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Management of green infrastructure in public organizations
Get PDFUrban green infrastructure (GI) plays a critical role in addressing global sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and public health decline. In the Nordic context, local governments own public space, making them key actors for managing public GI. This dissertation explores how Nordic local governments manage GI across organizational levels in the context of cross-sectoral demands and long-term perspectives. Cross-sectoral demands are seen through the lens of GI as a resource to promote human health and well-being (HH&W). The link between polices and implementation are studied through qualitative methods; document studies, interviews and workshops. The findings show policy addressing the relation between GI and HH&W to be general and undifferentiated, both in how it is described and in related goals and visions. On tactical level, HH&W is considered one of many arguments for the importance of GI. While horizontal collaboration between sectors is ongoing between GI and public health departments, limited resources for collaboration and mismatched priorities between levels undermine long-term outcomes. At the operational level, intra-organizational misalignments leaves maintenance practices focusing on static technical management. This hampers both long term perspectives and a more dynamic view of GI, limiting the strategic response to urban challenges. This thesis concludes that the current linear approaches of managing GI in public organizations do not sufficiently address the inherent adaptive complexity of GI. For GI to contribute to HH&W in a long term perspective, there is a need to understand alignment of visions, planning, design and implementation as an adaptive and ongoing process, operating at several organizational levels, across and within several sectors. This means that to fully harness the potential of GI in addressing current global challenges, a strategic approach to operational practice is required
Art- och sortskillnader i fodervärde hos gräs
Get PDFPå Svalöv skördades förstaskörd av 5 gräsarter av sammanlagt 19 olika sorter vid 3 skördetidpunkter 2019 och 5 arter, 14 sorter vid 2 skördetidpunkter 2020. Arterna var ängssvingel (Festuca pratensis), rörsvingel (Lolium arundinacea), engelskt rajgräs (Lolium perenne L.), hundäxing (Dactylis glomerata) och timotej (Phleum praense L.)Gräsen skördades vid begynnande axgång och 10 dagar senare och under 2019 även två dagar innan beräknad begynnande axgång. Gräsen analyserades för olika foderkvalitetsparametrar. Effekt av år, skördetidpunkt och art har studerats. År och skördetidpunkt hade betydelse för de flesta parametrarna. Det fanns ett stort antal artskillnader, men få sortskillnader förutom för tidighet. Timotej innehöll mindre protein, mer lignin och hade lägre smältbarhet, men skördades sist av gräsen. Halterna av lysin och metionin var signifikant lägre i engelskt rajgräs. Engelskt rajgräs hade en annan kolhydratprofil, med lägre halt av kolhydrater som innehåller fiber, och högre halter av kolhydrater som inte gör det. Speciellt var innehållet av fruktan högt i engelskt rajgräs. Engelskt rajgräs hade det högsta energivärdet. Halten av linolsyra varierade mycket mellan arterna. Det var högt hos timotej och lågt hos ängssvingel och rörsvingel. Det var stora skillnader i mineralinnehåll hos de olika gräsen. Rörsvingel hade högre halt hydroxykanelsyror än övriga gräs, beroende på att halten kumarsyra var hög
Chirping across continents: Variation in House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) vocalizations across North America and Europe
Get PDFThe house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is one of the most widespread invasive bird species, with numerous and dense populations established across urban-agricultural landscapes of North America. Although this species has been widely studied to identify the traits that explain its global ubiquity, descriptions of house sparrow acoustic features across its native and introduced range are limited in the literature. We recorded male house sparrow vocalizations from 13 cities across Europe and North America to quantify the structural features of its common “chirrup” vocalization. Although the basic structure and duration were consistent across the two geographic regions, the vocalizations differed in their minimum frequencies and bandwidth. In a post hoc analysis of 140 museum specimens, we found that European house sparrows had larger bills and bodies than those in North America. Thus, we propose that these frequency shifts could be a result of synergistic interactions between morphological differences, potential differences in ambient noise, acoustic overlap with other species within the soundscape, or other acoustic features of European and North American cities. House sparrows seem to be a good model for future bioacoustics studies, given their worldwide distribution and acoustic plasticity, to test hypotheses related to urbanization traits and invasion potential
In vitro evaluation of agro-industrial by-products in diets for cattle
Get PDFThe objective of this in vitro batch culture study was to evaluate various agro-industrial by-products as feeds for cattle. In Experiment 1, a basal diet composed of grass silage and barley grain was replaced by additional barley grain, palm kernel cake (PKC), beet molasses (M), wheat bran (WB), or sugar beet pulp (SBP) at two levels of dietary supplementation. In Experiment 2, soybean meal (SBM) was compared with heat-treated rapeseed meal, dried distillers grains (DDG), rapeseed cake (RSC), and rapeseed meal (RSM) at two levels of dietary protein concentration in diets based on grass silage supplemented with barley grain or SBP. Propionate and branched chain volatile fatty acids decreased, and CH4 production increased when energy by-products of higher fibre content replaced barley grain. Diets incorporating PKC and WB were less fermentable, while M and SBP did not alter digestibility when replacing barley. Generally, incremental levels of protein in Experiment 2 linearly increased digestibility, utilisable crude protein (uCP), isobutyrate and valerate in vitro. Utilisable crude protein increased for all by-products that replaced SBM, except for RSM in diets including SBP. There was a positive linear effect of by-product level on uCP and valerate, and a negative linear effect for acetate. Diet digestibility was equivalent for DDG and SBM in diets composed with barley as well as SBP. Overall, by-products provided more uCP than diets supplemented with SBM. However, the intestinal digestibility of uCP of the different feeds can vary. In vivo production experiments are needed to fully assess the potential of in vitro evaluated by-products as widely applicable alternative feeds in diets for cattle
International Survey Exploring Rider-Perceived Sidedness of the Horse
Get PDFLaterality or sidedness in the horse is commonly addressed as part of the horse's training. An international online survey regarding horse and rider sidedness and asymmetry was conducted, with 2304 useable responses. Confidence intervals (95%) were used to evaluate if some response options were chosen more frequently. Discounting answers of 'not sure' or 'not applicable', the right fore hoof was more often perceived to be more upright (22%) than the left (15%), and the left shoulder was more prominent (24%) more often than the right (17%), whilst most respondents reported no difference. Both lunging and bending was perceived to be most difficult to the right (48% and 52%) than to the left (33% and 42%), and more horses fell in on the right circle (lunging 40%, riding 38%) than on the left (31% and 33%). Horses commonly tracked their hindquarters to the left in walk, trot and left canter. Correspondence analysis showed that responses indicating horse side bias and relative symmetry, respectively, were associated across several questions, suggesting consistent individual patterns. While the mechanisms underpinning sidedness remain unclear, this study provides insights into horse owners' perceptions of laterality and related matters
Impact of pollution on the temperature sensitivity of multiple Norway spruce tree-ring parameters in Central Europe
Get PDFCentral European forests experienced high rates of air pollution in the second half of the 20th century, especially along the borders of Czechia, Germany and Poland. Consequently, tree-growth declines were detected in heavily polluted forests. However, information about how pollution has influenced growth-climate responses beyond tree-ring width (RW) in pollution-affected forests remains sparse. In this study, we investigated the impact of high-level pollution during 1960s-1980s in Central Europe on the climatic signals of various tree-ring parameters of Norway spruce, including RW, latewood Blue Intensity (LWBI), and maximum cell wall thickness (CWT), to understand how tree growth and climatic sensitivity were affected. Tree-ring cores were collected from six temperature-limited high-elevation sites within four pollution-affected regions in Czechia and northern Slovakia. RW and LWBI were measured for all samples and CWT was produced from two sites with contrasting pollution impacts. Distinct pollution-related RW growth suppression was detected in 1970s to 1980s at several sites. LWBI and CWT chronologies were highly correlated (r LWBI = 0.52-0.75; r CWT = 0.63-0.68) with growing season (April-September) temperature and did not exhibit clear signs of distortion by pollution compared to RW (r RW = 0.28-0.58). Pollution stress seemed to reduce tree growth by decreasing cell numbers and made RW less sensitive to climate. This study reveals that impacts of pollution on different tree-ring parameters varied which can further influence their climatic sensitivities. It provides valuable insight in improving the utility of pollution-affected tree-ring chronologies by choosing appropriate parameters, which can ultimately contribute to substantially improving the calibration of climate reconstructions from heavily polluted regions
Insects in outer space: assessing the effects of microgravity on edible and model insect species for spaceflight food system
Get PDFInsects represent an extraordinary opportunity for human nutrition in extraterrestrial conditions. Therefore, the understanding of the effects of microgravity on the biology of edible insects in space conditions is essential for their use as food. Among the mostly used ones, the house cricket Acheta domesticus, the yellow mealworm Tenebrio molitor, and the honeybee Apis mellifera have been studied in microgravity conditions. Several other insects that are not used for food have been used as model species for space experiments. Considering that currently we are 75 years from the first space missions and a multitude of experiments, the results available on the effects of microgravity in insects are scarce and fragmented. Nevertheless, some data are available, the microgravity effects are species-specific, but generally the development and behaviour of individuals are not strongly affected. The developmental and metamorphic processes seem to be able to be completed in space and the reproduction and completion of life cycle for some species are possible. Negative effects from microgravity have been seen in the immune system and in physiology of some species. The results that we have so far from disparate studies, indicate that insect species may cope in space environments and thereby be part of making future long-term exploration missions possible
Comparing methods for determination of N uptake in winter wheat
Get PDFLocal and current soil nitrogen (N) mineralisation should guide supplemental N rates. To facilitatethis, methods for rapid assessment of crop N uptake (kg N/ha) were tested in five winter wheat(Triticum aestivum L.) trials in Sweden, around GS39. Four types of measurements were done:leaf sensors, handheld canopy sensors, multispectral drone cameras, and other, manual methods.Several options were found to be simple and accurate enough (mean absolute error for practical use by farmers and advisors. The best results were obtained when leaf and canopymeasurements were combined
Acceleration Data Reveal Behavioural Responses to Hunting Risk in Scandinavian Brown Bears
Get PDFPredation may indirectly influence prey's fitness and population dynamics through behavioural adjustments in response to perceived predation risk. These non-consumptive effects of predation can also arise from hunting by humans, but they remain less documented. Advances in biologging allow detailed assessments of the activity budgets of elusive wildlife, increasing the potential to uncover the non-consumptive effects of human activities on animals. We used tri-axial accelerometry to record the daily activity of 24 Scandinavian brown bears (20 females and 4 males) from a heavily hunted population in Sweden, for a total of 29 bear-years (2015-2022). We used a random forest algorithm trained with observations of captive brown bears to classify the accelerometry data into four behaviours, running, walking, feeding and resting, with an overall precision of 95%. We then used these classifications to evaluate changes in bear activity budgets before and during the hunting season. Bears exhibited a bimodal daily activity pattern, being most active at dusk and dawn and resting around midday and midnight. However, during the hunting season, males became more nocturnal compared to before the hunting season, suggesting a proactive behavioural adjustment to reduce encounters with hunters. Females showed the opposite pattern and had a higher probability of being active during the day, potentially to increase nutritional gains before denning. Additionally, daily number of running bouts did not vary between the pre-hunting and hunting seasons in both sexes, but females' proportion of running bouts occurring during legal hunting hours was higher during the hunting season than prior to it, which suggests a reactive behavioural adjustment to encounters with hunters. Detailed assessments of wild animal behaviours, allowed through recording of movement data at high frequencies, have the potential to improve our understanding of the impacts of human activity on wildlife
Living with ticks: Results of an online survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding ticks and tick-borne pathogens in academic environments across Europe
Get PDFWe prepared a digital questionnaire to capture knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) in 20 languages. The questionnaire was distributed to 21 universities and research institutions in 22 European countries and 9401 valid responses were collected. Most survey participants identified ticks correctly and regarded ticks as a serious health risk. There was also a good level of knowledge regarding tick activity, habitats and the predominant TBPs in the country or region. Moreover, most respondents were familiar with effective tick protection and removal measures. Over 75 % of respondents had been bitten by ticks and up to 12 % of participants had been diagnosed with a tick-borne infection in the past. Respondents from northern and central European countries who reported engaging in outdoor activities more frequently, reported increased frequencies of tick bites and infection with TBPs compared to respondents from southern Europe. Awareness of national information campaigns on ticks and TBPs was also greater among respondents from northern and central European countries than among Mediterranean countries. This study identified knowledge gaps among respondents from some European countries where TBPs have not been prioritised historically. These knowledge gaps should be addressed by reputable bodies to encourage personal protective behaviours without causing alarm and to forestall the spreading of incorrect and unreliable information propagated by some social media sources