Can current management maintain forest landscape multifunctionality in the Eastern Alps in Austria under climate change?

In Central Europe, management of forests for multiple ecosystem services (ES) has a long tradition and is currently drawing much attention due to increasing interest in non-timber services. In face of a changing climate and diverse ES portfolios, a key issue for forest managers is to assess vulnerability of ES provisioning. In a case study catchment of 250 ha in the Eastern Alps, the currently practiced uneven-aged management regime (BAU; business as usual) which is based on irregularly shaped patch cuts along skyline corridors was analysed under historic climate (represented by the period 1961–1990) and five transient climate change scenarios (period 2010–2110) and compared to an unmanaged scenario (NOM). The study addressed (1) the future provisioning of timber, carbon sequestration, protection against gravitational hazards, and nature conservation values under BAU management, (2) the effect of spatial scale (1, 5, 10 ha grain size) in mapping ES indicators and (3) how the spatial scale of ES assessment affects the simultaneous provision of several ES (i.e. multifunctionality). The analysis employed the PICUS forest simulation model in combination with novel landscape assessment tools. In BAU management, timber harvests were smaller than periodic increments. The resulting increase in standing stock benefitted carbon sequestration. In four out of five climate change scenarios, volume increment was increasing. With the exception of the mildest climate change scenario (+2.6 °C, no change in precipitation), all other analysed climate change scenarios reduced standing tree volume, carbon pools and number of large old trees, and increased standing deadwood volume due to an intensifying bark beetle disturbance regime. However, increases in deadwood and patchy canopy openings benefitted bird habitat quality. Under historic climate, the NOM regime showed better performance in all non-timber ES. Under climate change conditions, the damages from bark beetle disturbances increased more in NOM compared with BAU. Despite favourable temperature conditions in climate change scenarios, the share of admixed broadleaved species was not increasing in BAU management, mainly due to the heavy browsing pressure by ungulates. In NOM, it even decreased and mean tree age increased. Thus, in the long run NOM may enter a phase of lower resilience compared with BAU. Most ES indicators were fairly insensitive to the spatial scale of indicator mapping. ES indicators that were based on sparse tree and stand attributes such as rare admixed tree species, large snags and live trees achieved better results when mapped at larger scales. The share of landscape area with simultaneous provisioning of ES at reasonable performance levels (i.e. multifunctionality) decreased with increasing number of considered ES, while it increased with increasing spatial scale of the assessment. In the case study, landscape between 53 and 100 % was classified as multifunctional, depending on number and combinations of ES.     

Reconstruction of May–June precipitation in the territory of Bashkiria based on Scots pine tree-ring data from the Bugulma–Belebey Upland

The relationship between Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) tree-ring width and temperature and precipitation was analyzed in pine forests on the Bugulma–Belebey Upland, Bashkiria. A close correlation between tree-ring width and the current spring–summer precipitation was revealed. On this basis, a reconstruction of May–June precipitation in the period from 1860 to 1994 was made.     

Integrated climate governance in regions? Assessing Catalonia’s performance using the ‘climate learning ladder’

While developing climate change policies, regional governments and agents may have different purposes, follow different strategies, and use different appraisal procedures than those of national governments or other regions within the same countries. Climate change adds an additional source of problematisation to the functioning of traditional nation-states structures, not only at the international level but also with regard to their relations with sub-national agencies. This paper tests this hypothesis by analysing the emergence of climate strategies and capacities in region of Catalonia, north-east Spain, through the use of a novel integrated assessment tool called the ‘climate learning ladder’ that looks at four main dimensions: (1) how perceptions on climate change have evolved in this region since the beginning of the 1990s, (2) what type of incentives or systems of sanctions have triggered climate action, (3) what specific options are available or have been developed, and (4) what new institutional arrangements have been put in place during this time. Results indicate that although in Catalonia distinctive climate appraising processes have been tried, new measures have been implemented and new institutions have been created, not much of a distinctive progress regarding Integrated Climate Governance (ICG) has been achieved. Furthermore, this research shows that so far the main incentives which triggered climate action and innovation have been largely exogenous to the region.     

Non-specific physical symptoms and electromagnetic field exposure in the general population: Can we get more specific? A systematic review

ObjectiveA systematic review of observational studies was performed to address the strength of evidence for an association between actual and perceived exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and non-specific physical symptoms (NSPS) in the general population. To gain more insight into the magnitude of a possible association, meta-analyses were conducted.MethodsLiterature databases Medline, Embase, SciSearch, PsychInfo, Psyndex and Biosis and additional bibliographic sources such as reference sections of key publications were searched for the detection of studies published between January 2000 and April 2011.ResultsTwenty-two studies met our inclusion criteria. Qualitative assessment of the epidemiological evidence showed either no association between symptoms and higher EMF exposure or contradictory results. To strengthen our conclusions, random effects meta-analyses were performed, which produced the following results for the association with actual EMF; for symptom severity: Headache odds ratio (OR) = 1.65; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.88–3.08, concentration problems OR = 1.28; 95% CI = 0.56–2.94, fatigue-related problems OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 0.59–2.27, dizziness-related problems OR = 1.38; 95% CI = 0.92–2.07. For symptom frequency: headache OR = 1.01; 95% CI = 0.66–1.53, fatigue OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 0.60–2.07 and sleep problems OR = 1.18; 95% CI = 0.80–1.74. Associations between perceived exposure and NSPS were more consistently observed but a meta-analysis was not performed due to considerable heterogeneity between the studies.ConclusionsThis systematic review and meta-analysis finds no evidence for a direct association between frequency and severity of NSPS and higher levels of EMF exposure. An association with perceived exposure seems to exist, but evidence is still limited because of differences in conceptualization and assessment methods.     

Does temperature modify short-term effects of ozone on total mortality in 60 large eastern US communities? An assessment using the NMMAPS data

Many studies have indicated that ozone is associated with morbidity and mortality. A few studies have reported that the association is heterogeneous across seasons and geographic regions. However, little information is available on whether both temperature and geographic factors simultaneously modify the ozone effect. This study used a Poisson regression model to explore whether temperature modifies the effect of ozone on mortality in the 60 large eastern US communities during April to October, 1987-2000. Results show that temperature modified ozone-mortality associations and that such modification varied across geographic regions. In the northeast region, a 10-ppb increment in ozone was associated with an increase of 2.22% (95% posterior interval [PI]: 1.19%, 3.13%), 3.06% (95% PI: 2.21%, 3.76%) and 6.22% (95% PI: 4.77%, 7.56%) in mortality at low, moderate and high temperature level, respectively, while in the southeast region a 10-ppb increment in ozone was associated with an increase of 1.13% (95% PI:-1.12%, 3.18%), 1.50% (95% PI: 0.22%, 2.81%) and 1.29% (95% PI:-0.33%, 2.96%) in mortality, respectively. We concluded that temperature synergistically modified the ozone-mortality association in the northeast region, but such a pattern was not apparent in the southeast region. Thus, both temperature and geographic factors should be considered in the assessment of ozone effects.     

Can post-2015 sustainable development goals survive neoliberalism? A critical examination of the sustainable development–neoliberalism nexus in developing countries

The Rio+20 summit of the United Nations in Brazil in 2012 committed governments to formulate a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) that would be integrated into the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) following its expiration in 2015. This decision has pushed sustainable development agenda into the limelight of development once again. Meanwhile, we note that the development agenda of many developing countries has been dominated by neoliberal orientation driven by market reforms, social inequality, and a move towards enhancing the economic competitiveness of the supply side of the economy. In this paper, we discuss the relationship between neoliberal economic agenda and sustainable development. We do so by examining how neoliberal policies of privatisation, trade liberalisation and reduction in governments spending stand to affect the attainment of sustainable development ideals and their implications on the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. The paper then suggests that relying solely on the mechanisms of the market in governing and allocating environmental resources is necessarily insufficient and problematic and therefore calls for a new approach—one which goes beyond just recognising the interdependency among social, environmental and economic goals and places issues of equity and addressing unfavourable power relations at the centre of interventions aimed at achieving the ideals of sustainable development.