| 1. |
- Balázsi, Ágnes, et al.
(författare)
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Understanding cultural ecosystem services related to farmlands : Expert survey in Europe
- 2021
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Ingår i: Land Use Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-8377. ; 100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. The CES subcategories cover a wide range of domains (e.g. recreation, conservation of cultural heritage, human-nature relations). The CES concept has been proposed to acknowledge the nonmaterial values linking people and nature in social-ecological systems. Agricultural landscapes are outstanding examples of complex social-ecological systems where synergies and trade-offs between production and conservation determine the CES values. Europe is still rich in such landscapes/systems with outstanding cultural and natural values that deliver a multitude of CES. In this paper, we address the knowledge and perceptions of identified experts on the role of CES in the management of European agricultural landscapes. To achieve this goal, we developed a questionnaire on CES which was answered by experts working with various issues of European agricultural landscapes, including sustainable agriculture, landscape ecology, grassland management, nature conservation, cultural heritage conservation, environmental policy, sustainability research and rural development. The results show a wide knowledge and acceptance of the CES concept within such expert communities. Especially the aesthetic, cultural heritage, educational and recreational values were considered the most relevant CES subcategories. Interdisciplinary approaches, landscape planning and integrative science-policy approaches were perceived as the most promising methodologies to improve the CES approach for policy and management. Our results also show that according to experts the CES concept is still far from practical implementation in policies that target agricultural landscapes. In order to sustain such systems, we suggest the better implementation of inter- and transdisciplinary research for the development of CES-integrative policy and decision-making.
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| 2. |
- Boke Olén, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of farm type on food production, landscape openness, grassland biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions in mixed agricultural-forestry regions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Agricultural Systems. - : Elsevier BV. - 0308-521X .- 1873-2267. ; 189
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: The global demand for food is expected to continue increasing for decades, which may drive both agricultural expansion and intensification. The associated environmental impacts are potentially considerable but will depend on how the agricultural sector develops. Currently, there are contrasting regional developments in agriculture; expansion and/or intensification in some regions and abandonment in others, as well as changes in the type of farming. However, the environmental consequences of changes in farm type are not well understood. Objective: We have evaluated the impacts of farm type on food production and three key environmental variables—landscape openness, grassland biodiversity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—in three marginal agricultural regions in Sweden. Methods: We do this by first dividing the population of farms in each region into types, based on their land-use and livestock holdings using an innovative clustering method. Thereafter we analysed changes in production activities for farm types over time and evaluated the environmental and food-production impacts, where landscape openness is quantified using a novel indicator. Results and conclusion: Our results show that there is not one single farm type that would simultaneously maximize food production, grassland biodiversity, and landscape openness, whilst minimizing GHG emissions. However, there exists considerable potential to manage the trade-offs between food production and these environmental variables. For example, by reducing land use for dairying and instead increasing both cropping for food production and extensive livestock grazing to maintain landscape openness and biodiversity-rich semi-natural pastures, it would keep food production at similar levels. Significance: Our farm typology allows us to assess the multifunctionality of farming, by relating contrasting production activities to multiple ecosystem services, grassland biodiversity and GHG emissions for informing policy towards more sustainable agriculture. We have demonstrated this with examples under Swedish conditions, but it should to a large extent also be applicable for other countries.
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| 3. |
- Hedh, Linus, et al.
(författare)
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Population specific annual cycles and migration strategies in a leap-frog migrant
- 2022
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Ingår i: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0340-5443 .- 1432-0762. ; 76:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A common migratory pattern in birds is that northerly breeding populations migrate to more southerly non-breeding sites compared to southerly breeding populations (leap-frog migration). Not only do populations experience differences in migration distances, but also different environmental conditions, which may vary spatiotemporally within their annual cycles, creating distinctive selective pressures and migratory strategies. Information about such adaptations is important to understand migratory drivers and evolution of migration patterns. We use light-level geolocators and citizen science data on regional spring arrivals to compare two populations of common ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula breeding at different latitudes. We (1) describe and characterize the annual cycles and (2) test predictions regarding speed and timing of migration. The northern breeding population (NBP) wintered in Africa and the southern (SBP) mainly in Europe. The annual cycles were shifted temporally so that the NBP was always later in all stages. The SBP spent more than twice as long time in the breeding area, but there was no difference in winter. The NBP spent more time on migration in general. Spring migration speed was lower in the SBP compared to autumn speed of both populations, and there was no difference in autumn and spring speed in the NBP. We also found a larger variation in spring arrival times across years in the SBP. This suggests that a complex interaction of population specific timing and variation of breeding onset, length of breeding season, and proximity to the breeding area shape the annual cycle and migratory strategies. Significance statement: Migration distance, climate, and the resulting composition of the annual cycle are expected to influence migration strategies and timing in birds. Testing theories regarding migration behaviours are challenging, and intraspecific comparisons over the full annual cycle are still rare. Here we compare the spatiotemporal distributions of two latitudinally separated populations of common ringed plovers using light-level geolocators. We found that there was a larger long-term variation in first arrival dates and that migration speed was slower only in spring in a temperate, short-distance migratory population, compared to an Arctic, long-distance migratory population. This suggests that a complex interaction of population specific timing and variation of breeding onset, length of breeding season and proximity to the breeding area shape the annual cycle and migratory behaviours.
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| 4. |
- Pe'er, Guy, et al.
(författare)
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How can the European Common Agricultural Policy help halt biodiversity loss? Recommendations by over 300 experts
- 2022
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Ingår i: Conservation Letters. - : Wiley. - 1755-263X. ; 15:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has not halted farmland biodiversity loss. The CAP post-2023 has a new ‘‘Green Architecture,’’ including the new ‘‘Eco-scheme’’ instrument. How can this new Green Architecture help tackle the biodiversity crisis? Through 13 workshops and an online survey, over 300 experts from 23 European Member States addressed this question. From experts’ contributions, key principles for success include preserving and restoring (semi)natural elements and extensive grasslands; improving spatial planning and landscape-scale implementation, including through collective actions; implementing result-based approaches; and improved knowledge exchange. To maximize the effectiveness of Eco-scheme for biodiversity, experts highlighted the need to prioritize evidence-based actions, allocate a sufficient budget for biodiversity, and incentivize management improvements through higher payment levels. Additionally, stronger coherence is needed among CAP instruments. For effective CAP implementation, the European Commission and the Member States should expand investments in biodiversity monitoring, knowledge transfer, and capacity-building within relevant institutions. The remaining risks in the CAP's ability to reverse the loss of farmland biodiversity still require better design, closer monitoring, greater transparency, and better engagement with farmers. Additionally, greater involvement of scientists is needed to guide the CAP toward restoring farmland biodiversity while accounting for synergies and trade-offs with other objectives.
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| 5. |
- von Post, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Samverkan för en hållbar markanvändning – vilka utmaningar behöver lösas? : En systematisk framtidsspaning inom ramen för samverkansinitiativet LU Land
- 2020
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Ett ekologisk, ekonomiskt och socialt hållbart nyttjande av jordens resurser är en viktig förutsättning för en hållbar samhällsutveckling och inte minst för vår förmåga att tackla och anpassa oss till aktuella och framtida utmaningar, såsom klimatförändringar eller pandemier. En av de stora frågorna kopplat till detta är markanvändningen: Hur vi ska använda våra begränsade markresurser, så att vi långsiktigt kan trygga vårt behov av t.ex. livsmedel, energi och infrastruktur, samtidigt som ekosystemens livsnödvändiga funktioner upprätthålls? Samverkansinitiativet LU Land – Markanvändning för hållbar framtid vid Lunds universitet, är en plattform för samverkan över sektors- och ämnesområden gällande markanvändningsfrågor, med målet att lyfta viktiga utmaningar och målkonflikter, och tillsammans med relevanta aktörer från både forskning och samhälle hitta möjliga lösningar. LU Land har som ett första led i arbetet genomfört en framtidsspaning, en så kallad horizon scan, där vi i samverkan med samhällsaktörer och forskare identifierat och prioriterat viktiga nationella och regionala utmaningar att lösa för att få till stånd en hållbar markanvändning. Processen att identifiera och prioritera utmaningar genomfördes i ett flertal steg, som syftade till att systematiskt, demokratiskt och transparant identifiera vilka utmaningar som var viktigast. Flera av stegen genomfördes elektroniskt, men inkluderade även en fysisk workshop där deltagande sakkunniga fick möjlighet att revidera och prioritera utmaningar under gemensamma diskussioner. Utmaningarna som identifierades inkluderade bland annat olika aspekter kopplat till styrmedel och policy, jordbruk, skogsbruk, samhällsplanering och naturvård. 15 utmaningar lyftes fram som särskilt viktiga att lösa för en framtida hållbar markanvändning. LU Land kommer att förvalta engagemanget och resultaten från horizon scanningen genom att initiera nya, tvär- och transdisciplinära forskningsprojekt, sammanställa och sprida kunskap och skapa diskussionsmöjligheter kring de utmaningar som prioriterades i processen. Det är vår förhoppning att den här horizon scanningen också kommer att användas av andra aktörer med intresse att på olika sätt bidra till att lösa de identifierade utmaningarna. Målsättningen med detta arbete har varit att skapa en grund för bättre samverkan kring de identifierade utmaningarna, med möjlighet att inspirera och initiera både nya praktiska projekt och ny behovsinriktad forskning.
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