Learning and loving of nature in the Anthropocene: How to broaden science with curiosity and passion

What does “belonging to nature” mean today and how can children and young people be inspired to experience this? What basic dilemmas and challenges arise between the requirement for critical thinking on the one side, and the experience of belonging and coexisting in nature on the other? In this article we will scrutinize the ideal of rational arguments and norms as stated in current policy documents and discuss how this best can promote curiosity and wonder, as well as a sense of relatedness and responsibility with nature that can inspire normative actions, We claim that critical thinking informed by a value-based ecology is needed to reveal the hidden curriculum of sustainable education; that is, a loss of “holistic” view in the footsteps of scientific diversification, a lack of curiosity and training of critical thinking, and a “denial of nature” characterized by a missed opportunity to raise the urgent attention towards environmental risks, that today should be a main mission in natural science education

Hva skal vi spise?

Uten å ha empirien for hånd vil jeg allikevel hevde at ikke noe fenomen vies større oppmerksomhet i Norge og andre velfødde nasjoner enn mat. Det er en arena for talløse oppfatninger, meninger, studier og varierende â ofte med motstridende råd. For noen, urovekkende mange, synes riktig mat å bli livets mål og mening, mens for andre, også det urovekkende mange, er mat et problem fordi den er for fet, for søt, og det er rett og slett for mye av den. Og dessuten krangler jo bare ekspertene likevel, så man kan like gjerne skylle ned sine frityrstekte karbohydrater med cola. Matens sentrale rolle i vår kultur, dens fysiske og psykiske betydning, ja hele vår ekstreme opptatthet av riktig kosthold med den mangslungne og til dels motstridende ekspertfauna som følger med, tilsier at et overordnet blikk på tematikken â slik Jan Raa bidrar med, kan være forfriskende og nyttig

Variation in the seston C:N ratio of the Arctic Ocean and pan-Arctic shelves

Studying more than 3600 observations of particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate organic nitrogen (PON), we evaluate the applicability of the classic Redfield C:N ratio (6.6) and the recently proposed Sterner ratio (8.3) for the Arctic Ocean and pan-Arctic shelves. The confidence intervals for C:N ranged from 6.43 to 8.82, while the average C:N ratio for all observations was 7.4. In general, neither the Redfield or Sterner ratios were applicable, with the Redfield ratio being too low and the Sterner ratio too high. On a regional basis, all northern high latitude regions had a C:N ratio significantly higher than the Redfield ratio, except the Arctic Ocean (6.6), Chukchi (6.4) and East Siberian (6.5) Seas. The latter two regions were influenced by nutrient-rich Pacific waters, and had a high fraction of autotrophic (i.e. algal-derived) material. The C:N ratios of the Laptev (7.9) and Kara (7.5) Seas were high, and had larger contributions of terrigenous material. The highest C:N ratios were in the North Water (8.7) and Northeast Water (8.0) polynyas, and these regions were more similar to the Sterner ratio. The C:N ratio varied between regions, and was significantly different between the Atlantic (6.7) and Arctic (7.9) influenced regions of the Barents Sea, while the Atlantic dominated regions (Norwegian, Greenland and Atlantic Barents Seas) were similar (6.7–7). All observations combined, and most individual regions, showed a pattern of decreasing C:N ratios with increasing seston concentrations. This meta-analysis has important implications for ecosystem modelling, as it demonstrated the striking temporal and spatial variability in C:N ratios and challenges the common assumption of a constant C:N ratio. The non-constant stoichiometry was believed to be caused by variable contributions of autotrophs, heterotrophs and detritus to seston, and a significant decrease in C:N ratios with increasing Chlorophyll a concentrations supports this view. This study adds support to the use of a power function model, where the exponent is system-specific, but we suggest a general Arctic relationship, where POC = 7.4 PON0.89

Juncus Bulbosus Tissue Nutrient Concentrations and Stoichiometry in Oligotrophic Ecosystems: Variability with Seasons, Growth Forms, Organs and Habitats

Aquatic plant nutrient concentrations provide important information to characterise their role in nutrient retention and turnover in aquatic ecosystems. While large standing biomass of aquatic plants is typically found in nutrient-rich localities, it may also occur in oligotrophic ecosystems. Juncus bulbosus is able to form massive stands even in very nutrient-dilute waters. Here we show that this may be achieved by tissues with very high carbon-to-nutrient ratios combined with perennial (slow) growth and a poor food source for grazers inferred from plant stoichiometry and tissue nutrient thresholds. We also show that the C, N, P and C:N:P stoichiometric ratios of Juncus bulbosus vary with the time of year, habitats (lakes versus rivers) and organs (roots versus shoots). We found no differences between growth forms (notably in P, inferred as the most limiting nutrient) corresponding to small and large plant stands. The mass development of J. bulbosus requires C, N and P, whatever the ecosystem (lake or river), and not just CO2 and NH4, as suggested in previous studies. Since macrophytes inhabiting oligotrophic aquatic ecosystems are dominated by isoetids (perennial plants with a high root/shoot ratio), attention should be paid to quantifying the role of roots in aquatic plant stoichiometry, nutrient turnover and nutrient retention.publishedVersio

Zooplankton Diversity and Dispersal by Birds; Insights From Different Geographical Scales

Given the major ecological and evolutionary role of dispersal abilities for organisms, as well as the current interest in species' potential for further migration and colonization as a result of climatic changes or human-mediated invasions, our knowledge about dispersal abilities on spatial and temporal scales in many taxa is surprisingly limited. Zooplankton inhabit lakes and ponds that functionally are “aquatic islands” in the landscape, and both community composition and richness depend on their ability to disperse, and their post-dispersal colonization abilities. We here assess the diversity and dispersal of freshwater microcrustaceans based on three types of data; (1) > 2000 lakes on mainland Norway spanning a wide range in longitude, latitude and altitude, (2) a more limited number of ponds at Svalbard that are differently affected by migrating birds, and (3) immigration and colonization of recently constructed wetlands and man-made ponds. At all scales we discuss whether observed patterns in diversity can be explicitly linked to birds as vectors, or if confounding factors such as climate, productivity, age of locality—or other means of immigration, precludes conclusive evidence. The spatial patterns of zooplankton distribution strongly suggest that local sorting is a major determinant of richness and community composition. This sorting may not necessarily lead to similar community composition (the “quorum effect”) however. Despite the fact that rapid colonization occurs at local scales, and that birds undoubtedly can transmit animals or resting stages, their role in modulating community structure and richness is still an unsettled issue due to the many confounding parameters. The fact that birds often play a dual role in shaping diversity and community composition, first by direct dispersal, and secondly via affecting post-dispersal species sorting by changing water quality and productivity, is an important aspect of zoochory. Direct experimental evidence (colonization with and without bird exclusion), or genetic analysis of zooplankton species along migration routes, would however be the only ways to establish firm evidence for this case of zoochory

Extrinsic and intrinsic controls of zooplankton diversity in lakes

Pelagic crustacean zooplankton were collected from 336 Norwegian lakes covering a wide range of latitude, altitude, lake area, mean depth, production (as chlorophyll a), and fish community structure. Mean zooplankton species richness during the ice-free season was generally low at high latitudes and altitudes. Further, lower species richness was recorded in western lakes, possibly reflecting constraints on migration and dispersal. However, despite obvious spatial limitations, geographic boundaries were only weak predictors of mean zooplankton richness. Similarly, lake surface area did not contribute positively to mean richness such as seen in other ecosystem surveys. Rather, intrinsic factors such as primary production and fish community (planktivore) structure were identified by regression analysis as the major predictors of zooplankton diversity, while a positive correlation was observed between species richness and total zooplankton biomass. However, in spite of a large number of variables included in this study, the predictive power of multiple regression models was modest (<50% variance explained), pointing to a major role for within-lake properties, as yet unidentified intrinsic forces, stochasticity, or dispersal as constraints on zooplankton diversity in these lakes

Is the growth of marine copepods limited by food quantity or quality?

Understanding what limits the growth of marine copepods is important for modeling food web dynamics and biogeochemical cycles in the ocean. We use a state-of-the-art stoichiometric model that explicitly represents metabolic physiology to examine the roles of food quantity vs. quality in limiting the growth of these animals. The model predicts that the crossover from C- to N-limitation occurs at food C : N 7.3–11.5 mol C mol N−1, depending on food quantity. Thus, despite significant losses of N in metabolism, copepods should be limited by C when consuming food at Redfield C : N (6.625). We nevertheless suggest that copepods do not seek C-rich diets per se. Rather, results indicate limitation by food quantity as growth increases with organic matter intake, regardless of its elemental composition. Our work highlights the benefit of developing mechanistic representations of zooplankton metabolism in order to increase confidence in the predictions of biogeochemical models

Geometric stoichiometry: unifying concepts of animal nutrition to understand how protein-rich diets can be “too much of a good thing”

Understanding the factors that control the growth of heterotrophic organisms is central to predicting food web interactions and biogeochemical cycling within ecosystems. We present a new framework, Geometric Stoichiometry (GS), that unifies the disciplines of Nutritional Geometry (NG) and Ecological Stoichiometry (ES) by extending the equations of ES to incorporate core NG concepts, including macromolecules as currencies and the ability of animals to select foods that balance deficits and excesses of nutrients. The resulting model is used to investigate regulation of consumer growth by dietary protein:carbohydrate ratio. Growth on protein-poor diets is limited by nitrogen. Likewise, we show that growth is also diminished on protein-rich diets and that this can be mechanistically explained by means of a metabolic penalty that arises when animals use protein for energy generation. These penalties, which are incurred when dealing with the costs of producing and excreting toxic nitrogenous waste, have not hitherto been represented in standard ES theory. In order to incorporate GS within ecosystem and biogeochemical models, a new generation of integrated theoretical and experimental studies based on unified concepts of NG and ES is needed, including measurements of food selection, biomass, growth and associated physiology, and involving metabolic penalties

Will invertebrates require increasingly carbon-rich food in a warming world?

Elevated temperature causes metabolism and respiration to increase in poikilothermic organisms. We hypothesized that invertebrate consumers will therefore require increasingly carbon-rich diets in a warming environment because the increased energetic demands are primarily met using compounds rich in carbon, that is, carbohydrates and lipids. Here, we test this hypothesis using a new stoichiometric model that has carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) as currencies. Model predictions did not support the hypothesis, indicating instead that the nutritional requirements of invertebrates, at least in terms of food quality expressed as C∶N ratio, may change little, if at all, at elevated temperature. Two factors contribute to this conclusion. First, invertebrates facing limitation by nutrient elements such as N have, by default, excess C in their food that can be used to meet the increased demand for energy in a warming environment, without recourse to extra dietary C. Second, increased feeding at elevated temperature compensates for the extra demands of metabolism to the extent that, when metabolism and intake scale equally with temperature (have the same Q10), the relative requirement for dietary C and N remains unaltered. Our analysis demonstrates that future climate-driven increases in the C∶N ratios of autotroph biomass will likely exacerbate the stoichiometric mismatch between nutrient-limited invertebrate grazers and their food, with important consequences for C sequestration and nutrient cycling in ecosystems