NINA Brage (Norsk institutt for naturforskning)
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Observations of a White-tailed Eagle incubating eggs of a Greylag goose
Get PDFInterspecific takeovers of nests are thought to be rare in birds. A female White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla was observed incubating a nest of a Greylag Goose Anser anser with five eggs at Reinøya, Troms County, Norway in 2021. There were no signs of any killed geese in the area around the nest, and there had been no observations of interactions between the two species at the site before the eagle started incubating the eggs. The nest was discovered in the middle of May but was abandoned around midsummer. A similar case reported from the Isle of Mull, Scotland in 2017 was the first of its kind and originally believed to be unique, but the new case in Norway in 2021 suggests that interspecific nest takeover may not be as unusual as previously believed. Anser anser, Haliaeetus albicilla, interspecific nest takeover, Norway, ScotlandpublishedVersio
Resultater fra kvotefri felling av hjortekalver i 75 kommuner i 2022
Get PDFVeiberg, V., Meisingset, E.L., Solberg, E.J. & Hansen B.B. 2023. Resultater fra kvotefri felling av hjortekalver i 75 kommuner i 2022. NINA Rapport 2360. Norsk institutt for naturforskning.
Kvotefri felling av hjortekalver (FriKalv) er et relativt nytt virkemiddel innen hjorteforvaltningen. I 2020 og 2021 ble ordningen prøvd ut i tre forsøkskommuner. I 2022 fikk hele 75 kommuner dispensasjon til å tilby denne ordningen til sine vald. I denne rapporten oppsummerer vi hvordan FriKalv-ordningen påvirket jaktuttaket av kalv på kommune og valdnivå. Vi undersøker også hvorvidt FriKalv syntes å påvirke jegernes jaktinnsats. Kommuner uten FriKalv ble brukt som kontrollkommuner.
Analysene av datamaterialet fra felte dyr ble avgrenset til kommuner som årlig felte ≥ 30 hjort i løpet av perioden 2017-2022. Datagrunnlaget omfattet 151 kommuner fordelt på 69 FriKalvkommuner og 82 kontrollkommuner. Opplysninger om jaktinnsats ble hentet fra jegernes sett hjort-data differensiert mellom utmarksjakt (N FriKalv-kommuner = 61; N kontrollkommuner = 51) og innmarksjakt (N FriKalv-kommuner = 58; N kontrollkommuner = 34).
I all hovedsak gjenspeilet utviklingen i antall felte kalver utviklingen i totalt felte hjort både på kommune og valdnivå. Vald med bestandsplan felte gjennomgående både flere hjorter og kalver enn vald uten bestandsplan. Dette er også som forventet siden vald med bestandsplan er gjennomgående større enn vald uten bestandsplan. Vald uten bestandsplan viste seg derimot å felle en signifikant (p = 0,034) høyere andel kalver enn vald med bestandsplan. Fra 2021 til 2022 var det en svak, men ikke signifikant, økning i andel kalv i uttaket. Dette gjaldt både for vald med og uten bestandsplan, og det var ingen signifikant forskjell mellom valdkategoriene.
FriKalv-ordningen førte med all tydelighet til at enkelte vald økte uttaket av kalv betraktelig. Overraskende nok var det andre vald som viste en betydelig reduksjon i antallet felte kalver. De aller fleste valdene innen FriKalv-kommuner viste derimot liten endring i uttaket av kalv i 2022 sammenlignet med gjennomsnittet fra de tre foregående årene. Samlet sett bidro derfor FriKalv til svært moderate endringer i uttaket av kalv på kommunenivå.
Andelen kalver i det totale jaktuttaket har økt gjennom mange år. Denne trenden var tydelig både innen FriKalv-kommuner og innen kontrollkommunene. FriKalv-kommunene hadde en gjennomgående høyere andel kalver i sitt jaktuttak. Årsaken til denne forskjellen er ikke nærmere undersøkt. Endringen i kalveandelen fra 2021 til 2022 var ikke signifikant høyere for FriKalv-kommuner sammenlignet med kontrollkommunene.
Både i FriKalv-kommunene og i kontrollkommunene ble det felt en signifikant høyere andel kalv i vald uten bestandsplan sammenlignet med vald med bestandsplan. De to valdkategoriene viste derimot ingen signifikant forskjell i endringen av jaktuttakets kalveandel fra 2021 til 2022.
Jaktinnsatsen, totalt antall jegerdager, i FriKalv-kommunene, var vesentlig høyere enn i kontrollkommunene. Dette var også som forventet siden FriKalv-kommunene feller gjennomgående flere hjorter per år enn kontrollkommunene. Den totale jaktinnsatsen i kontrollkommunene var svakt økende. I FriKalv-kommunene var det ingen entydig endring i løpet av perioden 2019-2022. Det var heller ingen entydig endring i jaktinnsatsen fra 2021 til 2022. Dette indikerer at jegerne ikke endret sin jaktinnsats i vesentlig grad som følge av FriKalv.
I 2023 fikk hele 84 kommuner dispensasjon til å tilby kvotefri felling av hjortekalver. Det kan derfor virke som om interessen for å ta i bruk dette virkemiddelet er økende. Samtidig noterer vi at 22 av de 75 kommunene som hadde FriKalv i 2022 ikke ønsket å videreføre ordningen. Vi håper at en oppsummering av kommunenes erfaringer med FriKalv-ordningen gjennomføres i etterkant av jaktsesongen 2023
Testing visitor management strategies to reduce human waste in a highly visited national park in Norway. Facilitating a new environmental norm for visitors to Lofotodden National Park
Get PDFKeller, R., Engen, S. & Selvaag, S. 2023. Testing visitor management strategies to reduce human waste in a highly visited national park in Norway. NINA Report 2385. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.
In 2021, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) carried out waste surveys (i.e., mapped the presence of different types of waste such as human fecal material and toilet paper, wet wipes, plastic, tabacco products, foil, and other litter) in Lofotodden National Park (NP). The background for the investigations was that the national park administration expressed concern about increased visitor numbers and the impact on the environment. The Lofotodden NP man-ager and protected area board also reported that the local population noticed more waste, including human feces, especially in the Kvalvika area. These investigations showed that human feces made up a large part of the waste, and that it impacted the water quality in the area. It was therefore decided that further investigations were needed to confirm the source of fecal pollution in surface water and understand the potential consequences of human waste on the visitor ex-perience and the natural values of the area, including biodiversity in streams. We also determined we needed to understand the likelihood of visitors adopting future measures to deal with human feces. By the end of 2021 and throughout 2022 we developed a thorough protocol for assessing both the quantity of feces and the impact on water quality and visitors, along with a series of visitor surveys and interview questions to derive a tailored solution for reducing feces accumulation in highly popular areas in Kvalvika in Lofotodden NP.
In this report, we describe the final results from our mixed methods study on visitor impacts and behavior, along with the experience of visitors to the Kvalvika area using the Biffy bag portable toilet. We document how human feces and toilet paper left behind in the park can affect visitors’ experience of nature, as well as impact the water quality and health of visitors. We also describe human health and environmental effects (i.e., water quality of local streams) from human waste during the control periods (no Biffy bags) compared to the improvement in water quality in the treatment periods (Biffy bags given to visitors). Finally, we conclude with recommendations for further measures, as well as the need for further research to understand the long-term effects of encouraging visitors to use toilet bags in Lofotodden National Park.Keller, R., Engen, S. & Selvaag, S. 2023. Testing visitor management strategies to reduce human waste in a highly visited national park in Norway. NINA Report 2385. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.
I 2021 gjennomførte Norsk Institutt for Naturforskning (NINA) avfallsundersøkelser i Kvalvika i Lofotodden nasjonalpark. Blant undersøkelsene inngikk en kartlegging av mengden av ulike typer avfall som menneskelig avføring, toalettpapir, våtservietter, plast, sigarettsneiper, snus og metall i et begrenset område. Undersøkelsene ble gjort med bakgrunn i at nasjonalparkforvaltningen uttrykte bekymring for økende besøksantall og påvirkningene dette kunne ha på naturen. Nasjonalparkforvalteren og nasjonalparkstyret rapporterte også at lokale ga uttrykk for en økning i mengde avfall, inkludert menneskelig avføring og toalettpapir, spesielt i Kvalvikaområdet. Avfallsundersøkelsene i 2021 viste at menneskelig avføring og toalettpapir utgjorde en stor andel av avfallet og at det påvirket vannkvaliteten i området. Det ble derfor bestemt at videre undersøkelser var nødvendige for å kunne vurdere omfanget av forurensningen og for å forstå konsekvensene menneskelig avføring kan ha for besøksopplevelsen og naturverdiene i området. Det ble også fokusert på tiltak som kunne gjennomføres for å redusere avfallet og på hva de besøkende mente om eksisterende do atferd og muligheten for å endre denne. I 2022 ferdigstilte vi en detaljert protokoll for å dokumentere mengde toalettavfall etterlatt i naturen og påvirkningen dette har på vannkvaliteten og besøksopplevelsen. Vi gjennomførte også en rekke brukerundersøkelser og intervjuer for å utvikle passende tiltak for å redusere toalettavfall på de mest brukte områdene i Kvalvika.
I denne rapporten beskriver vi resultater fra studien om menneskelige påvirkninger og atferd knyttet til toalettavfall ved Kvalvika og uttesting av toalettposer (Biffy bags) sommeren 2023. Dette er tilpassede poser som kan tas med på tur og kastes i avfallscontainere etter bruk. I rapporten viser vi hvordan dagens nivå av menneskelig avføring i området kan ha negativ effekt på vannkvalitet og påvirke folks helse. Avslutningsvis kommer vi med anbefalinger for videre tiltak, samt behov for ytterligere forskning for å forstå langtidseffektene av å oppfordre besøkende til å bruke toalettposer i Lofotodden nasjonalpark.Miljødirektoratet: M-2638|202
Camtrap DP: an open standard for the FAIR exchange and archiving of camera trap data
Get PDFCamera trapping has revolutionized wildlife ecology and conservation by providing automated data acquisition, leading to the accumulation of massive amounts of camera trap data worldwide. Although management and processing of camera trap-derived Big Data are becoming increasingly solvable with the help of scalable cyber-infrastructures, harmonization and exchange of the data remain limited, hindering its full potential. There is currently no widely accepted standard for exchanging camera trap data. The only existing proposal, “Camera Trap Metadata Standard” (CTMS), has several technical shortcomings and limited adoption. We present a new data exchange format, the Camera Trap Data Package (Camtrap DP), designed to allow users to easily exchange, harmonize and archive camera trap data at local to global scales. Camtrap DP structures camera trap data in a simple yet flexible data model consisting of three tables (Deployments, Media and Observations) that supports a wide range of camera deployment designs, classification techniques (e.g., human and AI, media-based and event-based) and analytical use cases, from compiling species occurrence data through distribution, occupancy and activity modeling to density estimation. The format further achieves interoperability by building upon existing standards, Frictionless Data Package in particular, which is supported by a suite of open software tools to read and validate data. Camtrap DP is the consensus of a long, in-depth, consultation and outreach process with standard and software developers, the main existing camera trap data management platforms, major players in the field of camera trapping and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Under the umbrella of the Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), Camtrap DP has been developed openly, collaboratively and with version control from the start. We encourage camera trapping users and developers to join the discussion and contribute to the further development and adoption of this standard. Biodiversity data, camera traps, data exchange, data sharing, information standardspublishedVersio
Mushrooms for enhanced agriculture sustainability the MUSA concept
Get PDFThe project MUSA – MUshrooms for Sustainable Agriculture is an effort to use mushroom-based processes to enhance agriculture sustainability in Nordic and Baltic countries. The project covers both the production of fruitbodies of edible fungi and the upgrading of the exhausted substrate from mushroom cultivation. The suitability of residues generated locally for producing edible mushrooms is investigated. Residues from Nordic agriculture and sub-utilized streams from forestry management, as well as wood processing by-products, are evaluated as the substrate base for producing shiitake (Lentinula edodes) and oyster (Pleurotus spp.) mushrooms. The project explores the potential of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) to support food production. SMS prospective as source of bioactive compounds and sugars is evaluated. MUSA investigates the suitability of SMS hydrolysates as carbon sources for cultivating oleaginous yeast to produce microbial oil suitable for human consumption. Using SMS for substituting mineral fertilizers and providing wastewater bioremediation solutions is also assessedpublishedVersio
Habitat functionality: Integrating environmental and geographic space in niche modeling for conservation planning
Get PDFNiche modeling is typically used to assess the effects of anthropogenic landuse and climate change on species distributions and to inform spatial conser-vation planning. These models focus on the suitability of local biotic and abi-otic conditions for a species in environmental space (E-space). Althoughmovements also affect species occurrence, efforts to formally integrate geo-graphic space (G-space) into niche modeling have been hindered by the lackof comprehensive theoretical frameworks. We propose the“functional habitat”framework to define areas that are simultaneously of high quality in E-space,and functionally connected to other suitable habitats in G-space. Originatingin metapopulation ecology, approaches have been developed to assessthe amount of suitable connected habitats, based on the proximity betweenpairs of locations. Using network theory, which operates in topologicalspace (T-space, defined by a network), we extended these metapopulationapproaches to integrate movement constraints in G-space with niche modelingin E-space. We demonstrate the functional habitat framework using empiricaldata (GPS tracking and population monitoring) throughout the European wildmountain reindeer (Rangifer t. tarandus) distribution range. We show thatfunctional habitat outperforms traditional suitability in explaining the species’distribution. This approach integrates effects from habitat loss and fragmenta-tion for spatial conservation planning, and avoids overemphasizing small,inaccessible areas with locally suitable habitats. The functional habitat frame-work formally integrates biotic, abiotic, and movement constraints in nichemodeling using network theory, thus opening a wide range of applications inspatial conservation planning. connectivity, fragmentation, habitat, habitat loss, metapopulation theory, network theory,niche,Rangifer, species distributionpublishedVersio
Marked differences in foraging area use and susceptibility to predation between two closely-related tropical seabirds
Get PDFEcological theory predicts that closely-related species must occupy diferent niches to coexist. How marine top predators achieve this during breeding, when they often gather in large multi-species colonies and are constrained to central-place foraging, has been mostly studied in productive temperate and polar oceans with abundant resources, but less so in poorer, tropical waters. Here, we track the foraging movements of two closely-related sympatric seabirds—the white-tailed and red-tailed tropicbirds Phaethon lepturus and P. rubricauda—breeding on Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles, to investigate potential mechanisms of niche segregation and shed light on their contrasting population trends. Combining data from GPS, immersion, depth and accelerometry loggers, we show that the two species have similar behaviour at sea, but are completely segregated spatially, with red-tailed tropicbirds fying further to feed and using diferent feeding areas than white-tailed tropicbirds. Using nest-based camera traps, we show that low breeding success of both species—which likely drives observed population declines—is caused by high nest predation. However, the two species are targeted by diferent predators, with native avian predators mainly targeting red-tailed tropicbird nests, and invasive rats raiding white-tailed tropicbird nests when they leave their eggs unattended. Our fndings provide new insight into the foraging ecology of tropicbirds and have important conservation implications. The extensive range and spatial segregation highlight the importance of considering large-scale protection of waters around tropical seabird colonies, while the high level of nest predation provides evidence in support of rat eradication and investigating potential nest protection from native avian predators. Invasive species · Niche partitioning · Spatial segregation · Seychelles · SympatrypublishedVersio
Index Measuring Land Use Intensity—A Gradient‐Based Approach
Get PDFTo monitor the changes in the landscape, and to relate these to ecological processes, we need robust and reproducible methods for quantifying the changes in landscape patterns. The main aim of this study is to present, exemplify and discuss a gradient‐based index of land use intensity. This index can easily be calculated from spatial data that are available for most areas and may therefore have a wide applicability. Further, the index is adapted for use based on official data sets and can thus be used directly in decision‐making at different levels. The index in its basic form consists of two parts where the first is based on the data of buildings and roads and the second of infrastructure land cover. We compared the index with two frequently used ‘wilderness indices’ in Norway called INON and the Human Footprint Index. Our index captures important elements of infrastructure in more detailed scales than the other indices. A particularly attractive feature of the index is that it is based on map databases that are updated regularly. The index has the potential to serve as an important tool in land use planning as well as a basis for monitoring, the assessment of ecological state and ecological integrity and for ecological accounting as well as strategic environmental assessments. infrastructure; land use; index; landscape; planning; monitoringpublishedVersio
Association of landscape and environmental variables with the recruitment of the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) in Norway
Get PDFUsing data from 309 localities with freshwater pearl mussel, Margaritifera margaritifera, in Norway, we analyzed the effect of several landscape and environmental variables on this species’ recruitment. Median summer air temperature and, to a lesser extent, percentage wetland cover in the catchment were the strongest (negative) influences on recruitment. This is the first study to show an effect of air temperature on recruitment across a wide range of populations. The results are of importance for the conservation of the species, particularly in the context of climate change. Margaritifera margaritifera Recruitment Norway Air temperature Wetland coverpublishedVersio