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This article contributes to understanding the radical transformation of everyday lives when parents’ remote work and children’s remote school were reconciled in homes during the early moments of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The dataset comprises an online survey (n = 92) plus interviews, online diaries, and sampled experiences from 16 Finnish remotely working parents. Identified challenges to the parents’ remote work included interruptions and fragmentation of work tasks, non-optimal work ergonomics, and rescheduling of work times. We present the strategies parents used to create new rhythms and routines, a shared space under the same roof, peace, and privacy for daily work and school, as well as managing multiple simultaneous social roles. Parents’ rich experiences provide insights into the early steps of COVID-19-catalyzed remote work. Thus, the paper offers a reference point for exploring potential development trajectories in the increasingly common hybrid work setting.

IntroductionPeatlands are terrestrial-carbon hotspots, where changes in carbon pools and fluxes potentially caused by drying or warming may have significant feedbacks to climate change. In forested peatlands, fine-root biomass (FRB), and production (FRP) are important carbon pools and fluxes, but they and their depth distribution and plant functional type (PFT) composition are poorly known.MethodsWe studied the effects of persistent water-table level (WTL) drawdown on these characteristics in four forested boreal peatland site types that varied in soil nutrient and WTL regimes, ground vegetation and tree stand characteristics. Each site type was represented by a pair of one undrained and one drained site. Two pairs were nutrient-poor, Scots pine dominated sites, one very wet and one relatively dry in their undrained condition. The other two pairs were nutrient-rich, Norway spruce dominated sites, again one wetter and one drier in the undrained condition. FRB was estimated by separating and visually identifying roots from soil cores extending down to 50 cm depth. FRP was estimated using ingrowth cores covering the same depth, and the separated roots were identified using infrared spectroscopy.Results and discussionBoth FRB and FRP varied widely both within and among the different types of boreal forested peatland. In FRB, the clearest differences were seen in the two originally wettest sites, nutrient-poor tall-sedge pine fen and nutrient-rich herb-rich spruce swamp: FRB was smaller in the drained site compared to the undrained site in the pine fen, but the opposite was true in the spruce swamp. FRP was generally higher in the nutrient-poor, pine-dominated sites than the nutrient-rich, spruce-dominates sites. The depth distribution of FRB was more superficial than that of FRP, except for the most nutrient-rich spruce swamp. Tree and shrub roots dominated both FRB and FRP, except for the undrained pine fen, where graminoids and forbs dominated. Even there, these PFTs were replaced by trees and shrubs at the drained site. Site wetness and nutrient regime both thus clearly regulated FRB and FRP of the forested peatland site types studied, and both need to be considered when making any generalizations.

Suvilahti, a suburb of the city of Vaasa in western Finland, was the first area to use seabed sediment heat as the main source of heating for a high number of houses. Moreover, in the same area, a unique land uplift effect is ongoing. The aim of this paper is to solve the challenges and find opportunities caused by global warming by utilizing seabed sediment energy as a renewable heat source. Measurement data of water and air temperature were analyzed, and correlations were established for the sediment temperature data using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Enterprise Guide 7.1. software. The analysis and provisional forecast based on the autoregression integrated moving average (ARIMA) model revealed that air and water temperatures show incremental increases through time, and that sediment temperature has positive correlations with water temperature with a 2-month lag. Therefore, sediment heat energy is also expected to increase in the future. Factor analysis validations show that the data have a normal cluster and no particular outliers. This study concludes that sediment heat energy can be considered in prominent renewable production, transforming climate change into a useful solution, at least in summertime.

Solar heat, already captured by vast asphalt fields in urban areas, is potentially a huge energy resource. The vertical soil temperature profile, i.e., low enthalpy geothermal energy, reveals how efficiently the irradiation is absorbed or radiated back to the atmosphere. Measured solar irradiation, heat flux on the asphalt surface and temperature distribution over a range of depths describe the thermal energy from an asphalt surface down to 10 m depth. In this study, those variables were studied by long-term measurements in an open-air platform in Finland. To compensate the nighttime heat loss, the accumulated heat on the surface should be harvested during the sunny daytime periods. A cumulative heat flux over one year from asphalt to the ground was 70% of the cumulative solar irradiance measured during the same period. However, due to the nighttime heat losses, the net heat flux during 5 day period was only 18% of the irradiance in spring, and was negative during autumn, when the soil was cooling. These preliminary results indicate that certain adaptive heat transfer and storage mechanisms are needed to minimize the loss and turn the asphalt layer into an efficient solar heat collector connected with a seasonal storage system.

Validated methodological aids for food quantification are needed for the accurate estimation of food consumption. Our objective was to assess the validity of an age-specific food picture book, which contains commonly eaten foods among Finnish children, for parents and early educators in estimating food portion sizes. The food picture book was developed to assist in portion size estimation when filling in food records in the Increased health and wellbeing in preschools (DAGIS) study. All ninety-five food pictures in the book, each containing three or four different portion sizes, were evaluated at real-time sessions. Altogether, seventy-three parents and 107 early educators or early education students participated. Each participant evaluated twenty-three or twenty-four portions by comparing presented pre-weighed food portions against the corresponding picture from the food picture book. Food portions were not consumed by participants. The total proportion of correct estimations varied from 36 % (cottage cheese) to 100 % (fish fingers). Among the food groups, nearly or over 90 % of the estimations were correct for bread, pastries and main courses (‘piece products’ such as meatballs and chicken nuggets). Soups, porridges, salads and grated and fresh vegetables were least correctly estimated (

Organic soils are a main source of direct emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), an important greenhouse gas (GHG). Observed N2O emissions from organic soils are highly variable in space and time, which causes high uncertainties in national emission inventories. Those uncertainties could be reduced when relating the upscaling process to a priori-identified key drivers by using available N2O observations from plot scale in empirical approaches. We used the empirical fuzzy modelling approach MODE to identify main drivers for N2O and utilize them to predict the spatial emission pattern of European organic soils. We conducted a meta-study with a total amount of 659 annual N2O measurements, which was used to derive separate models for different land use types. We applied our models to available, spatially explicit input driver maps to upscale N2O emissions at European level and compared the inventory with recently published IPCC emission factors. The final statistical models explained up to 60% of the N2O variance. Our study results showed that cropland and grasslands emitted the highest N2O fluxes 0.98 ± 1.08 and 0.58 ± 1.03 g N2O-N m−2 a−1, respectively. High fluxes from cropland sites were mainly controlled by low soil pH value and deep-drained groundwater tables. Grassland hotspot emissions were strongly related to high amount of N-fertilizer inputs and warmer winter temperatures. In contrast, N2O fluxes from natural peatlands were predominantly low (0.07 ± 0.27 g N2O-N m−2 a−1) and we found no relationship with the tested drivers. The total inventory for direct N2O emissions from organic soils in Europe amount up to 149.5 Gg N2O-N a−1, which also included fluxes from forest and peat extraction sites and exceeds the inventory calculated by IPCC emission factors of 87.4 Gg N2O-N a−1. N2O emissions from organic soils represent up to 13% of total European N2O emissions reported in the European Union (EU) greenhouse gas inventory of 2011 from only 7% of the EU area. Thereby the model demonstrated that the major part (85%) of the inventory is induced by anthropogenic management, which shows the significant reduction potential by rewetting and extensification of agriculturally used peat soils.

Geothermal energy is a form of renewable energy, which offers carbon-free solutions for heating and cooling spaces. This study evaluates the use of renewable asphalt heat energy in frozen ground conditions. Asphalt heat energy can be harnessed using a low-energy network, heat collection pipes and heat pumps. This study measured temperatures under the asphalt layer during a three-year period between 2014 and 2017. Measurements were made using a distributed temperature sensing method based on light scattering. Temperatures taken at four different depths under the asphalt (0.5 m, 1.0 m, 3.0 m and 10 m) are presented here. These temperatures are compared with that detected at the depth at which the temperature remains constant all year round. The temperature difference curve between 0.5 m depth and the constant soil temperature depth indicates that from April to October the soil at 0.5 m depth is warming and the temperature difference is positive, even as much as 18 °C. Instead, at the 3.0 m depth, the difference curve is smoother and it varies only from −5 to +5 °C. It is positive from June to November. The surface layer (0 m−1.0 m) is suitable for harvesting heat that can be stored in a deeper (1.5 m−3.0 m) purpose-built storage or in a bedrock heat battery. The calculated heat capacities indicate that asphalt energy, because of high temperatures, is a noteworthy renewable energy source.

Thermal energy collected from the sediment layer under a water body has been suggested for use as a renewable heat source for a low energy network. A prototype system for using this sediment energy was installed in Suvilahti, Vaasa, in 2008 and is still in use. It provides a carbon-free heating and cooling solution as well as savings in energy costs for 42 houses. To be a real, renewable heat source, the thermal energy of the sediment layer needs to replenish annually. The goal of this paper is to verify the possible cooling or annual heat regeneration. The sediment temperatures were measured and analyzed in the years 2013–2015. The data were compared to the same period in 2008–2009. All measurements were taken in the same place. This paper also confirms the potential of the sediment heat, especially in the seabed sediment, using the temperature differences between the lowest and the highest values for the year. The results demonstrate that the collection of the heat energy does not cause permanent cooling of the sediment. This result was obtained by calculating the temperature difference between measurements in the warmest month and the month with the coldest temperatures. This indicates the extracted energy. The difference was found to be around 9.5 °C in 2008–2009, rising to around 11 °C for the years 2013–2014 and 2014–2015. This indicates the loaded energy. The energy utilization is sustainable: the sediment temperature has not permanently decreased despite the full use of the network for the heating and cooling of houses between 2008 and 2015.

The urban, constructed areas are full of buildings and different kinds of pavements and have a noticeable lack of trees and flora. These areas are accumulating the heat from the Sun, people, vehicles, and constructions. One interesting heat collector is the asphalt pavement. How does the heat transfer to different layers under the pavement or does it? What are the temperatures under the pavement in Finland where the winter can be pretty hard? How can those temperatures be measured accurately? These are the main questions this paper gives the preliminary answers to. First the thermal behavior of asphalt and the layers beneath are researched in the laboratory and then the measurement field is bored and dug in the parking in the Western coast of Finland, 63°5′45′′ N. Distributed temperature sensing method was found to be a good choice for temperature measurements. Thermal behavior of pavement has been monitored in different layers and the preliminary results have been published here. The goal of this research is to assess the applicability of asphalt pavements for heat energy collection.

• Basal area and site type together explained 47% of variation in fine-root production. • Stand basal was the best single predictor explaining 16% of the variation. • Fine-root production generally decreased with decreasing fertility. • Most (76%-95%) fine-root production occurred in the top 20-cm peat layer. • Shrubs and trees accounted for most (72%-94%) of the fine-root production. Fine roots are an important component of ecosystem carbon (C) cycling in boreal forests and peatlands. We aimed to estimate fine-root production (FRP) for a range of peatland forests, examine the patterns in, and develop models for estimating, the relationships between FRP and tree stand characteristics as well as environmental conditions. Fine-root production of 28 drained boreal peatland forest sites in Finland, representing different site types and soil water-table conditions, was measured using the ingrowth-core method. Total FRP and FRP of conifers decreased from south to north but long-term mean annual temperature sum and precipitation alone did not significantly explain this trend. Tree stand basal area predicted FRP better than any other stand variable alone, explaining 16 % of the variation in stand-level total FRP. Basal areas of pine and spruce correlated positively with the FRP of conifers. Total FRP varied considerably among the site types and, with the exception of the most fertile site type, decreased with decreasing fertility. A model that included stand basal area and site type accounted for 47% of the variation in stand-level total FRP. Total FRP was generally higher with a deeper water-table level (WT). Together, WT and basal area explained 25 % of the variation in stand-level total FRP. Most FRP occurred in the top 20-cm layer comprising 76–95% of total FRP. The most fertile site type showed lower FRP in deeper layers than the other site types. These results can be used for estimation of FRP with forest inventory data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logging residue piles have been suggested to markedly increase the decomposition of the underlying peat soil leading to large carbon dioxide emissions. We aimed at scrutinizing this postulate with straightforward decomposition (mass loss) measurements. For the purpose, authentic soil organic matter (humus and peat) was incubated in mesh bags under piles and at control plots. The effect of piles was assumed to result from physical (shading and insulation on soil surface) and chemical-biological (leaching of nutrients and fresh organic matter) sources. To distinguish between the two, artificial piles of inorganic matter were established to mimic the bare physical effects. Enhancement of decomposition in the soil under the real and artificial piles was assessed by measuring the mass loss of cellulose strips. Logging residue piles had clear physical effects on soil: temperatures were lowered and their diurnal variation subdued, and relative humidity at the soil surface was higher. The effect on soil moisture was also evident, but more variable, including both decreases and increases. These effects, mimicked by the artificial piles, decreased rather than increased cellulose mass loss. As the real piles, on the other hand, increased mass loss, we conclude that logging residue piles may enhance decomposition in soil due to chemical-biological mechanisms. Also the results on humus and peat mass loss indicate that piles can both increase and decrease decomposition. Consistent, remarkable increase in mass loss was not observed. Thus, our results do not support the postulate of logging residue piles dramatically increasing decomposition of soil organic matter. Rather, they hint that the effect of logging residue piles on soil is an interplay of physical and chemical-biological effects and carbon transport via roots and fungi. To fully understand and quantify these effects, vertical C fluxes between piles and soil and horizontal C fluxes within soil need to be assessed in addition to decomposition in soil and piles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drained agricultural peat soils are significant sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) but also small sinks for methane (CH4). Leaving these soils without any cultivation practice could be an option to mitigate GHG emissions. To test this hypothesis, we measured, over a three year period, net CO2 exchange and fluxes of CH4 for five agricultural peat soils that had been abandoned for 20-30 years. Annually, the sites were either small net sinks or sources of CO2 and CH4 (-7.8 to 530 g CO2-C m-2 and -0.4] to 1.8 g CH4 m-2). Including N2O emissions from our previous study, the net (CH4 + CO2 + N2O) emissions as CO2 equivalents were lower than in cultivated peat soils and were lowest in the wet year. Therefore, high GHG emissions from these soils could be avoided if the water table is maintained close to the soil surface when photosynthesis is favoured over respiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, I analyze photography as family ritual, particularly the act of posing as repetitive acts that construct girl- and womanhood. I focus my analysis of a Finnish family photo album and an autobiographical interview of one of the sisters in the photographs on points of resistance to cultural ideals. I posit that the family photographs shape memories, family relations, and cultural meanings associated with gender. Although the family photographs convey expectations of daughters within Finnish family cultural contexts, my close reading of the photographs recast the cultural norms and ideals commonly associated with girls. I assert that family photographs can be understood not just as a site objectifying girls, but also as enabling participation in reshaping family life. The contradictions exposed in the analysis between representation and experience provides an example of deconstructing the construction of images of daughters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises the results of several research groups participating in the research programme "Greenhouse Impacts of the use of Peat and Peatlands in Finland", and presents emission factors for peat-atmosphere fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O, filling gaps in knowledge concerning the afforestation of organic croplands and cutaways, and improves the emission assessment of peatlands drained for forestry. Forest drainage may result in net binding of soil carbon or net release, depending on site characteristics and the tree stand. Use of peatlands for agriculture (48-4821 g CO2-eq. m-2 a-1, even after the cultivation has ceased, or for milled peat harvesting (1948-2478 g CO2-eq. m-2 a-1) can cause the highest overall emissions. Extremely high CO2 emissions are possible from peat harvesting areas during wet and warm summers. Afforestation of those peatlands abandoned from cultivation or peat harvesting can reduce the warming impact at least during the first tree generation. Heterotrophic soil respiration may have a systematic south-north difference in temperature response. More data must be collected before the information on peatland forest soil CO2 emissions can be adapted for different climatic regions in Finland. A test of the model DNDC against measured data showed that DNDC has to be developed further before it can be used in estimating N2O emissions from boreal peatlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of land-use and land-use change on soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes are of concern due to Kyoto Protocol requirements. To quantify the soil GHG-fluxes of afforested organic soils in Finland, chamber measurements of soil CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes were made during the years 2002 to 2005 on twelve organic soil cropland and six cutaway peatland sites afforested 9 to 35 years ago. The annual soil CO2 effluxes were statistically modelled using soil temperature as the driving variable and the annual CH4 and N2O fluxes were estimated using the average fluxes during the measurement period. Soil CO2 effluxes on afforested organic soil croplands varied from 207 to 539 g CO2-C m-2 a-1 and on cutaway peatlands from 276 to 479 g CO2-C m-2 a-1. Both the afforested organic soil cropland and cutaway peatland sites acted mainly as small sinks for CH4 the annual flux ranged from -0.32 to 0.61 g CH4-C m-2. Afforested organic croplands emitted more N2O (from 0.1 to over 3.0 g N2O-N rn-2 a-1) than cutaway peatland sites (from 0.01 to 0.48 g N2O-N rn-2 a-1). Due to the decrease in soil CO2 efflux, and no change in CH4 and N2O fluxes, afforestation of organic croplands appears to decrease the greenhouse impact of these lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities have enhanced the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from organic soils. Drained peat soils may turn into a source of CO2 and N2O, whereas CH4 emission may generally decrease after drainage. Agricultural use, including ploughing, fertilization and irrigation, further enhances the decomposition of peat, and CO2 and N2O emissions. Cultivated organic soils are therefore significant sources of CO2 and N2O. In this paper we report greenhouse gas emissions from cultivated organic soils, and from abandoned organic agricultural soils, i.e. from organic soils where cultivation practices have ceased. We found that CO2 and N2O emissions from abandoned organic cropland soils do not generally decrease with time after agricultural practices have ceased, whereas CH4 fluxes from the atmosphere into the soil may gradually increase after leaving cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterotrophic soil respiration (CO2 efflux from the decomposition of peat and root litter) in three forestry-drained peatlands with different site types and with a large climatic gradient from the hemi-boreal (central Estonia) to south (southern Finland) and north boreal (northern Finland) conditions was studied. Instantaneous fluxes varied between 0 and 1.3 g CO2-C m-2 h-1, and annual fluxes between 248 and 515 g CO2-C m-2 a-1. Variation in the annual fluxes among site types was studied only in the south-boreal site where we found a clear increase from nutrient-poor to nutrient-rich site types. More than half of the within-site variation was temporal and explained by soil surface (-5 cm) temperature (T5). The response of soil respiration to T5 varied between the sites; the most northerly site had the highest response to T5 and the most southerly the lowest. This trend further resulted in increased annual fluxes towards north. This unexpected result is hypothesised to be related to differences in site factors like substrate quality, nutrient status and hydrology but also to temperature acclimation, i.e., adaptation of decomposer populations to different climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managed boreal peatlands are widespread and economically important, but they are a large source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Peatland GHG emissions are related to soil water-table level (WT), which controls the vertical distribution of aerobic and anaerobic processes and, consequently, sinks and sources of GHGs in soils. On forested peatlands, selection harvesting reduces stand evapotranspiration and it has been suggested that the resulting WT rise decreases soil net emissions, while the tree growth is maintained. We monitored soil concentrations of CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O and O 2 by depth down to 80 cm, and CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes from soil in two nutrient-rich Norway spruce dominated peatlands in Southern Finland to examine the responses of soil GHG dynamics to WT rise. Selection harvesting raised WT by 14 cm on both sites, on average, mean WTs of the monitoring period being 73 cm for unharvested control and 59 cm for selection harvest. All soil gas concentrations were associated with proximity to WT. Both CH 4 and CO 2 showed remarkable vertical concentration gradients, with high values in the deepest layer, likely due to slow gas transfer in wet peat. CH 4 was efficiently consumed in peat layers near and above WT where it reached sub-atmospheric concentrations, indicating sustained oxidation of CH 4 from both atmospheric and deeper soil origins also after harvesting. Based on soil gas concentration data, surface peat (top 25/30 cm layer) contributed most to the soil-atmosphere CO 2 fluxes and harvesting slightly increased the CO 2 source in deeper soil (below 45/50 cm), which could explain the small CO 2 flux differences between treatments. N 2 O production occurred above WT, and it was unaffected by harvesting. Overall, the WT rise obtained with selection harvesting was not sufficient to reduce soil GHG emissions, but additional hydrological regulation would have been needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Climate change may affect the carbon sink function of peatlands through warming and drying. Fine-root biomass production (FRBP) of sedge fens, a widespread peatland habitat, is important in this context, since most of the biomass is below ground in these ecosystems. We examined the response of fine-root biomass production, depth distribution (10 cm intervals down to 60 cm), chemical characteristics, and decomposition along with other main litter types (sedge leaves, Sphagnum moss shoots) to an average May-to-October warming of 1.7 °C above ambient daily mean temperature and drying of 2-8 cm below ambient soil water-table level (WL) in two sedge fens situated in Northern and Southern Boreal zones. Warming was induced with open top chambers and drying with shallow ditching. Finally, we simulated short-term organic matter (OM) accumulation using net primary production and mass loss data. Total FRBP, and FRBP in deeper layers, was clearly higher in southern than northern fen. Drying significantly increased, and warming marginally increased, total FRBP, while warming significantly increased, and drying marginally increased, the proportional share of FRBP in deeper layers. Drying, especially, modified root chemistry as the relative proportions of fats, wax, lipids, lignin and other aromatics increased while the proportion of polysaccharides decreased. Warming did not affect the decomposition of any litter types, while drying reduced the decomposition of sedge leaf litter. Although drying increased OM accumulation from root litter at both fens, total OM accumulation decreased at the southern fen, while the northern fen with overall lower values showed no such pattern. Our results suggest that in warmer and/or modestly drier conditions, sedge fen FRBP will increase and/or be allocated to deeper soil layers. These changes along with the altered litter inputs may sustain the soil carbon sink function through OM accumulation, unless the WL falls below a tipping point., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Northern peatlands form a major soil carbon (C) stock. With climate change, peatland C mineralization is expected to increase, which in turn would accelerate climate change. A particularity of peatlands is the importance of soil aeration, which regulates peatland functioning and likely modulates the responses to warming climate. Our aim is to assess the impacts of warming on a southern boreal and a sub-arctic sedge fen carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) exchange under two plausible water table regimes: wet and moderately dry. We focused this study on minerotrophic treeless sedge fens, as they are common peatland types at boreal and (sub)arctic areas, which are expected to face the highest rates of climate warming. In addition, fens are expected to respond to environmental changes faster than the nutrient poor bogs. Our study confirmed that CO 2 exchange is more strongly affected by drying than warming. Experimental water level draw-down (WLD) significantly increased gross photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration. Warming alone had insignificant impacts on the CO 2 exchange components, but when combined with WLD it further increased ecosystem respiration. In the southern fen, CO 2 uptake decreased due to WLD, which was amplified by warming, while at northern fen it remained stable. As a conclusion, our results suggest that a very small difference in the WLD may be decisive, whether the C sink of a fen decreases, or whether the system is able to adapt within its regime and maintain its functions. Moreover, the water table has a role in determining how much the increased temperature impacts the CO 2 exchange., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Validated methodological aids for food quantification are needed for the accurate estimation of food consumption. Our objective was to assess the validity of an age-specific food picture book, which contains commonly eaten foods among Finnish children, for parents and early educators in estimating food portion sizes. The food picture book was developed to assist in portion size estimation when filling in food records in the Increased health and wellbeing in preschools (DAGIS) study. All ninety-five food pictures in the book, each containing three or four different portion sizes, were evaluated at real-time sessions. Altogether, seventy-three parents and 107 early educators or early education students participated. Each participant evaluated twenty-three or twenty-four portions by comparing presented pre-weighed food portions against the corresponding picture from the food picture book. Food portions were not consumed by participants. The total proportion of correct estimations varied from 36 % (cottage cheese) to 100 % (fish fingers). Among the food groups, nearly or over 90 % of the estimations were correct for bread, pastries and main courses ('piece products' such as meatballs and chicken nuggets). Soups, porridges, salads and grated and fresh vegetables were least correctly estimated (<65 % correct estimations). There were small differences in evaluations of berries and fresh fruits, warm vegetables and pastries between the parents and early educators, but other estimations were mostly similar. The children's food picture book was found to be a useful aid for the estimation of food portion sizes. Parents and early educators evaluated the portion sizes with similar accuracy.

Climate change affects peatlands directly through increased air temperatures and indirectly through changes in water-table level (WL). The interactions of these two still remain poorly known. We determined experimentally the separate and interactive effects of temperature and WL regime on factors of relevance for the inputs to the carbon cycle: plant community composition, phenology, biomass production, and shoot:root allocation in two wet boreal sedge-dominated fens, "southern" at 62°N and "northern" at 68°Ν. Warming (1.5°C higher average daily air temperature) was induced with open-top chambers and WL drawdown (WLD; 3-7 cm on average) by shallow ditches. Total biomass production varied from 250 to 520 g/m 2 , with belowground production comprising 25%-63%. Warming was associated with minor effects on phenology and negligible effects on community composition, biomass production, and allocation. WLD clearly affected the contribution of different plant functional types (PFTs) in the community and the biomass they produced: shrubs benefited while forbs and mosses suffered. These responses did not depend on the warming treatment. Following WLD, aboveground biomass production decreased mainly due to reduced growth of mosses in the southern fen. Aboveground vascular plant biomass production remained unchanged but the contribution of different PFTs changed. The observed changes were also reflected in plant phenology, with different PFTs showing different responses. Belowground production increased following WLD in the northern fen only, but an increase in the contributions of shrubs and forbs was observed in both sites, while sedge contribution decreased. Moderate warming alone seems not able to drive significant changes in plant productivity or community composition in these wet ecosystems. However, if warming is accompanied by even modest WL drawdown, changes should be expected in the relative contribution of PFTs, which could lead to profound changes in the function of fens. Consequently, hydrological scenarios are of utmost importance when estimating their future function., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Impacts of warming with open-top chambers on microbial communities in wet conditions and in conditions resulting from moderate water-level drawdown (WLD) were studied across 0-50 cm depth in northern and southern boreal sedge fens. Warming alone decreased microbial biomass especially in the northern fen. Impact of warming on microbial PLFA and fungal ITS composition was more obvious in the northern fen and linked to moisture regime and sample depth. Fungal-specific PLFA increased in the surface peat in the drier regime and decreased in layers below 10 cm in the wet regime after warming. OTUs representing Tomentella and Lactarius were observed in drier regime and Mortierella in wet regime after warming in the northern fen. The ectomycorrhizal fungi responded only to WLD. Interestingly, warming together with WLD decreased archaeal 16S rRNA copy numbers in general, and fungal ITS copy numbers in the northern fen. Expectedly, many results indicated that microbial response on warming may be linked to the moisture regime. Results indicated that microbial community in the northern fen representing Arctic soils would be more sensitive to environmental changes. The response to future climate change clearly may vary even within a habitat type, exemplified here by boreal sedge fen., (© FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)