Search

Oyster reefs are ecologically important habitats that have been suffering from anthropogenic stressors and severe damages over the past century. More than 85 % of the world's oyster reefs have already been destroyed, have disappeared or their existence is under severe and immediate threat. Due to their central ecological importance for benthic and bentho-pelagic systems and processes associated with important ecosystem functions and services, the restoration of oyster reefs is a focus of marine conservation measures worldwide. In the context of marine spatial planning and complex land use conflicts, and aimed at maximising the ecological success of such restoration measures, GIS-based habitat suitability analyses for oyster reintroduction have been conducted. The aim of the present study was to model and identify suitable habitats for the European oyster within the marine protected areas of Borkum Reefground and Sylt Outer Reef in the German Bight for which the restoration of biogenic reefs, namely native oyster reefs is a designated measure. For this purpose, a multi-criteria decision analysis was designed and applied. Based on geodata of the ecological habitat preferences of the European oyster and relevant logistic factors (contraindicated uses), suitable large- scale areas were successfully identified for which a reintroduction of the formerly native species is favourable. Both suitable and unsuitable habitats could therefore successfully be identified for both nature reserves. Due to the large impact of different standardisation procedures for the suitability variables applied, corresponding results may differ quite severely. Hence four different classifications were applied on the most important factor, ground fisheries accounting for a relative weighting of ca. 30% in the derived suitability formula. The results undermine the necessity of well-grounded scientific and practical reasons to decide on a suitable classification procedure in the multicriteria analy

The Northeast Atlantic, a highly productive maritime area, has been exposed to a wide range of direct human pressures, such as fishing, shipping, coastal development, pollution, and non-indigenous species (NIS) introductions, in addition to anthropogenically-driven global climate change. Nonetheless, this regional sea supports a high diversity of species and habitats, whose functioning provides a variety of ecosystem services, essential for human welfare. In 2017, OSPAR, the Northeast Atlantic Regional Seas Commission, delivered an assessment of marine biodiversity for the Northeast Atlantic. This assessment examined biodiversity indicators separately to identify changes in Northeast Atlantic biodiversity, but stopped short of determining the status of biodiversity for many species and habitats. Here, we expand on this work and for the first time, a semi-quantitative approach is applied to evaluate holistically the state of Northeast Atlantic marine biodiversity across marine food webs, from plankton to top predators, via fish, pelagic and benthic habitats, including xeno-biodiversity (i.e. NIS). Our analysis reveals widespread degradation in marine ecosystems and biodiversity, particularly for marine birds and coastal bottlenose dolphins, as well as for benthic habitats and fish in some regions. The poor biodiversity status of these ecosystem components is likely the result of cumulative effects of human activities, such as habitat destruction or disturbance, overexploitation, eutrophication, the introduction of NIS, and climate change. Bright spots are also revealed, such as recent signs of recovery in some fish and marine bird communities and recovery in harbour and grey seal populations and the condition of coastal benthic communities in some regions. The status of many indicators across all ecosystem components, but particularly for the novel pelagic habitats, food webs and NIS indicators, however, remains uncertain due to gaps in data, unclear pressure-state r

The aims of this study are to develop an optimized method for regional benthic fauna assessment of the Southern North Sea which (a) is sensitive and precise (quantified as the slope and the R2 value of the pressure-impact relationships, respectively) for the anthropogenic pressures bottom fishing and organic enrichment, (b) is suitable for estimating and modelling reference values, (c) is transparent, (d) can be efficiently applied using dedicated software; and to apply this method to benthic data from the Southern North Sea. Margalef diversity appeared to be the best performing benthic index regarding these criteria, even better than several Multi-Metric Indices (MMIs) containing e.g. AMBI (AZTI Marine Biotic Index) and ITI (Infaunal Trophic Index). Therefore, this relatively simple and very practical index, including a new reference value estimation and modelling method, and BENMMI software were selected as a common OSPAR (Oslo Paris convention) method for the benthic fauna assessment of the Southern North Sea. This method was applied to benthic fauna data from the Southern North Sea collected during the period 2010–2015. The results in general show lower normalized Margalef values in coastal areas, and higher normalized Margalef values in deeper offshore areas. The following benthic indices were compared in this study: species richness, Margalef diversity, SNA index, Shannon index, PIE index, AMBI, ITI. For each assessment area, the least disturbed benthic dataset was selected as an adjacent 6 year period with, on average, the highest Margalef diversity values. For these datasets, the reference values were primarily set as the 99th percentile values of the respective indices. This procedure results in the highest stable reference values that are not outliers. In addition, a variable percentile method was developed, in which the percentile value is adjusted to the average bottom fishing pressure (according to data from the International Council for the Exploration

In the first quarter of 2016, the consumer version of the long-awaited head-mounted virtual reality display Oculus Rift was released. According to Mark Zuckerberg (2014), virtual reality will one day “become a part of daily life for billions of people.” However, this technology is still in its appropriation phase, so it remains to be seen whether virtual reality is truly going to break through as a widespread technology. Originally, the Oculus Rift was designed specifically for video games. But when Facebook bought Oculus, Oculus made a statement that they wanted to transform the way people learn, share, and communicate and not just the way they play (Oculus VR 2014). Furthermore, Facebook wants to expand this virtual reality platform and create many other more serious virtual reality experiences as well. In our contemporary culture, however, playfulness has become a mainstream characteristic of our daily lives (Frissen et al. 2015, 9). “Playfulness not only characterizes leisure time (…), but also those domains that used to be serious”, such as work, education, politics, and warfare (9). Thus, even if Facebook transforms the Oculus Rift into a platform for more serious experiences, play and playfulness might still be key aspects that characterize the appropriation of this novel technology. The aim of this research is to investigate how the notion of play has manifested within various virtual reality experiences. A comparative textual analysis has been conducted on seven YouTube videos divided in three virtual reality categories: video games, communication platforms, and documentaries. Within this thesis, the four play types and two play attitudes, as defined by Caillois (1961), are used to analyse the various ways in which play occurs within these three different categories. The chosen YouTube videos both show what is happening on the screen as well as the user who is using the head-mounted display. This allows me to analyse the different levels on which affordance

De afgelopen twee decennia zijn videogames veelvuldig in opspraak geweest in de massamedia. Een veelvoorkomend argument in de massamedia is dat videogames leiden tot gewelddadig gedrag bij spelers (Sicart, 2009b, p. 3). Diverse effectonderzoeken zijn al gedaan naar het effect van het geweld in videogames, maar volgens Sicart (2005) is het probleem met effectonderzoek dat deze studies weinig zeggen over wat videogames nu daadwerkelijk zijn en wat het betekent om een speler te zijn (p. 14). In dit paper onderzoek ik vanuit een spelersperspectief op welke wijze het narratief in Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics, 2013) een morele verantwoording geeft aan het geweld in de game. De rol van de speler is hierbij van belang, omdat zij handelingsvermogen heeft om de toestand van een videogame te veranderen (Švelch, 2010, p. 54). De speler is tevens een moreel wezen dat ethisch reflecteert op haar aanwezigheid in een videogame (Sicart, 2009b, p. 17). Tijdens het spelen van een videogame creëert de speler echter ook een set van waarden die alleen binnen de videogame van toepassing zijn (p. 76). Uit het onderzoek blijkt dat Tomb Raider aan het begin van de videogame op verschillende wijzen morele verantwoording geeft aan het geweld in de videogame. Hierdoor voelt het geweld aan als rechtvaardig (Hartmann et al., 2014, p. 313). Hoe meer de speler echter ontdekt op het eiland, hoe meer blijkt dat niet alle vijandige tegenstanders op het eiland even kwaadaardig zijn. De mannen praten namelijk over hoe graag zij hun vrijheid terug willen, dat zij van het eiland af willen en dat ze moeite hebben met het geweld dat gepleegd wordt. Deze extra informatie in het narratief stimuleert de speler om vraagtekens te zetten bij de acties die zij heeft uitgevoerd (Sicart, 2009b, p. 155). Tot het moment dat alle informatie over de mannen op het eiland bekend is, volgt de speler de instructies om verder te komen in de videogame. Zodra echter blijkt dat deze mannen hun vrijheid terug willen en ook over

The assessment of the impacts of growing genetically modified (GM) crops remains a major political and scientific challenge in Europe. Concerns have been raised by the evidence of adverse and unexpected environmental effects and differing opinions on the outcomes of environmental risk assessments (ERA). The current regulatory system is hampered by insufficiently developed methods for GM crop safety testing and introduction studies. Improvement to the regulatory system needs to address the lack of well designed GM crop monitoring frameworks, professional and financial conflicts of interest within the ERA research and testing community, weaknesses in consideration of stakeholder interests and specific regional conditions, and the lack of comprehensive assessments that address the environmental and socio-economic risk assessment interface. To address these challenges, we propose a European Network for systematic GMO impact assessment (ENSyGMO) with the aim directly to enhance ERA and post-market environmental monitoring (PMEM) of GM crops, to harmonize and ultimately secure the long-term socio-political impact of the ERA process and the PMEM in the EU. These goals would be achieved with a multi-dimensional and multi-sector approach to GM crop impact assessment, targeting the variability and complexity of the EU agro-environment and the relationship with relevant socio-economic factors. Specifically, we propose to develop and apply methodologies for both indicator and field site selection for GM crop ERA and PMEM, embedded in an EU-wide typology of agro-environments. These methodologies should be applied in a pan-European field testing network using GM crops. The design of the field experiments and the sampling methodology at these field sites should follow specific hypotheses on GM crop effects and use state-of-the art sampling, statistics and modelling approaches. To address public concerns and create confidence in the ENSyGMO results, actors with relevant specialist

Previous analyses at the European scale have shown that cadmium and lead concentrations in mosses are primarily determined by the total deposition of these metals. Further analyses in the current study show that Spearman rank correlations between the concentration in mosses and the deposition modelled by the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) are country and metal-specific. Significant positive correlations were found for about two thirds or more of the participating countries in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 (except for Cd in 1990). Correlations were often not significant and sometimes negative in countries where mosses were only sampled in a relatively small number of EMEP grids. Correlations frequently improved when only data for EMEP grids with at least three moss sampling sites per grid were included. It was concluded that spatial patterns and temporal trends agree reasonably well between lead and cadmium concentrations in mosses and modelled atmospheric deposition.

In 2005/6, nearly 3000 moss samples from (semi-)natural location across 16 European countries were collected for nitrogen analysis. The lowest total nitrogen concentrations in mosses (<0.8%) were observed in northern Finland and northern UK. The highest concentrations (>1.6%) were found in parts of Belgium, France, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. The asymptotic relationship between the nitrogen concentrations in mosses and EMEP modelled nitrogen deposition (averaged per 50 km x 50 km grid) across Europe showed less scatter when there were at least five moss sampling sites per grid. Factors potentially contributing to the scatter are discussed. In Switzerland, a strong (r2 = 0.91) linear relationship was found between the total nitrogen concentration in mosses and measured sitespecific bulk nitrogen deposition rates. The total nitrogen concentrations in mosses complement deposition measurements, helping to identify areas in Europe at risk from high nitrogen deposition at a high spatial resolution.

Background, aim and scope Since 1990 the UN ECE Heavy Metals in Mosses Surveys provide data inventories of the atmospheric heavy metal bioaccumulation across Europe. In the survey 2005 the nitrogen (N) accumulation was measured for the first time in most of the participating countries. In Germany, the surveys were conducted in close cooperation of the relevant authorities of both the Federal Republic and the sixteen states. Therefore, statistical evaluations of the moss survey data with regard to the whole German territory and single federal states are of interest. This article concentrates on Saxony, dealing with the mapping of the spatiotemporal trends of metal accumulation from 1990 to 2005, the spatial patterns of nitrogen accumulation in 2005, and the spatial variability of bioaccumulation due to characteristics of the sampling sites and their surroundings. Exemplified for Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg) and Lead (Pb) the metal loads in mosses are furthermore related to modelled deposition data provided from the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP). Materials and methods In Saxony Pleurozium schreberi (1990, 1995 most frequent moss species, thereafter second most), Hypnum cupressiforme (1990, 1995 second most, thereafter most frequent moss species), Scleropodium purum and Brachytecium rutabulum (1995, 2000) were sampled at up to 83 sites. All sampling sites were described with regard to topographical and ecological characteristics and several criteria to be fulfilled according to the guideline. Together with the measurements this metadata was combined with other information regarding land use in the surroundings of the sampling sites in the WebGIS MossMet. The spatial structure of the metal bioaccumulation was analysed and modelled by variogram analyses and then mapped by applying different kriging techniques. Furthermore, multi metal indices (MMI) were derived for both the sampling sites and raster maps with help of percentile statistics: The MMI1990

The ICP Vegetation is an international programme that reports on the effects of air pollutants on natural vegetation and crops [1]. It reports to the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). In particular, the ICP Vegetation focuses on the following air pollution problems: quantifying the risks to vegetation posed by ozone pollution and the atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and nitrogen to vegetation. In addition, the ICP Vegetation is taking into consideration impacts of nitrogen on vegetation (including interactions with ozone), consequences for biodiversity and the interactions between air pollutants and climate change. At the 23rd Task Force Meeting we will report on the achievements of the ICP Vegetation in 2009, in particular regarding progress made with items to be reported to the WGE in 2010 [2]: • Ozone biomonitoring experiment with bean in 2009; • Ozone impacts in Mediterranean areas; • Ozone flux modelling methods and their application to different climatic regions; • Outcome of workshop on ‘Flux-based assessment of ozone effects for air pollution policy’; • Progress with European heavy metals and nitrogen in mosses survey 2010/11; • Relationship between heavy metal concentration in mosses and EMEP modelled deposition. In addition, we will discuss the contribution of ICP Vegetation to the common workplan items of the WGE for 2010 [2]. Apart from looking back to our achievements in 2009, throughout the Task Force Meeting we will be discussing our future plans, in particular the medium-term workplan of the ICP Vegetation (2011 – 2012).

Background, aim and scope Since 1990 the UN ECE Heavy Metals in Mosses Surveys provide data inventories of the atmospheric heavy metal bioaccumulation across Europe. In the survey 2005 the nitrogen accumulation was measured for the first time in most of the participating countries. In Germany, the surveys were conducted in close cooperation of the relevant authorities of both the Federal Republic and the sixteen states. Therefore, statistical evaluations of the moss survey data with regard to the whole German territory and single federal states are of interest. This article concentrates on Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, dealing with the mapping of the spatiotemporal trends of metal accumulation from 1990 to 2005, the spatial patterns of nitrogen accumulation in 2005, and the spatial variability of bioaccumulation due to characteristics of the sampling sites and their surroundings. Materials and methods The bioaccumulation of up to 40 trace elements in mosses was determined according to a Europe-wide harmonised methodology. The according experimental protocol regulates the selection of sampling sites and moss species, the chemical analysis and quality control and the classification of the measured values for mapping spatial patterns. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania all sampling sites were described with regard to topographical and ecological characteristics and several criteria to be fulfilled according to the guideline. Together with the measurements this metadata was combined with other information regarding land use in the surroundings of the sampling sites in the WebGIS MossMet. The spatial structure of the metal bioaccumulation was analysed and modelled by variogram analyses and then mapped by applying different kriging techniques. Furthermore, multi metal indices (MMI) were derived for both the sampling sites and raster maps with help of percentile statistics: The MMI1990–2005 was calculated for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Ti, V and Zn. The statistical associa

The ICP Vegetation is an international programme that reports on the effects of air pollutants on natural vegetation and crops [1]. It reports to the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). In particular, the ICP Vegetation focuses on the following air pollution problems: quantifying the risks to vegetation posed by ozone pollution and the atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and nitrogen to vegetation. In addition, the ICP Vegetation is taking into consideration impacts of nitrogen on vegetation (including interactions with ozone), consequences for biodiversity and the interactions between air pollutants and climate change. At the 23rd Task Force Meeting we will report on the achievements of the ICP Vegetation in 2009, in particular regarding progress made with items to be reported to the WGE in 2010 [2]: • Ozone biomonitoring experiment with bean in 2009; • Ozone impacts in Mediterranean areas; • Ozone flux modelling methods and their application to different climatic regions; • Outcome of workshop on ‘Flux-based assessment of ozone effects for air pollution policy’; • Progress with European heavy metals and nitrogen in mosses survey 2010/11; • Relationship between heavy metal concentration in mosses and EMEP modelled deposition. In addition, we will discuss the contribution of ICP Vegetation to the common workplan items of the WGE for 2010 [2]. Apart from looking back to our achievements in 2009, throughout the Task Force Meeting we will be discussing our future plans, in particular the medium-term workplan of the ICP Vegetation (2011 – 2012).

Purpose Under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution mosses are used to map the bioaccumulation of heavy metals and nitrogen throughout Europe. To this end, since 1990 mosses were sampled and analyzed chemically every five years. The goal of this article is to apply the moss survey data for assessing the bioaccumulation of Cd, Pb and N in German Natura 2000 Sites of Community Importance (SCI). Methods The temporal trends of the heavy metal bioaccumulation within SCIs were analyzed using a multi metal index (MMI) calculated by means of geostatistics and percentile statistics. For nitrogen, only monitoring values for 2005 were available for the assessment. The geostatistically estimated values of the metal and nitrogen concentrations in mosses were transformed to estimated deposition values by use of regression analyses. Subsequently, the results were integrated into the assessment of the German SCIs. Results Highest metal loads within SCIs were detected in 1990, followed by a continuous decrease to 2000 and a significant increase until 2005. Regarding N, a median of 1.5 % nitrogen in the dry mass was calculated. The deposition values calculated from the moss estimates resulted in median values of 0.33 g/ha/a for Cd, 8.2 g/ha/a for Pb and 16.7 kg/ha/a for nitrogen. Conclusions The Moss-Monitoring is the only environmental monitoring programme which enables statistically sound estimations of the exposure of SCI to environmental contaminants in terms of heavy metal and nitrogen deposition and bioaccumulation.

In recent decades, mosses have been used successfully as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals. Since 1990, the European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals. Although spatial patterns were metal-specific, in 2005 the lowest concentrations of metals in mosses were generally found in Scandinavia, the Baltic States and northern parts of the UK; the highest concentrations were generally found in Belgium and south-eastern Europe. The recent decline in emission and subsequent deposition of heavy metals across Europe has resulted in a decrease in the heavy metal concentration in mosses for the majority of metals. Since 1990, the concentration in mosses has declined the most for arsenic, cadmium, iron, lead and vanadium (52–72%), followed by copper, nickel and zinc (20–30%), with no significant reduction being observed for mercury (12% since 1995) and chromium (2%). However, temporal trends were country-specific with sometimes increases being found. Since 1990, heavy metal concentrations in mosses have declined in Europe for most metals

Australia has been slow in adopting the use of underground space as a part of the urban planning process. Historically, blasting in high density population areas has resulted in blast vibrations and blast overpressures exceeding the limits, which in some case have been set extremely low in terms of peak particle velocity, making conventional blasting difficult. The introduction of new technologies such as computer aided drilling, electronic delays and low-energy explosives has made the task considerably easier. Trends are discussed in underground quarrying, underground commercial space and tunnelling. The optimum solution to obtain minimum environmental impact in urban construction and tunnelling may involve a combination of both low-energy explosives and high-technology blasting techniques using high-energy explosives. Case studies are presented including the use of electronic detonators with an accuracy of 1 ms for the Brisbane North-South Bypass Tunnel portal works and the excavation of two car parks in Southport by blasting using packaged emulsion with electronic initiation., Australia has been slow in adopting the use of underground space as a part of the urban planning process. Historically, blasting in high density population areas has resulted in blast vibrations and blast overpressures exceeding the limits, which in some case have been set extremely low in terms of peak particle velocity, making conventional blasting difficult. The introduction of new technologies such as computer aided drilling, electronic delays and low-energy explosives has made the task considerably easier. Trends are discussed in underground quarrying, underground commercial space and tunnelling. The optimum solution to obtain minimum environmental impact in urban construction and tunnelling may involve a combination of both low-energy explosives and high-technology blasting techniques using high-energy explosives. Case studies are presented including the use of electronic detonators with an accuracy of 1 ms for the Brisbane North-South Bypass Tunnel portal works and the excavation of two car parks in Southport by blasting using packaged emulsion with electronic initiation.

The exact area calculation of irregularly distributed data is in the focus of all territorial geochemical balancing methods or definition of protection zones. Especially in the deep sea environment the interpolation of measurements into surfaces represents an important gain of information, because of cost- and time-intensive data acquisition.The geostatistical interpolation method indicator kriging therefore is applied for an accurate mapping of the spatial distribution of benthic communities following a categorical classification scheme at the deep-sea submarine Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano. Georeferenced video mosaics were obtained during several dives by the Remotely Operated Vehicle Victor6000 in a water depth of 1260 m. Mud volcanoes are considered as significant source locations for methane indicated by unique chemoautotrophic communities as Beggiatoa mats and pogonophoran tube worms. For the detection and quantification of their spatial distribution 2840 georeferencedvideo mosaics were analysed by visual inspection. Polygons, digitised on the georeferenced images within a GIS, build the data basis for geostatistically interpolated mono-parametric surface maps. Indicator kriging is applied to the centroids of the polygons calculating surfacemaps.The quality assessment of the surface maps is conducted by leave-one-out cross-validation evaluating the fit of the indicator kriging variograms by using statistical mean values. Furthermore, the estimate was evaluated by a validation dataset of the visual inspection of 530 video mosaics not included within the interpolation, thus, proving the interpolated surfaces independently. With regard to both validating mechanisms, we attained satisfying results and we provided each category applied for the identification of biogeochemical habitats with apercentage probability value of occurrence.

MarGIS intends the combination of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), research data, and multivariate geostatistical techniques for characterisation and identification of distinct provinces at the seafloor of the North Sea. Such a typological approach, the analysis of classification based on types, is one prerequisite for management issues related to coastalseafloor. It provides a framework for improved application of large environmental data sets, allows enhanced visualisation of multiple information layers, and supports modeling of temporal and spatial interrelations of coastal and ocean regions. To tackle the problem of presentation of large data sets MarGIS uses a web-based viewer which allows a clear visualisation of the information for the general public. The viewer allows a dynamic actualisation and access to metadata and additional information.