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Langtidstrender for vannkvalitet i Øyeren
Get PDFProsjektleder: Sigrid HaandeI denne rapporten presenteres tidsutviklingen i vannkvalitetsparametere (næringsstoffer, planteplankton og suspendert tørrstoff) i Øyeren basert på årlige overvåkingsdata fra 1980 til og med 2022.Vannområde ØyerenpublishedVersio
Monitoring system and operational routines of a small-scale aquaponic system in Oslo, Norway
Get PDFProsjektleder: Sondre MelandThis report "Monitoring system & operational routines of a small-scale aquaponic system in Oslo, Norway" is part of the USAGE project, which focuses on urban development with a focus on urban aquaponics. The report describes a small aquaponic system at the Upper secondary school Natur Videregående Skole (NVG) in Oslo and focuses on monitoring systems and the operation of the system to ensure animal welfare and a safe working environment. The report includes detailed descriptions of water quality parameters, fish production, plant production and risk assessments. It also includes a separate chapter on operational protocols for growing frillice lettuce in aquaponic systems.EEA/Norway Grants 2014-2021 through NCBR NOR/IdeaLab/USAGE/0004/2020publishedVersio
ØKOSTOR 2023: Basisovervåking av store innsjøer. Utprøving av metodikk for overvåking og klassifisering av økologisk tilstand i henhold til vannforskriften
Get PDFProsjektleder: Sigrid HaandeRapporten presenterer resultatene fra det 9. året med basisovervåking av økologisk tilstand i store norske innsjøer i henhold til vannforskriften. Overvåkingen i 2023 omfattet totalt elleve store innsjøer: Eikeren, Femunden, Gjende, Mjøsa, Randsfjorden, Tyrifjorden, Nisser, Norsjø, Tinnsjå, Selbusjøen og Takvatnet. Samlet økologisk tilstand på tvers av alle de undersøkte kvalitetselementene viste at Femunden var i svært god tilstand. Eikeren, Gjende, Randsfjorden, Nisser, Tinnsjå og Takvatnet var i god tilstand mens Mjøsa, Tyrifjorden, Norsjø og Selbusjøen var i moderat tilstand. Usikkerheten i tilstandsklassifiseringen anses å være lav i Femunden og middels i Eikeren, Mjøsa, Randsfjorden, Tyrifjorden, Nisser, Norsjø, Tinnsjå, Selbusjøen og Takvatnet. I Gjende anses usikkerheten å være høy og årsakene til dette er knyttet til at klassifiseringssystemet manglende klassegrenser for brepåvirkede innsjøer (Gjende).Miljødirektorate
A Fish-Focused Menu: An Interdisciplinary Reconstruction of Ancestral Tsleil-Waututh Diets
Get PDFThe study of past subsistence offers archeologists a lens through which we can understand relationships between people and their homelands. səl̓ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) is a Coast Salish Nation whose traditional and unceded territory centers on səl̓ilwət (Tsleil-Wat, Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada). səl̓ilwətaɬ people were fish specialists whose traditional diet focused primarily on marine and tidal protein sources. In this research, we draw on the archeological record, ecology, historical and archival records, and səl̓ilwətaɬ oral histories and community knowledge to build an estimated precontact diet that ancestral səl̓ilwətaɬ people obtained from səl̓ilwət. Based on prior archeological research, we assume a high protein diet that is primarily (90–100 percent) from marine and tidal sources. The four pillars of səl̓ilwətaɬ precontact diets (salmon, forage fish, shellfish, and marine birds) offer anchor points that ensure the diet is realistic, evidence-based, and representative of community knowledge. We consider the caloric needs of adults, children, elders, and those who are pregnant or lactating. Finally, we consider the variation in the edible yield from different animal species and their relationships in the food web. Together, these data and anchor points build an estimated precontact diet averaged across seasons, ages, and biological sex from approximately 1000 CE up until early European contact in approximately 1792 CE. The reconstruction of səl̓ilwətaɬ lifeways and subsistence practices, which were based on a myriad of stewardship techniques, aid our understanding of the precontact səl̓ilwətaɬ diet and the relationship between səl̓ilwətaɬ and their territory.publishedVersio
Climate change and ecological assessment in Europe under the WFD – Hitting moving targets with shifting baselines?
Get PDFThe Water Framework Directive (WFD) sets the fundamental structure for assessing the status of water bodies in the European Union. Its implementation is currently entering its fourth six-year cycle assisted by a total of 38 guidance documents. The principal objective is to ensure good status for surface and ground waters. The functioning of the WFD is based on detecting the impact of human pressures on biological, physico-chemical, or hydromorphological parameters, and reducing these causal pressures through a program of measures to achieve good status. Climate change can exert a significant influence on ecological status by directly altering parameters monitored, pressure interactions, or influencing the effectiveness of programs of measures. Aquatic systems respond holistically to climate change with different pressures having additive, synergistic, or antagonistic interactions. The challenge is how to adapt the framework to manage aquatic systems in the context of climate change while maintaining focus on implementing measures to tackle key pressures. This paper examines potential approaches, including reassignment of waterbody type, quantifying the portion of Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) driven by climate change, and creating an assessment module of climatic pressures and ecological responses. The overall purpose is to stimulate discussion and explore ways to incorporate climate change into the WFD structure.publishedVersio
Model-Based Analysis of the Oxygen Budget in the Black Sea Water Column
Get PDFClimate change and anthropogenic impacts drastically affect the biogeochemical regime of the Black Sea, which contains the largest volume of sulphidic water in the world. The Sea’s oxygen inventory depends on vertical mixing that transports dissolved oxygen (DO) from the upper euphotic layer to deeper layers and on dissolved oxygen consumption for the oxidation of organic matter (OM) and reduced species of S, Fe, and Mn. Here we use a vertical one-dimensional transport model, 2DBP, forced by Copernicus data, that was coupled with the FABM-family N-P-Si-C-O-S-Mn-Fe Bottom RedOx Model BROM. The research objective of this study was to analyze the oxygen budget in the upper 350 m of the Sea and demonstrate the role of the parameterization of the acceleration of the sinking of particles covered by precipitated Mn(IV). The analysis of the oxygen budget revealed distinct patterns in oxygen consumption within different depths. In the oxic zone, the primary sink for DO is the mineralization of organic matter, whereas in the suboxic zone, dissolved Mn(II) oxidation becomes the predominant sink. The produced Mn(IV) sinks down and reacts with hydrogen sulphide several meters below, making possible the existence of the suboxic layer without detectable concentrations of DO and H2S.publishedVersio
Nature-based social prescribing programmes: opportunities, challenges, and facilitators for implementation
Get PDFBackground Evidence on the health benefits of spending time in nature has highlighted the importance of provision of blue and green spaces where people live. The potential for health benefits offered by nature exposure, however, extends beyond health promotion to health treatment. Social prescribing links people with health or social care needs to community-based, non-clinical health and social care interventions to improve health and wellbeing. Nature-based social prescribing (NBSP) is a variant that uses the health-promoting benefits of activities carried out in natural environments, such as gardening and walking. Much current NBSP practice has been developed in the UK, and there is increasing global interest in its implementation. This requires interventions to be adapted for different contexts, considering the needs of populations and the structure of healthcare systems. Methods This paper presents results from an expert group participatory workshop involving 29 practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from the UK and Germany’s health and environmental sectors. Using the UK and Germany, two countries with different healthcare systems and in different developmental stages of NBSP practice, as case studies, we analysed opportunities, challenges, and facilitators for the development and implementation of NBSP. Results We identified five overarching themes for developing, implementing, and evaluating NBSP: Capacity Building; Accessibility and Acceptability; Networks and Collaborations; Standardised Implementation and Evaluation; and Sustainability. We also discuss key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for each overarching theme to understand how they could be developed to support NBSP implementation. Conclusions NBSP could offer significant public health benefits using available blue and green spaces. We offer guidance on how NBSP implementation, from wider policy support to the design and evaluation of individual programmes, could be adapted to different contexts. This research could help inform the development and evaluation of NBSP programmes to support planetary health from local and global scales.publishedVersio
Milder, wilder, drier: Understanding preferences for urban nature-based solutions in China
Get PDFNature-based solutions have gained recognition for their potential to address urban environmental challenges, particularly in rapidly urbanising countries such as China. However, financial and spatial constraints hinder their widespread adoption. Here we explore urban residents' preferences for nature-based solutions targeting stormwater management, urban heat island reduction, and biodiversity support through monetary, time, and space contributions. We carried out three choice experiment surveys with 1536 Chinese respondents, employing three payment vehicles: willingness to pay (WTP), willingness to contribute time (WTCT), and a novel metric, willingness to contribute space (WTCS). The WTCS metric assesses individuals' willingness to voluntarily convert sealed surfaces on private land into greenspace. We found strong preferences for temperature and flooding reduction across all payment vehicles, reflecting substantial challenges of urban heat islands and flooding in China. Additionally, we reveal a preference for moderate greenspace management intensity, highlighting the potential for biodiversity benefits through reduced management intensities. The introduction of the WTCS payment vehicle expands the methodological toolkit for choice experiments and offers a novel approach to assess citizen support for nature-based solutions. These findings have practical implications for designing effective nature-based solutions programs to address urban environmental challenges and meet the preferences of urban residents in China and beyond.publishedVersio
Complex waste management in Myanmar: role of the actors, relationships, and social capital
Get PDFAdequate waste management is a pressing global problem that undermines sustainability efforts in many countries. Controlling solid waste, recycling, and reducing waste including plastics, are essential policy objectives. This is especially relevant in countries like Myanmar, scoring poorly on waste-related indicators. This paper adopts a holistic system perspective, looking at the formal and the informal sectors’ contribution to waste collection and recycling efforts. By studying waste management in the Bago Township, we investigate the actors’ relationships by identifying bonding mechanisms between the actors. Central in the informal system are medium and larger scrap dealers that not only serve as waste trade intermediaries, but function as banks, social security agents, and fora for information exchange. The study shows that relationships between scrap dealers and waste pickers are regulated by different types of bonding mechanisms contributing to the social capital variables, trust, predictability, transparency and openness. In contrast, a few bonding mechanisms were established by the formal sector actors. It is the formal system that has the mandate to assure waste collection and that the waste is treated appropriately without posing any environmental and health risks. The informal system contributes to impressive levels of circularity, while also supporting livelihoods. Strengths and responsibilities should be adequately recognized and included in the governance arrangements. Identification of a governance system that addresses both formal and the informal sector needs to consider the local context by involving local stakeholders and build on the existing networks, knowledge, and skills.publishedVersio
Seafloor primary production in a changing Arctic Ocean
Get PDFPhytoplankton and sea ice algae are traditionally considered to be the main primary producers in the Arctic Ocean. In this Perspective, we explore the importance of benthic primary producers (BPPs) encompassing microalgae, macroalgae, and seagrasses, which represent a poorly quantified source of Arctic marine primary production. Despite scarce observations, models predict that BPPs are widespread, colonizing ~3 million km2 of the extensive Arctic coastal and shelf seas. Using a synthesis of published data and a novel model, we estimate that BPPs currently contribute ~77 Tg C y−1 of primary production to the Arctic, equivalent to ~20 to 35% of annual phytoplankton production. Macroalgae contribute ~43 Tg C y−1, seagrasses contribute ~23 Tg C y−1, and microalgae-dominated shelf habitats contribute ~11 to 16 Tg C y−1. Since 2003, the Arctic seafloor area exposed to sunlight has increased by ~47,000 km2 y−1, expanding the realm of BPPs in a warming Arctic. Increased macrophyte abundance and productivity is expected along Arctic coastlines with continued ocean warming and sea ice loss. However, microalgal benthic primary production has increased in only a few shelf regions despite substantial sea ice loss over the past 20 y, as higher solar irradiance in the ice-free ocean is counterbalanced by reduced water transparency. This suggests complex impacts of climate change on Arctic light availability and marine primary production. Despite significant knowledge gaps on Arctic BPPs, their widespread presence and obvious contribution to coastal and shelf ecosystem production call for further investigation and for their inclusion in Arctic ecosystem models and carbon budgets.publishedVersio