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Understanding uncertainties and risks can be considered to be the main motivation behind environmental scenario studies to assess potential economic, environmental, social or technical developments and their expected consequences for society and environment. The scenario study presented in this paper was designed to contribute to the question of how natural capital and ecosystem services may evolve in Europe under different socio-environmental conditions. The study was conducted as part of OpenNESS, an on-going EU FP7 research project. We present the iterative participatory scenario process, the storylines and drivers, examples for regional applications, as well as initial feedback from stakeholders. In a participatory iterative approach four scenarios were developed for the period to 2050, involving regional and EU-level users and stakeholders. Subsequently, scenarios were successfully contextualised and applied in regional place-based studies under widely differing socio-environmental conditions. Regional teams used different approaches to adapt storylines and drivers to the regional contexts. In an internal evaluation process among regional stakeholders some participants expressed concerns about the scenario method. Suggestions are made how to overcome these limitations. However, most participants approved the scenario method, especially in terms of provoking discussions, and confirmed the usefulness and applicability of the approach.

Project alliance requires all parties to work together in good faith, share project risks, and make unanimous decisions for the betterment of the project. A key feature of successful implementation of a project alliance is a focus on value creation and value for money. This paper proposes a qualitative system dynamics model to specify and explain dynamics of value creation processes in the context of project alliance. By synthesizing the existing literature and reports on project alliancing, this paper identifies four processes that have a strong influence on the value created in the project alliance context: work progression, rework, redesign and innovation, and rescheduling. In addition, we show how these value creation processes are interrelated and evolve over time. The effectiveness of these processes is influenced by the capability and motivation of the project alliance partners to discover works that do not fully utilize the available resources, and make quick decisions to capture these benefits.

Renewable energy future from energy coupling perspective is analysed by using global energy system model. Energy system with high renewable share is examined by four scenarios differentiated by biomass potential and electric vehicle market share. For comparison, business-as-usual scenario with emission fees but without non-renewable energy exclusion is used. In renewable scenarios non-renewable energy sources are phased out by high tax for year 2050 and letting model find cost-optimal path from 2010 to 2050. Results indicate that high renewable share poses major changes in each energy system sector, especially in power generation, industry and transportation. Substantial biomass utilisation is required, and increased electrification of energy system, especially in industrial sector, is necessary with high penetration of solar and wind power. Solar photovoltaics (PV) reaches globally 39–44% share in primary energy and 75% share in electricity generation since positive development of PV technology directs especially power generation in Asia to solar power. This requires high capacity of power-to-x technologies, which use electricity to produce synthetic fuels used in industrial and transport sectors, and electricity storages. Transition to renewable energy system mitigates CO2 emissions by 90% from 2010 to 2050, even though the issue of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions remain.

In recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS)s, off-flavors and odors, mainly caused by geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB), can accumulate in the flesh of fish from RAS water, reducing the profitability of production. In this study, peracetic acid (PAA) was applied in three application intervals to pump sumps of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) reared in RAS. Using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the potential off-flavor producers were quantified using geoA and MIB synthase genes. Streptomyces was identified as the major GSM producer, and biofilters showed the highest number of potential off-flavor producers. Concentrations of GSM and MIB were analyzed in the circulating water and in the lateral part of the fish fillet. In water, concentrations up to 51 ng L−1 (GSM) and 60.3 ng L−1 (MIB) were found, while in the fillet, these were up to 9.8 ng g−1 (GSM) and 10.2 ng g−1 (MIB), decreasing with increasing number of PAA applications. PAA applications reduced the levels of off-flavor compounds, although this was insufficient to fully prevent the accumulation of GSM and MIB.

With the increase of electric demand and development of high voltage technology, bundled conductors are used more frequently in new power line networks. Ice load on conductors is a major structural design criterion of power lines, and icing on bundled conductors is different from that on a single conductor because of the shadowing effect by the windward conductor. In this paper, rime icing on bundled conductors was simulated and the results were compared with that on a single conductor. The results show that the ice mass of leeward conductor is usually smaller to a degree that depends on the angle and distance between the windward conductor and the leeward conductor. Icing on several different bundle geometries was simulated, which allows the selection of the optimum bundle arrangement in regard to icing. We also made icing experiments simulating bundled conductors in an icing wind tunnel. The experimental results show a good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.

Synthetic structural materials of high mechanical performance are typically either of large weight (for example, steels, and alloys) or involve complex manufacturing processes and thus have high cost or cause adverse environmental impact (for example, polymer-based and biomimetic composites). In this perspective, low-cost, abundant and nature-based materials, such as wood, represent particular interest provided they fulfill the requirements for advanced engineering structures and applications, especially when manufactured totally additive-free. Here, we report on a novel all-wood material concept based on delignification, partial surface dissolution using ionic liquid (IL) followed by densification resulting in a high-performance material. A delignification process using sodium chlorite in acetate buffer solution was applied to controllably delignify the entire bulk wooden material while retaining the highly beneficial structural directionality of wood. In a subsequent step, obtained delignified porous wood template was infiltrated with an IL 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, [EMIM]OAc and heat activated at 95 degrees C to partially dissolve the fiber surface. Afterward, treated wood was washed with water to remove IL and hot-pressed to gain a very compact cellulosic material with fused fibers while retaining unidirectional fiber orientation. The obtained cellulose materials were structurally, chemically, and mechanically characterized revealing superior tensile properties compared to native wood. Furthermore, suggested approach allows almost 8-fold tensile strength improvement in the direction perpendicular to fiber orientation, which is otherwise very challenging to achieve.

Renewable energy is a widely used term that describes certain types of energy production. In politics, business and academia, renewable energy is often framed as the key solution to the global climate challenge. We, however, argue that the concept of renewable energy is problematic and should be abandoned in favor of more unambiguous conceptualization. Building on the theoretical literature on framing and based on document analysis, case examples and statistical data, we discuss how renewable energy is framed and has come to be a central energy policy concept and analyze how its use has affected the way energy policy is debated and conducted. We demonstrate the key problems the concept of renewable energy has in terms of sustainability, incoherence, policy impacts, bait-and-switch tactics and generally misleading nature. After analyzing these issues, we discuss alternative conceptualizations and present our model of categorizing energy production according to carbon content and combustion. The paper does not intend to criticize or promote any specific form of energy production, but instead discusses the role of institutional conceptualization in energy policy.

Even though air travel often provides the fastest transport option, it also has the highest climate impact. Especially on long-haul trips, an aircraft usually represents the only feasible option. Nevertheless, aircraft are more often used on short-haul routes as well. It is the short-haul flights that produce the highest emissions per passenger. These are also the ones that could be replaced the most easily by land-based transportation modes. This study investigates the greenhouse gas emissions reduction potential of replacing short-haul flights with train, coach and car travel within Finland while also taking into account real travel times from door to door. Our results showed that replacing short-haul flights could significantly reduce a country’s climate impact. Furthermore, we found that existing land-based transportation modes can keep up with the travel times of aircrafts on routes up to 400 km. peerReviewed

Polyacrylamides are widely applied for instance in wastewater treatment, papermaking, oil recovery and mining. Since they are bulk chemicals used in large quantities around the world, their fate in nature is of considerable interest. Both single microbial species as well as mixed populations have been investigated for degradation. Biodegradation of polyacrylamide begins with amidase catalysed deamination of polyacrylamide to ammonia and polyacrylate. The liberated ammonia is then used as a nitrogen source for growth by the microbes. The carbon backbone, polyacrylate, is more recalcitrant to biodegradation than the amide moieties. There are nevertheless reports on microbial growth with polyacrylamide and polyacrylate as the carbon sources. Several aerobic bacteria isolated from polyacrylamide and polyacrylate containing environments, as well as from soil, have been shown to catabolize these polymers. Although enzymology of the bacterial degradation is largely unknown, some hypothetical pathways have been suggested. With white-rot fungi degradation has been demonstrated to be initiated by an indirect radical mechanism catalysed by oxidative enzymes. Anaerobic decomposition has been reported for sulfur-reducing bacteria and mixed bacterial populations.

Allocating environmental impacts within life cycle assessment (LCA) is a recognised methodological problem. Different allocation methods have been developed to fulfil the various goals of LCA studies. At present, there is neither a consensus regarding the method to be used nor a one-fits-all method for dealing with recycling in LCA. The paper discusses some of the main allocation procedures practised in the pulp and paper industry, namely those covered by ISO/TS 14067:2018, GHG Protocol/PAS 2050, and the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). All in all, the allocation method described in the ISO/TS 14067:2018 standard was considered the most appropriate to account for open-loop recycling of paper products. However, the method neither considers the number of subsequent uses of recycled fibres, nor the recycled fibre age. Yet, both of them are considered especially important in the open-loop recycling of paper products. In order to account for these aspects, the present study proposes an advanced, step-wise approach to handle allocation in LCAs accounting for the open-loop recycling of paper products. The advanced approach is based on the fibre mass flow model used to calculate the mean fibre age and the mean number of uses of paper products within the European context. The approach was validated with the data from the pulp and paper industry, particularly examining the newsprint paper grade with different contents of recycled fibre and fibre age. The paper, however, introduces all the parameters required to perform allocation based on the proposed method for other paper grades. The categpory of global warming potential was considered in the study as an illustrative example. yet the method could be applied to other impact assessment categories. The results calculated using the proposed allocation approach were compared to those obtained with the allocation methods described in the GHG Protocol/PAS 2050 and the PEF. The proposed allocation method can be used to guide further development of available standards and the product category rules, which will contribute to increased harmonisation and consistency of LCA studies in the pulp and paper sector, as well as to the enhanced practical implementation of LCA in industry.

Recent years have witnessed the practical value of open-access Earth observation data catalogues and software in land and forest mapping. Combined with cloud-based computing resources, and data collection through the crowd, these solutions have substantially improved possibilities for monitoring changes in land resources, especially in areas with difficult accessibility and data scarcity. In this study, we developed and tested a participatory mapping methodology utilizing the open data catalogues and cloud computing capacity to map the previously unknown extent and species composition of forest plantations in the Southern Highlands area of Tanzania, a region experiencing a rapid growth of smallholder-owned woodlots. A large set of reference data, focusing on forest plantation coverage, species and age information distribution, was collected in a two-week participatory GIS campaign where 22 Tanzanian experts interpreted very high-resolution satellite images in Google Earth with the Open Foris Collect Earth tool developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The collected samples were used as training data to classify a multi-sensor image stack of Landsat 8 (2013–2015), Sentinel-2 (2015–2016), Sentinel-1 (2015), and SRTM derived elevation and slope data layers into a 30 m resolution forest plantation map in Google Earth Engine. The results show that the forest plantation area was estimated with high overall accuracy (85%). The interpretation accuracy of local experts was high considering general definition of forest plantation declining with increased details in interpretation attributes. The results showcase the unique value of local expert participation, enabling the collection of thousands of reference samples over a large geographical area in a short period of time simultaneously building the capacity of the experts. However, sufficient training prior to the data collection is crucial for the interpretation success especially when detailed interpretation is conducted in complex landscapes. Since the methodology is built on open-access data and software, it presents a highly feasible solution for repetitive land resource mapping applicable at different spatial scales globally.

Firms will invest in green energy technologies only if these investments have an economic pay-off. Based on unique firm-level data from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, we find that the marginal effect of investments in green energy technologies on productivity is positive only for the 19% of firms with the highest energy costs. These results have major implications for companies and policy makers regarding the design of green energy policies and incentives.

Forest soils represent a large carbon pool and already small changes in this pool may have an important effect on the global carbon cycle. To predict the future development of the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool, well-validated models are needed. We applied the litter and soil carbon model Yasso15 to 1838 plots of the German national forest soil inventory (NFSI) for the period between 1985 and 2014 to enables a direct comparison to the NFSI measurements. In addition, to provide data for the German Greenhouse Gas Inventory, we simulated the development of SOC with Yasso15 applying a climate projection based on the RCP8.5 scenario. The initial model-calculated SOC stocks were adjusted to the measured ones in the NFSI. On average, there were no significant differences between the simulated SOC changes (0.25 ± 0.10 Mg C ha−1 a−1) and the NFSI data (0.39 ± 0.11 Mg C ha−1 a−1). Comparing regional soil-unit-specific aggregates of the SOC changes, the correlation between both methods was significant (r2 = 0.49) although the NFSI values had a wider range and more negative values. In the majority of forest types, representing 75% of plots, both methods produced similar estimates of the SOC balance. Opposite trends were found in mountainous coniferous forests on acidic soils. These soils had lost carbon according to the NFSI (−0.89 ± 0.30 Mg C ha−1 a−1) whereas they had gained it according to Yasso15 (0.21 ± 0.10 Mg C ha−1 a−1). In oligotrophic pine forests, the NFSI indicated high SOC gains (1.36 ± 0.17 Mg C ha−1 a−1) and Yasso15 much smaller (0.29 ± 0.10 Mg C ha−1 a−1). According to our results, German forest soils are a large carbon sink. The application of the Yasso15 model supports the results of the NFSI. The sink strength differs between forest types possibly because of differences in organic matter stabilisation.

Assessments of river restoration outcomes are mostly based on taxonomic identities of species, which may not be optimal because a direct relationship to river functions remains obscure and results are hardly comparable across biogeographic borders. The use of ecological species trait information instead of taxonomic units may help to overcome these challenges. Abundance data for fish communities were gathered from 134 river restoration projects conducted in Switzerland, Germany and Finland, monitored for up to 15 years. These data were related to a dataset of 22 categories of ecological traits describing fish life-history strategies to assess the outcome of the restoration projects. Restoration increased trait functional diversity and evenness in projects that were situated in the potamal zone of rivers. Restoration effect increased with the length of the restored river reaches. In areas with low levels of anthropogenic land use, the peak of the restoration effect was reached already within one to five years after the restoration and effect receded thereafter, while communities responded later in areas with higher levels of anthropogenic land use. In the lower potamal zone, a shift towards opportunistic life-history strategists was observed. In the upper rhithral zone, in contrast, species with an opportunistic life-history strategy increased only in the first five years of restoration, followed by a shift towards equilibrium strategists at restorations older than 5 years. This pattern was more pronounced in rivers with higher level of anthropogenic land use and longer restored river reaches. Restoration reduced the variability in community trait composition between river reaches suggesting that community trait composition within these zones converges when rivers are restored. This study showed how ecological traits are suitable to analyse restoration outcomes and how such an approach can be used for the evaluation and comparison of environmental management actions across geographical regions. peerReviewed

Mitigation of climate change urges to reduce our meat consumption. This necessitates new eating practices and ways of thinking about food. In this paper we discuss how experimentative research can participate in making such changes. We introduce notions of pragmatic tinkering, speculative thinking and ethical discussion and evaluate their contribution to understanding of change in everyday practices. We investigate their prospects in relation to our experiments with sustainable school dining. In these experiments we introduced a free vegetarian choice to school meals and engaged pupils in their development. The results highlight the dynamic nature of change in everyday practices. The notion of tinkering highlights the small adjustments needed to reconcile the different goals in school dining. Our results stress that the practical adjustments easily uphold the conventional practices. Speculative thinking is needed in challenging them. In our experiments, the engagement of pupils opened places for hesitation, and eventually also to new ways of thinking about school food. The pupils also challenged our experiments. They reminded how eating is entangled to our shared cultural meanings on food, but also to our identity and understandings of gender. In future, experimentative research should build settings, which allow them becoming more multiple as well.

Elemental carbon (EC) concentrations in the exhaust of a medium-speed marine engine was evaluated using thermal-optical analysis (TOA). Particulate matter (PM) samples were collected at 75% and 25% engine loads using residual and distillate fuels with sulphur contents of 2.5%, 0.5% and 0.1%, and a biofuel (30% of bio-component). The EC analysis of PM samples from a marine engine proved to be challenging. For example, transformations of structure of the sampled particles in the inert and the oxygen mode were observed for marine engine exhaust samples. The relationship between constituents present in the samples from the marine engine using different fuels, and phenomena observed in the thermograms are discussed. Temperature protocol selection and sample pre-treatment (extractions and drying) affected the reported EC mass. Modifications in the methodology were suggested to increase the accuracy of the analysis. Repeatability and reproducibility of the EC analysis was studied in the round-robin of three laboratories.

The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU member states to produce and implement river basin management plans, which are to be designed and updated via participatory processes that inform, consult with, and actively involve all interested stakeholders. The assumption of the European Commission is that stakeholder participation, and institutional adaptation and procedural innovation to facilitate it, are essential to the effectiveness of river basin planning and, ultimately, the environmental impact of the Directive. We analyzed official documents and the WFD literature to compare implementation of the Directive in EU member states in the initial WFD planning phase (2000-2009). Examining the development of participatory approaches to river basin management planning, we consider the extent of transformation in EU water governance over the period. Employing a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, we map the implementation "trajectories" of 13 member states, and then provide a detailed examination of shifts in river basin planning and participation in four member states (Germany, Sweden, Poland and France) to illustrate the diversity of institutional approaches observed. We identify a general tendency towards increased, yet circumscribed, stakeholder participation in river basin management in the member states examined, alongside clear continuities in terms of their respective pre-WFD institutional and procedural arrangements. Overall, the WFD has driven a highly uneven shift to river basin-level planning among the member states, and instigated a range of efforts to institutionalize stakeholder involvement-often through the establishment of advisory groups to bring organized stakeholders into the planning process.

Increasing metal consumption is driving the introduction of new techniques such as biomining to exploit low grade ores. The biomining impacts notably aquatic ecosystems, yet, the applicability of ecotoxicological tests to study the complex mixture effects of mining waters is insufficiently understood. The aim of the present work was to test if transcriptomic biomarkers are suitable and sensitive for the ecotoxicity assessment of biomining affected waters. The study site had been affected by a multimetal biomine, and the studied water samples formed a concentration gradient of contamination downstream from the biomining site. Cadmium and nickel were used as positive controls in the toxicity tests. Selected transcriptomic biomarkers, previously shown to be differentially regulated by metals, were used to evaluate the ecotoxicity of the water samples. Parallel samples were used to compare the transcriptomic biomarkers with the conventional acute D. magna toxicity test. In the acute test, one sample was acutely toxic to D. magna, when pH was adjusted according to the standard, whereas, in the native pH, three samples caused total immobility. Monooxygenase was up-regulated by the highest concentration of Cd in control samples and three of the water samples. Vtg-SOD was up-regulated by one of the water samples, and catalase by the second highest concentration of Cd. The results show that transcriptomic biomarkers in D. magna can be used as sensitive bioindicators for metal mixture toxicity assessment in complex environmental water samples.

The ecosystem services literature rests on the premise that an increased understanding of ecosystems, ecosystem services and, in particular, the value of ecosystem services will feed to decision-making. Yet, there is little evidence for the assumed demand and applicability of valuation knowledge in real-life policy and decision-making processes, and the use of such knowledge has received little in-depth analytical attention. Motivated by these observations, we have conducted an empirical analysis of ecosystem service value knowledge use. Our analysis of policy actors' experiences and expectations regarding value knowledge in Finland's peatland policy draws on ten interviews with eleven policy actors. Focusing on the usefulness and uses of valuation knowledge, we analyze the ways in which values are framed and value knowledge is expected to influence the rights to use ecosystem services. Our analysis shows that policy actors expect a better understanding of ecosystem service values to support the consideration of benefits. Yet, what they view as crucial knowledge needs aligns with their sectoral or organizational position as well as the interests they represent. Hence, valuation does not provide a solution to distributional debates or conflicts over rights, but it can have an important function as the provider of background knowledge.

Natural habitats and species richness have decreased due to the urbanization. The main aim of this study was to determine whether heavily urbanized town centers can also harbor threatened bird species. Twenty-six threatened species nested in the most urbanized areas of European towns. Species-rich areas had a high number of threatened species, indicating that overall species richness could be used as a surrogate for the large number of threatened bird species. Threatened species were more likely to be found in town centers as their distribution range increased. Neither landscape nor plot-level variables explained the species richness of threatened species, which was likely due to the homogeneous habitat structure of urban core zone areas in Europe. The occurrence of Falco tinnunculus increased with increases in human density within a built-up area. The occurrence of Hirundo rustica and Muscicapa striata decreased with increases in the proportion of built-up areas in the surrounding landscape. The occurrence of Delichon urbica and Muscicapa striata decreased with increases in habitat diversity and the proportion of buildings in the study plot. The most common threatened bird species nested in cavities or buildings. The availability of suitable nesting sites or protection from predators can support the occurrence of cavity nesters in towns. We suggest that modern architecture should account for the breeding habitat needs of cavity-nesting species in building design and that urban green management must consider the occurrence of old trees with cavities or alternatively use nest boxes to support the occurrence of threatened, cavity-nesting bird species.

openaire: EC/H2020/788489/EU//BioELCell Wet-laying is a mature technology that is applied in large scale for the manufacture of nonwovens, including paper products. However, it usually uses large volumes of water and is energy-intensive. Here we used foam-laying to substantially diminish the volume of water consumed in the formation of fiber networks (5-fold reduction) and to reduce the water content of the nonwovens produced before drying, achieving a reduced energy demand. The prospects of foam-laying were evaluated by comparing foam-laid and wet-laid webs of two types of wood fibers: stiff (lignin-containing) or flexible (lignin-free). Also, the effect of foaming agent type (anionic, cationic, nonionic, and amphoteric) was elucidated. Reference webs were produced by conventional wet-laying, with or without surfactants. Foam-laying was effective in producing a more uniform areal mass distribution (better formation) after wet-pressing. This effect was more evident for the webs synthesized with the flexible fibers. Unlike the layered network structures that were obtained by wet-laying, foam-laid webs exhibited a more felted network, with fibers positioned in the out-of-plane direction. As a result, higher air permeability, web porosity, and light scattering coefficients were measured for the foam-laid webs. The enhanced porosity (lower density) was related to the effect of bubbles during foam-laying and the reduction in surface tension of the foamed-fiber dispersion. The resistance to delamination of low-density webs obtained by foam-laying in the out-of-plane direction was preserved. However, the reduction in tensile strength and modulus of foam-laid webs were determined, owing to the reduced density of the formed structures. Notably, the type of foaming agent used played a minor role as far as the resultant properties of the webs, making the process flexible in terms of the selection of environmentally friendly alternatives. Overall, we compared the physico-mechanical properties of fiber networks formed by web- and foam-laying, depending on fiber type and foaming agent, yielding a property space that is useful in the design of lightweight structures (nonwovens, including paper). The prospects of water and energy savings by foam-laying are the major benefits in the sustainable use of fibers for the assembly of porous materials, such as lightweight nonwoven and paper products.

Power-to-gas and other chemicals-based storages are often suggested for energy systems with high shares of variable renewable energy. Here we study the North European power and district heat system with alternative long-term storage, the power-to-ammonia (P2A) technology. Assuming fully renewable power and heat sectors and large-scale electrification of road transport, we perform simultaneous optimization of capacity investments and dispatch scheduling of wind, solar, hydro and thermal power, energy storages as well as transmission, focusing on year 2050. We find that P2A has three major roles: it provides renewable feedstock to fertilizer industry and it contributes significantly to system balancing over both time (energy storage) and space (energy transfer). The marginal cost of power-based ammonia production in the studied scenarios varied between 431 and 528 €/t, which is in the range of recent ammonia prices. Costs of P2A plants were dominated by electrolysis. In the power and heat sector, with our cost assumptions, P2A becomes competitive compared to fossil natural gas only if gas price or CO2 emission price rises above 70 €/MWh or 200 €/tCO2.

1. While 13 C-depleted carbon derived from biogenic methane can substantially contribute to the benthic secondary production in deep stratified lakes, its role in shallow lakes is less clear. We investigated the dynamics of δ13 C and δ15 N in the larvae of Chironomus plumosus throughout an annual cycle in two ecologically distinct basins (open-water plankton-dominated and sheltered macrophyte- covered) of a large (270 km2 ), shallow, polymictic and eutrophic lake (Võrtsjärv, Estonia, North Europe). The larval stable isotopic compositions were linked to the presence of methane-oxidising bacteria (MOB) in larval guts and sediments. 2. Molecular detection of MOB revealed their presence in various sediment types, but stable isotope (SI) analysis revealed clear differences in the feeding of chironomid larvae between the plankton- and macrophyte-dominated habitats. 3. In the plankton-dominated habitat, the mean δ13 C values of larvae remained relatively constant (−38.3‰ to −35.5‰) and corresponded closely to the sediment δ13 C values. Mean δ13 C values of chironomid larvae were generally lower in macrophyte-dominated habitats (−43.4‰ to −33.0‰), and both seasonal and individual variation in larval δ13 C values were more pronounced. MOB presence in larval guts proved a dietary contribution from biogenic methane in macrophyte-dominated habitats. Both the SI and molecular results indicated that MOB could help support larvae even during the cold temperature-limited and ice- covered periods. 4. Our study indicates that methane-derived carbon makes a low but steady contri- bution to the larval chironomids throughout an annual cycle in large shallow Võrtsjärv. However, this contribution can be substantially higher in the lake habitats with abundant macrophytes. The study provides further evidence that a carbon flow pathway from biogenic methane can contribute to the benthic food web under variable habitat conditions in a shallow polymictic lake. Funding information: Estonian Research Council, Grant/Award Number: IUT 21-02, PUT 134, PUT 1389 Funding information: Estonian Research Council, Grant/Award Number: IUT 21-02, PUT 134, PUT 1389

The reduction of environmental impacts of electricity use and the transition to renewable power generation crucially depend on demand response (DR). This article takes the political commitment to DR as a starting point and empirically examines Finnish stakeholders’ views on barriers to the utilization of DR and the ways in which these barriers could be overcome. The analysis is based on surveys of Finnish electricity retailers and distribution system operators (DSOs), a survey of a wider range of energy specialists, and a follow-up workshop of the latter survey. According to the participants, the main barriers are related to customer engagement and DR automation. Thus, the proposed solutions focused largely on end-user incentives and obligations as well as technical issues. Especially the latter topic would benefit from regulative measures such as standardization of appliance interfaces, whereas changes in electricity tariff structures may take place either through normative changes by the retailers and DSOs or through regulation.

Human use of marine and coastal areas is increasing worldwide, resulting in conflicts between different interests for marine space, overexploitation of marine resources, and environmental degradation. In this study we developed a methodology that combines assessments of marine environmental vulnerability and cumulative human pressures to support the processes of ecosystem-based adaptive maritime spatial planning. The methodology is built on the spatially explicit marine environmental vulnerability profile (EVP) that is an aggregated product of the distribution of essential nature values (habitat-forming benthic macroalgal and invertebrate species, benthic species richness, birds and seals as top marine predators) and their sensitivities to disturbances. The marine environmental cumulative risk profile (ERP) combines the EVP and the HELCOM Baltic Sea Pressure Index (BSPI), the latter representing the spatial distribution of intensities of cumulative anthropogenic pressures. The ERP identifies areas where environmental risks are the highest due to both long recoveries of the biota and high intensities of human pressures. This methodology can be used in any other sea areas by modifying the list of nature values, their sensitivity to disturbances, and the intensities of human pressure.

Many organisms adjust their reproductive phenology in response to climate change, but phenological sensitivity to temperature may vary between species. For example, resident and migratory birds have vastly different annual cycles, which can cause differential temperature sensitivity at the breeding grounds, and may affect competitive dynamics. Currently, however, adjustment to climate change in resident and migratory birds have been studied separately or at relatively small geographical scales with varying time series durations and methodologies. Here, we studied differential effects of temperature on resident and migratory birds using the mean egg laying initiation dates from 10 European nest box schemes between 1991 and 2015 that had data on at least one resident tit species and at least one migratory flycatcher species. We found that both tits and flycatchers advanced laying in response to spring warming, but resident tit populations advanced more strongly in relation to temperature increases than migratory flycatchers. These different temperature responses have already led to a divergence in laying dates between tits and flycatchers of on average 0.94 days per decade over the current study period. Interestingly, this divergence was stronger at lower latitudes where the interval between tit and flycatcher phenology is smaller and winter conditions can be considered more favorable for resident birds. This could indicate that phenological adjustment to climate change by flycatchers is increasingly hampered by competition with resident species. Indeed, we found that tit laying date had an additional effect on flycatcher laying date after controlling for temperature, and this effect was strongest in areas with the shortest interval between both species groups. Combined, our results suggest that the differential effect of climate change on species groups with overlapping breeding ecology affects the phenological interval between them, potentially affecting interspecific interactions., T.E. acknowledges the funding by the Academy of Finland (project 265859). MM and RM were financially supported by the Estonian Research Council (institutional research funding IUT number 34‐8). I.K. received financial support from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Science (grant PUT1223). The data collection in Russia was financially supported by RSF grant number 14‐50‐00029. JP was supported by projects CGL2014‐55969‐P and CGL2015‐70639‐P of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Highlights • Long-term newspaper coverage of biogas was studied through four key storylines. • The volume of coverage is higher in professional than in mainstream newspaper. • The newspaper debate may produce overly optimistic impressions of the current significance of biogas. • The newspaper debate of biogas has not seriously challenged centralised energy system. • Framings focusing on the local level may underestimate the future transformative potential of biogas. Decentralised production and consumption of biogas is often argued to provide multiple opportunities for accelerating the transition towards sustainable development. This research focuses on the long-term coverage of biogas in two widely read Finnish newspapers. The results show a relatively voluminous professional but weaker and scattered mainstream media coverage of biogas. Four key storylines of public debate relevant for sustainability transition are investigated. First, the environmental impacts of biogas have been described under strikingly positive framings highlighting a potential for various environmental benefits. In particular, growing emphasis has been placed on natural resource management following the idea of circular economy. Second, the economic storyline has casted doubts on profitability of biogas production by emphasising the need for public subsidies. Newspaper coverage has focused on the micro level economic performance of energy producers and left the macro level economic implications of biogas with little attention. Third, the energy policy storyline has framed biogas predominantly as a local-level solution without extensively discussing a national level target setting for biogas. Fourth, the technology storyline has been relatively thin and it has emphasised the novelty of biogas production without highlighting any major technological problems or risks. Overall, the newspaper coverage of biogas has not seriously challenged the dominant energy discourse taking the centralised energy production as a self-evident overall context of national energy system. The results suggest that there exists a considerable variation between different media and between different national contexts. These variations should be taken into account when designing and implementing energy policies.

Peatland-based treatment wetlands that purify incoming water by means of natural physical, chemical and biological processes belonging to the peatland ecosystem are widely used at Finnish peat extraction sites. They can comprise either undrained or drained overland flow areas (OFAs or DOFAs), with the OFAs representing the best available technology (BAT) for peat extraction. We analyse here the long-term treatment performance of these OFAs and DOFAs and factors affecting this performance. Data on 14 OFAs and DOFAs in different parts of Finland were taken from the extensive long-term environmental pollution control databases. Nearly half of these wetlands had been monitored for at least 4 years and seven for 8–23 years. The results indicated that peatland-based treatment wetlands purify drainage water as efficiently as other natural treatment wetlands on soils in general, the common challenge being phosphorus retention. Iron was also efficiently retained. The average reductions were highest in OFAs with good hydraulic function, and these also showed long-term water protection performance. An important factor affecting purification efficiency was the hydraulic loading rate. Important system design elements in this regard were the size of the wetland in relation to its catchment area, its gradient, the length of the water flow route within the wetland, and the efficient flow area of the wetland. The results regarding the latter two design elements strongly indicate that not all the areas potentially suitable in DOFAs for water purification are yet being used efficiently.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has evolved over many years and since its early beginnings there has been a growing urgency to develop transboundary planning. This is because the borders of marine ecosystems and the dynamics of some maritime activities, such as navigation, are not restricted to or bound by specific political and administrative borders. Cooperation across borders has been promoted by higher political levels for decades, and the implementation of cross-border consultation procedures is regulated by law. However, literature suggests that transboundary interaction is not an obvious step in the process of MSP and that today's practices have various weaknesses. This paper examines current practices and procedures of transboundary MSP interactions in the Baltic Sea Region to date. It brings together results from MSP process observations and interviews with marine planners in two recent research projects (Baltic SCOPE and BONUS BALTSPACE). Our results confirm the need for transboundary interaction and integration. The research also shows that there are differences in how MSP agencies interact with domestic and foreign stakeholders. Furthermore, formal transboundary consultations often seem to be limited to topics of the environment and health, and to the stakeholders responsible in these realms. The results include a variety of ways to overcome these challenges.

Earth Observation (EO) offers spatially and temporally unique data for generating information required under various environmental regulations for assessing the status of surface waters. These requirements, which are laid down in, for example, European Union directives and the Clean Water Act in the United States, share two core elements with respect to status assessments: 1) the status assessment is done using discrete classes, typically for water bodies, sub-areas or critical sites representative for certain area of interest, and 2) phytoplankton chlorophyll a (chl-a) is one of the main variables considered. We analysed the benefits of using chl-a concentrations derived from EO data for the status assessments specified in the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Our study focused especially on EO observations' ability to capture extreme and transient events (such as instances of cyanobacteria blooms) more frequently than the monitoring-station data conventionally employs. The accuracy of EO-based chl-a assessment was studied for, in all, 129 Finnish water bodies in the area of the Baltic Sea, in Northern Europe. Natural conditions in this coastal area – particularly its multitude of small bays, numerous estuaries, and mosaic of islands – impose exceptionally strict requirements for an EO instrument's spatial resolution. The analysis revealed that an instrument with a 300 m resolution, such as the MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) or Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI), can be used to estimate the water quality in 62% of these water bodies. Processing of MERIS data into chl-a concentrations by means of a FUB inversion model demonstrated good accuracy relative to monitoring stations' measurements for the open-water season in 2003–2011. This extensive dataset showed a 23% difference in modal values between EO- and station-sampling-based chl-a concentrations. The bias in EO chl-a estimates was found to increase with low Secchi disk depth, elevated turbidity, and the presence of intensive phytoplankton blooms. The monitoring-station and EO data showed similar distributions of chl-a observations for a given day and location, a finding that supports the comprehensive use of EO-derived chl-a concentrations in assessment. For determination of a water body's status, the EO data required but also allowed for statistical analysis that differs from what has typically been utilised with sparse measurements from monitoring-station data. The geometric mean or the mode of the EO observations was found to represent the main bulk of the chl-a concentrations well statistically. In contrast, the arithmetic mean of EO observations yields chl-a concentrations that are roughly 1.1–1.6 μg/l higher and hence can lead to over-estimation in the associated status assessment. This paper also presents a new approach applicable for evaluating the validity of EO-based algorithms for any coastal water area requiring assessment. With this quality-grade (QG) method, the EO chl-a estimation accuracy is rated in terms of three grades, with water bodies taken as the evaluation units. For this, the method utilises statistical differences between EO and station-sampling chl-a concentrations and applies background information on optical properties obtained from measurements at routine-monitoring stations. The QG method showed the EO-based chl-a accuracy to suffice for assessing the status of 65% of the coastal water bodies examined. At concentrations representing the threshold for the target of “good status” under the WFD, the EO approach produced 0.6 μg/l higher chl-a values than the stations' sampling did. The MERIS results point to clear benefits of using OLCI-based status assessment throughout the Sentinel-3 era.

Throughout Europe and beyond, a particular focus of regeneration and infill policies is set on mature inner city and suburban neighborhoods, where properties are often owned by commonholds. The component of collective decision-making makes infill development on commonhold areas especially complex. This paper conceptualizes the role and effects of collective decision making in the context of infill development on sites owned by commonholds and explores how the advantages and disadvantages of infill development are distributed among owners. The paper has a policy contribution as it assesses the distributive justice of infill development decision from the perspective of commonhold ownership structure and its implications. The findings of this paper contribute to the governance of commonholds, especially with respect to equality of decision-making and rights of majority and minority owners. These issues are essential regarding to the growing importance of the apartment owners in the governance of built environment and related challenges, such as regeneration of already developed urban areas.

Small oxygen-stratified humic lakes of the boreal zone are important sources of methane to the atmosphere. Although stable isotope profiling has indicated that a substantial part of methane is already oxidized in the anaerobic water layers in these lakes, the contributions of aerobic and anaerobic methanotrophs in the process are unknown. We used next-generation sequencing of mcrA and 16S rRNA genes to characterize the microbial communities in the water columns of 2 boreal lakes in Finland, Lake Alinen-Mustajärvi and Lake Mekkojärvi, and complemented this with a shotgun metagenomic analysis from Alinen-Mustajärvi and an analysis of pmoA genes and 16S rRNA, mcrA, and pmoA transcripts from Mekkojärvi. Furthermore, we tested the effect of various electron acceptors and light on methane oxidation (13C-CH4 labeling) in incubations of water samples collected from the lakes. Aerobic gammaproteobacterial methanotrophs (order Methylococcales) exclusively dominated the methanotrophic community both above and below the oxycline in the lakes. A novel lineage within Methylococcales, Candidatus Methyloumidiphilus alinensis, defined here for the first time, dominated in Alinen-Mustajärvi, while methanotrophs belonging to Methylobacter were more abundant in Mekkojärvi. Light enhanced methane oxidation in the anoxic water layer, while alternative electron acceptors (SO42-, Fe3+, Mn4+, and anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate), except for NO3-, suppressed the process. Our results suggest that oxygenic photosynthesis potentially fuels methanotrophy below the aerobic water layers in methane-rich boreal lakes. Furthermore, incubation results, together with the detection of denitrification genes from metagenome-assembled genomes of gammaproteobacterial methanotrophs, imply that boreal lake methanotrophs may couple methane oxidation with NOx- reduction in hypoxic conditions. publishedVersion

People’s knowledge about nature, their interest in nature, their nature experiences, and their values and emotions regarding nature are factors that promote people’s positive views on envir...

Toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to benthic organisms is a major concern. The use of AgNPs in industry and consumer products leads to increasing release of AgNPs into the aquatic environment-sediments being the major sink. Effects of sediment pH on the toxicity of AgNPs to benthic oligochaeta Lumbriculus variegatus were studied in a 23-d toxicity test. Artificially prepared sediments (pH 5 and 7) were spiked with varying concentrations of uncoated AgNP, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated AgNP, and silver nitrate (AgNO3 ) as dissolved Ag reference. Number of individuals and biomass change were used as endpoints for the toxicity. The toxic effects were related to the bioaccessible concentration of dissolved Ag in the sediments, assessed with a 2-step extraction procedure. The toxicity of 2 AgNPs was similar and greatly enhanced in the acidic sediment. Because the toxic effects were well related to the bioaccessible concentration of dissolved Ag in the sediments, the toxicity of sediment-associated AgNPs to L. variegatus is suggested to be a function of dissolved Ag rather than a result from NP-specific modes of toxicity. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:1889-1897. © 2018 SETAC.

Finland is one of the northernmost countries utilizing ground source heat pumps (GSHPs). In this north European country, GSHPs’ operating conditions are characterized by the cold climate, and hard, crystalline bedrock. Environmental risks and technical problems with ground heat exchangers (GHEs) have been much discussed, but the frequency of complications has not been previously studied in Finland. This article examines the types and construction practices of GHEs, and the range of problems in GHEs experienced by the practitioners. The data was collected through a questionnaire study among Finnish GSHP practitioners, and thematic interviews of Finnish heat pump experts. Borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) proved to be the most popular GHE type in Finland with a share of 85%. The questionnaire responses indicate that the most common complications in BHEs are connected to collapsed boreholes, and artesian or otherwise abundant water yields. Also, issues relating to heat transfer fluids, drilling through multiple aquifers, and design errors are discussed.

Coastal lagoons are continuously exposed to strong environmental gradients that determine the distribution and trophic interactions of microbial communities. Therefore, in this study we assessed whether and how environmental changes influence the bacterial community and its vulnerability to viral infection and lysis along the major environmental gradient in the Curonian Lagoon. We found significant differences in bacterial community profiles, their richness and evenness between the riverine, freshwater southern part and the Baltic Sea water intrusion-influenced northern part of the lagoon, suggesting strong environmental control of the structure of bacterial communities. Viruses were found to be play an important role in bacterial mortality in the Curonian Lagoon, being responsible for the removal of 20–50% of the bacterial standing stock. We observed differences in virioplankton decay rates and virus burst sizes between the northern and southern parts of the lagoon. However, no relationships were found between viral activity and bacterial communities within the lagoon ecosystem. The frequency of infected cells and virus-mediated bacterial mortality (VMBM) remained constant among the sampling sites irrespective of differences in bacteria community assemblages and environmental conditions. The results indicate that factors determining changes in bacterial diversity are different from the factors limiting their vulnerability to viral infection and lysis. This study also suggests that under changing environmental conditions, virus-bacteria interactions are more stable than the interacting viral and bacterial communities themselves. These findings are important for understanding the functioning of the coastal ecosystems under the rapidly changing local (spatial and temporal) and global (e.g. eutrophication, climate change) conditions.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are acting as routes of microplastics (MPs) to the environment, hence the urgent need to examine MPs in wastewaters and different types of sludge through sampling campaigns covering extended periods of time. In this study, the efficiency of a municipal WWTP to remove MPs from wastewater was studied by collecting wastewater and sludge samples once in every two weeks during a 3-month sampling campaign. The WWTP was operated based on the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process and a pilot-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR). The microplastic particles and fibers from both water and sludge samples were identified by using an optical microscope, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) microscope and Raman microscope. Overall, the retention capacity of microplastics in the studied WWTP was found to be 98.3%. Most of the MP fraction was removed before the activated sludge process. The efficiency of an advanced membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology was also examined. The main related finding is that MBR permeate contained 0.4 MP/L in comparison with the final effluent of the CAS process (1.0 MP/L). According to this study, both microplastic fibers and particles are discharged from the WWTP to the aquatic environment.

One of the primary goals of biological assessment of streams is to identify which of a suite of chemical stressors is limiting their ecological potential. Elevated metal concentrations in streams are often associated with low pH, yet the effects of these two potentially limiting factors of freshwater biodiversity are rarely considered to interact beyond the effects of pH on metal speciation. Using a dataset from two continents, a biogeochemical model of the toxicity of metal mixtures (Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) and quantile regression, we addressed the relative importance of both pH and metals as limiting factors for macroinvertebrate communities. Current environmental quality standards for metals proved to be protective of stream macroinvertebrate communities and were used as a starting point to assess metal mixture toxicity. A model of metal mixture toxicity accounting for metal interactions was a better predictor of macroinvertebrate responses than a model considering individual metal toxicity. We showed that the direct limiting effect of pH on richness was of the same magnitude as that of chronic metal toxicity, independent of its influence on the availability and toxicity of metals. By accounting for the direct effect of pH on macroinvertebrate communities, we were able to determine that acidic streams supported less diverse communities than neutral streams even when metals were below no-effect thresholds. Through a multivariate quantile model, we untangled the limiting effect of both pH and metals and predicted the maximum diversity that could be expected at other sites as a function of these variables. This model can be used to identify which of the two stressors is more limiting to the ecological potential of running waters.

The Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework has become a popular tool for the analysis of innovation dynamics, particularly on a national scale. There have been calls to utilise the framework at sub-national levels too, and to pay attention to location-specific features and interactions. This article contributes to the discussion by studying how the sub-national intermediary network of the Finnish Carbon-Neutral Municipalities (HINKU) complements and challenges the national cleantech innovation system in Finland. To achieve this, we propose an analytical framework that combines the TIS framework with intermediary functions. Our study shows that the TIS framework is a practical tool for analysing potential discontinuities and policy development possibilities regarding innovation systems across spatial scales. Empirically, the study reveals the ways in which certain technological innovation system functions, such as market formation and experimentation, are particularly important for local-scale cleantech deployment and should be analysed further.

“Bull by the Horns” -project initiated landscape management and promoted biodiversity associated with diminishing High Nature Value farmland habitats in Finland. A specific focus was on grazed semi-natural grasslands and wood-pastures which are collectively referred to as traditional rural biotopes (TRBs). Collaboration among project workers, non-farming landowners, and cattle owners reintroduced grazing to abandoned pastures, and management was financed through agri-environmental payments. Using adaptive co-management principles, the project enabled collective definition of integrated site-specific management objectives. A better understanding of contemporary challenges and opportunities to advance TRB management cumulated through incorporation of local actors into collaborative management planning. Authority-driven measures failed to engage locals, but supporting existing networks among landowners and cattle farmers was successful. The project gave insight into good practices on collaborative landscape management, and it proved to be efficient in directing management actions to biologically valuable sites. Due to a short operative period and lack of follow-up procedures, the actual environmental outcomes of established management could not be verified. Concernedly, environmental administration is becoming heavily reliant on projects, which creates further risks because of their short time frames and narrow focus. Functional governance practices that are tested in projects should be consolidated through more permanent resources.

Air temperature at the northernmost latitudes is predicted to increase steeply and precipitation to become more variable by the end of the 21st century, resulting in altered thermal and hydrological regimes. We applied five climate scenarios to predict the future (2070-2100) benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages at 239 near-pristine sites across Finland (ca. 1200 km latitudinal span). We used a multitaxon distribution model with air temperature and modeled daily flow as predictors. As expected, projected air temperature increased the most in northernmost Finland. Predicted taxonomic richness also increased the most in northern Finland, congruent with the predicted northwards shift of many species' distributions. Compositional changes were predicted to be high even without changes in richness, suggesting that species replacement may be the main mechanism causing climate-induced changes in macroinvertebrate assemblages. Northern streams were predicted to lose much of the seasonality of their flow regimes, causing potentially marked changes in stream benthic assemblages. Sites with the highest loss of seasonality were predicted to support future assemblages that deviate most in compositional similarity from the present-day assemblages. Macroinvertebrate assemblages were also predicted to change more in headwaters than in larger streams, as headwaters were particularly sensitive to changes in flow patterns. Our results emphasize the importance of focusing protection and mitigation on headwater streams with high-flow seasonality because of their vulnerability to climate change.

The paper suggests a methodology for predicting next-year seasonal pollen index (SPI, a sum of daily-mean pollen concentrations) over large regions and demonstrates its performance for birch in Northern and North-Eastern Europe. A statistical model is constructed using meteorological, geophysical and biological characteristics of the previous year). A cluster analysis of multi-annual data of European Aeroallergen Network (EAN) revealed several large regions in Europe, where the observed SPI exhibits similar patterns of the multi-annual variability. We built the model for the northern cluster of stations, which covers Finland, Sweden, Baltic States, part of Belarus, and, probably, Russia and Norway, where the lack of data did not allow for conclusive analysis. The constructed model was capable of predicting the SPI with correlation coefficient reaching up to 0.9 for some stations, odds ratio is infinitely high for 50% of sites inside the region and the fraction of prediction falling within factor of 2 from observations, stays within 40-70%. In particular, model successfully reproduced both the bi-annual cycle of the SPI and years when this cycle breaks down.