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This is the survey on National Contributions to EOSC 2022 for the EOSC Steering Board The survey consists of questions for the monitoring of policies and practices for EOSC and Open Science and is aimed at the representatives of Member States and Associated Countries in Europe The survey was developed by the EOSC Future project and EOSC Steering Board and was published in the EOSC Observatory whereby the data collection has been running from January 2023 The results of the survey will be available in the online dashboard of the EOSC Observatory: [https://eoscobservatory.eosc-portal.eu]

General public inclusion in nature conservation is crucial to accomplish wildlife species recovery. Mammal and bird species usually receive most of the research and general public attention, leaving aside other taxa species. It is necessary to obtain general public support towards other taxa species by emphasizing ecological attributes. Here we test if the disclosure of the threatened and endemic status of amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, could increase general public support. Additionally, we wanted to identify if the threatened and endemic status could implicate a difference in support. Interviews (N: 359) were conducted among the general public in Valdivia, Chile, to elicit the support, allocation of a fictional fixed amount of conservation funds (WTS), towards native wildlife species. The species were two mammals, and four bird species, none threatened nor endemic, and two amphibians, one fish, and three invertebrates, all threatened and endemic. The WTS was derived on two occasions for each participant. Firstly presenting colorful pictures with the name of the species and, secondly, adding the threatened and endemic status in two separate treatments. Results indicated mammal and bird species with significantly higher WTS when pictures and names were provided. The main driver was a misperception of the threatened status of these species. When the threatened and endemic status was disclosed, the WTS significantly shift towards the amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. No difference in the WTS was spotted between the threatened or endemic status. As our results indicate participants associate charismatic species (mammal and birds) with threatened status. We encourage nature conservation entities to promote a broader spectrum of wildlife species by emphasizing conservation needs.

This is the pilot survey on National Contributions to EOSC 2021 for the EOSC Steering Board The survey consists of questions for the monitoring of policies and practices for EOSC and Open Science by Member States and Associated Countries in Europe and also includes recommendations on calculating national contributions to EOSC The survey was developed by the EOSC Steering Board and EOSC Future project and was published in the EOSC Observatory whereby the data collection ran from December 2021 until August 2022 The results of the survey are available in the online dashboard of the EOSC Observatory: [https://eoscobservatory.eosc-portal.eu]

Conflicts in the management of renewable natural resources are situations in which actors have diverging opinions on issues of natural resource use. In the literature, among the causal factors for ...

The INTEGRAL hard X-ray surveys have proven to be of fundamental importance. INTEGRAL has mapped the Galactic plane with its large field of view and excellent sensitivity. Such hard X-ray snapshots of the whole Milky Way on a time scale of a year are beyond the capabilities of past and current narrow-FOV grazing incidence X-ray telescopes. By expanding the INTEGRAL X-ray survey into shorter timescales, a productive search for transient X-ray emitters was made possible. In more than fifteen years of operation, the INTEGRAL observatory has given us a sharper view of the hard X-ray sky, and provided the triggers for many follow-up campaigns from radio frequencies to gamma-rays. In addition to conducting a census of hard X-ray sources across the entire sky, INTEGRAL has carried out, through Earth occultation maneuvers, unique observations of the large-scale cosmic X-ray background, which will without question be included in the annals of X-ray astronomy as one of the mission's most salient contribution to our understanding of the hard X-ray sky., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, 1 table, will be published in New Astronomy Reviews issue 15 years of INTEGRAL science

Airport projects can have a significant impact on sustainable development. In Germany, as in many other developed countries, airport development is confronting a dilemma because, on the one hand, airports are important infrastructural components and, on the other hand, airport development faces strong resistance from local populations and interest groups. Thus, uncertainties and long time periods, up to 20 years from the beginning of planning to breaking ground, are quite normal. To ease airport development in Germany, administrative procedures and public participation were enhanced. Nevertheless, even with improved public participation, siting decisions in the case of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) were lengthy as usual and remain controversial today due to the selection of Sch&ouml, nefeld as the site. Against this background, it seems that public participation in the case of the BER site selection did not particularly deliver the hoped-for results, but why? To answer this question, Creighton&rsquo, s principles of effective public participation are employed as benchmarks. Moreover, the benchmarking indicates that public participation was not effectively applied. Thus, the possible benefits of public participation could not or could only be partly reaped. Furthermore, from a broader politico-economic perspective, the analysis exposes that public participation was just &ldquo, a small cog in the machine&rdquo, of the BER site selection process. It seems that other factors had a more substantial influence on the siting decision than public participation and led decision makers, in addition to regular challenges, into a predicament that might have made Sch&ouml, nefeld the only possible siting solution. In this context, different counterfactual scenarios are discussed to show under which circumstances other outcomes might have occurred regarding the BER site selection.

Common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Ex Steud.) is a highly productive wetland plant and a potentially valuable source of renewable biomass worldwide. There is more than 10 million ha of reed area globally, distributed mainly across Eurasia followed by America and Africa. The literature analysis in this paper revealed that Kazakhstan alone harbored ca. 1,600,000–3,000,000 ha of reed area, mostly distributed in the deltas and along the rivers of the country. Herein, we explored the total reed biomass stock of 17 million t year−1 which is potentially available for harvesting in the context of wise use of wetlands. The aim of this paper is to reveal the distribution of reed resource potential in wetland areas of 13 provinces of Kazakhstan and the prospects for its sustainable utilization. Reed can be used as feedstock as an energy source for the production of pellets and biofuels, as lignocellulosic biomass for the production of high strength fibers for novel construction and packaging materials, and innovative polymers for lightweight engineering plastics and adhesive coatings. Thereby, it is unlikely that reed competes for land that otherwise is used for food production.

We identified the perceptions and beliefs that underpin species selection for reforestation among smallholder farmers in the Wassa Amenfi District located in Ghana’s High Forest Zone. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a conceptual framework, we collected perceived outcome beliefs, social referents, and control factors from the farmers with a pre-tested, Likert scaled, structured questionnaire. A Mann–Whitney U test was conducted to test for significance of differences between the responses from farmers already planting trees (PF) and those not planting trees (NPF). We found that NPF were significantly higher than PF in belief strength that tree species that have straight boles, grow fast, and have coppicing abilities are the ideal species for reforestation. We found no significant differences between the farmer groups in their motivation to comply with family members and target market as social referents in species selection; however, NPF were significantly higher in compliance with fellow farmers and landowners. NPF were significantly higher than PF that inadequate planting materials and length of investment are the main control factors, serving as the impediments discouraging NPF from participating in indigenous species reforestation.

Agriculture significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and thus to climate change, directly through farm operations and indirectly through the energy needed to produce input materials, most prominently fertiliser, as well as through nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils. Agriculture is the largest consumer of phosphorus, which is a non-renewable resource. Cotton accounts for one third of all natural and synthetic fibres of the total textile production. Today, Xinjiang, China, has become one of the most important cotton producers with highest yields worldwide. The aim of this study was to calculate the carbon (climate footprint and energy footprint) and phosphorus footprint of this high yielding cotton production and compare it to a theoretical production of an alternative fibre from Apocynum (local name: Kendyr or Kutra), which is a bast fibre plant native in Xinjiang and Central Asia. The data of the cotton production was collected through farm interviews during six years in Xinjiang. The data for Apocynum was compiled by literature from field experiments in the former Soviet Union. Cotton fibres, mainly due to high fertiliser inputs, caused a climate footprint of 4.43 kg CO2e/kg fibre, an energy footprint of 30.90 MJ/kg fibre, and a phosphorus footprint of 101 g P/kg fibre. The footprints of Apocynum are significantly lower with a climate footprint of 1.93 kg CO2e/kg fibre, an energy footprint of 21.85 MJ/kg fibre, and a phosphorus footprint of 1.6 g P/kg fibre. In cotton production, 63.9% of the climate footprint and 68.4% of the energy footprint are attributed to fertiliser production. Soil emissions of N2O account for another 22.2% of the climate footprint of cotton. The biggest potential to reduce carbon and phosphorus footprints of cotton production lie in reduced fertiliser application and re-use of plant residues. In the case of Apocynum, 65.1% of the climate footprint and 64.1% of the energy footprint are attributed to chemical treatment of the fibres in the extraction process.

AGN are among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe and in the last two decades INTEGRAL's contribution in their study has had a significant impact. Thanks to the INTEGRAL extragalactic sky surveys, all classes of soft X-ray detected (in the 2-10 keV band) AGN have been observed at higher energies as well. Up to now, around 450 AGN have been catalogued and a conspicuous part of them are either objects observed at high-energies for the first time or newly discovered AGN. The high-energy domain (20-200 keV) represents an important window for spectral studies of AGN and it is also the most appropriate for AGN population studies, since it is almost unbiased against obscuration and therefore free of the limitations which affect surveys at other frequencies. Over the years, INTEGRAL data have allowed to characterise AGN spectra at high energies, to investigate their absorption properties, to test the AGN unification scheme and to perform population studies. In this review the main results are reported and INTEGRAL's contribution to AGN science is highlighted for each class of AGN. Finally, new perspectives are provided, connecting INTEGRAL's science with that at other wavelengths and in particular to the GeV/TeV regime which is still poorly explored., Comment: 31 pages, 16 figures, will be published in New Astronomy Reviews issue 15 years of Integral science

Reforestation, particularly in the tropics, is of crucial importance for the environment as well as society. However, small planting areas and low participation of smallholder farmers in tree planting programmes often obstruct realisation of set planting area targets. In this regard, we interviewed smallholder farmers undertaking indigenous species reforestation in Oda Kotoamso community within the Wassa Amenfi West District in Western Region of Ghana with a pre-tested questionnaire to identify (1) key socio-economic factors that predict the size of plantations they establish, (2) options that could encourage tree planting among smallholder farmers, and (3) tree species planted by the smallholder farmers and their conservation status according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Key socio-economic factors were predicted with multiple regression models and ANOVA. Options were ranked on a five-point Likert scale and their differences were tested with the Mann–Whitney U test. Age and income of smallholders are the significant predictors of plantation sizes but farmers’ household size and gender were not significant. Age and income accounted for 77.1% and 22.9%, respectively, of the total variation described by our model (R2 = 38.4%). In order of importance, incentives (mean = 4.35, SD = 0.48), public nurseries (mean = 4.2, SD = 0.82) and agroforestry (mean = 4.06, SD = 0.56) were the options that could encourage reforestation, though incentives and public nurseries were not significantly different (p > 0.05). Almost half (9 of 19) of the tree species planted are categorised as Vulnerable species, which highlights the contribution of smallholder farmers to recovery of threatened tree species. Our findings suggest that sustainable provision of planting materials in incentivised and youth-based tree planting programmes could increase planting hectarage and conserve threatened tree species.Keywords: indigenous species, species conservation, tree planting

Complex social-ecological systems (SES), especially systems with common pool resources, often exhibit system dynamics characterized by emergence, where system properties cannot be fully explained by input variables. This causes challenges when it comes to explaining resource use problems because problem dynamics can differ from case to case despite similar input variables. Archetype analysis with its focus on identifying building blocks of nature-society relations might provide a means to tackle emergence and complexity in the analysis of resource use problems in SES. Using data from inter- and transdisciplinary research investigating comparative case studies on common village pasture management in the Caucasus region, we use the archetype approach with a focus on system archetypes that place particular emphasis on recognizing recurrent structures and internal dynamics. We apply three system archetypes, the Tragedy of the Commons, Shifting the Burden, and Success to the Successful, to different aspects of interlinked management problems that occur repeatedly in the case study data. Using SES variables characterizing the cases, we discuss variable combinations that may trigger specific dynamics. Moreover, we explore interlinkages between archetypical problems and discuss possible solutions based on self-governance. We find that the archetype approach with a focus on system archetypes resulted in consistent explanations of problem dynamics leading to important additional insights into root causes and internal archetypical dynamics compared with existing knowledge. Regarding problem solutions and policy recommendations, we show that viewing archetypical problems as interlinked in their actual case-study context leads to different recommendations than when each archetype is viewed on its own.

This paper presents an analysis of the land use and land cover change (LUCC) of major infrastructure construction as exemplified by the case of Hangzhou International Airport (HIA, Hangzhou, China), which is one of the busiest airports in Eastern China. The airport&rsquo, s effect on LUCC is evaluated by comparing the actual pattern from 1996 to 2001 with a counterfactual simulated land use pattern that would have occurred without the intervention of airport construction. This research is based on land use maps from Landsat images that were analyzed by supervised classification and visual interpretation. To simulate the land use pattern occurring without airport construction, the counterfactual, we applied a cellular automata (CA)&ndash, Markov model. Through before and after comparison, we found that cultivated land has decreased and that constructed land has increased because of airport construction. However, according to the counterfactual scenario, airport construction to some extent prevented a decrease in cultivated land and decelerated the expansion of constructed land at a small scale and in the short term. We discuss several reasons for this result, including governmental regulations, such as the setting of the airport clearance area for the safety of plane take-off and landing, the adverse effects of aviation noise or pollution, which may limit the construction activities in the surrounding areas of the airport, and, importantly, the unique land use and land management system in China, mainly the cultivated land requisition-compensation balance policy. We conclude that (1) the counterfactual CA&ndash, Markov model simulation is a suitable and unbiased way of evaluating the effect of infrastructure on LUCC that can solve the deficiency in the previous literature relying on before and after comparisons and (2) regulatory, economic, and institutional factors should be considered when explaining and assessing the LUCC due to large infrastructure projects, such as airports, in China and in other countries.

Lake Balkhash is the largest water body in Central Asia. More than three-quarters of its inflow comes from the Ili River, which is under increasing strain due to the diversion of water for energy and food production. Commercial fishing in Lake Balkhash began in 1929 and is currently in a state of crisis. The construction of the Balkhash dam and reservoir in the late 1960s reduced Ili River flows into the lake and upset the natural cycle of spring floods, which greatly reduced spawning and feeding areas for carp (Cyprinus carpio). Carp populations were consequently reduced by more than 90% during the filling of the reservoir and have not recovered, even though the lake’s level subsequently rose. Catches of carp and freshwater bream (Abramis brama orientalis) have shown an inverse relationship since the 1960s, and the age structure of freshwater bream is changing. Historically, most captured fish of this species were 4- to 7-years-old, but smaller, 3- to 5-year-old fish have dominated recent catches. The total fish harvest from Lake Balkhash is currently at near historical lows, not just because of environmental factors, but also because of structural changes triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Poaching, government disinterest, lack of enforcement of fishing regulations, and the economic challenges faced by today’s small fishing enterprises all contribute to the problem.

Th e cooperative movement in Poland has a long but diffi cult history, which has caused farmers to have an aver- sion to cooperatives. Nonetheless, in the early 1990s, the fi rst farmers' cooperative marketing organizations, which were called agricultural producer groups, appeared in the market. Th ese groups are bottom-up, voluntary organizations the primary purpose of which is to jointly sell their members' output. In this paper, it is investigated why the new forms of go- vernance, namely cooperative arrangements, were chosen, and we evaluate the implications of these choices on the market success of these groups. Empirical data were collected from 62 producer groups in one Polish province. We found that the groups were typically functioning as associations, unions, and limited liability companies. Th e factors that had an impact on the choices made were the number of members and the specifi c investment per member. Additionally, if the initial investment level was low, not only set-up and operational costs but also tax considerations played a role in the decision. Th erefore, we argue that the new bottom-up cooperatives, which are theoretically suitable when the start-up capital is high or the number of members is large, will gradually be recognized and accepted in the market despite the fact that these cooperatives have a "bad reputation" caused by the socialist legacy. Th e new cooperative development trend confi rms this argument.

International audience; The analysis of time-series data associated with modern-day industrial operations and scientific experiments is now pushing both computational power and resources to their limits. In order to analyze the existing and (more importantly) future very large time series collections, new technologies and the development of more efficient and smarter algorithms are required. The two editions of the Interdisciplinary Time Series Analysis Workshop brought together data analysts from the fields of computer science, astrophysics, neuroscience, engineering, electricity networks, and music. The focus of these workshops was on the requirements of different applications in the various domains, and also on the advances in both academia and industry, in the areas of time-series management and analysis. In this paper, we summarize the experiences presented in and the results obtained from the two workshops, highlighting the relevant state-of-the-art-techniques and open research problems.

The Canada-France Imaging Survey (CFIS) will map the northern high Galactic latitude sky in the $u$-band ("CFIS-u", 10,000$\, {\rm deg^2}$) and in the $r$-band ("CFIS-r", 5,000$\, {\rm deg^2}$), enabling a host of stand-alone science investigations, and providing some of the ground-based data necessary for photometric redshift determination for the Euclid mission. In this first contribution we present the $u$-band component of the survey, describe the observational strategy, and discuss some first highlight results, based on approximately one third of the final area. We show that the Galactic anticenter structure is distributed continuously along the line of sight, out to beyond 20 kpc, and possesses a metallicity distribution that is essentially identical to that of the outer disk sampled by APOGEE. This suggests that it is probably a buckled disk of old metal-rich stars, rather than a stream or a flare. We also discuss the future potential for CFIS-u in discovering star-forming dwarf galaxies around the Local Group, the characterization of the white dwarf and blue straggler population of the Milky Way, as well as its sensitivity to low-surface brightness structures in external galaxies., 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The Ili River is a transboundary river shared by China, upstream, and Kazakhstan, downstream. The Ili is the main water supplier to Lake Balkhash, the largest lake in Central Asia after desiccation of the Aral Sea. Agreements over water allocation have not been concluded between China and Kazakhstan. This paper investigated water consumption of agriculture and riparian ecosystems in the Ili river basin, to provide information for further debate on water allocation, through the Simplified Surface Energy Balance Index (S-SEBI) approach using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images. The overall water consumption in the Ili river basin was 14.3 km3/a in 2000, 17.2 km3/a in 2005, and 15 km3/a in 2014. In 2000, China and Kazakhstan consumed 38% and 62% of the water, respectively. By 2014, the relative share of China’s water consumption increased to 43%. In China, 80% of the water consumption is due to agriculture. High runoff during the past 10 years enabled increasing water consumption in China and sufficient water supply to agriculture and riparian ecosystems in Kazakhstan. When runoff of the Ili River decreases, as expected for most rivers in Central Asia, then irrigation efficiency has to be further increased in China, and irrigation systems in Kazakhstan have to be restored and modernized in order to reduce water consumption and protect Lake Balkhash and the riparian ecosystems.

Wuliangsuhai Lake is one of the largest wetlands in Inner Mongolia, China, half covered by large and highly productive Common Reed (Phragmites australis) stands. However, benefits from current utilization practices do not cover the costs of harvesting. Against this background, Wuliangsuhai Lake is taken as a case study for the assessment of the potential use of reed biomass for energy production. Taking into account, both the present and the potential reed availability, four scenarios are considered, i.e. (1) a decentralized application in household stoves, (2) a centralized reed supplied combined heat and power gasification, (3) a direct combustion plant and (4) a co-firing in existing coal plants. Two field campaigns have been conducted firstly collect information about the current situation of the reed and coal market and secondly to measure reed above-ground biomass. The suitability of reed for thermochemical conversion processes has been evaluated by means of chemical-physical, calorimetric, and thermal analyses of the samples. The potential energy production is valued regarding the profitability on the current Chinese energy market. Possible subsidies for reed as a renewable resource are taken into account. The evaluation has shown that reed has the potential to act as an energy feedstock. In relation to the considered study site, reed energy use can be profitable on the household level, in CHP combustion plants and in co-combustion. Gasification CHP plants are not economic feasible under current conditions. The results show that reed can be a sustainable alternative to highly health and environment damaging coal.

We investigated the capacity of a natural resource governance system to absorb a disturbance while maintaining its major structures and functions (defined as institutional resilience). Exemplified by East German recreational fisheries governance being disturbed by the German reunification, we studied why in five out of six East German states the former centralized governance system persisted while in one state a decentralized governance system was implemented. Based on resilience thinking and new institutional economics, three analytical steps were developed to assess: (1) the structure and function of the governance system, (2) the attributes of the disturbance and the reorganization process, and (3) human motivations. The centralized system persisted because leading managers wanted to preserve customary structures and functions, minimize transaction costs of change, and maintain powerful positions. This was possible because of their influential positions in the reorganization process. Our results suggest that in externally induced, fundamental, and rapid disturbances decision-makers tend to prevent transformations in their governance system. However, key managers in the sixth state faced the same disturbance but their lack of leadership and an emerging rivalry for fishing rights facilitated a transformation to decentralized governance. Thus, attributes of disturbances can be leveraged by actors' motivations in the reorganization process. AuthorCount:4

We present the chemical distribution of the Milky Way, based on 2,900$\, {\rm deg^2}$ of $u$-band photometry taken as part of the Canada-France Imaging Survey. When complete, this survey will cover 10,000$\, {\rm deg^2}$ of the Northern sky. By combing the CFHT $u$-band photometry together with SDSS and Pan-STARRS $g,r,$ and $i$, we demonstrate that we are able to measure reliably the metallicities of individual stars to $\sim 0.2$ dex, and hence additionally obtain good photometric distance estimates. This survey thus permits the measurement of metallicities and distances of the dominant main-sequence population out to approximately 30 kpc, and provides much higher number of stars at large extraplanar distances than have been available from previous surveys. We develop a non-parametric distance-metallicity decomposition algorithm and apply it to the sky at $30��< |b| < 70��$ and to the North Galactic Cap. We find that the metallicity-distance distribution is well-represented by three populations whose metallicity distributions do not vary significantly with vertical height above the disk. As traced in main-sequence stars, the stellar halo component shows a vertical density profile that is close to exponential, with a scale height of around 3 kpc. This may indicate that the inner halo was formed partly from disk stars ejected in an ancient minor merger., 21 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Hard X-ray ($\geq 10$ keV) observations of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) can shed light on some of the most obscured episodes of accretion onto supermassive black holes. The 70-month Swift/BAT all-sky survey, which probes the 14-195 keV energy range, has currently detected 838 AGN. We report here on the broad-band X-ray (0.3-150 keV) characteristics of these AGN, obtained by combining XMM-Newton, Swift/XRT, ASCA, Chandra, and Suzaku observations in the soft X-ray band ($\leq 10$ keV) with 70-month averaged Swift/BAT data. The non-blazar AGN of our sample are almost equally divided into unobscured ($N_{\rm H}< 10^{22}\rm cm^{-2}$) and obscured ($N_{\rm H}\geq 10^{22}\rm cm^{-2}$) AGN, and their Swift/BAT continuum is systematically steeper than the 0.3-10 keV emission, which suggests that the presence of a high-energy cutoff is almost ubiquitous. We discuss the main X-ray spectral parameters obtained, such as the photon index, the reflection parameter, the energy of the cutoff, neutral and ionized absorbers, and the soft excess for both obscured and unobscured AGN., ApJS in press. The full tables will be available on ApJS and the on the BASS website [www.bass-survey.com] once the paper is published

Central Asia is the region with the worldwide highest number of endorheic or closed river basins. Many of those river basins are transboundary ones. Following the desiccation of the Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash has become the largest lake of Central Asia with an area of 17,000 km2. The Ili Delta, in total 8000 km2 large, is the largest natural delta and wetland complex of Central Asia. Seventy percent of the Ili River’s runoff is generated in China. So, the Ili Delta is a showcase for a wetland complex lying downstream in a transboundary river basin. The objective of this paper is to assess the area and distribution of the wetlands and Phragmites australis-dominated reed vegetation as major natural ecosystems in the Ili Delta and their associated ecosystem services. An analysis of Rapid Eye satellite images revealed that there are wetlands and reed vegetation on a total area of 211,778 ha in the Ili Delta. A total of 85,400 ha are submerged reed beds with a total estimated biomass of 869,097 t. P. australis is used as fodder and raw material. Currently, there are about 100,000 livestock grazing in the delta. The submerged reed is planned to be used by a factory for chipboards and a paper factory. The wetlands are important spawning grounds for fish of Lake Balkhash. In 2014, almost 10,000 tourists visited the delta. Most of all tourists come from Almaty, followed by Russia, other regions of Kazakhstan, and Europe (outside Russia).