Cormorants have negligible seascape-scale impacts on benthic vegetation communities

Cormorant populations in the Baltic Sea have rapidly expanded since the 1990s, raising concerns about their ecosystem impacts. Nutrient runoff from colonies, as well as cormorant predation on fish, can affect surrounding producer communities. Past studies have found cormorant impacts on producers in the immediate vicinity of colonies, but the importance of cormorants over a larger spatial scale is unknown, especially compared to other environmental variables. We used an extensive underwater vegetation inventory dataset (~18 000 data points along the Finnish coast) to determine the effects of cormorant colonies on macroalgae and plants. We compared community structure and species abundance/occurrence in near-colony (10 km from a colony) points, and determined the importance of cormorant influence (using an index incorporating colony size and distance from the colony) in near-colony sites. We found no significant differences in community structure between near-colony and control points in most habitats, and adding cormorant index only infinitesimally improved statistical models after incorporating other environmental factors. However, the abundance of several species did differ, in particular the foundation species bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus) and eelgrass (Zostera marina) were either less likely to occur in near-colony points or negatively correlated with cormorant index, possibly due to the effects of nutrient enrichment from colonies. Our findings confirm that cormorants can have effects on some producer species, but highlight that these effects are negligible when taking into account the scale and magnitude of other bottom up and top-down processes occurring in the Baltic Sea.</div

Integrating experimental and distribution data to predict future species patterns

Predictive species distribution models are mostly based on statistical dependence between environmental and distributional data and therefore may fail to account for physiological limits and biological interactions that are fundamental when modelling species distributions under future climate conditions. Here, we developed a state-of-the-art method integrating biological theory with survey and experimental data in a way that allows us to explicitly model both physical tolerance limits of species and inherent natural variability in regional conditions and thereby improve the reliability of species distribution predictions under future climate conditions. By using a macroalga-herbivore association (Fucus vesiculosus - Idotea balthica) as a case study, we illustrated how salinity reduction and temperature increase under future climate conditions may significantly reduce the occurrence and biomass of these important coastal species. Moreover, we showed that the reduction of herbivore occurrence is linked to reduction of their host macroalgae. Spatial predictive modelling and experimental biology have been traditionally seen as separate fields but stronger interlinkages between these disciplines can improve species distribution projections under climate change. Experiments enable qualitative prior knowledge to be defined and identify cause-effect relationships, and thereby better foresee alterations in ecosystem structure and functioning under future climate conditions that are not necessarily seen in projections based on non-causal statistical relationships alone.Peer reviewe

Ympäristöasioiden hallinnan kehittäminen Muovijaloste Oy:ssä

Ympäristökysymyksillä on nykyään suuri taloudellinen merkitys. Ympäristöjärjestelmän käytössä keskeinen tavoite on ympäristönsuojelun tason parantaminen, mutta toimiva järjestelmä voi tuoda yritykselle myös kustannussäästöjä. Tämä opinnäytetyö on ollut Muovijaloste Oy:n toimeksianto. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli päivittää ympäristöasioiden hallinta vastaamaan nykytilannetta. Yrityksen ympäristölupaehdot päivitettiin, ja niistä saatujen ajankohtaisten tietojen perusteella on tehty johtopäätöksiä ja kehittämisehdotuksia ympäristöasioiden hallintaan. Myös alan kirjallisuutta ja yritykseen tehtyjä opinnäytteitä on hyödynnetty kehittämisehdotuksia etsittäessä. Opinnäytetyössä on myös selvitetty ISO 14001 -standardin, EMAS-järjestelmän ja yrityksen oman ympäristöhallintajärjestelmän vaatimuksia. Sertifioitujen järjestelmien ja ympäristölupahakemuksen pohjalta on mietitty asioita, joilla pystytään kehittämään yrityksen ympäristöasioiden hallintaa. Joitakin parannuksia on toteutettukin. Opinnäytetyön pohjalta voidaan todeta, että yrityksen ympäristöasiat ovat päällisin puolin hyvällä mallilla. Yrityksen laatukäsikirjan ympäristöosio on päivitetty ja siihen on listattu ympäristönäkökohtia, joita aletaan pikku hiljaa toteuttaa. Yritykselle on luotu muutama vaiheittainen parannusehdotus ympäristötavoitteiksi, joiden saavuttamiselle on määritelty ajankohdat ja määrälliset tavoitteet. Työntekijöiden asenne ja motivointi ovat osoittautuneet tärkeiksi tekijöiksi ympäristöasioiden hallinnan jalkauttamisen onnistumiselle. Viestintä ja koulutus ovat myös asioita, joihin yrityksen tulisi panostaa lähivuosina, vaikka ne ovatkin alussa kustannuksia ja henkilöresursseja lisääviä tekijöitä.Nowadays, environmental issues have a great economic significance. The central aim of using an environmental management system is to improve the environmental protection level, but an effective system can also save costs for a company. This thesis was made for Muovijaloste Ltd. The purpose was to improve the state of the environmental management of the company. Amendments to the application form concerning environmental issues were updated. Based on time-specific data on environmental issues in the company, some conclusions and proposals were made on how the company could improve its environmental management. The study also describes the demands and the features of ISO 14001, EMAS and the feature of the company's own environmental management system. Certified systems and environmental conditions on the basis of an application for inspection were studied in order to develop environmental management. Some improvements have already been implemented. On the basis of the study it seems that the company's environmental issues are at a good level. The environmental section of the company’s quality manual is updated and the environmental aspects listed in it will be gradually implemented. The company has created a few gradual improvement proposals for environmental objectives that are due at set dates and in set amounts. Workers' attitude and motivation are important factors in the implementation of environmental management. Communication and education are also issues which the company should highlight in the future, even though it will increase both costs and human resources in the beginning