| 1. |
- Angelstam, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Sweden does not meet agreed national and international forest biodiversity targets : A call for adaptive landscape planning
- 2020
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Ingår i: Landscape and Urban Planning. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-2046 .- 1872-6062. ; 202
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Loss of forest naturalness challenges the maintenance of green infrastructure (GI) for biodiversity conservation and delivery of diverse ecosystem services. Using the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi target #11 with its quantitative and qualitative criteria as a normative model, we aim at supporting landscape planning through a pioneering assessment of the extent to which existing amounts and spatial distributions of High Conservation Value Forests (HCVFs) meet these criteria. Highly forested and committed to both intensive wood production and evidence-based conservation targets of 17–20% protected areas, Sweden was chosen as a case study. Specifically, we estimated the amount, regional representation, and functional connectivity of HCVF patches using virtual bird species, validated the results using field surveys of focal bird species, and assessed conservation target fulfilment. Finally, we linked these results to the regional distribution of forest land ownership categories, and stress that these provide different opportunities for landscape planning. Even if 31% of forest land in Sweden is officially protected, voluntarily set-aside, or not used for wood production now and in the future, we show that applying the representation and connectivity criteria of Aichi target #11 reduces this figure to an effective GI of 12%. When disaggregating the five ecoregions the effective GI was 54% for the sub-alpine forest ecoregion, which hosts EU's last intact forest landscapes, but only 3–8% in the other four ecoregions where wood production is predominant. This results in an increasing need for forest habitat and landscape restoration from north to south. The large regional variation in the opportunity for landscape planning stresses the need for a portfolio of different approaches. We stress the need to secure funding mechanisms for compensating land owners’ investments in GI, and to adapt both the approaches and spatial extents of landscape planning units to land ownership structure.
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| 2. |
- Blicharska, Malgorzata, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Shades of grey challenge practical application of the Cultural Ecosystem Services concept
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecosystem Services. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-0416 .- 2212-0416. ; 23, s. 55-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite rapid advances in development of the ecosystem services (ES) concept, challenges remain for its use in decision making. Cultural ES (CES) have proven particularly difficult to pin down and resultant “shades of grey” impede their consideration by decision-makers. This study undertakes a literature review of CES to highlight the shades of grey, briefly illustrates findings by reference to the Swedish mountain landscape, then addresses potential implications for practical decision making. The concept of CES is complex and difficult to operationalize. The root of confusion appears to be a lack of rigour in identifying CES, hindering identification of proper methods for determining: the ecosystem elements that underpin CES; the beneficiaries of CES and how they value benefits delivered; and how CES may vary in space and time. We conclude by proposing a framework of questions, which we relate to the ES cascade model, that is intended to help researchers and decision-makers to reflect when considering CES. Answers to the questions should enable decision-makers to prioritise policy development or implementation in relation to the differing needs of potentially competing beneficiaries and what needs to be done or not done to the ecosystem, where, when and by whom.
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| 3. |
- Bubnicki, Jakub W., et al.
(författare)
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The conservation value of forests can be predicted at the scale of 1 hectare
- 2024
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Ingår i: Communications Earth & Environment. - : Springer Nature. - 2662-4435. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To conserve biodiversity, it is imperative to maintain and restore sufficient amounts of functional habitat networks. Therefore, the location of the remaining forests with natural structures and processes over landscapes and large regions is a key objective. Here we integrated machine learning (Random Forest) and open landscape data to scan all forest landscapes in Sweden with a 1 ha spatial resolution with respect to the relative likelihood of hosting High Conservation Value Forests. Using independent spatial stand- and plot-level validation data, we confirmed that our predictions correctly represent different levels of forest naturalness, from degraded to those with high and associated biodiversity conservation values. Given ambitious national and international conservation objectives and increasingly intensive forestry, our model and the resulting wall-to-wall mapping fill an urgent gap for assessing the achievement of evidence-based conservation targets, spatial planning, and designing forest landscape restoration.
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| 4. |
- Hedblom, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Landscape perception : linking physical monitoring data to perceived landscape properties
- 2020
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Ingår i: Landscape research. - : Routledge. - 0142-6397 .- 1469-9710. ; 45:2, s. 179-192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Changes in the landscape affect not only people’s well-being but also how people perceive and use the landscape. An increasing number of policies have highlighted the importance of conserving a landscape’s recreational and aesthetical values. This study develops and evaluates a model that links people’s perceptions of a mountain landscape to physical monitoring data. Using a questionnaire, we revealed how respondents working with the Swedish mountains characterise the Magnificent Mountain landscape (as defined by Swedish policy objectives) and translated these characteristics into data from the National Inventory of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS). We found 14 potential indicators that could be derived from the existing NILS physical monitoring data and which could be used to monitor changes in the landscape values as perceived by people. Based on the results, we suggest how to simultaneously utilise field sampling of physical data and field photos to provide temporal information about landscape perception.
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| 5. |
- Jonsson, Bengt-Gunnar, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Biodiversity and multiple value chains in boreal mountain forests
- 2021
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Ingår i: Accelerating the progress towards the 2030 SDGs in times of crisis. - Östersund : Mid Sweden University. - 9789189341173 ; , s. 201-201
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Extensive commercial forestry in the North European boreal forests have left forests and forest landscapes substantially transformed and dominated by young and middle aged managed forests and with only few and small remnants of natural forests left. However, along in the western most part of northern Sweden, a belt of forests with limited harvesting still exists – the Scandinavian Mountain GreenBelt (SMGB). This belt extends almost 1000 km and include more than 2.2 Mha forest land with a significant share of old‐growth and natural forests with high biodiversity values, and as such unique in a European perspective.The debate around the future of the SMGB is intense. Although a significant share of the area is already protected, a recent government review has suggested to set aside additionally 500 000 ha of the area asa contribution from Sweden to fulfil the goals and targets of international agreements (CBD and EU directives). Beyond the conservation benefits, this will have implications also for rural development in the region. It would support the economy for the tourism sector, support amenity migration, secure land for reindeer husbandry and in general provide opportunities for value chains related to non‐woodresources such as fishing, hunting, berry‐ and mushroom harvest and carbon sequestration. On the other hand, industrial and non‐industrial forestry actors sees the initiative as a threat to their resource base. We have analyzed the spatial distribution of different forests types and presence of forests with high natural values across the SMGB and highlight how these are distributed across public, forest company and non‐industrial private forest owners. Traditional wood‐based economic value chains are often in conflict with value chains based on socio‐cultural and ecological benefits and hence calls for discussion on multiple‐use strategies that involve all landowner categories and other stakeholders. There is an urgent need to identify methods for comparing wood/biomass‐based value chains and new value chains that take into account both direct benefits (such as wood or mushrooms) and indirect benefits linked to immaterial forest values (such as recreation and tourism), as well as non‐use and bequest values.
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| 6. |
- Jonsson, Bengt Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
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Bättre sent än aldrig – indikatorer för skogslandskapets gröna infrastruktur
- 2022
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Begreppet grön infrastruktur (GI) har lyfts som en del av EU:s biodiversitets strategi och på nationell nivå har alla svenska län utvecklat planer för att integrera ett landskapsperspektiv i naturvårdsarbetet. För detta krävs en god kännedom om befintliganaturvärdens förekomst, och utvecklade verktyg för rumslig planering – det vill säga kunskap om både det ekologiska systemet och kompetens och resurser för effektivförvaltning. Här utgör relevanta indikatorer för biologisk mångfald på landskapsnivå en avgörande komponent. Det svenska skogslandskapet är efter snart 200 år av kommersiellt skogsbruk kraftigt dominerat av brukade skogar, och kvarvarande skogar med höga naturvärden förekommer i huvudsak som isolerade fragment. Förutom förlusten av naturskogsarealer så innebär detta också att konnektiviteten är dålig och därmed finns stora brister i skogslandskapets gröna infrastruktur. I projektet har vi belyst bristandestrukturell och funktionell konnektivitet i det svenska skogslandskapet. En utgångspunktför detta har varit mångfaldskonventionens (CBD) Aichi-mål 11 där förutom ett kvantitativt mål (minst 17 % av landarealen skyddad till 2020) även kvalitativa mål anges; såsom det enskilda skogsbestånds kvalité och storlek, representativitet medavseende på olika skogsmiljöer, konnektivitet på landskapsnivå, samt behovet av en effektiv skötsel, restaurering och rumslig planering. Dessa kvalitativa mål är relevanta för områdesskyddet men också för frivilliga avsättningar och den generella hänsynen som tas vid skogsbruksåtgärder.Tillgången på relevanta heltäckande geografiska data för rumslig planering av naturvård på landskapsnivå har ökat kraftigt i sen tid. Därmed finns goda möjlighetertill analyser av tillstånd och utveckling av nya planeringsverktyg. Vi har i projektetanvänt en lång rad av dessa data och genom ett antal delstudier bidragit med underlagtill en effektivare förvaltning av och stärkande av den gröna infrastrukturen för skogligbiologisk mångfald på både nationell och regional nivå. Som en utgångspunkt för projektet genomfördes en analys av länens GI-planer. Analysen fokuserade på en kvantitativ sammanställning av planernas hantering av den vetenskapliga litteraturen, befintliga kartunderlag och de direkta och/eller indirekta åtgärder som identifierats. Som en kompletterande kvalitativ analys har framtagandet av planerna diskuterats med länens GI-koordinatorer genom individuella intervjuer och workshops. En annan utgångspunkt har varit att utvärdera förekomsten av funktionella nätverk av skogar med höga naturvärden. I denna del har det fjällnära skogslandskapets unika värden jämförts med övrig skog i Sverige. Vi har vidare analyserat de skogliga impedimentenspotentiella roll för att stärka GI. Som ett verktyg för att analysera funktionell konnektivitet har vi använt så kallade ”ekologiska profiler” där förekomsten av virtuella arter med olika arealkrav och spridningsförmåga karterats i olika regioner.Som en central slutprodukt, en landskapsindikator, har vi genomfört en ”virtuellinventering av skogliga värdekärnor” med höga naturvärden (dvs. det internationella begreppet ”High Conservation Value Forests”) genom att med ett stort antal geografiska variabler som påverkar graden av naturlighet och artificiell intelligens modellera sannolikheten för värdekärna i fyra delregioner i Sverige. Sannolikheterna har skattats förmer än 21 miljoner hektar skog och på en skala (1 hektar) som är relevant för rumslig 7planering. De genererad sannolikhetskartorna har ett specifikt värde för identifiering av skogliga värdetrakter, dvs områden som bidrar till en fungerande grön infrastruktur, eller där en sådan kan skapas genom utökat områdesskydd och/eller restaurering. Modellen ger också information om trakter och landskap där möjligheten att skapafungerade grön infrastruktur är mycket begränsad, och där ett fortsatt skogsbruk inte på samma sätt hotar befintliga naturvärden. Modellen har sedan använts för att beskriva den strukturella och funktionella förekomsten av livsmiljöer för ett antalvirtuella arter i form av ekologiska profiler baserat på förekomst i olika skogstyper, och med olika arealkrav och spridningsförmåga. Projektets samlade resultat har sammanfattats i en rad slutsatser och rekommendationer strukturerade efter Aichi mål 11:s kvalitativa kriterier. En central slutsats är behovet av att bryta upp den strikta tudelning av skogslandskapet (i naturvård eller produktion) som råder. Denna uppdelning begränsar möjligheterna att effektiv stärka den gröna infrastrukturen och bör kompletteras med målklasser som fokuserar på mångbruk. För detta krävs regionalt anpassade former för samverkan med ett landskapsperspektiv. Rapporten avslutas med en reflektion kring framtida forskningsutmaningar. Vi ser behov av forskning både kring det ekologiska systemet och förvaltningssystemet då båda dessa dimensioner är avgörande för att nå våra nationella miljömål och internationella åtaganden.
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| 7. |
- Jonsson, Bengt-Gunnar, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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European Union's last intact forest landscapes are at a value chain crossroad between multiple use and intensified wood production
- 2019
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Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907 .- 1999-4907. ; 10:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research Highlights: The European Union's last large intact forest landscapes along the Scandinavian Mountain range in Sweden offer unique opportunities for conservation of biodiversity, ecological integrity and resilience. However, these forests are at a crossroad between intensified wood production aimed at bio-economy, and rural development based on multi-functional forest landscapes for future-oriented forest value chains. Background and Objectives:We (1) estimate the area of near-natural forests potentially remaining for forest harvesting and wood production, or as green infrastructure for biodiversity conservation and human well-being in rural areas, (2) review how forest and conservation policies have so far succeeded to reduce the loss of mountain forests, and (3) discuss what economic, socio-cultural and ecological values that are at stake, as well as different governance and management solutions.Materials andMethods: First, we estimated the remaining amount of intact mountain forests using (1) the Swedish National Forest Inventory, (2) protected area statistics, (3) forest harvest permit applications and actually harvested forests, (4) remote sensing wall-to-wall data on forests not subject to clear-felling since the mid-1950s, (5) mapping of productive and non-productive forestland, and (6) estimates of mean annual final felling rate. Second, we review policy documents related to the emergence of land use regulation in north Sweden, including the mountain forest border, and illustrate this with an actual case that has had significant policy implementation importance. Results: There is a clear difference between the proportions of formally protected productive forestland above the mountain forest border (52.5%) and north Sweden in general (6.3%). A total of 300,000 ha of previously not clear-felled mountain forest outside protected areas remain, which can support novel value chains that are not achievable elsewhere. Conclusions: The mountain forests in Sweden provide unique conservation values in the European Union. Since the beginning of the 1990s, policy regulations have been successful in limiting forest harvesting. Currently, however, mountain forests are a battle ground regarding intensification of forest use, including logging of forests that have never been subject to clear-felling systems vs. nature conservation and wilderness as a base for rural development. The ability of mountain municipalities to encourage sustainable rural forest landscapes must be strengthened.
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| 8. |
- Jonsson, Bengt Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
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Naturvärdeskarta Skog:En sannolikhetsmodell för naturvärden på skogsmark
- 2024
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- För att planera naturvård i skogen måste vi ha kunskap om skogen. Stora och sammanlänkande naturskogsområden saknas i ett skogslandskap som huvudsakligen präglas av likåldriga bestånd. Därför behöver vi kunna identifiera isolerade fragment av kvarvarande skog med höga naturvärden.Rapporten beskriver en modellering, NVK Skog, av den relativa sannolikheten för förekomst av värdekärnor i det svenska skogslandskapet. Modelleringen baseras på kända värdekärnor och använder 125 oberoende variabler från öppet tillgängliga geografiska datakällor och skattar sannolikheten för enskilda hektarsytor på 22 miljoner hektar skog. NVK Skog bidrar med fördjupad förståelse av det svenska skogslandskapet och tillsammans med andra geografiska underlag underlättar naturvårdsplanering på landskapsnivå. Syftet är att bidra med landstäckande skattningar av sannolikheten för förekomst av skog med höga naturvärden. Projektet har finansierats med medel från Naturvårdsverkets miljöforskningsanslag som finansierar forskning till stöd för Naturvårdsverkets och Havs-och vattenmyndighetens kunskapsbehov.
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| 9. |
- Mikusinski, Grzegorz, et al.
(författare)
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Strengthening the Network of High Conservation Value Forests in Boreal Landscapes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The natural and old-growth forests and their associated biodiversity continues to fade worldwide due to anthropogenic impact in various forms. The boreal forests in Fennoscandia have been subject to intensive clearfelling forestry since the middle of twentieth century. As a result, only a fraction of forests with long temporal continuity remains at the landscape level. In Sweden, some of these primary forests have been formally protected, whereas other forests with known high conservation values are not. Collectively, both protected and not protected known valuable primary forests are included in a nationally delineated network of high conservation value forests (HCVF). In addition to HCVF, older forests that have not been clearfelled since the mid-1900s, i.e., "proxy continuity forests," have recently been mapped across the entire boreal biome in Sweden. In this paper, we analyze how these proxy continuity forests may strengthen the HCVF network from a green infrastructure perspective. First, we evaluate the spatial overlap between proxy continuity forests and HCVF. Second, we perform a large-scale connectivity analysis, in which we show that adding proxy continuity forests located outside HCVF strongly increases the structural connectivity of the network of protected forests. Finally, by assessing habitat suitability for virtual species specialized in pine, spruce, and broadleaf forests, we find large regional differences in the ability to secure habitat and thereby functional green infrastructure by considering currently unprotected primary forest. We show that, by adding those forests to the network, the area of habitat for low-demanding species dependent on spruce or pine forests can be largely increased. For high-demanding species, additional habitat restoration in the landscape matrix is needed. By contrast, even counting all valuable broadleaf forests available is not enough to provide a suitable habitat for their associated species, which indicates a large need for landscape-scale habitat restoration initiatives, in particular, for broadleaf forests.
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| 10. |
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