| 1. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N., et al.
(författare)
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The PREDICTS database : a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:24, s. 4701-4735
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
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| 2. |
- Artaxo, Paulo, et al.
(författare)
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Tropical and Boreal Forest – Atmosphere Interactions : A Review
- 2022
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Ingår i: Tellus. Series B, Chemical and physical meteorology. - : Stockholm University Press. - 0280-6509 .- 1600-0889. ; 74:1, s. 24-163
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This review presents how the boreal and the tropical forests affect the atmosphere, its chemical composition, its function, and further how that affects the climate and, in return, the ecosystems through feedback processes. Observations from key tower sites standing out due to their long-term comprehensive observations: The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory in Central Amazonia, the Zotino Tall Tower Observatory in Siberia, and the Station to Measure Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations at Hyytiäla in Finland. The review is complemented by short-term observations from networks and large experiments.The review discusses atmospheric chemistry observations, aerosol formation and processing, physiochemical aerosol, and cloud condensation nuclei properties and finds surprising similarities and important differences in the two ecosystems. The aerosol concentrations and chemistry are similar, particularly concerning the main chemical components, both dominated by an organic fraction, while the boreal ecosystem has generally higher concentrations of inorganics, due to higher influence of long-range transported air pollution. The emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds are dominated by isoprene and monoterpene in the tropical and boreal regions, respectively, being the main precursors of the organic aerosol fraction.Observations and modeling studies show that climate change and deforestation affect the ecosystems such that the carbon and hydrological cycles in Amazonia are changing to carbon neutrality and affect precipitation downwind. In Africa, the tropical forests are so far maintaining their carbon sink.It is urgent to better understand the interaction between these major ecosystems, the atmosphere, and climate, which calls for more observation sites, providing long-term data on water, carbon, and other biogeochemical cycles. This is essential in finding a sustainable balance between forest preservation and reforestation versus a potential increase in food production and biofuels, which are critical in maintaining ecosystem services and global climate stability. Reducing global warming and deforestation is vital for tropical forests.
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| 3. |
- Bazilian, Morgan, et al.
(författare)
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Considering the energy, water and food nexus : Towards an integrated modelling approach
- 2011
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Ingår i: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 39:12, s. 7896-7906
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The areas of energy, water and food policy have numerous interwoven concerns ranging from ensuring access to services, to environmental impacts to price volatility. These issues manifest in very different ways in each of the three "spheres", but often the impacts are closely related. Identifying these interrelationships a priori is of great importance to help target synergies and avoid potential tensions. Systems thinking is required to address such a wide swath of possible topics. This paper briefly describes some of the linkages at a high-level of aggregation - primarily from a developing country perspective - and via case studies, to arrive at some promising directions for addressing the nexus. To that end, we also present the attributes of a modelling framework that specifically addresses the nexus, and can thus serve to inform more effective national policies and regulations. While environmental issues are normally the 'cohesive principle' from which the three areas are considered jointly, the enormous inequalities arising from a lack of access suggest that economic and security-related issues may be stronger motivators of change. Finally, consideration of the complex interactions will require new institutional capacity both in industrialised and developing countries.
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| 4. |
- Hansson, Linnea J., et al.
(författare)
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Autoplant—Autonomous Site Preparation and Tree Planting for a Sustainable Bioeconomy
- 2024
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Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI. - 1999-4907. ; 15:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable forestry requires efficient regeneration methods to ensure that new forests are established quickly. In Sweden, 99% of the planting is manual, but finding labor for this arduous work is difficult. An autonomous scarifying and planting machine with high precision, low environmental impact, and a good work environment would meet the needs of the forest industry. For two years, a collaborative group of researchers, manufacturers, and users (forest companies) has worked together on developing and testing a new concept for autonomous forest regeneration (Autoplant). The concept comprises several subsystems, i.e., regeneration and route planning, autonomous driving (path planning), new technology for forest regeneration with minimal environmental impact, automatic plant management, crane motion planning, detection of planting spots, and follow-up. The subsystems were tested separately and integrated together during a field test at a clearcut. The concept shows great potential, especially from an environmental perspective, with significantly reduced soil disturbances, from approximately 50% (the area proportion of the area disturbed by disc trenching) to less than 3%. The Autoplant project highlights the challenges and opportunities related to future development, e.g., the relation between machine cost and operating speed, sensor robustness in response to vibrations and weather, and precision in detecting the size and type of obstacles during autonomous driving and planting.
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| 5. |
- Hwang, Bernice, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of insect herbivory on biogeochemical cycling in broadleaved forests varies with temperature
- 2024
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 15:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Herbivorous insects alter biogeochemical cycling within forests, but the magnitude of these impacts, their global variation, and drivers of this variation remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap and help improve biogeochemical models, we established a global network of 74 plots within 40 mature, undisturbed broadleaved forests. We analyzed freshly senesced and green leaves for carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and silica concentrations, foliar production and herbivory, and stand-level nutrient fluxes. We show more nutrient release by insect herbivores at non-outbreak levels in tropical forests than temperate and boreal forests, that these fluxes increase strongly with mean annual temperature, and that they exceed atmospheric deposition inputs in some localities. Thus, background levels of insect herbivory are sufficiently large to both alter ecosystem element cycling and influence terrestrial carbon cycling. Further, climate can affect interactions between natural populations of plants and herbivores with important consequences for global biogeochemical cycles across broadleaved forests.
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| 6. |
- Lerink, Bas J. W., et al.
(författare)
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How much wood can we expect from European forests in the near future?
- 2023
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Ingår i: Forestry (London). - : Oxford University Press. - 0015-752X .- 1464-3626. ; 96:4, s. 434-447
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The demand for wood in Europe is expected to increase in the coming decades. However, any theoretical maximum supply will be affected by sustainability constraints, the motivations of forest owners and regional factors, such as incentives, species and assortments. However, the influence of these factors on supply is changeable. In this study, we quantify what might be realistically available as additional wood supply from currently existing European forests, based on a combination of results of the forest resource model EFISCEN-Space and a literature review of national supply projections. Wood mobilization scenarios for 10 representative Model Regions in Europe that assume forest owners and managers in the simulated regions will adapt their behaviour to alternative behaviour as recorded from other regions were projected with the EFISCEN-Space model. The realistic additional potential based on the literature review is 90 million m(3) yr(-1). This potential should be attainable within 10-20 years. However, the simulations in the Model Regions found potentials to be lower in 7 out of 10 cases as compared with the country they are located in. On average, the model regions reached less than half of the potential as compared with the literature review. This suggests that the realistic additional potential at the European scale may well be lower if all mobilization barriers are taken into account in more detail, but also highlights the uncertainty surrounding these estimates. We conclude from the analyses that although there are large differences in potential between regions and the analysis method employed, there are no 'hotspots' where a large pool of accessible wood can be quickly mobilized using existing infrastructure for nearby industries. An increase in harvest would therefore only be possible with a large effort that spans the whole chain, from forest owners' behaviour to capacity building, financial incentives and matching resources to harvesting capacity. The additionally available wood can most likely only be mobilized against higher marginal costs and will thus only become available in times of higher stumpage prices. The largest potential lies in privately owned forests which often have a fragmented ownership but will most likely be able to supply more wood, though mostly from deciduous species. In the long term (more than 20 years), additional wood, compared with the amounts we found for short term, can only be made available through investments in afforestation, forest restoration, improved forest management and more efficient use of raw material and recycled material.
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