Cost–benefit analysis of beach-cast harvest: Closing land-marine nutrient loops in the Baltic Sea region

Harvesting beach-cast can help mitigate marine eutrophication by closing land-marine nutrient loops and provide a blue biomass raw material for the bioeconomy. Cost–benefit analysis was applied to harvest activities during 2009–2018 on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, highlighting benefits such as nutrient removal from the marine system and improved recreational opportunities as well as costs of using inputs necessary for harvest. The results indicate that the activities entailed a net gain to society, lending substance to continued funding for harvests on Gotland and assessments of upscaling of harvest activities to other areas in Sweden and elsewhere. The lessons learnt from the considerable harvest experience on Gotland should be utilized for developing concrete guidelines for carrying out sustainable harvest practice, paying due attention to local conditions but also to what can be generalized to a wider national and international context.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01641-8.     

Changes versus homeostasis in alpine and sub-alpine vegetation over three decades in the sub-arctic

Plant species distributions are expected to shift and diversity is expected to decline as a result of global climate change, particularly in the Arctic where climate warming is amplified. We have recorded the changes in richness and abundance of vascular plants at Abisko, sub-Arctic Sweden, by re-sampling five studies consisting of seven datasets; one in the mountain birch forest and six at open sites. The oldest study was initiated in 1977-1979 and the latest in 1992. Total species number increased at all sites except for the birch forest site where richness decreased. We found no general pattern in how composition of vascular plants has changed over time. Three species, Calamagrostis lapponica, Carex vaginata and Salix reticulata, showed an overall increase in cover/frequency, while two Equisetum taxa decreased. Instead, we showed that the magnitude and direction of changes in species richness and composition differ among sites.     

Predation risk and the territory value of cover: an experimental study

In an experiment on territorial brown trout (Salmo trutta), we addressed the novel hypothesis that protective cover increases the value of a territory in relation to the perceived level of predation risk. We predicted that territory holders should invest more resources defending territories with cover than territories without cover, and that defence should increase as predation risk increases. First, trout were allowed to establish ownership in territories with or without overhead cover. Second, predation risk was manipulated by simulating aerial predator attacks in half of the territories of each type, whereupon the preference for cover was estimated. Third, owners of the four types of territories were staged in dyadic contests against size-matched intruders. Territory owners showed a preference for cover, which increased further after simulated predator attacks. In subsequent contests, conflicts over territories with cover were settled faster than conflicts over territories without cover, which may suggest that the value of cover increases the motivational asymmetry between owner and intruder. Consistent with our hypothesis, owners of territories with cover were much more aggressive if they had been subjected to predator attacks the day before the conflict. These results suggest that territory owners are able to estimate the value of protective cover in response to variation in the level of predation risk in the habitat.Communicated by J. Krause     

Perspectives on Local Environmental Security, Exemplified by a Rural South African Village

This paper analyzes the human–nature interaction in a village in rural South Africa. It discusses preconditions, perceptions, and consequences of natural resource use, and places these findings into a regional and historical context. Applying an interdisciplinary perspective, the study uses interviews, questionnaires, remote sensing, and participatory mapping to analyze land cover changes and local perceptions of the environment. The study area is located in a former homeland (Transkei), a setting where well-recorded conflicts in the human–nature sphere have previously been triggered by population pressure, apartheid policies, and other historical, political, and social reasons. A small-scale and subjective conceptualization of environmental security is used as an approach to analyze local livelihood strategies in a selected village. The results indicate that the environment is not the highest priority in local survival strategies. Instead, formal and informal jobs and governmental grants are the most important security strategies. There are thus no major conflicts resulting from the interaction between the local population and the natural resources in this specific area. Explanations to this pattern can partly be found in historical contexts, which include apartheid policies, re-localizations, and a system of migrant labor. The study also suggests that general truths about a region such as Transkei might be misleading in specific localities. For relevant and successful environmental management and development planning however, it is crucial that decision-makers be able to get a clear picture of local situations and adjust their plans accordingly.     

Does the energy labelling system for domestic tumble dryers serve its purpose?

Tumble dryers sold on the market today are labelled according to their energy efficiency. This labelling system has primarily two purposes: to guide buyers to a product with low energy use, lower cost and lower environmental impact and to encourage producers to develop even more energy-efficient products. Tumble dryers are optimized for their maximum capacity, which is used as the standard load for determining the energy label. Three different tumble dryers have been tested with different drying loads. Results indicate that all the tested tumble dryers have significantly lower energy efficiency when drying small loads. In order to encourage the development of tumble dryers with high energy efficiency at drying loads used in ordinary households, the standards for the energy labelling system should be revised.     

Methane emissions from macrophyte beach wrack on Baltic seashores

Beach wrack of marine macrophytes is a natural component of many beaches. To test if such wrack emits the potent greenhouse gas methane, field measurements were made at different seasons on beach wrack depositions of different ages, exposure, and distance from the water. Methane emissions varied greatly, from 0 to 176 mg CH₄-C m⁻² day⁻¹, with a clear positive correlation between emission and temperature. Dry wrack had lower emissions than wet. Using temperature data from 2016 to 2020, seasonal changes in fluxes were calculated for a natural wrack accumulation area. Such calculated average emissions were close to zero during winter, but peaked in summer, with very high emissions when daily temperatures exceeded 20 °C. We conclude that waterlogged beach wrack significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and that emissions might drastically increase with increasing global temperatures. When beach wrack is collected into heaps away from the water, the emissions are however close to zero.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-022-01774-4.     

Policy design for a multifunctional landscape

Landscapes consisting of several elements, such as wetlands and forests, are multifunctional in nature and produce both market and non-market goods. The need for policies arises from the existence of non-market ecosystem services that are not traded and thereby generally not subject to economic trade-offs in landowner decision making. An efficient incentive scheme for producing both types of goods would require policy designed for each non-market good. However, this may result in high transaction costs, possibly giving second-best solutions a comparative advantage when only one non-market good is regulated. This paper demonstrates that in the Hovran catchment area in mid Sweden, which produces the non-market goods water quality, biodiversity, and scenic beauty, compensation payments for biodiversity production alone provide almost maximum total net value of all market and non-market goods. On the other hand, payments for providing scenic beauty in the form of open landscape may result in lower total net value than no compensation payment at all, due to a negative impact on water quality.