| 1. |
- de Vries, Franciska T., et al.
(författare)
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Soil food web properties explain ecosystem services across European land use systems
- 2013
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - Washington, DC : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 110:35, s. 14296-14301
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intensive land use reduces the diversity and abundance of many soil biota, with consequences for the processes that they govern and the ecosystem services that these processes underpin. Relationships between soil biota and ecosystem processes have mostly been found in laboratory experiments and rarely are found in the field. Here, we quantified, across four countries of contrasting climatic and soil conditions in Europe, how differences in soil food web composition resulting from land use systems (intensive wheat rotation, extensive rotation, and permanent grassland) influence the functioning of soils and the ecosystem services that they deliver. Intensive wheat rotation consistently reduced the biomass of all components of the soil food web across all countries. Soil food web properties strongly and consistently predicted processes of C and N cycling across land use systems and geographic locations, and they were a better predictor of these processes than land use. Processes of carbon loss increased with soil food web properties that correlated with soil C content, such as earthworm biomass and fungal/bacterial energy channel ratio, and were greatest in permanent grassland. In contrast, processes of N cycling were explained by soil food web properties independent of land use, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and bacterial channel biomass. Our quantification of the contribution of soil organisms to processes of C and N cycling across land use systems and geographic locations shows that soil biota need to be included in C and N cycling models and highlights the need to map and conserve soil biodiversity across the world.
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| 2. |
- Hambäck, Peter A., et al.
(författare)
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Tradeoffs and synergies in wetland multifunctionality : A scaling issue
- 2023
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 862
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wetland area in agricultural landscapes has been heavily reduced to gain land for crop production, but in recent years there is increased societal recognition of the negative consequences from wetland loss on nutrient retention, biodiver-sity and a range of other benefits to humans. The current trend is therefore to re-establish wetlands, often with an aim to achieve the simultaneous delivery of multiple ecosystem services, i.e., multifunctionality. Here we review the liter-ature on key objectives used to motivate wetland re-establishment in temperate agricultural landscapes (provision of flow regulation, nutrient retention, climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation and cultural ecosystem services), and their relationships to environmental properties, in order to identify potential for tradeoffs and synergies concerning the development of multifunctional wetlands. Through this process, we find that there is a need for a change in scale from a focus on single wetlands to wetlandscapes (multiple neighboring wetlands including their catchments and surround-ing landscape features) if multiple societal and environmental goals are to be achieved. Finally, we discuss the key fac-tors to be considered when planning for re-establishment of wetlands that can support achievement of a wide range of objectives at the landscape scale.
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| 3. |
- Högberg, Mona N, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon–nitrogen relations of ectomycorrhizal mycelium across a natural nitrogen supply gradient in boreal forest
- 2021
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Ingår i: New Phytologist. - Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0028-646X .- 1469-8137. ; 232:4, s. 1839-1848
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The supply of carbon (C) from tree photosynthesis to ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi is known to decrease with increasing plant nitrogen (N) supply, but how this affects fungal nutrition and growth remains to be clarified. We placed mesh-bags with quartz sand, with or without an organic N (15N-, 13C-labeled) source, in the soil along a natural N supply gradient in boreal forest, to measure growth and use of N and C by ECM extramatrical mycelia. Mycelial C : N declined with increasing N supply. Addition of N increased mycelial growth at the low-N end of the gradient. We found an inverse relationship between uptake of added N and C; the use of added N was high when ambient N was low, whereas use of added C was high when C from photosynthesis was low. We propose that growth of ECM fungi is N-limited when soil N is scarce and tree belowground C allocation to ECM fungi is high, but is C-limited when N supply is high and tree belowground C allocation is low. This suggests that ECM fungi have a major role in soil N retention in nutrient-poor, but less so in nutrient-rich boreal forests. © 2021 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2021 New Phytologist Foundation
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| 4. |
- Johansson, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Factors Governing Human Fear of Brown Bear and Wolf
- 2012
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Ingår i: Human Dimensions of Wildlife. - London : Taylor & Francis. - 1087-1209 .- 1533-158X. ; 17:1, s. 58-74
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyzes people's subjectively experienced fear in areas with presence of brown bear or wolf. Departing from the Human-Environment Interaction Model (Küller, 1991), a hypothetical model of environmental and individual antecedents of fear was tested using structural equation modeling of survey data (n = 391). In the model of fear of brown bear, the main predictor was the appraisal of the species as dangerous/uncontrollable and unpredictable. In the model of fear of wolf, the greater experience with the species and a stronger appraisal of wolf as dangerous, uncontrollable, and unpredictable led to low social trust and this, together with the appraisal of wolf as dangerous/uncontrollable and unpredictable, increased the likelihood of fear. Efforts to reduce human fear of wolves should focus on building trust between the public and authorities, whereas efforts to reduce fear of brown bear should focus on the individual's appraisal of the species. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
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| 5. |
- Kolseth, Anna-Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of genetically modified organisms on agro-ecosystem processes
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - Amsterdam : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2305 .- 0167-8809. ; 214, s. 96-106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biotechnology offers extensive possibilities to incorporate new traits into organisms. Genetically modified (GM) traits relevant for agro-ecosystems include traits such as pest resistance and herbicide tolerance in crop plants, increased growth rate in fish and livestock, and enhanced nitrogen-fixation capabilities of soil microbes. In this review, we evaluated the direct and indirect trait-specific effects of GM plants, microbes, and animals on ecosystem processes and found that most of the effects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on ecosystem processes are indirect and are the result of associated changes in management strategy rather than a direct effect of the GMOs. Conflicting results on the performance and effects of GMOs are frequently reported, especially regarding crop yield and impacts on soil organisms. This is partly because methods with different levels of resolution have been used in different ecological contexts. Overall, there is little evidence that the effects of GM traits on ecosystem processes act with different mechanisms from those of traits modified using conventional methods. However, little is known about trait-specific effects of GMOs on ecosystem processes even though GMOs have been used for more than three decades. In particular, studies linking genetically modified traits to ecosystem processes at longer time scales are rare, but needed for evaluating trait effects, especially in an evolutionary context. In addition, biotechnology may provide a unique tool for gaining insights into the links between traits and ecosystem processes when integrated into basic ecological research. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Lankinen, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Variable pollen viability and effects of pollen load size on components of seed set in cultivars and feral populations of oilseed rape
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - San Francisco : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 13:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pollination success is important for crop yield, but may be cultivar dependent. Less is known about which floral traits influence pollination success. Floral traits, e.g. traits related to attraction and reward, can also contribute to gene flow via pollen, the latter being of particular importance in oilseed rape (Brassica napus) where gene flow occurs between plants of crop, volunteer and feral origin as well as related taxa. We investigated the relationship between pollen load size and seed set in winter oilseed rape. We compared variability in pollen-viability traits, flower production (flowers from the main raceme times number of branches) and seed number and weight per siliqua among cultivars and feral populations (growing outside of agricultural fields) under controlled conditions. Both seed number and weight were saturated at relatively low pollen loads in the tested cultivar. Pollen viability and estimated flower production differed among cultivars, indicating that these traits could contribute to yield variability. Seed weight per siliqua, but not pollen traits or flower production, was lower in ferals compared to cultivars. Thus, while the probability of establishment may be reduced in ferals (due to lower seed weight per siliqua) this will not necessarily impact their contribution to gene flow via pollen. In oilseed rape a relatively low pollen load may be sufficient for full seed set in some cultivars, suggesting less dependence on insect pollination for high yield than generally expected. Our results also showed that previously less investigated floral traits, such as pollen viability, pollen tube growth rate and flower number, can differ between cultivars. Studies of these traits may provide targets for increasing crop yield and provide general knowledge about gene flow between cultivated, feral and related wild populations.
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| 7. |
- Renes, Sophia Elise, et al.
(författare)
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Disturbance history can increase functional stability in the face of both repeated disturbances of the same type and novel disturbances - dataset
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 10:1
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Annan publikationabstract
- Climate change is expected to increase the incidences of extremes in environmental conditions. To investigate how repeated disturbances affect microbial ecosystem resistance, natural lake bacterioplankton communities were subjected to repeated temperature disturbances of two intensities (25 °C and 35 °C), and subsequently to an acidification event. We measured functional parameters (bacterial production, abundance, extracellular enzyme activities) and community composition parameters (richness, evenness, niche width) and found that, compared to undisturbed control communities, the 35 °C treatment was strongly affected in all parameters, while the 25 °C treatment did not significantly differ from the control. Interestingly, exposure to multiple temperature disturbances caused gradually increasing stability in the 35 °C treatment in some parameters, while others parameters showed the opposite, indicating that the choice of parameters can strongly affect the outcome of a study. The acidification event did not lead to stronger changes in community structure, but functional resistance of bacterial production towards acidification in the 35 °C treatments increased. This indicates that functional resistance in response to a novel disturbance can be increased by previous exposure to another disturbance, suggesting similarity in stress tolerance mechanisms for both disturbances. These results highlight the need for understanding function- and disturbance-specific responses, since general responses are likely to be unpredictable.
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| 8. |
- Styles, David, et al.
(författare)
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Climate regulation, energy provisioning and water purification : Quantifying ecosystem service delivery of bioenergy willow grown on riparian buffer zones using life cycle assessment
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ambio: a Journal of the Human Environment. - Cham : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 45:8, s. 872-884
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Whilst life cycle assessment (LCA) boundaries are expanded to account for negative indirect consequences of bioenergy such as indirect land use change (ILUC), ecosystem services such as water purification sometimes delivered by perennial bioenergy crops are typically neglected in LCA studies. Consequential LCA was applied to evaluate the significance of nutrient interception and retention on the environmental balance of unfertilised energy willow planted on 50-m riparian buffer strips and drainage filtration zones in the Skåne region of Sweden. Excluding possible ILUC effects and considering oil heat substitution, strategically planted filter willow can achieve net global warming potential (GWP) and eutrophication potential (EP) savings of up to 11.9 Mg CO2e and 47 kg PO4e ha−1 year−1, respectively, compared with a GWP saving of 14.8 Mg CO2e ha−1 year−1 and an EP increase of 7 kg PO4e ha−1 year−1 for fertilised willow. Planting willow on appropriate buffer and filter zones throughout Skåne could avoid 626 Mg year−1 PO4e nutrient loading to waters.
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| 9. |
- Tsiafouli, Maria A., et al.
(författare)
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Intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity across Europe
- 2015
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - West Sussex : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 21:2, s. 973-985
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil biodiversity plays a key role in regulating the processes that underpin the delivery of ecosystem goods and services in terrestrial ecosystems. Agricultural intensification is known to change the diversity of individual groups of soil biota, but less is known about how intensification affects biodiversity of the soil food web as a whole, and whether or not these effects may be generalized across regions. We examined biodiversity in soil food webs from grasslands, extensive, and intensive rotations in four agricultural regions across Europe: in Sweden, the UK, the Czech Republic and Greece. Effects of land-use intensity were quantified based on structure and diversity among functional groups in the soil food web, as well as on community-weighted mean body mass of soil fauna. We also elucidate land-use intensity effects on diversity of taxonomic units within taxonomic groups of soil fauna. We found that between regions soil food web diversity measures were variable, but that increasing land-use intensity caused highly consistent responses. In particular, land-use intensification reduced the complexity in the soil food webs, as well as the community-weighted mean body mass of soil fauna. In all regions across Europe, species richness of earthworms, Collembolans, and oribatid mites was negatively affected by increased land-use intensity. The taxonomic distinctness, which is a measure of taxonomic relatedness of species in a community that is independent of species richness, was also reduced by land-use intensification. We conclude that intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity, making soil food webs less diverse and composed of smaller bodied organisms. Land-use intensification results in fewer functional groups of soil biota with fewer and taxonomically more closely related species. We discuss how these changes in soil biodiversity due to land-use intensification may threaten the functioning of soil in agricultural production systems.
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| 10. |
- Vaneeckhaute, Celine, et al.
(författare)
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Closing nutrient loops through decentralized anaerobic digestion of organic residues in agricultural regions : A multi-dimensional sustainability assessment
- 2018
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - Amsterdam : Elsevier BV. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 136, s. 110-117
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decentralized anaerobic digestion (AD) of manure and organic residues is a possible strategy to improve carbon and nutrient cycling within agricultural regions, meanwhile generating renewable energy. To date, there has been limited adoption of decentralized AD technology in industrialized countries owing to low profitability for plant operators. There remains a need to demonstrate the wider sustainability of small-scale, decentralized AD in order to justify policy support for such a strategy. This study applies a multi-dimensional assessment of the environmental, economic and social sustainability of two scenarios of decentralized, farm-scale AD of pig slurry and organic residues in Southern Sweden. The environmental dimension was assessed by means of an expanded boundary life cycle assessment, in which trade-offs between fertilizer replacement, soil organic carbon accumulation, digestate/manure storage and application, transport and soil emissions were evaluated. The economic dimension was assessed through modelling of the net present value and internal rate of return. Finally, the social dimension was assessed by means of a stakeholder perception inquiry among key stakeholders in the field. It was concluded that the overall environmental balance of decentralized AD was favorable, while also the net present value could be positive. Fertilizer replacement, soil organic carbon and digestate storage effects were identified as important factors that should be accounted for in future life cycle assessments. A key issue for interviewed stakeholders was product quality assurance. Wider application of multi-dimensional sustainability assessment, capturing important nutrient cycling effects, could provide an evidence base for policy to support sustainable deployment of decentralized AD.
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