| 1. |
- Fröling, Morgan, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Appearances of Ecosystem Services in Environmental Impact Assessment - learnings from two Swedish case studies
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ecosystem Services is an increasingly used concept to understand and describe the dependencies of socio-technical systems on the ecosystems in which they exist. We have studied to what extent ecosystem services are appearing in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in two Swedish cases, the improvement of ecological status in a river used for small scale hydropower and the mining operations of the MM mine. In neither of the two cases ecosystem services have been intentionally included in the work with the EIAs. The goal of the studies has been to examine to what extent ecosystem services are appearing anyway in the EIAs, to what extent data in the EIAs are sufficient to perform more structured ecosystem service assessments, and if the use of a more structured ecosystem services review during the EIA process could have contributed positively to the EIA work. Both EIAs in this study holds some information on impacts on ecosystem services, and more information on affected ecosystem functions that could be translated into ecosystems services and probably to full ecosystem service reviews with additional data gathering. Cases of ecosystem functions and services impacting other ecosystem functions and services, sometimes in several stages, were found, indicating that such functions or services could be of special importance to protect and / or support.
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| 2. |
- Romantsik, Olga, et al.
(författare)
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Severe intraventricular hemorrhage causes long-lasting structural damage in a preterm rabbit pup model
- 2022
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Ingår i: Pediatric Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0031-3998 .- 1530-0447. ; 92:2, s. 403-414
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Intraventricular hemorrhage causes significant lifelong mortality and morbidity, especially in preterm born infants. Progress in finding an effective therapy is stymied by a lack of preterm animal models with long-term follow-up. This study addresses this unmet need, using an established model of preterm rabbit IVH and analyzing outcomes out to 1 month of age. Methods Rabbit pups were delivered preterm and administered intraperitoneal injection of glycerol at 3 h of life and approximately 58% developed IVH. Neurobehavioral assessment was performed at 1 month of age followed by immunohistochemical labeling of epitopes for neurons, synapses, myelination, and interneurons, analyzed by means of digital quantitation and assessed via two-way ANOVA or Student's t test. Results IVH pups had globally reduced myelin content, an aberrant cortical myelination microstructure, and thinner upper cortical layers (I-III). We also observed a lower number of parvalbumin (PV)-positive interneurons in deeper cortical layers (IV-VI) in IVH animals and reduced numbers of neurons, synapses, and microglia. However, there were no discernable changes in behaviors. Conclusions We have established in this preterm pup model that long-term changes after IVH include significant wide-ranging alterations to cortical organization and microstructure. Further work to improve the sensitivity of neurocognitive testing in this species at this age may be required. Impact This study uses an established animal model of preterm birth, in which the rabbit pups are truly born preterm, with reduced organ maturation and deprivation of maternally supplied trophic factors. This is the first study in preterm rabbits that explores the impacts of severe intraventricular hemorrhage beyond 14 days, out to 1 month of age. Our finding of persisting but subtle global changes including brain white and gray matter will have impact on our understanding of the best path for therapy design and interventions.
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| 3. |
- Tellström, Susanne, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Ecosystem Service Assessment of Measures to Mitigate Small-scale Hydropower Ecological Impact
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Hydropower is important for provisioning of renewable energy, but the ecological effects to watersheds and rivers used for hydro-electrical production has gained increased attention in recent years. Concerns in connection to small-scale hydropower plants are particularly pointed out, as small plants causes several issues for aquatic biodiversity while the energy output remains limited. Hydropower dams poses as migration barriers, e.g. limiting reproduction of migratory fish; the flow regulation regimes disturbs the natural seasonal flows and damages bottom fauna; and rivers adapted to hydropower have altered biotic factors removing entire ecosystems, such as seasonally flooded wetlands. Projects to mitigate such impacts while maintaining hydro-electrical production are presently discussed and in some cases start to be undertaken. One such project is planned in river Billstaån, Sweden, affected by three small-scale hydropower plants and historically also by timber floating. The main measures in the ecological restoration process include construction of fauna passages, deconstruction of an unused reservoir and reintroduction of freshwater pearl mussels. The restoration project is carried out by the company owning the hydropower plants in Billstaån, in a joint effort including local authorities and stakeholders, to benefit local biodiversity and strengthen the ecological status of Billstaån towards the European Water Framework Directive. In this study, the expected outcomes of the Billstaån river restoration project has been assessed in terms of ecosystem services. Note that ecosystem services were not considered in the project planning of the restoration project itself, but were suggested for later monitoring efforts and for enabling inclusion of indicators of economic and social development connected to the restoration results. As ecosystem services describe the value of ecosystems through their interaction with society, this is done to complement ecological monitoring with effects on human residents in the area. Two frameworks for ecosystem service assessment have been tested: Corporate Ecosystem Service Review (ESR) and Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA). Both frameworks have been useful for assessing the expected development of Billstaån, but each of them have specific limitations. While ESR was good for qualitative scoping and defining important ecosystem services, the corporate focus made the later steps of the ESR framework hard to implement in this type of case. TESSA worked well for providing tools for quantitative assessment, but at present the number of services covered by the toolkit was limited. This indicates that different methods for ecosystem service assessment provide different levels of understanding of the assessed system. The two frameworks used to assess Billstaån do complement each other in terms of scope, but combined they point at gaps in coverage. This study has shown that ecosystem service assessment provides a complementary perspective of the value of increasing ecological status in rivers affected by small-scale hydropower, but also that the ecosystem services methodology needs further development for this type of case.
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| 4. |
- Van der Veeken, Lennart, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term neurological effects of neonatal caffeine treatment in a rabbit model of preterm birth
- 2020
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Ingår i: Pediatric Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0031-3998 .- 1530-0447. ; 87:6, s. 1011-1018
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Neonatal caffeine treatment might affect brain development. Long-term studies show conflicting results on brain-related outcomes. Herein we aimed to investigate the long-term effects of neonatal caffeine administration in a rabbit model of preterm birth. Methods: Preterm (born day 29) and term (day 32) pups were raised by wet nurses and allocated to treatment with saline or caffeine for 7 or 17 days. At pre-puberty, neurobehavioral tests were performed and brains were harvested for immunostaining of neurons, synapses, myelin, and astrocytes. Results: Survival was lower in preterm saline pups than in controls, whereas caffeine-treated preterm pups did not differ from term control pups. Preterm saline pups covered less distance compared to controls and were more likely to stay in the peripheral zone of the open field. Corresponding differences were not seen in preterm caffeine pups. Preterm animals had lower neuron density compared to controls, which was not influenced by caffeine treatment. Synaptic density, astrocytes, and myelin were not different between groups. Conclusion: Caffeine appeared to be safe. All preterm rabbits had lower neuron density but anxious behavior seen in preterm saline rabbits was not seen in caffeine-treated preterm pups.
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