| 1. |
- Klapwijk, Maartje, et al.
(författare)
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Reducing the risk of invasive forest pests and pathogens : Combining legislation, targeted management and public awareness
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 45, s. S223-S234
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intensifying global trade will result in increased numbers of plant pest and pathogen species inadvertently being transported along with cargo. This paper examines current mechanisms for prevention and management of potential introductions of forest insect pests and pathogens in the European Union (EU). Current European legislation has not been found sufficient in preventing invasion, establishment and spread of pest and pathogen species within the EU. Costs associated with future invasions are difficult to estimate but past invasions have led to negative economic impacts in the invaded country. The challenge is combining free trade and free movement of products (within the EU) with protection against invasive pests and pathogens. Public awareness may mobilise the public for prevention and detection of potential invasions and, simultaneously, increase support for eradication and control measures. We recommend focus on commodities in addition to pathways, an approach within the EU using a centralised response unit and, critically, to engage the general public in the battle against establishment and spread of these harmful pests and pathogens.
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| 2. |
- Lindgren, Petter, et al.
(författare)
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A likelihood ratio-based approach for improved source attribution in microbiological forensic investigations
- 2019
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Ingår i: Forensic Science International. - : Elsevier. - 0379-0738 .- 1872-6283. ; 302
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A common objective in microbial forensic investigations is to identify the origin of a recovered pathogenic bacterium by DNA sequencing. However, there is currently no consensus about how degrees of belief in such origin hypotheses should be quantified, interpreted, and communicated to wider audiences. To fill this gap, we have developed a concept based on calculating probabilistic evidential values for microbial forensic hypotheses. The likelihood-ratio method underpinning this concept is widely used in other forensic fields, such as human DNA matching, where results are readily interpretable and have been successfully communicated in juridical hearings. The concept was applied to two case scenarios of interest in microbial forensics: (1) identifying source cultures among series of very similar cultures generated by parallel serial passage of the Tier 1 pathogen Francisella tularensis, and (2) finding the production facilities of strains isolated in a real disease outbreak caused by the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Evidence values for the studied hypotheses were computed based on signatures derived from whole genome sequencing data, including deep-sequenced low-frequency variants and structural variants such as duplications and deletions acquired during serial passages. In the F. tularensis case study, we were able to correctly assign fictive evidence samples to the correct culture batches of origin on the basis of structural variant data. By setting up relevant hypotheses and using data on cultivated batch sources to define the reference populations under each hypothesis, evidential values could be calculated. The results show that extremely similar strains can be separated on the basis of amplified mutational patterns identified by high-throughput sequencing. In the L. monocytogenes scenario, analyses of whole genome sequence data conclusively assigned the clinical samples to specific sources of origin, and conclusions were formulated to facilitate communication of the findings. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the potential of using bacterial whole genome sequencing data, including data on both low frequency SNP signatures and structural variants, to calculate evidence values that facilitate interpretation and communication of the results. The concept could be applied in diverse scenarios, including both epidemiological and forensic source tracking of bacterial infectious disease outbreaks.
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| 3. |
- Keskitalo, E. Carina H., 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Implementing Plant Health Regulations with Focus on Invasive Forest Pests and Pathogens : Examples from Swedish Forest Nurseries
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Human Dimensions of Forest and Tree Health. - Cham : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9783319769554 - 9783319769561 ; , s. 193-210
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- International trade and climate change have increased the movement potential for invasive alien species (IAS), including invasive pests and pathogens (IPPs), to the point where biological invasions are considered one of the major threats to biodiversity. However, practical implementation of plant health with regard to IAS and IPPs is difficult: regulative responsibilities are commonly spread across different authorities, and resources on the ground are often limited. Based on a legislative and literature review and semi-structured qualitative interviews (N = 7), the present study examines the possibilities and potential risks of monitoring and detection of forest invasive species in Sweden, with a particular focus on forest plant nurseries. The study thus adds practical implementation aspects concerning possibilities to limit the spread of invasive species in the plant trade.
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| 4. |
- Futter, Martyn, et al.
(författare)
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Forests, Forestry and the Water Framework Directive in Sweden : A Trans-Disciplinary Commentary
- 2011
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Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 2:1, s. 261-282
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is an ambitious piece of legislation designed to protect and improve water quality throughout Europe. However, forests are only mentioned once in the WFD, and forestry is not mentioned at all, despite its potential implications for streams, rivers and lakes. Here we present a transdisciplinary commentary on the WFD and its implications for forests and forestry in Sweden. This commentary has been prepared by forestry stakeholders, biophysical and social scientists. While we were cognizant of a large body of discipline-specific research, there are very few inter-or trans-disciplinary commentaries which link academic and stakeholder perspectives on the WFD. We had originally felt that there would be little commonality in our concerns. However, we found significant areas of agreement. Our key areas of concern about the implications of the WFD for forestry in Sweden included: (i) concerns about what is meant by good ecological status and how it is assessed; (ii) a perceived lack of clarity in the legal framework; (iii) an inadequate environmental impact assessment process; and (iv) uncertainties about appropriate programs of measures for improving water quality. We were also concerned that ecosystem services provided by forests and the positive effects of forestry on water quality are inadequately recognized in the WFD.
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| 5. |
- Bogani, Ronny, et al.
(författare)
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Garbage in, toxic data out : a proposal for ethical artificial intelligence sustainability impact statements
- 2023
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Ingår i: AI and Ethics. - : Springer Nature. - 2730-5953 .- 2730-5961. ; 3, s. 1135-1142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Data and autonomous systems are taking over our lives, from healthcare to smart homes very few aspects of our day to day are not permeated by them. The technological advances enabled by these technologies are limitless. However, with advantages so too come challenges. As these technologies encompass more and more aspects of our lives, we are forgetting the ethical, legal, safety and moral concerns that arise as an outcome of integrating our lives with technology. In this work, we study the lifecycle of artificial intelligence from data gathering to deployment, providing a structured analytical assessment of the potential ethical, safety and legal concerns. The paper then presents the foundations for the first ethical artificial intelligence sustainability statement to guide future development of AI in a safe and sustainable manner.
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| 6. |
- Mirshahvalad, Atieh, et al.
(författare)
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Significant Communities in Large Sparse Networks
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - San Francisco : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 7:3, s. e33721-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Researchers use community-detection algorithms to reveal large-scale organization in biological and social networks, but community detection is useful only if the communities are significant and not a result of noisy data. To assess the statistical significance of the network communities, or the robustness of the detected structure, one approach is to perturb the network structure by removing links and measure how much the communities change. However, perturbing sparse networks is challenging because they are inherently sensitive; they shatter easily if links are removed. Here we propose a simple method to perturb sparse networks and assess the significance of their communities. We generate resampled networks by adding extra links based on local information, then we aggregate the information from multiple resampled networks to find a coarse-grained description of significant clusters. In addition to testing our method on benchmark networks, we use our method on the sparse network of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law, to detect significant and insignificant areas of law. We use our significance analysis to draw a map of the ECJ case law network that reveals the relations between the areas of law.
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| 7. |
- Keskitalo, E Carina H, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Can adaptation to climate change at all be mainstreamed in complex multi-level governance systems? : A case study of forest-relevant policies at the EU and Swedish levels
- 2016
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Ingår i: Implementing climate change adaptation in cities and communities. - Basel : Springer. - 9783319285917 - 9783319285894 ; , s. 53-74
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mainstreaming adaptation to climate change in forest-relevant policy can be as a "most difficult" case, relevant for asking the question to extent to which adaptation can at all be mainstreamed in complex multi-level governance systems. This study examines the case of to what extent EU and national (exemplified by Swedish) legal and policy frameworks are able to integrate with each other in ways that may support climate change adaptation in forests. To move as close to the real life situation of mainstreaming challenges as possible, the study focuses on not only one area of mainstreaming or integration, but on the three broad policy areas: (a) adaptation per se; (b) forest biodiversity and habitat protection with respect to invasive species; and (c) water protection in relation to forest use. The study concludes that conflicts between international legal principles such as precaution and free trade, as well as distribution of competences at EU and national level, results in a great discrepancy in terms of opportunities for a nation to effectively act independently as well as for effectively integrating adaptation aims in the connected EU-national systems.
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| 8. |
- Keskitalo, E. Carina H., et al.
(författare)
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Implementing multi-level governance? : the legal basis and implementation of the EU water framework directive for forestry in Sweden
- 2012
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Ingår i: Environmental Policy and Governance. - Malden : Wiley. - 1756-932X .- 1756-9338. ; 22:2, s. 90-103
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European Commission Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to achieve ‘good status’ for all waters by 2015. This study reviews implementation mechanisms with regard to forestry in Sweden, a country with a large proportion of forest land, where forest practices will be important for limiting nutrient and particle runoff that impact the water status. Taking a multi-level governance perspective, this study reviews the legislative requirements at the EU level, legal and policy implementation at the Swedish level and, finally, local implementation in the forest industry. The study illustrates the national specific interpretation of the WFD as well as the way in which existing practices and measures influence WFD implementation. These include for example the Swedish practice to integrate environmental values in forestry via ‘considerations’, supported also by the use of forest certification measures (a voluntary private sector initiative through which environmental consideration is controlled by third-party auditors). The study thereby exemplifies the large role of private and overlapping authorities and jurisdictions in Swedish forest-water governance.
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