Economic assessment of the negative impacts of ozone on crop yields and forest production. A case study of the estate Ostads Säteri in southwestern Sweden

Ground level ozone concentrations, in combination with the prevailing climate, at the estate Ostads S?teri in southwestern Sweden were estimated to reduce the yield of wheat and potato ranging between 5% and 10%. Occasionally, in years with the highest ozone concentrations and/or climatic conditions favoring high rates of ozone uptake to the leaves, yield loss levels above 10% may occur. Based on simple extrapolation, these ozone-induced reductions of crop yields at Ostads S?teri represent a potential total annual yield loss in Sweden in the range of 24.5 million Euro for wheat and 7.3 million Euro for potato, respectively. A simulation of forest growth at Ostad S?teri predicted that prevailing mean ozone exposure during 1993-2003 had the potential to reduce forest growth by 2.2% and the economic return of forest production by 2.6%. Using this value for extrapolation to the national level, the potential annual economic loss for Sweden due to negative impacts of ozone on forest production would be in the range of 56 million Euro (2004 prices).     

Influence of air humidity on sampling efficiency of some solid adsorbents used for sampling organics from work-room air

The influence of air humidity on the sampling efficiency of Amberlite XAD porous polymers and activated charcoal was studied by determining the recovery of various organics at 20% and 85% relative humidity. The sampling efficiency of XAD-7 was found to decrease with increasing relative humidity, while the sampling efficiency of XAD-2 and activated charcoal was relatively unaffected for the compounds studied. Activated charcoal had a greater capacity than Amberlite XAD for several types of compounds, however.     

Air pollution impact on Swedish forests-present evidence and future development

Research during the last five years has provided evidence that there is a long-term influence of air pollutants on forest ecosystems also in the southern parts of North Europe. High loads of acidity, sulphur and nitrogen affect soil conditions, trees as well as other organisms.In South and West Sweden changes in soil acidity (pH) have been registered during the last 60 years. The changes not only occur in the humus layer, but also in the lower part of the mineral soil. These latter changes cannot be explained without the action of strong acids originating from anthropogenic air pollution.Losses of elements like magnesium, calcium and potassium occur and phosphorus become less available to plants. An increased demand for plant mutrients is a consequence of the increased fall-out of nitrogen compounds. Nutrient imbalances of trees seem to be the result. Increased sensitivity to frost and drought as well as insects and pathogens is expected.The increased soil acidity and the eutrophication of soils caused by the continued input of nitrogen contributes to changes in plant communities.If we assume that there are no changes in deposition, land-use and management of the forests in SW Sweden, the better forest soils (brown forest soils) will have a continued acidification of humus and mineral soil layers resulting in high levels of aluminium and low levels of calcium. This will create a critical situation for roots and mycorrhiza. Soils that are already acid may not become more acidified, but will still be subject to losses of essential elements.Critical deposition levels or loads of acids (hydrogen ions) and nitrogen rendering no further deterioration of soils and leaching have been set to 0.1–0.2 keq·ha^-1yr^-1 for S Scandinavia (present level 1 keq·ha^-1yr^-1). For nitrogen the critical load is 10–20 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 (present range 10–25 kg ha^-1yr^-1).Contribution from Fourth World Wilderness Congress — Acid Rain Symposium, Denver (Estes Park), Colorado, September 11–18, 1987.     

Intraspecific variation in a predator affects community structure and cascading trophic interactions

Intraspecific phenotypic variation in ecologically important traits is widespread and important for evolutionary processes, but its effects on community and ecosystem processes are poorly understood. We use life history differences among populations of alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, to test the effects of intraspecific phenotypic variation in a predator on pelagic zooplankton community structure and the strength of cascading trophic interactions. We focus on the effects of differences in (1) the duration of residence in fresh water (either seasonal or year-round) and (2) differences in foraging morphology, both of which may strongly influence interactions between alewives and their prey. We measured zooplankton community structure, algal biomass, and spring total phosphorus in lakes that contained landlocked, anadromous, or no alewives. Both the duration of residence and the intraspecific variation in foraging morphology strongly influenced zooplankton community structure. Lakes with landlocked alewives had small-bodied zooplankton year-round, and lakes with no alewives had large-bodied zooplankton year-round. In contrast, zooplankton communities in lakes with anadromous alewives cycled between large-bodied zooplankton in the winter and spring and small-bodied zooplankton in the summer. In summer, differences in feeding morphology of alewives caused zooplankton biomass to be lower and body size to be smaller in lakes with anadromous alewives than in lakes with landlocked alewives. Furthermore, intraspecific variation altered the strength of the trophic cascade caused by alewives. Our results demonstrate that intraspecific phenotypic variation of predators can regulate community structure and ecosystem processes by modifying the form and strength of complex trophic interactions.     

Effectiveness of short-term knowledge communication on Baltic Sea marine genetic biodiversity to public managers

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of two forms of short-term knowledge communication—lectures and group deliberations—on public managers’ policy beliefs regarding genetic biodiversity in the Baltic Sea. Genetic biodiversity is a key component of biological variation, but despite scientific knowledge and far-reaching political goals, genetic biodiversity remains neglected in marine management. Previous research highlights lack of knowledge among managers as one explanation to the implementation deficit. This multidisciplinary study builds on the identified need for an improved knowledge transfer between science and ongoing management. A basic knowledge package on genetic biodiversity in the Baltic Sea was presented as either a lecture or a deliberative group discussion to two separate samples of public managers who are involved in Baltic Sea and other biodiversity management at the regional level in Sweden. The empirical findings show that the communicated information has an impact on the public managers’ beliefs on genetic biodiversity of the Baltic Sea. Lectures seem more efficient to transfer knowledge on this theme. Those who received information through a lecture strengthen their confidence in area protection as a management tool to conserve genetic diversity. They were also more convinced of the obligation of authorities at national and regional level to take on larger responsibility for genetic conservation than those managers who participated in a deliberative discussion.

     

Integrating the Social Dimension in Remediation Decision‐Making: State of the Practice and Way Forward

Sustainable remediation guidance, frameworks, and case studies have been published at an international level illustrating established sustainability assessment methodologies and successful implementation. Though the terminology and indicators evaluated may differ, one common theme among international organizations and regulatory bodies is more comprehensive and transparent methods are needed to evaluate the social sphere of sustainable remediation. Based on a literature review and stakeholder input, this paper focused on three main areas: (1) status quo of how the social element of sustainable remediation is assessed among various countries and organizations; (2) methodologies to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate societal impacts; and (3) findings from this research, including challenges, obstacles, and a path forward. In conclusion, several existing social impact assessment techniques are readily available for use by the remediation community, including rating and scoring system evaluations, enhanced cost benefit analysis, surveys/interviews, social network analysis, and multicriteria decision analysis. In addition, a list of 10 main social indicator categories were developed: health and safety, economic stimulation, stakeholder collaboration, benefits community at large, alleviate undesirable community impacts, equality issues, value of ecosystem services and natural resources, risk‐based land management and remedial solutions, regional and global societal impacts, and contributions to other policies. Evaluation of the social element of remedial activities is not without challenges and knowledge gaps. Identification of obstacles and gaps during the project planning process is essential to defining sustainability objectives and choosing the appropriate tool and methodology to conduct an assessment. Challenges identified include meaningful stakeholder engagement, risk perception of stakeholders, and trade‐offs among the various triple bottom line dimensions. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Phenological tracking enables positive species responses to climate change

Earlier spring phenology observed in many plant species in recent decades provides compelling evidence that species are already responding to the rising global temperatures associated with anthropogenic climate change. There is great variability among species, however, in their phenological sensitivity to temperature. Species that do not phenologically "track" climate change may be at a disadvantage if their growth becomes limited by missed interactions with mutualists, or a shorter growing season relative to earlier-active competitors. Here, we set out to test the hypothesis that phenological sensitivity could be used to predict species performance in a warming climate, by synthesizing results across terrestrial warming experiments. We assembled data for 57 species across 24 studies where flowering or vegetative phenology was matched with a measure of species performance. Performance metrics included biomass, percent cover, number of flowers, or individual growth. We found that species that advanced their phenology with warming also increased their performance, whereas those that did not advance tended to decline in performance with warming. This indicates that species that cannot phenologically "track" climate may be at increased risk with future climate change, and it suggests that phenological monitoring may provide an important tool for setting future conservation priorities.