or risk assessment, however, may not always be readily available. Consequently concern may arise regarding the potential for false positives and false negatives to be wrongly classified. In order to more effectively classify substances, adequate time is needed to acquire the necessary data to support the overall PBT assessment. Of particular interest is the question of whether or not restrictions on the use and manufacture of a substance can be delayed to allow time to conduct the necessary field and laboratory studies of a particular substance? To address this question it is demonstrated that chemical partitioning property and environmental persistence information can be effectively combined to provide guidance for regulatory priority setting. Specifically, it is argued that substances that have media specific half-life values that exceed the regulatory threshold value for persistence under the EU chemicals REACH program, for example, are more likely to have a ‘legacy’ associated with their use when the log K_OA > 8, and when they are emitted to air or soil. Thus, precautionary actions limiting the use and manufacture of the substance may be warranted. Whereas substances emitted to air with log K_OA < 6 and log K_AW > ?2 are less likely to have a ‘legacy’ associated with their use. Thus precautionary actions in the absence of data may not be warranted.     

Quantification and valuation of ecosystem services in diverse production systems for informed decision-making

The empirical evidence of decline in ecosystem services (ES) over the last century has reinforced the call for ES quantification, monitoring and valuation. Usually, only provisioning ES are marketable and accounted for, whereas regulating, supporting and cultural ES are typically non-marketable and overlooked in connection with land-use or management decisions. The objective of this study was to quantify and value total ES (marketable and non-marketable) of diverse production systems and management intensities in Denmark to provide a basis for decisions based on economic values. The production systems were conventional wheat (Cwheat), a combined food and energy (CFE) production system and beech forest. Marketable (provisioning ES) and non-marketable ES (supporting, regulating and cultural) ES were quantified by dedicated on-site field measurements supplemented by literature data. The value of total ES was highest in CFE (US$ 3142 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) followed by Cwheat (US$ 2767 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and beech forest (US$ 2328 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). As the production system shifted from Cwheat - CFE–beech, the marketable ES share decreased from 88% to 75% in CFE and 55% in beech whereas the non-marketable ES share increased to 12%, 25% and 45% of total ES in Cwheat, CFE and beech respectively, demonstrating production system and management effects on ES values. Total ES valuation, disintegrated into marketable and non-marketable share is a potential way forward to value ES and ‘tune’ our production systems for enhanced ES provision. Such monetary valuation can be used by policy makers and land managers as a tool to assess ES value and monitor the sustained flow of ES. The application of ES-based valuation for land management can enhance ES provision for maintaining the productive capacity of the land without depending on the external fossil-based fertilizer and chemical input.     

Carbon stocks in Swiss agricultural soils predicted by land-use,soil characteristics,and altitude

Effects of agricultural land-use and land-use change on soil organic carbon (SOC) pools play an important role in the mitigation of the global greenhouse effect. To estimate these effects, baseline SOC data for individual regions or countries are needed. The aim of this study was to quantify current SOC stocks in Swiss agricultural soils, to identify meaningful predictors for SOC, and to estimate historical SOC losses. SOC stocks in mineral soils were estimated from combined georeferenced data for land-use, topography, and profile data (n=544) from soil surveys. Mean SOC density in the layer 0–20 cm ranged between 40.6±8.9 t ha⁻¹ (±95% confidence interval (CI)) for arable land and 50.7±12.2 t ha⁻¹ for favourable permanent grassland, and in the layer 0–100 cm from 62.9±15.2 t ha⁻¹ for unfavourable grassland to 117.4±29.8 t ha⁻¹ for temporary grasslands (leys). SOC stocks in organic soils were quantified separately for intact and cultivated peatlands using data from peatland inventories and current SOC densities calculated from average peat decay rates. Organic soils account for less than 3% of the total area but store about 28% (47.2±7.3 Mt) of the total SOC stock of 170±17 Mt. Land-use type, clay content, and altitude (serving as a climate proxy for grassland soils at higher altitudes) were identified as main SOC predictors in mineral soils. Clay content explained up to 44% of the variability in SOC concentrations in the fine earth of arable soils, but was not significantly related to SOC in grassland soils at higher altitudes. SOC concentration under permanent grassland increases linearly with altitude, but because soil depth and stone content limit carbon storage in alpine grassland soils, no relationship was found between altitude and SOC stock. A preliminary estimate suggested that about 16% of the national SOC stock has been lost historically due to peatland cultivation, urbanisation, and deforestation. It seems unlikely that future changes in agricultural practices could compensate for this historical SOC loss in Swiss agricultural soils.