Refocusing ecosystem services towards sustainability

Ecosystem services and sustainability have become prominent concepts in international policy and research agendas. However, a common conceptual ground between these concepts is currently underdeveloped. In particular, a vision is missing on how to align ecosystem services with overarching sustainability goals. Originally, the ecosystem service concept focused on sustaining human well-being through biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, studies within the field also consider appropriation beyond carrying capacities, and natural resource management that involves environmentally damaging inputs as ecosystem service provision. This brings the ecosystem service concept into conflict with the core goal of sustainability, i.e. achieving justice within ecological limits over the long term. Here, we link the ecosystem service concept to sustainability outcomes operationalized in terms of justice. Our framing positions sustainability as an overarching goal which can be achieved through seven key strategies: equitable (1) intergenerational and (2) intragenerational distribution, (3) interspecies distribution, (4) fair procedures, recognition and participation, (5) sufficiency, (6) efficiency, and (7) persistence. Applying these strategies has the potential to re-focus the ecosystem service concept towards the normative goal of sustainability. We identify research needs for each strategy and further discuss questions regarding operationalization of the strategies.Conservation Biolog

The effect of industrialization and globalization on domestic land-use: A global resource footprint perspective

Land-use activities are increasingly globalized and industrialized. While this contributes to a reduction of pressure on domestic ecosystems in some regions, spillover effects from these processes represent potential obstacles for global sustainable land-use. This contribution scrutinizes the complex global resource nexus of national land-use intensity, international trade of biomass goods, and resource footprints in land-use systems. Via a systematic account of the global human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) and input–output modelling, we demonstrate that with growing income countries reduce their reliance on local renewable resources, while simultaneously consuming more biomass goods produced in other countries requiring higher energy and material inputs. The characteristic 'outsourcing' country appropriates 43% of its domestic net primary production, but net-imports a similar amount (64 gigajoules per capita and year) from other countries and requires energy (11 GJ/cap/yr) and material (~400 kg/cap/yr) inputs four to five times higher as the majority of the global population to sustain domestic land-use intensification. This growing societal disconnect from domestic ecological productivity enables a domestic conservation of ecosystems while satisfying growing demand. However, it does not imply a global decoupling of biomass consumption from resource and land requirements

Vertical-down welding of girth welds using low hydrogen basic electrodes An evaluation of weld metal toughness and integrity

12.75Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6244.325(OTI--88-527) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Soil carbon, multiple benefits

In March 2013, 40 leading experts from across the world gathered at a workshop, hosted by the European Commission, Directorate General Joint Research Centre, Italy, to discuss the multiple benefits of soil carbon as part of a Rapid Assessment Process (RAP) project commissioned by Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE). This collaboration led to the publication of the SCOPE Series Volume 71 “Soil Carbon: Science, Management and Policy for Multiple Benefits”; which brings together the essential scientific evidence and policy opportunities regarding the global importance of soil carbon. This short communication summarises the key messages of the assessment including research and policy implications

Vertical-down welding of girth welds using low hydrogen basic electrodes An evaluation of weld metal toughness and integrity

12.75Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6244.325(OTI--88-527) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Zeitschrift für Medienpsychologie

The Hall-Petch relationship was studied in interstitial-free steel subjected to Φ = 90° Equal Channel Angular Extrusion for up to N = 8 passes via route BC processing. The composite equation indicates that although low-angle grain boundaries provide the maximum strengthening up to N = 8 passes, the contribution from high-angle boundaries also increases with greater pass number. Alternatively, the evolution of boundary misorientation in as-ECAE microstructures and its effect on mechanical properties up to N = 3 passes is also understood by using a misorientation scaling factor within the original Hall-Petch equation