Biodiversity in intensive and extensive grasslands in Finland : the impacts of spatial and temporal changes of agricultural land use

Biodiversity degradation is a national and global problem which is interconnected with land use and climate change. All these are major unsolved questions and their interactions are only partly understood. Agriculture and especially cattle farming is under keen societal focus because of its significant role in soil carbon losses, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity preservation. We reviewed the Finnish scientific literature to assess the impact of intensive contra extensive grass production on biodiversity using vascular plants, vertebrates, invertebrates and soil biota. Still a few decades ago, mixed farming was prevailing almost everywhere in Finland, but nowadays cereal production is essentially clustered in the southwest and milk and beef production in the northeast. This is reflected in the distribution of intensive (connected with cattle) and extensive grasslands (both types of farming). The bird community was most abundant and species rich in farmland which provides small fields in large blocks of farmland and many kinds of crops, including both intensive and extensive grasslands. Overall permanent grasslands with rather simply vegetation diversity can maintain a diverse community of spiders and leafhoppers, and act as overwintering habitat for polyphagous predators in field ecosystems. The ecological requirement of all species and species groups are probably never met at one site and consequently target should be in having differently managed areas at regional scale. For some of the taxa, ecosystem services could be indicated, but a research-based quantitative assessment is available only for carbon sequestration and weak impact of dung-beetles in diminishing GHG emissions from cow pats. Our review demonstrated that quite much is known about biodiversity in extensively managed grasslands, but very little in intensively managed grasslands. An important question is whether there is some threshold for the proportion of grasslands under which regional biodiversity will be reduced. Intensive production offers limited value to replace the high biodiversity value of semi-natural pastures.Peer reviewe

Dexamethasone Attenuates the Expression of MMP‐13 in Chondrocytes through MKP‐1

Mitogen‐activated protein kinase phosphatase‐1 (MKP‐1) is upregulated in inflammation and reduces the activity of proinflammatory mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAP kinases) by dephosphorylation. MAP kinases are intracellular signaling pathways that mediate the cellular effects of proinflammatory cytokines. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone on the expression of catabolic enzymes in chondrocytes and tested the hypothesis that these effects are mediated through MKP‐1. Dexamethasone was found to significantly attenuate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‐13 in human OA chondrocytes as well as in chondrocytes from MKP‐1 WT mice, but not in chondrocytes from MKP‐ 1 KO mice. Dexamethasone also increased the expression of MKP‐1 in murine and human OA chondrocytes. Furthermore, p38 MAP kinase inhibitors significantly attenuated MMP‐13 expression in human OA chondrocytes, while JNK MAP kinase inhibitors had no effect. The results indicate that the effect of dexamethasone on MMP‐13 expression in chondrocytes was mediated by an MKP‐ 1 and p38 MAP kinase‐dependent manner. These findings, together with previous results, support the concept of MKP‐1 as a protective factor in articular chondrocytes in inflammatory conditions and as a potential drug target to treat OA.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Soil carbon stocks in Ethiopian forests and estimations of their future development under different forest use scenarios

Contributions from all land‐uses are needed if Ethiopia is to fulfil its Paris Agreement targets. The magnitude of soil carbon stock and the role of Ethiopian forest soils in climate change mitigation has not yet been clarified. In this study, soil carbon inventory in forests was carried out as a part of the Ethiopia REDD+ Programme. The performance of soil carbon models Yasso07 and CENTURY was tested by comparing the model predictions with the empirical soil organic carbon (SOC) data provided by the field inventory. In addition to that, Global Soil Organic Carbon (GSOC) map estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization for Ethiopia were included in the comparison. The soil inventory was carried out in 2017–2018 at a subset of permanent sampling units of the National Forest Inventory conducted in 2014–2017. A combination of soil inventory data, soil carbon models and satellite images enabled to quantify the impact of forest use intensity to future SOC sinks in Ethiopian forests in a novel way. The Yasso07 and CENTURY models provided similar SOC estimates to the measured data for all biomes, and the GSOC map overestimated in biomes with larger SOC stocks. Results showed that Moist Afromontane forest biome contains twice as much SOC per unit area compared to Combretum‐Terminalia forest biome and three‐times more SOC compared to Acacia‐Commiphora. Results underlined that sustainable forest management has a high potential for soil carbon development in Ethiopian forests in near future, impacting the ability of the Country to achieve its Paris Agreement targets.202

Three key messages concerning the proposal for EU Soil Monitoring Law

Soil health is a prerequisite to food and water security, wood and fiber production, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity. Thus, the sustainable use of soils is crucial for the maintenance of human wellbeing. The recently published proposal for EU Soil Monitoring Law supports the sustainable use of soils and facilitates effective measures to secure soil functions and ecosystem services. Still, there is a lot to do to combat the vicious cycle between deforestation, land degradation, biodiversity loss, decreased productivity, and climate change. Besides effective monitoring and relevant soil descriptors for soil health, new thinking and policy measures to support sustainable use of soils are needed

Sprinkling infiltration as an artificial groundwater recharge method - Long-term effects on boreal forest soil, tree growth and understory vegetation

The artificial recharge of groundwater by infiltrating surface water through forest soil has been introduced as a groundwater producing practice in Finland. As a result, the forest soil, as well as the whole ecosystem, is subjected to extremely high inputs of carbon and nutrient rich lake water. The effects of sprinkling infiltration on forest soil, tree growth and understory vegetation and their respective recovery were studied on a forested esker in central Finland. The Scots pine-dominated experimental plots were sprinkled with lake water in 1998-2001 and sampled after a 12-15-year recovery period. Soil pH and base cation concentration, as well as the rate of net N mineralization were significantly higher at the plots that had been infiltrated. The concentrations of base cations calcium and magnesium were thousands of times higher in the infiltrated soil than in the untreated soil. In addition, sprinkling infiltration had favored early-successional herbs, grasses and forbs and negatively affected late successional, slow-growing mosses and lichens. Sprinkling infiltration had significantly increased tree radial growth. Sprinkling infiltration is an environment altering soil treatment method which, based on the findings of this study, can have long-term effects on tree growth, soil processes and understory vegetation.Peer reviewe

Metsätalouden pohjavesivaikutukset : MEPO-hankkeen loppuraportti 2021

Metsätalouden pohjavesivaikutukset (MEPO) hankkeen tavoite oli antaa tutkimustietoon perustuvia suosituksia pohjavesialueiden metsänhoitotoimenpiteisiin. Luokiteltuja pohjavesialueita on Suomen pinta-alasta 4 % ja metsätalous on alueiden merkittävin maankäyttömuoto. Metsätalouden toimia, joilla voi olla vaikutusta pohjaveteen, ovat hakkuut, maanmuokkaus, ojaston kunnossapito, kasvinsuojeluaineet, metsälannoitus sekä kulotus. Omana erityispiirteenään tarkasteltiin myös happamia sulfaattimaita. Tutkimustieto koottiin kirjallisuudesta sekä pohjavesiseurannoista. Pohjavesialueiden turvemaiden määrää, ojitusta, luontoarvoja ja metsänkäyttöä arvioitiin paikkatietomenetelmin. Lisäksi viimeisteltiin metsätalouden ojien kunnostuksen vaikutusten arviointiin kehitetty KUNNOS-työkalu. Hakkuut voivat nostaa pohjavedenpintaa ja lisätä purkautumista reuna-alueilla ja lähteissä. Hakkuutähteistä vapautuvat ravinteet kohottavat tyypillisesti pohjaveden NO3-N-pitoisuutta. Myös pohjaveden lämpötilan on joissakin tutkimuksissa havaittu kohoavan. Muiden toimenpiteiden vaikutusten osalta Suomesta ei ole tutkimus- ja seurantatietoja ja arvioissa on tukeuduttu kansainvälisiin tutkimustietoihin. Tärkeä jatkotoimenpide on seurannan kehittäminen. Hanke toteutettiin v. 2020–2021 yhteistyössä Suomen ympäristökeskuksen, Luonnonvarakeskuksen, Tapio Oy:n ja Oulun yliopiston tutkijoiden kanssa. Tärkeässä roolissa työkalujen kehittämisessä olivat WaterHope ja Gain Oy.Tämä julkaisu on toteutettu osana valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimussuunnitelman toimeenpanoa. (tietokayttoon.fi) Julkaisun sisällöstä vastaavat tiedon tuottajat, eikä tekstisisältö välttämättä edusta valtioneuvoston näkemystä

Use of private gynaecologist does not relate to better prevention outcomes – An ecological analysis from Finland

BACKGROUND: Control of reproduction and prevention of reproductive health problems are important reasons for women to use health services, but the proper organisational level of service provision is not clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether visits to private gynaecologists correlate with better health outcomes and worse participation in organised screening for cancer programs. METHODS: This is an ecological analysis using municipalities and groups of women at 5-year age intervals within municipalities as study units. First, the Finnish municipalities (n = 452) were classified into three groups by the age-adjusted level of use of private gynaecologists. Secondly, each age group within municipalities was classified into tertiles by the level of private gynaecologist use. The outcomes were participation in cervical and organised breast cancer screening for cancer programmes, stage of gynaecological and breast cancers at diagnosis, and abortion rates and ratios. All data were obtained from national registers by groups at 5-year age intervals and by municipality. Raw and adjusted (age groups, and in some analyses, municipality social class index) odds ratios, total and by urbanity, were calculated. RESULTS: The proportions of women participating in cervical cancer and organised breast cancer screening for cancer were somewhat higher in the groups having a low use of private gynaecologists. The proportions of local cancers of all cervical, uterine, ovarian and breast cancers were similar in the three groups, even though the first analysis method suggested somewhat better results for the low-use group in case of cervical cancer and for the high-use group in case of uterine and breast cancer. The rates of induced abortion were higher in municipalities having a high use of private gynaecologists than in those having lower use. CONCLUSION: This ecological analysis suggests that frequent use of private gynaecologists relates somewhat to lower organised screening for cancer participation, and is not better in preventing abortions or in detecting cancer earlier. Our results suggest that a planned system relying mainly on general practitioners and public health nurses as the first line care providers is equally good for women's reproductive health as that in which specialists are used

Comment on : “A novel approach to peatlands as archives of total cumulative spatial pollution loads from atmospheric deposition of airborne elements complementary to EMEP data: Priority pollutants (Pb, Cd, Hg)” by Ewa Miszczak, Sebastian Stefaniak, Adam Michczyński, Eiliv Steinnes and Irena Twardowska

Acknowledgements We are thankful to P.G. Appleby, R. Bindler, J. Sonke, B. Smieja-Krol and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.Peer reviewedPostprin