Using aerial photography for identification of marine and coastal habitats under the EU's Habitats Directive

1. Implementation of the E.U. Habitats Directive requires information on the distribution, abundance and area covered by the habitats listed in Annex I of the Directive. 2. In Finland, 21 of these habitats occur in marine and coastal areas. The demand for spatial information of these habitats is increasing, so rapid and relatively inexpensive mapping methods are needed. 3. This study examines the identification of 15 habitats using high altitude black and white aerial photographs. Our goal was to find out how well these habitats could be identified using these types of photographs. We used a test group of 34 persons who were given only brief instructions on how to identify the habitats prior to the test. Their results were compared to a set of field data from an archipelago area at the entrance of the Gulf of Finland, in August 1999 and autumn 2000. 4. The test group identified sandy beaches, lagoons, submerged sandbanks and cliffs with an accuracy of 82%, 71%, 66% and 65%, respectively. The main reasons for these high accuracy percentages were apparently the high contrast and/or easy delineation of the habitat from the surrounding areas. 5. Reefs, wooded dunes and submerged reefs were identified with an accuracy of 39%, 44% and 45%, respectively. The remaining habitats were less precisely identified, apparently due to their small size or poor contrast to the surrounding areas. 6. High altitude aerial photographs are shown to be a useful tool for identifying several of these habitats and can be used as a complement to field mapping methods, GIS methods and other remote sensing techniques. The use of high altitude photographs for monitoring change is discussed.</p

Monitoring disease activity of pollen allergies: What crowdsourced data are telling us.

Background: Pollen allergies are a major public health concern worldwide. An IgE-mediated systemic inflammatory response to pollen allergens causes symptoms of allergic rhinitis or even asthma. They have a significant impact on individual quality of life and cause high socioeconomic strain. The aim of this study was to examine the value of pollen allergy-related web search data for public health. Methods: An in-depth analysis of search volumes and contents, and their correlation with factors of disease activity such as rates of dispensed medicine and pollen concentration, was conducted. In this retrospective longitudinal study, Google Ads Keyword Planner was used to determine the internet search volume of terms related to pollen allergies across Germany and Sweden as a whole and in each of the 16 German federal states and 21 Swedish provinces between January 2017 and December 2020. This search volume was converted into searches per 100,000 inhabitants and categorized qualitatively. Results: A total search volume of 7405 searches per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany and 17,592 searches per 100,000 inhabitants in Sweden was observed, with the total yearly search volume increasing continually in both countries during the study period. Regional search volume correlated with antihistamine dispensation rates (ρ = 0.848–0.960) and pollen concentration (ρ = 0.566–0.922). While overall search interest was higher in Sweden, a higher interest in treatment options was identified in Germany. Conclusion: Internet websearch data is an excellent proxy for disease activity of allergic rhinitis. In the 4-year study period, the interest in pollen allergies has increased and there are unmet medical needs in both countries

Challenges of biodiversity inventories in mosaic archipelagoes – A case study from the Northern Baltic Sea

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Drivers of outsourcing and backsourcing in the public sector—From idealism to pragmatism

Local governments are bringing previously outsourced services back in‐house. Research into explanations for sourcing decisions in the public sector is growing, however, few researchers have investigated drivers of both outsourcing and backsourcing in local public‐governance organizations. In this study we utilize transaction cost economic theory (TCE) and political ideology to investigate underlying motives of sourcing in local public governance organizations. Based on a 2018 survey of chief financial officers (CEO) in all of Sweden's 290 municipalities, this study shows that backsourcing is strongly associated with outsourcing and that outsourcing and backsourcing should not be understood as opposite phenomena, rather as interdependent phenomena in a dynamic sourcing strategy. Outsourcing and backsourcing are driven in part by different factors: Outsourcing by political ambitions and economic factors relating to TCE, while managerial and pragmatic concerns are foregrounded for backsourcing

Effects of tree pollen on throughfall element fluxes in European forests

The effects of tree pollen on precipitation chemistry are not fully understood and this can lead to misinterpretations of element deposition in European forests. We investigated the relationship between forest throughfall (TF) element fluxes and the Seasonal Pollen Integral (SPIn) using linear mixed-effects modelling (LME). TF was measured in 1990–2018 during the main pollen season (MPS, arbitrary two months) in 61 managed, mostly pure, even-aged Fagus, Quercus, Pinus, and Picea stands which are part of the ICP Forests Level II network. The SPIn for the dominant tree genus was observed at 56 aerobiological monitoring stations in nearby cities. The net contribution of pollen was estimated as the TF flux in the MPS minus the fluxes in the preceding and succeeding months. In stands of Fagus and Picea, two genera that do not form large amounts of flowers every year, TF fluxes of potassium (K+), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4+-N), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) showed a positive relationship with SPIn. However- for Fagus- a negative relationship was found between TF nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N) fluxes and SPIn. For Quercus and Pinus, two genera producing many flowers each year, SPIn displayed limited variability and no clear association with TF element fluxes. Overall, pollen contributed on average 4.1–10.6% of the annual TF fluxes of K+ &gt; DOC &gt; DON &gt; NH4+-N with the highest contribution in Quercus &gt; Fagus &gt; Pinus &gt; Picea stands. Tree pollen appears to affect TF inorganic nitrogen fluxes both qualitatively and quantitatively, acting as a source of NH4+-N and a sink of NO3−-N. Pollen appears to play a more complex role in nutrient cycling than previously&nbsp;thought.</p