| 1. |
- Gilek, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Physiological performance and general histology of the blue mussle, Mytilus Edulis L, from the Baltic and North seas
- 1992
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Ingår i: Netherlands Journal of Sea Research. - 0077-7579. ; 30, s. 11-21
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A physiological approach has been proposed for studying the ecological consequences of diseases and parasitism in bivalve molluscs. We investigated effects of some naturally occurring non-lethal parasites and histological changes in the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis L., on some commonly used bivalve condition indices, viz the oxygen:nitrogen ratio, the scope for growth and the body condition index. We found no correlation between these physiological condition indices, which implies that an individual can be classified as in 'good condition' according to e.g. the O:N ratio and the body condition index, while at the same time this mussel may have a low scope for growth indicating a stressed status. This is probably because the O:N ratio, the scope for growth and the body condition index integrate metabolic processes over different periods of time. No general deleterious effects on these condition indices could be detected either due to parasitic infestation or general histological changes. Hence, it was not possible to translate detrimental effects of histological conditions directly into energy equivalents.
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| 2. |
- Kumblad, Linda, 1974-
(författare)
-
Radionuclides in the Baltic Sea : Ecosystem models and experiments on transport and fate
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Manmade radionuclides have been introduced to the environment for almost a century. The main source has been the nuclear weapons testing programmes, but accidental releases from the nuclear power production industries have also contributed. The risk to humans from potential releases from nuclear facilities is evaluated in safety assessments. Essential components of these assessments are exposure models, which estimate the transport of radionuclides in the environment, the uptake in biota, and transfer to humans. Recently, there has been a growing concern for radiological protection of the whole environment, not only humans, and a first attempt has been to employ model approaches based on stylised environments and transfer functions to biota based exclusively on bioconcentration factors. They are generally of a non-mechanistic nature and involve no knowledge of the actual processes involved, which is a severe limitation when assessing real ecosystems. The research presented in this thesis attempts to introduce a methodology for modelling exposure of biota that is based on systems ecological theories and concepts. All presented papers concern bioaccumulation and circulation of radionuclides in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea, which is a sea surrounded by several nuclear power plants, waste repositories and reprocessing facilities. Paper I illustrates how an ecosystem model can be used to predict the fate of C-14 in a bay, and to explore the influence of uptake route and water exchange on the concentrations in biota. Due to the longevity of many radionuclides, time spans of thousands of years need to be considered in assessments of nuclear waste facilities. In Paper II, the methodological problems associated with these long timescales are discussed and a new modelling approach is proposed. An extension and generalisation of the C-14 flow model into a generic model for other radionuclides is described and tested in Paper III. This paper also explores the importance of three radionuclide specific mechanisms (plant uptake, excretion and adsorption to organic surfaces) for the concentrations in biota. In Paper IV, the bioaccumulation kinetics of three radionuclides in three key benthic species of the Baltic Sea is studied experimentally. Paper V considers remobilisation and redistribution of sediment-associated radionuclides due to biological mixing, in a microcosm study. The findings in this thesis show both that it was possible to use an ecosystem approach to assess the exposure to biota, and that this approach can handle many of the problems identified in the use of traditional exposure models for radionuclides. To conclude, frameworks for the protection of the environment from ionising radiation would benefit from implementing methodologies based on ecologically sound principles and modelling techniques.
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| 3. |
- Olsson, Björne, et al.
(författare)
-
Physiological and proteomic responses in Mytilus edulis exposed to PCBs and PAHs extracted from Baltic Sea sediments
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Hydrobiologia. - 0018-8158 .- 1573-5117. ; 514:1-3, s. 15-27
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Stress responses in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis. L.) exposed to organic pollutants were measured using several physiological measures and as changes in protein expression. Blue mussels from the Baltic Sea were exposed for 6 days in a flow-through system to two fractions of extracted Baltic sediments (containing primarily PAHs or PCBs) from one industrially impacted site and one off-shore site. Exposure to Aroclor1248 (a commercial PCB mixture) was included as a reference treatment. Physiological response was measured as changes in respiration, excretion, clearance rates and scope for growth. Of the physiological responses, only clearance rate and scope for growth in the Aroclor and impacted site PCB treatments differed significantly (p < 0.05) from control organisms, perhaps due to a large variation among individuals. Seven proteins were observed, presumed to be from stress protein families (hsp60, hsp70 and hsp90) on one-dimensional electrophoresis gels. All protein levels, except three proteins, 62, 73 and 90 kDa, in response to PCB exposure from the industrial site, were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in treated than in control organisms, suggesting the use of stress-inducible proteins as diagnostics in risk assessment. A wider sample of proteins was observed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The presence or absence of protein spots compared to control organisms was used as an indication of stress. Between 23 and 76 proteins or spots were present and 15 to 23 absent compared to controls, and the results supported the physiological and one-dimensional gel results, suggesting that the mussels were indeed suffering from stress. The methods used here represent stress monitoring at two different levels of biological organization; the cellular- and the level of individual organisms. In this experiment the protein response showed less variation among individuals compared to the physiological parameters. The protein response, however, still suffers from the lack of interpretation into commonly used monitoring terms, which emphasizes the need for more knowledge of whether the response is a momentary reflection of exposure or an early warning of higher order effects.
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| 4. |
- Alonzo, Frederic, et al.
(författare)
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Modelling the propagation of effects of chronic exposure to ionising radiation from individuals to populations
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. - : Elsevier BV. - 0265-931X .- 1879-1700. ; 99:9, s. 1464-1473
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study evaluated the potential effect of ionising radiation on population growth using simple population models and parameter values derived from chronic exposure experiments in two invertebrate species with contrasting life-history strategies. In the earthworm Eisenia fetida, models predicted increasing delay in population growth with increasing gamma dose rate (up to 0.6 generation times at 11 mGy h(-1)). Population extinction was predicted at 43 mGy h(-1). In the microcrustacean Daphnia magna, models predicted increasing delay in population growth with increasing alpha dose rate (up to 0.8 generation times at 15.0 mGy h(-1)), only after two successive generations were exposed. The study examined population effects of changes in different individual endpoints (including survival, number of offspring produced and time to first reproduction). Models showed that the two species did not respond equally to equivalent levels of change, the fast growing daphnids being more susceptible to reduction in fecundity or delay in reproduction than the slow growing earthworms. This suggested that susceptibility of a population to ionising radiation cannot be considered independent of the species' life history.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Björk, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
-
Efficiencies of polychlorinated biphenyl assimilation from water and algal food by the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis)
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. - : Wiley. - 0730-7268 .- 1552-8618. ; 18:4, s. 765-771
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A novel method was used to estimate assimilation efficiencies (AEs) of dissolved and food associated PCBs (IUPAC 31, 49, and 153) by the Baltic Sea blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). Mussels were exposed to radiolabeled PCBs in a series of shortterm toxicokinetic experiments at different algal food concentrations, both at apparent steady-state (ASS) and non-steady-state (NSS) conditions in respect to PCB partitioning between water and algae. The PCB AEs were calculated using a physiologically based bioaccumulation model where experimentally determined uptake and exposure rates at ASS and NSS conditions were combined into linear equation systems, which were solved for PCB AE from water and food. A positive relationship between PCB uptake and algae clearance by the mussels was observed for all three PCBs. The PCB AEs from both water and food increased with congener hydrophobicity (octanol/water partition coefficient [K-ow]), but AEs decreased with increases in water pumping and filtration rate of the mussels, respectively. The average contribution of food-associated PCB to the total uptake also increased with K-ow from approximately 30% for PCB 31 and PCB 49 to 50% for PCB 153, mainly as a consequence of increased sorption to the algal food.
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| 7. |
- Björk, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
-
In situ determination of PCB biodeposition by Mytilus edulis in a Baltic coastal ecosystem
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Marine Ecology Progress Series. - 0171-8630 .- 1616-1599. ; 194, s. 193-201
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodeposits of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and pelagic and near-bed settling particulate matter were collected in situ over a 1 yr period in a coastal area of the Northern Baltic proper. The amounts of carbon and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the collected biodeposits were compared to those in pelagic and near-bed settling material and rates of carbon and PCB biodeposition by mussels were estimated. The filter-feeding activity and subsequent release of faecal matter by the mussels increased gross sedimentation of carbon to benthos by 45 % if compared to areas with no mussels. By selectively feeding on particles rich in organic carbon the mussels also concentrated associated contaminants and thereby increased gross sedimentation of PCBs by 50 %. This suggests that mussel biodeposition will enhance the availability of PCBs to benthic deposit feeders living in or in the vicinity of mussel beds. Extrapolation of the experimental results to the total Swedish coastal zone of the Baltic proper indicates that mussel biodeposition is responsible for a significant part of PCB net sedimentation, i.e. 17 % or 96 kg yr(-1). Consequently, even when seen from a large geographical scale, mussels are important modifiers of PCB cycling by directing considerable amounts of PCBs towards the benthic food web and thereby influencing the retention time of these and probably many other contaminants in the coastal zone. It is also Likely that changes in mussel biomass, for example owing to shifts in primary production or salinity, will markedly affect the transport and fate of contaminants in the Baltic Sea.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Boström, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
How to achieve sustainable procurement for “peripheral” products with significant environmental impacts
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Sustainability. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1548-7733. ; 11:1, s. 21-31
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Departing from previous theoretical and empirical studies on sustainable supply-chain management, we investigate organizational commitment (drivers and motivations) and capabilities (resources, structures, and policy instruments) in sustainable procurement of “noncore” products. By focusing on chemicals in textiles, the article explores the activi-ties of differently sized organizations and discusses the potentials and limitations of sustainable procurement measures. The study is based on a qualitative and comparative approach, with empirical findings from 26 case stud-ies of Swedish public and private procurement organizations. These organizations operate in the sectors of hotels/ conference venues, transport, cinema, interior design, and hospitals/daycare. While this work demonstrates major challenges for buyers to take into account peripheral items in sustainable procurement, it also identifies constructive measures for moving forward. A general sustainability/environmental focus can, as an effect, spill over to areas per-ceived as peripheral. © 2014 Boström et al.
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| 10. |
- Boström, Magnus, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
-
IKEA and the Responsible Governance of Supply Chains : IKEA’s work on chemicals in textiles
- 2013
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This report focuses on IKEA’s management and communication surrounding sustainability in general and chemical risks specifically. IKEA’s work is analysed in relation to theoretical concepts around responsibility, supply chain, and governance . The report focuses on IKEA’s visions and organizational structures, its policy instruments to deal with chemical risks, supplier-relations and communication and learning. The study is based on previous scholarly literature, analyses of relevant documents, a field visit at a few of IKEA’s suppliers in southern India, as well as interviews with staff working at IKEA in Sweden. The report focuses on IKEA’s systems and processes for dealing with chemical risks, and not on the implementation of such measures in quantitative terms.
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Boström, Magnus, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
-
Towards responsible procurement in relation to chemical risks in textiles? Findings from an interview study
- 2011
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the present study, we ask whether and how different organizations work with sustainable procurement and how this work relates to the complexity of the product chain. We have chosen to focus on chemical risks in relation to textiles – an issue that increasingly is becoming part of the public discourse and a target for journalists. In the case of textiles, the product chain from raw material to consumption often involves a great number of production steps, sub-contractors and users, often on a global scale. Sustainable management of the supply chain would improve health, quality of life, and labour conditions, for instance in the areas and factories in developing countries where production and processing often take place. However, such management faces great difficulties and challenges in terms of capabilities, knowledge, communication, and policy instruments. These difficulties are related to high uncertainties and other problems that in turn are related to the high complexity of global product chains. The objective of the present report is to gain insights into the opportunities and challenges that private and public organizations face regarding the development of responsible procurement in relation to a complex and uncertain issue. The report focuses on chemicals in textiles and uses a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews. Key elements of a pro-active, responsible procurement strategy are defined in the report and include criteria such as using a preventive, systematic, responsive, integrative, and reflective approach. The analysis includes the following topics: (i) priorities and knowledge, (ii) communicative strategies, (iii) policy instruments, (iv) monitoring and trust in relation to suppliers. The results show a fairly modest level of organizational responsibility, although it is possible to observe an initial positive development among the cases investigated. The report ends by suggesting a number of topics that require further investigation.
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| 13. |
- Börjeson, Natasja, et al.
(författare)
-
Knowledge challenges for responsible supply chain management of chemicals in textiles - as experienced by procuring organisations
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 107, s. 130-136
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A great number of chemicals - many of which are hazardous to human health and the environment - are used along the complex supply chains of textiles. These complexities and hazards make knowledge for understanding chemical properties and management practices at multiple nodes central to the responsible management of textile supply chains. This study investigates the knowledge requirements of, and the knowledge strategies used by, textile procuring organisations in response to both external stakeholders and internal pressure. Based on a qualitative study of small and medium-sized Swedish textile procuring organisations, the paper describes these knowledge challenges and analyses how efforts to meet them relate to expressed commitments and capabilities for responsible supply chain management (RSCM), as well as to organisational characteristics (i.e. whether the organisation is private or public, small or large, and whether textiles is a core or peripheral activity). It was found that several textile procuring organisations expressed commitment towards achieving RSCM. However, most organisations felt that they lacked capacity to rise to the challenge. There was a poor state of knowledge regarding many chemical substances and inherent difficulties in gaining knowledge of chemical risks and how to manage these. Moreover, the input of knowledge was limited and based on only a few key sources. Such factors proved to be obstacles for procuring organisations when attempting to facilitate responsible management upstream in complex supply chains.
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| 14. |
- Castillo, Luisa Eugenia, et al.
(författare)
-
Water quality and macroinvertebrate community response following pesticide applications in a banana plantation, Limon, Costa Rica
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 367:1, s. 418-432
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pesticides used in banana production may enter watercourses and pose ecological risks for aquatic ecosystems. The occurrence and effects of pesticides in a stream draining a banana plantation was evaluated using chemical characterization, toxicity testing and macrobenthic community composition. All nematicides studied were detected in the surface waters of the banana plantation during application periods, with peak concentrations following applications. Toxicity tests were limited to the carbofuran application and no toxicity was observed with the acute tests used. However, since pesticide concentrations were generally below the lowest LC50 value for crustaceans but above calculated aquatic quality criteria, there remains a risk of chronic toxicity. Accurate ecological assessments of pesticide use in banana plantations are currently limited by the lack of local short-term chronic toxicity tests and tests using sensitive native species. Relatively constant levels of four pesticides (imazalil, thiabendazole, chlorpyrifos and propiconazole), which had toxic effects according to the 96h hydra and 21d daphnia chronic test, were recorded in the effluent of the packing plant throughout the study, indicating that the solid waste trap used in this facility was not effective in eliminating toxic chemicals. Certain taxa, such as Heterelmis sp. (Elmidae), Heteragrion sp. (Megapodagrionidae, Odonata), Caenis sp. (Caenidae, Ephemerotera), and Smicridea sp. (Hidropsychidae, Trichoptera), were more abundant at reference sites than in the banana farm waters, and may be good candidates for toxicity testing. Multivariate analyses of the macroinvertebrate communities clearly showed that the banana plantation sites were significantly different from the reference sites. Moreover, following the pesticide applications, all the banana plantation sites showed significant changes in community composition, with the same genera being affected at all sites and for all pesticides (terbufas, cadusafos and carbofuran). Consequently, the results presented here show that multivariate analysis of community composition was more sensitive in distinguishing pesticide effects than the toxicity tests and richness and composition measures used. We conclude that monitoring macroinvertebrate communities can be a powerful tool in the assessment of ecological effects of banana production.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Edvardsson Björnberg, Karin, et al.
(författare)
-
Climate and environmental science denial : A review of the scientific literature published in 1990-2015
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 167, s. 229-241
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Denial of scientific findings is neither a new nor an unexplored phenomenon. In the area of environmental science and policy though, the research on denial has not been systematically summarized and analyzed. This article reviews 161 scientific articles on environmental and climate science denial published in peer reviewed international journals in the last 25 years and aims to both identify research gaps and enable learning on the phenomenon. Such knowledge is needed for the increasingly important task to provide effective response to science denial, in order to put an end to its influence on environmental policy making. The review, which is based on articles found in the databases Web of Science, Scopus and Philosopher's Index, shows that denial by far is most studied in relation to climate change, with a focus on Anglo-American countries, where this form of denial is most common. Other environmental issues and other geographical areas have received much less scientific attention. While the actors behind climate science denial, their various motives and the characteristics of their operations have been thoroughly described, more comparative research between issues and countries is needed in order to draw reliable conclusions about the factors explaining the peculiarities of denial. This may in turn lay the ground for developing and actually testing the effectiveness and efficiency of strategies to counter environmental science denial. Irrespective of the ambitions of environmental goals, science-based policies are always preferable. The scientific community therefore needs to increase its efforts to dismantle false claims and to disclose the schemes of denialists.
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| 17. |
-
Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea.
- 2016
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This edited volume presents a comprehensive and coherent interdisciplinary analysis of challenges and possibilities for sustainable governance of the Baltic Sea ecosystem by combining knowledge and approaches from natural and social sciences. Focusing on the Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM) and associated multi-level, multi-sector and multi-actor challenges, the book provides up-to-date descriptions and analyses of environmental governance structures and processes at the macro-regional Baltic Sea level. Organised in two parts, Part 1 presents in-depth case studies of environmental governance practices and challenges linked to five key environmental problems - eutrophication, chemical pollution, overfishing, oil discharges and invasive species. Part 2 analyses and compares governance challenges and opportunities across the five case studies, focusing on governance structures and EAM implementation, knowledge integration and science support, as well as stakeholder communication and participation. Based on these cross-case comparisons, this book also draws a set of general conclusions on possible ways of improving the governance of the Baltic Sea by promoting what are identified as vital functions of environmental governance: coordination, integration, interdisciplinarity, precaution, deliberation, communication and adaptability.
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| 18. |
- Gardeström, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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A multilevel approach to predict toxicity in copepod populations : Assessment of growth, genetics, and population structure
- 2006
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Ingår i: Aquatic Toxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0166-445X .- 1879-1514. ; 79:1, s. 41-48
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the goals of environmental risk assessment (ERA) is to understand effects of toxicant exposure on individual organisms and populations. We hypothesized that toxicant exposure can reduce genetic diversity and alter genotype composition, which may ultimately lead to a reduction in the average fitness of the exposed population. To test this hypothesis, we exposed a copepod, Nitocra psammophila, to a toxic reference compound and assayed resulting alterations in genetic structure, i.e. expected heterozygosity and percent polymorphic loci, as well as other population- and fitness-related measures, i.e. population abundance, demographic structure and juvenile growth. The copepods were exposed to 0.11-1.1 mu g of the pentabromo-substituted diphenyl ether (BDE-47) mg(-1) freeze-dried algae for 24 days (i.e. > 1 generation). There was no significant decline in total population abundance. However, there were significant alterations in population structure, manifested as diminished proportion of nauplii and increased proportion of copepodites. In addition, individual RNA content in copepodites decreased significantly in exposed individuals, indicating declined growth. Finally, in the exposed populations, heterozygosity was lower and genotype composition was altered compared to the controls. These results therefore confirm the hypothesized reduction in overall genetic variability resulting from toxicant exposure. Multilevel approaches, such as the one used in the present study, may help unravel subtle effects on the population level, thus increasing the predictive capacity of future ERA.
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| 19. |
- Garnier-Laplace, Jacqueline, et al.
(författare)
-
Assessing ecological effects of radionuclides : data gaps and extrapolation issues
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Journal of Radiological Protection. - 0952-4746 .- 1361-6498. ; 24:4A, s. A139-A155
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By inspection of the FASSET database on radiation effects on non-human biota, one of the major difficulties in the implementation of ecological risk assessments for radioactive pollutants is found to be the lack of data for chronic low-level exposure. A critical review is provided of a number of extrapolation issues that arise in undertaking an ecological risk assessment: acute versus chronic exposure regime; radiation quality including relative biological effectiveness and radiation weighting factors; biological effects from an individual to a population level, including radiosensitivity and lifestyle variations throughout the life cycle; single radionuclide versus multi-contaminants. The specificities of the environmental situations of interest (mainly chronic low-level exposure regimes) emphasise the importance of reproductive parameters governing the demography of the population within a given ecosystem and, as a consequence, the structure and functioning of that ecosystem. As an operational conclusion to keep in mind for any site-specific risk assessment, the present state-of-the-art on extrapolation issues allows us to grade the magnitude of the uncertainties as follows: one species to another > acute to chronic = external to internal = mixture of stressors > individual to population > ecosystem structure to function.
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| 20. |
- Garnier-Laplace, J., et al.
(författare)
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Issues and practices in the use of effects data from FREDERICA in the ERICA Integrated Approach
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. - : Elsevier BV. - 0265-931X .- 1879-1700. ; 99:9, s. 1474-1483
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ERICA Integrated Approach requires that a risk assessment screening dose rate is defined for the risk characterisation within Tiers 1 and 2. At Tier 3, no numerical screening dose rate is used, and the risk characterisation is driven by methods that can evaluate the possible effects of ionising radiation on reproduction, mortality and morbidity. Species sensitivity distribution has been used to derive the ERICA risk assessment predicted no-effect dose rate (PNEDR). The method used was based on the mathematical processing of data from FRED (FASSET radiation effects database merged with the EPIC database to form FREDERICA) and resulted in a PNEDR of 10 mu Gy/h. This rate was assumed to ascribe sufficient protection of all ecosystems from detrimental effects on structure and function under chronic exposure. The value was weighed against a number of points of comparison: (i) PNEDR values obtained by application of the safety factor method, (ii) background levels, (iii) dose rates triggering effects on radioactively contaminated sites and (iv) former guidelines from literature reviews. In Tier 3, the effects analysis must be driven by the problem formulation and is thus highly case specific. Instead of specific recommendations on numeric values, guidance on the sorts of methods that may be applied for refined effect analysis is Provided and illustrated.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Environment
- 2011
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Ingår i: Political State of the Region Report 2011. - Köpenhamn : Baltic Development Forum. ; , s. 68-71
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 24. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea : Identifying Key Challenges, Research Topics and Analytical Approaches
- 2016. - 1
-
Ingår i: Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319270050 - 9783319270067 - 9783319800561 ; , s. 1-17
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Baltic Sea ecosystem is subject to a wide array of societal pressures and associated environmental risks (e.g. eutrophication, oil discharges, chemical pollution, overfishing and invasive alien species). Despite several years of substantial efforts by state and non-state actors, it is still highly unlikely that the regionally agreed environmental objectives of reaching “good environmental status” by 2021 in the HELCOM BSAP (Baltic Sea Action Plan) and by 2020 in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) will be met. This chapter identifies key research topics, as well as presents analytical perspectives for analysing the gap between knowledge and action in Baltic Sea environmental governance. It does so by outlining important trends and key challenges associated with Baltic Sea environmental governance, as well as by summarising the scope and results of individual chapters of this interdisciplinary volume. The analysis reveals the development of increasingly complex governance arrangements and the ongoing implementation of the holistic Ecosystem Approach to Management, as two general trends that together contribute to three key challenges associated with (1) regional and cross - sectoral coordination and collaboration, (2) coping with complexity and uncertainty in science-policy interactions and (3) developing communication and knowledge sharing among stakeholder groups. Furthermore, to facilitate analysis of environmental governance opportunities and obstacles both within and across specific environmental issues, this chapter reviews the scientific literature to pinpoint key research issues and questions linked to the identified governance challenges.
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| 25. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-
(författare)
-
Environmental Risk Governance of the Baltic Sea : RISKGOV Final report : Deliverable 12
- 2012
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Environmental risk governance in the Baltic Sea area is still unable to fully support implementation of the ecosystem approach to management. Hence, the aims of the international RISKGOV project were: 1) to improve our understanding of environmental risk governance and its challenges in the Baltic Sea; 2) to suggest possible avenues for improvement.These aims were addressed by integrating social and natural science approaches on five strategically selected environmental risks (eutrophication, overfishing, invasive species, chemical pollution and oil discharges).The findings, recommendations and dissemination products of RISKGOV are described in detail in the Final report (http://www.sh.se/riskgov). Researchers from Södertörn University were involved in all case studies and cross-case comparisons. In summary, RISKGOV concludes that it is necessary to improve the robustness and responsiveness of governance practices to achieve sustainable ecosystem management. Specifically, RISKGOV recommends that: (i) Governance structures need to move towards more reflexive governance by improving regulatory coordination, cross sector collaboration, and interaction space for reflexivity. This is, for example, exemplified by increased interactions between HELCOM and the EU aiming at the combination of mandatory regulation and voluntary agreements; (ii) Assessment-management interactions require improvements e.g. relating to the regional and interdisciplinary knowledge-base, stakeholder participation and coping with scientific uncertainty and disagreement; (iii) Stakeholder participation and communication require improvements in terms of a more integrated system of stakeholder input possibly via an expansion of HELCOM’s stakeholder involvement policy and enhanced efforts to communicate environmental issues to the general public. Implications of these general recommendations for specific actors and stakeholders were analysed and developed through thematic roundtable discussions.
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| 26. |
- Gilek, Michael
(författare)
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Extrapolation issues
- 2003
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Ingår i: Radiation Effects on Plants and Animals. - : European Commission. ; , s. 163-178
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 27. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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In search of social sustainability in marine spatial planning : A review of scientific literature published 2005–2020
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Ocean and Coastal Management. - : Elsevier. - 0964-5691 .- 1873-524X. ; 208
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A number of commentators have argued that up until now marine/maritime spatial planning (MSP) research and practice have been dominated by blue economy and environmental concerns and have tended to neglect what might be regarded as social sustainability concerns. To gain more insight into the character and extent of such a gap, as well as how to address it, this article examines how social sustainability has been addressed in peer reviewed scientific articles on MSP between 2005 and 2020. Using search terms such as participation, democracy, social inclusion, social cohesion, equity we systematically identify and review 310 scientific articles that address diverse social sustainability concerns within MSP and marine governance. The review showed that very few papers systematically conceptualised or developed a coherent framework for engaging with social sustainability. Instead, they mostly addressed particular social concerns including participation and engagement, equity and social justice, socio-cultural values and preferences. Marine management and planning efficiency, as well as related instrumental framings of the merits of participation were the key arguments for including these dimensions of social sustainability in MSP. In terms of how to better include social sustainability in MSP, most attention was given to social-cultural mapping and ways to improve social inclusion/participation while also redressing exclusion and maldistribution of outcomes in MSP practice. We conclude that there is a need to deepen and diversify MSP inquiry with respect to social sustainability. In particular, scholars would do well to delve deeper and more broadly in social science literature to find inspiration on ways to understand and elucidate social issues. Here, the enormous body of relevant work on justice, power, critical institutionalism, political ecology and terrestrial planning literatures has hardly been tapped. It is also evident from this review that there is a need for both the academic and practice-based communities to more comprehensively address how the multidimensions of social sustainability interact with each other, as well as with economic and environmental aspects of marine planning and governance. Based on these observations, we highlight a set of suggestions on how to develop MSP research and practice on social sustainability. Most importantly, we argue that more in-depth co-production, linking scholars, practitioners and society actors, is needed.
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| 28. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Interactions between risk assessment and risk management for environmental risks in the Baltic Sea : RISKGOV Deliverable 9
- 2011
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This report has been produced within the interdisciplinary RISKGOV project with the overall aim of comparing risk assessment – risk management interactions connected with five severe Baltic Sea environmental risks (eutrophication, overfishing, invasive species, chemical pollution and oil discharges linked to marine transports).Specifically, we compare three major aspects connected with assessment – management interactions and, based on this analysis, suggest possible routes for improving interaction between science-based advice and environmental (risk) management:Organisational structure of the risk assessment activities and the generation, selection and implementation of management options.The management of scientific uncertainties and disagreements.Implementation of the ecosystem approach to management (EAM) and modes of ‘good governance’.In order to understand these aspects we started by describing and analysing the characteristics of the five risk cases. This revealed substantial differences in terms of sources, effects and complexities (in terms of scientific uncertainty and socio-political ambiguity). For example, chemical risks are associated with great uncertainty and oil spill with much lower; fisheries relate to very high socio-political ambiguity, whereas invasive species show the opposite nature and oil spill fit with more traditional risk parameters. Our analysis also revealed a great variation in the societal risk responses, which far from always seems rational in relation to the risk characteristics.When it comes to the organisational structures, we can conclude that different forms of institutions and institutional arrangements and relations have evolved over time in the various cases, for instance relatively well-formalised in the overfishing case, and rather informal for combating eutrophication. Similarly, we see different forms of expert dependencies. In the overfishing case there are institutionalised formal links between e.g. ICES and the EU Commission and the historic path-dependency is quite strong, thereby causing institutional inertia, even though the development of Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) such as the Baltic RAC are gradually changing the picture. In relation to many other environmental risk cases (e.g. eutrophication and chemicals) HELCOM provides a regional basis for assessment and management (although implementation of management recommendations have often proved complex). Still, assessment-management interactions seem more developed and better organised in the overfishing case, even though it is obvious that the last link, the political decision-making on quotas, has deviated substantially from the science-based advice, thereby opening for continued overfishing. Similarly, well-developed institutions seem to allow for improved deliberative processes for fisheries, including improved analysis of socio-economic dimensions, which we cannot find to the same extent for e.g. chemicals, eutrophication and invasive species.The assessment and management responses we see to the studied risks do not seem to be based on any thorough analysis of the specific risk characteristics, or on the suitability of different overall strategies (e.g. traditional science-based assessment, precautionary, deliberative). Instead, all studied assessment-management interactions can be classified as being built primarily on traditional science-based assessment of risks. Of course, we see elements of for example precaution in e.g. the chemicals case, and deliberation in the fish case, and the inclusion of the EAM as a starting point for assessment exercises and management decisions is becoming more common, but overall this happens only partially and infrequently.Thus, to summarise, we conclude that there are substantial differences among environmental risks in relation to, for example, complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity, and we argue that it is important to maintain a balance between ideals of holistic approaches such as EAM and context dependent requirements of various management objectives, environmental risks and sectors. For example, high levels of uncertainty (e.g. chemical pollution) and ambiguity (e.g. overfishing) can be assumed to require assessment-management approaches focussed on precaution and participatory deliberation, respectively.Furthermore, our analysis identifies six key issues and challenges that, if adequately addressed, may improve assessment-management interactions and facilitate the implementation of the ecosystem approach to management.1. We see a need to further develop the regional and ecosystem basis of assessment-management interactions in terms of addressing prioritised knowledge gaps, as well as developing regional knowledge management and monitoring to strengthen regionally-based scientific advice.2. Integration of various forms of scientific knowledge is currently rather undeveloped in assessment and scientific advice, which reduces possibilities of addressing also the social dimension of sustainable development as well as possibilities of identifying and reducing ‘blind spots’.3. Stakeholder participation requires more consideration since incorporation of practitioner and local knowledge in risk assessments as well as stakeholder deliberation in risk management often are vital for the successful implementation of the ecosystem approach to management.4. We identify substantial room for improvements linked to coping with scientific uncertainty and disagreement in both risk assessment and risk management. We conclude that there in fact are examples of science-based precautionary approaches and methods, but that a comprehensive and coherent strategy for addressing uncertainty is often lacking.5. Interdependencies among environmental risk issues need to be more specifically addressed than today. Climate change will, for example, influence both the outcome of risk assessments as well as the possibilities for successful management in all the studied environmental risk cases.6. Despite a commonly expressed idea of a clear separation between assessment and management, the studied science-policy interactions are in general rather diffuse and politicised. This lack of transparency about how these interactions evolve and are constructed may mislead political decision makers and the public and thus potentially hamper management progress.
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| 29. |
- Gilek, Michael, et al.
(författare)
-
Introduction
- 2010
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Ingår i: Regulating Chemical Risks. - Dordrecht : SPRINGER. ; , s. 1-5
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 30. |
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| 31. |
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| 32. |
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| 33. |
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| 34. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Science and Policy in the Governance of Europe's Marine Environment : The Impact of Europeanization, Regionalization and the Ecosystem Approach to Management
- 2015
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Ingår i: Governing Europe's Marine Environment. - Farnham : Ashgate. - 9781409447276 - 9781315585543 ; , s. 141-160
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The governance of Europe’s marine environment concerns the relationship between two systems: a ‘system-to-be-governed’ made up of the natural system and a ‘governing system’ made up of institutions and organizations with a functional responsibility to steer the system-to-be-governed towards a set of goals (see Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2015 in this volume). Both are complex in the sense that they are often diverse, multifaceted, dynamic and vulnerable. Science and policy meet at the interface between the two systems, but the traditional ideal that science, e.g. via scientific committees, speaks objective truth to directly responsive politicians has been questioned (e.g. Nowotny et al. 2001). This is not least the case when it comes to the governance of large-scale marine environmental risks such as overfishing, eutrophication and hazardous chemicals, where the demarcation between the two domains of science and policy is far from clear-cut due to scientific uncertainty and disagreements among stakeholders (Wilson 2009, Karlsson et al. 2011, Linke et al. 2014).
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Seeking Pathways Towards Improved Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea
- 2016. - 1
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Ingår i: Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319270050 - 9783319270067 - 9783319800561 ; , s. 229-246
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Governing marine environments is a highly complex and challenging enterprise. This applies particularly to the heavily exploited Baltic Sea for which despite extensive governance arrangements and a substantial scientific knowledge base, it is unlikely that the policy objective of ‘good environmental status’ is reached. Based on a review of governance arrangements linked to five large-scale environmental issues (eutrophication, overfishing, invasive alien species, chemical pollution and oil spills from shipping), this chapter aims to identify pathways and concrete ideas for institutional reform that may improve goal fulfilment. The results show that governance challenges differ substantially between environmental issues, implying a need for case-specific management reforms. For example, coping with extreme uncertainty is a key challenge in the chemical pollution case, whereas it seems more pertinent in the eutrophication case to address the complexity of nutrient pollution sources by adapting objectives and measures amongst sectoral policies to be in line with environmental ones. Furthermore, cross-case comparisons reveal a set of common vital functions (i.e. coordination, integration, interdisciplinarity, precaution, deliberation, communication and adaptability) that are needed in order to facilitate effective and efficient environmental governance in the long term. To promote these functions in Baltic Sea environmental governance, the chapter suggests pathways and institutional reforms aimed at improving multilevel and multisectoral integration, science-policy interactions and stakeholder participation. To further develop these ideas, it is proposed amongst other things that priority is given to setting up an international ‘Baltic Sea Policy Review Mechanism’, formed by cross-body and cross-stakeholder participation.
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| 37. |
- Gilek, Michael, et al.
(författare)
-
Spatial patterns of abundance and growth of Mytilus edulis on boulders in the Northern Baltic Sea proper
- 2001
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Ingår i: Hydrobiologia. - 0018-8158 .- 1573-5117. ; 452:1-3, s. 59-68
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Small scale spatial patterns of abundance, growth and condition of the mussel Mytilus edulis on sub-littoral boulders (approx. 1-2 m high) were investigated at the island of Asko in the northern Baltic proper. The effect of side (exposed/sheltered with respect to wave action and sunlight) of boulder and position (up/down) on boulder was investigated. A large spatial variability in abundance of M. edulis between boulders and between various sites within boulders were found. The highest numbers of mussels were found on the wave exposed side, near the top of boulders. Shell growth was favoured by a sheltered side and a down position. The body condition (meat weight/shell weight) of mussels was, on the other hand, affected only by position, the condition of mussels being better at the up position. Consequently, there seems to be temporal differences in the condition for growth within a spatial position. The body condition of the mussels was best near the top of boulders in the spring, but long-term shell growth was favoured by a sheltered side and a down position. This may reflect changes in the composition and availability of food during the year with phytoplankton as the major food source during the spring bloom and resuspension of benthic production and detritus as relatively more important during the rest of the year.
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| 38. |
- Gilek, Michael, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
-
The Ecosystem Approach and Sustainable Development in Baltic Sea Marine Spatial Planning: The Social Pillar, a ‘Slow Train Coming’
- 2018
-
Ingår i: The Ecosystem Approach in Ocean Planning and Governance. - Nijhoff : Brill Nijhoff. - 9789004389984 ; , s. 160-194
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter develops an analytical framework, drawing on the multidimensional role of integration, to explore how the Ecosystem Approach (EA) is variously conceived and practiced in marine spatial planning (MSP) in the Baltic Sea region (BSR). This framework is used to examine how EA practices reflect differing conceptions of sustainable development (SD) in Baltic marine and coastal areas. This work intersects with several of the other chapters on marine planning in this volume by explicitly exploring links between EA and SD through examination of in-depth BSR case studies. Results reveal that EA principles for MSP developed at the international level (HELCOM/VASAB) and in some national MSP settings (e.g. Latvia), combined with a common assumption of ecological limits to development, largely acknowledge a wide definition of EA as a governance approach building on societal choice and diverse knowledge inclusion (as seen e.g. in the Malawi principles). However, looking at more specific guidelines and MSP practices, there is a significant gap between espoused principles and the practical implementation of EA in BSR MSP, especially regarding social aspects of sustainability such as participation, social inclusion and knowledge pluralism. While work on ecological services in EA looks promising as a means of developing joined-up thinking between ecological and economic interests, it is uncertain whether this approach can deliver on EA’s social sustainability ambitions. We conclude the chapter by discussing ways that could strengthen the social pillar in MSP as a form of governance to bridge the gap between EA principles and practice.
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| 39. |
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| 40. |
- Gunnarsson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of eutrophication on contaminant cycling in marine benthic systems
- 2000
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Ingår i: Ambio. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 29:4-5, s. 252-259
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Effects of inputs of organic matter were studied on bioavailability and cycling of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) in benthic ecosystems of the Baltic and Kattegat Seas. In laboratory experiments, effects of microalgae additions were studied on the bioaccumulation of HOCs (PCBs and PAHs) by the blue mussel Mytilus edulis, the brittle star Amphiura filiformis, and the polychaete Nereis diversicolor. Contrary to the equilibrium partitioning theory, bioaccumulation was proportional to the concentrations of algae and organic carbon. This was attributed to the high nutritional quality of the algal organic carbon and suggests that feeding rather than equilibrium partitioning governed bioaccumulation in these species. In the field, annual mass fluxes of PCBs in blue mussels and in brittle stars were estimated, as well as contaminant transfer to higher trophic levels. Our results suggest that: I) Eutrophication processes may contribute to increase HOC accumulation in benthic species. ii) Temporal variation in the quantity and quality of organic carbon needs to be considered when assessing contamination of benthic systems. ill) Macrofaunal feeding activities are important for the benthic-pelagic coupling of HOCs. iv) Bioturbation enhances the release of HOCs from sediment to overlying water.
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| 41. |
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| 42. |
- Gustafsson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Bioaccumulation kinetics of brominated flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis)
- 1999
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Ingår i: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. - : Wiley. - 0730-7268 .- 1552-8618. ; 18:6, s. 1218-1224
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Baltic Sea blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, were exposed to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, IUPAC congeners 47, 99, and 153) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, congeners 31, 52, 77, 118, and 153) in a flow-through experimental setup for 44 d. After the exposure phase, the mussels were allowed to depurate in natural brackish water for 26 d. After analyses, uptake clearance rate coefficients (k(u)), depuration rate coefficients (k(d)), and bioaccumulation factors (BAF) were calculated. A rapid uptake of all PBDEs and PCBs was observed, especially for PBDE congeners 47 and 99 (k(a) 120 and 170 L/day/g dry weight, respectively). The depuration rare decreased with increasing hydrophobicity as expected for the PCBs, bur for the PBDEs, depuration rate coefficients appeared to be of the same magnitude for all three congeners independently of log K-ow. The BAFs obtained for PBDE 47 and PBDE 99 (1.3 x 10(6) and 1.4 x 10(6) ml/g dry weight, respectively) were higher than for all other substances in the study, severalfold higher than for PCBs of similar hydrophobicity. The presented data indicate that the bioaccumulation potential of PBDEs, extensively used as flame retardants, is similar or higher than that of PCBs for filter feeding organisms such as blue mussels.
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| 43. |
- Hammer, Monica, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Towards improved environmental risk governance of the Baltic Sea : RISKGOV Deliverable 11
- 2012
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Moving towards sustainable ecosystem governance practices is potentially a complex and time consuming endeavour. The RISKGOV project identified three main governance challenges linked to implementing an ecosystem approach to management in the medium to long term time span (i.e. years to decades), that, if adequately addressed by actors and stakeholders, could help improve the governance of environmental problems and risks in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Firstly, fostering a move towards reflexive and adaptive governance structures and processes by improving regulatory coordination, cross sector collaboration and forming spaces for interaction and dialogue. Secondly, strengthening the regional and ecosystem basis of knowledge generation and management is needed, including integration of various forms of scientific knowledge, stakeholder input, and increased attention to interdependencies among environmental problems and risks to better address uncertainties and disagreements. Thirdly, to develop a more integrated system of stakeholder input and communication, e.g. in the form of a “regional marine advisory council”, to face issues of inclusiveness, create a common concern for the Baltic ecosystem, improve the motivation and capacity, and improve coordination across scales and sectors.
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| 44. |
- Hassler, Björn, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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BONUS BALTSPACE D2:2 : Ambitions and Realities in Baltic Sea Marine Spatial Planning and the Ecosystem Approach: Policy and Sector Coordination in Promotion of Regional Integration
- 2017
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This report is part of the BONUS BALTSPACE project and is focused on challenges for policy and sector integration in Baltic Sea marine spatial planning (MSP). The main objectives have been to identify concrete coordination problems, to analyse why they have emerged and to discuss possible remedies. It is based on selected aspects extracted from case studies carried out in this project related to the development of regional MSP approaches in Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden and on an additional case study on the HELCOM-VASAB Working Group on MSP. To facilitate the analysis of vertical policy interactions between institutions at different levels as well as of horizontal interactions over sector and country borders, an analytical framework was constructed. This framework consists of two main components; (a) institution-driven coordination where institutions such as global treaties, the EU, regional organisations, and state authorities provide boundaries for decisions taken at lower levels and (b) benefit-driven coordination capturing horizontal coordination across sector and country borders.
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| 45. |
- Hassler, Björn, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Collective action and agency in Baltic Sea marine spatial planning: Transnational policy coordination in the promotion of regional coherence
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Marine Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0308-597X .- 1872-9460. ; 92, s. 138-147
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the increasing attention given to marine spatial planning and the widely acknowledged need for transnational policy coordination, regional coherence has not yet improved a great deal in the Baltic Sea region. Therefore, the main objectives in this article are: (a) to map existing governance structures at all levels that influence how domestic marine spatial planning policy strategies are formed, (b) to identify specific challenges to improved regional cooperation and coordination, and (c) to discuss possible remedies. Based on data from in-depth case studies carried out in the BONUS BALTSPACE research project, it is shown that, despite the shared goal of sustainability and efficient resource use in relevant EU Directives, action plans and other policy instruments, domestic plans are emerging in diverse ways, mainly reflecting varying domestic administrative structures, sectoral interests, political prioritisations, and handling of potentially conflicting policy objectives. A fruitful distinction can be made between, on the one hand, regulatory institutions and structures above the state level where decision-making mechanisms are typically grounded in consensual regimes and, on the other hand, bilateral, issue-specific collaboration, typically between adjacent countries. It is argued that, to improve overall marine spatial planning governance, these two governance components need to be brought together to improve consistency between regional alignment and to enhance opportunities for countries to collaborate at lower levels. Issue-specific transnational working groups or workshops can be one way to identify and act upon such potential synergies. © 2018 The Authors
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| 46. |
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| 47. |
- Hassler, Björn, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Cooperating for sustainable regional marine governance : The case of fisheries and nutrient runoff from agriculture to the Baltic Sea, Synthesis report
- 2019
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Over-fishing and eutrophication (too much nutrients) are among the most severe threats to the ecosystems of the Baltic Sea and the ecosystem services they provide. Despite the well-known fact that effective and sustainable management requires cooperation – among as well as within states – appropriate frameworks that work have not yet been constructed and successfully applied. This report summarises findings from a research project on cooperation for sustainable marine governance of the Baltic Sea carried out between 2013 and 2018. Three aspects of central relevance for the understanding of regional cooperation in environmental governance are distinguished: interests, knowledge and management. It is shown that it is not enough to design cooperative arrangements that make the group of users, stakeholders or states better off than without such an arrangement. It is furthermore required that all actors have individual interests to participate, and that free-riding on others’ contributions can be controlled. When this is not the case, effective abatement of eutrophication is not likely to be forthcoming, even though aggregated benefits from such measures are larger than expected costs.Knowledge often play important roles in marine environmental governance, not least in relation to so-called epistemic communities, that is, groups of experts that share a common understanding of the environmental problem at hand, and how to address it. It is shown that the coherence of the epistemic group can be a crucial factor influencing its impact. In both abatement of eutrophication and management of fish stocks, these expert groups have been somewhat divided, which has limited their impact.Modes of management can influence cooperation and outcomes in ways that can be difficult to predict. Although environmental taxes and subsidies are powerful policy instruments in contemporary governance, they must be carefully crafted to fit into exiting norms and contexts to be effective. It is shown that monetary incentives targeting farmers’ use of fertilisers tend not to be effective when they are at odds with deeply held norms on what constitute a “good farmer”.
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| 48. |
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| 49. |
- Hassler, Björn, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Problems and potential solutions to effective communication among stakeholders in the Baltic Sea shipping for reduced air pollution : Outcomes from a survey
- 2013
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Ingår i: Clean Shipping Currents. - : Baltic Institute of Finland. - 2242-9794. ; 2:5, s. -33
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This report presents the results of a web survey distributed to stakeholders in the Baltic Sea marine sector regarding environmental communication on air pollution from shipping. The survey was carried out in the spring and summer of 2012. Drawing on the literature on risk communication and environmental governance, the main focus was placed on so-called communication barriers, that is, possible hindrances to effective communication among stakeholders on how to reduce air pollution without threatening sector competitiveness. The results show that although there is a dense networking among stakeholders in this sector, there is a demand for improvements in communication in (a) exploratory phases among broad groups of stakeholders and (b) operational phases among selected groups of e.g. business and research teams. To facilitate the emergence of such improved communication, regional organizations such as HELCOM and EU could play important roles. Furthermore, it is shown that there is a perceived need among many stakeholders to step up the involvement of certain stakeholders, for example fuel companies, in collaboration on how to reduce pollution from shipping in cost-efficient ways. Finally, the results show that although continuous improvements of international regulation is a vital part of the governance of the marine sector, compliance will suffer if operators’ incentives are too strong in favor of not contributing to reduced pollution levels. Therefore, there is a strong need for innovative thinking on how to design such incentive schemes, not the least in relation to the continued implementation of Baltic Sea SECA and NECA as well as of the Baltic Sea Action Plan.
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| 50. |
- Hedman, Jenny E., et al.
(författare)
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Fate of contaminants in Baltic Sea sediments : role of bioturbation and settling organic matter
- 2008
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Ingår i: Marine Ecology Progress Series. - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 0171-8630 .- 1616-1599. ; 356, s. 25-38
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This experimental study examined the interactive effects of bioturbation and settling organic matter (OM) on the fate (burial and remobilisation) of 2 surface-deposited contaminants in Baltic Sea sediment: the metal Cd and a hydrophobic organic pollutant, the flame retardant BDE-99. Three macrofaunal species with diverse feeding and bioturbation strategies were used: the amphipod Monoporeia affinis, the clam Macoma balthica and the polychaete Marenzelleria spp. Radiolabelled contaminants were added to the sediment surface in association with 3 different OM types: (1) phytoplankton, (2) terrestrial lignin and (3) Baltic sediment. Bioturbation by all species increased the retention of both contaminants in the sediment, most effectively M. affinis and M. balthica. A decoupled transport of Cd and BDE-99 by Marenzelleria was observed. Generally, Marenzelleria buried the highest amount of Cd into the sediment but also caused the highest remobilisation to the water, indicating an effective transport of (soluble) Cd over the sediment-water interface via bio-irrigation. Lack of the highly hydrophobic and mainly particle-associated BDE-99 below the sediment surface suggests that Marenzelleria caused no significant particle mixing. The addition of various OM types significantly affected the distribution of Cd, but not of BDE-99. There was an interactive effect between bioturbation (species) and OM type, generally showing an increased burial and release of Cd when associated with phytoplankton in the presence of Marenzelleria. Our results emphasise the importance of understanding the complex interactions between ecological (e.g. infaunal feeding and bioturbation activities) and physiochemical processes (contaminant speciation and sorption kinetics) when assessing the fate of contaminants in aquatic ecosystems.
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