Elevated carbon dioxide in a semi-natural grassland

This thesis is concerned with the possible effects of a further increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide on vegetation in a semi-natural grassland. It is based on an experimental field study focusing on production responses and changes in vegetation composition. A Swedish semi-natural grassland was exposed to ambient and twice ambient elevated CO2 in open-top chambers during six consecutive growing seasons. Plots without chambers constituted a control treatment. The field had been grazed previously, but when the experiment started this was replaced by a cutting regime with one cut (0 cm above the soil surface) each year in early August. Leaf-level photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, biomass production, and vegetation composition were studied. The first three growing seasons showed a 30 to 60 % increase in above-ground biomass at harvest under elevated CO2. In later years there was no difference in above-ground biomass between the treatments, but differences between treatments increased below ground. Throughout the experiment, elevated CO2 increased leaf-level photosynthesis and tended to decrease stomatal conductance. Nitrogen concentration in stems and leaves was lower at elevated CO2. CO2 effects on vegetation composition were small in comparison with effects of time and/or weather, but increased towards the end of the experiment. Legumes may benefit most from elevated CO2, which also tended to increase diversity (Shannon index) in summer, but decrease it in spring. Changes in the weather (especially precipitation) were highly directional over time. This means that weather effects are confounded with effects that are time-dependent (such as a possible succession after a change in management, or an increasing nutrient deficit). However, weather effects did appear to be decisive

Development of a multi-scale monitoring programme: approaches for the Arctic and lessons learned from the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme 2002-2022

The Arctic Council working group, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) established the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP), an international network of scientists, governments, Indigenous organizations, and conservation groups working to harmonize and integrate efforts to extend and develop monitoring and assessment of the Arctic’s biodiversity. Its relevance stretches beyond the Arctic to a broad range of regional and global initiatives and agreements. This paper describes the process and approach taken in the last two decades to develop and implement the CBMP. It documents challenges encountered, lessons learnt, and solutions, and considers how it has been a model for national, regional, and global monitoring programmes; explores how it has impacted Arctic biodiversity monitoring, assessment, and policy and concludes with observations on key issues and next steps. The following are overarching prerequisites identified in the implementation of the CBMP: effective coordination, sufficient and sustained funding, improved standards and protocols, co-production of knowledge and equitable involvement of IK approaches, data management to facilitating regional analysis and comparisons, communication and outreach to raising awareness and engagement in the programme, ensuring resources to engage in international fora to ensuring programme implementation

What are antenatal maternity care needs of women who conceived through fertility treatment?: a mixed methods systematic review

BACKGROUND: Existing research indicates that pregnant women who conceived through fertility treatment might experience more stress and anxiety compared to women who conceived spontaneously. Therefore, these women might have additional antenatal care needs. METHODS: A search for both quantitative and qualitative studies was performed in PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and MEDLINE through May 2021, guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. After methodological quality appraisal using the Mixed Methods Appraising Tool, 15 studies were included in the review. RESULTS: Analysis of the studies identified behavioral, relational/social, emotional, and cognitive needs and women's preference about maternity care. Women who conceived through fertility treatment reported lower social and physical functioning scores and elevated levels of anxiety and depression compared to women who conceived spontaneously. They reported difficulties adjusting to pregnancy and experienced a care gap between discharge from the fertility clinic and going to local maternity care services for their first consultation, and a care gap postpartum. CONCLUSIONS: Women who conceived through fertility treatment have additional antenatal care needs. We recommend to offer these women more frequent check-ins, and to pay attention to the impact of their infertility and treatment on their pregnancy

Climate warming and land-use changes drive broad-scale floristic changes in Southern Sweden

Land-use changes, pollution and climate warming during the 20th century havecaused changes in biodiversity across the world. However, in many cases, the environmental drivers are poorly understood. To identify and rank the drivers currentlycausing broad-scale floristic changes in N Europe, we analysed data from two vascularplant surveys of 200 randomly selected 2.5 9 2.5 km grid-squares in Scania,southernmost Sweden, conducted 1989–2006 and 2008–2015, respectively, andrelated the change in frequency (performance) of the species to a wide range ofspecies-specific plant traits. We chose traits representing all plausible drivers ofrecent floristic changes: climatic change (northern distribution limit, flowering time),land-use change (light requirement, response to grazing/mowing, response to soildisturbance), drainage (water requirement), acidification (pH optimum), nitrogendeposition and eutrophication (N requirement, N fixation ability, carnivory, parasitism,mycorrhizal associations), pollinator decline (mode of reproduction) andchanges in CO2 levels (photosynthetic pathway). Our results suggest that climatewarming and changes in land-use were the main drivers of changes in the flora duringthe last decades. Climate warming appeared as the most influential driver, withnorthern distribution limit explaining 30%–60% of the variance in the GLMM models.However, the relative importance of the drivers differed among habitat types,with grassland species being affected the most by cessation of grazing/mowing andspecies of ruderal habitats by on-going concentration of both agriculture and humanpopulation to the most productive soils. For wetland species, only pH optimum wassignificantly related to species performance, possibly an effect of the increasinghumification of acidic water bodies. An observed relative decline of mycorrhizal species may possibly be explained by decreasing nitrogen deposition resulting in lesscompetition for phosphorus. We found no effect of shortage or decline of pollinatinglepidopterans and bees