How to Calibrate Historical Aerial Photographs: A Change Analysis of Naturally Dynamic Boreal Forest Landscapes

Time series of repeat aerial photographs currently span decades in many regions. However, the lack of calibration data limits their use in forest change analysis. We propose an approach where we combine repeat aerial photography, tree-ring reconstructions, and Bayesian inference to study changes in forests. Using stereopairs of aerial photographs from five boreal forest landscapes, we visually interpreted canopy cover in contiguous 0.1-ha cells at three time points during 1959-2011. We used tree-ring measurements to produce calibration data for the interpretation, and to quantify the bias and error associated with the interpretation. Then, we discerned credible canopy cover changes from the interpretation error noise using Bayesian inference. We underestimated canopy cover using the historical low-quality photographs, and overestimated it using the recent high-quality photographs. Further, due to differences in tree species composition and canopy cover in the cells, the interpretation bias varied between the landscapes. In addition, the random interpretation error varied between and within the landscapes. Due to the varying bias and error, the magnitude of credibly detectable canopy cover change in the 0.1-ha cells depended on the studied time interval and landscape, ranging from -10 to -18 percentage points (decrease), and from +10 to +19 percentage points (increase). Hence, changes occurring at stand scales were detectable, but smaller scale changes could not be separated from the error noise. Besides the abrupt changes, also slow continuous canopy cover changes could be detected with the proposed approach. Given the wide availability of historical aerial photographs, the proposed approach can be applied for forest change analysis in biomes where tree-rings form, while accounting for the bias and error in aerial photo interpretation.Peer reviewe

Effect of aesthetics on audio-enhanced graphical buttons

Presented at the 11th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2005)In this paper, two different auditory feedback schemes related to graphical buttons are compared to each other and to a visual- only condition. The results show that aesthetically pleasing auditory design is clearly preferred among the users, and can lead to performance benefits over not only a design with no auditory enhancements, but also a design with aesthetically less pleasing auditory enhancements

At What Scales and Why Does Forest Structure Vary in Naturally Dynamic Boreal Forests? An Analysis of Forest Landscapes on Two Continents

Identifying the scales of variation in forest structures and the underlying processes are fundamental for understanding forest dynamics. Here, we studied these scale-dependencies in forest structure in naturally dynamic boreal forests on two continents. We identified the spatial scales at which forest structures varied, and analyzed how the scales of variation and the underlying drivers differed among the regions and at particular scales. We studied three 2kmx2km landscapes in northeastern Finland and two in eastern Canada. We estimated canopy cover in contiguous 0.1-ha cells from aerial photographs and used scale-derivative analysis to identify characteristic scales of variation in the canopy cover data. We analyzed the patterns of variation at these scales using Bayesian scale space analysis. We identified structural variation at three spatial scales in each landscape. Among landscapes, the largest scale of variation showed the greatest variability (20.1-321.4ha), related to topography, soil variability, and long-term disturbance history. Superimposed on this large-scale variation, forest structure varied at similar scales (1.3-2.8ha) in all landscapes. This variation correlated with recent disturbances, soil variability, and topographic position. We also detected intense variation at the smallest scale analyzed (0.1ha, grain of our data), partly driven by recent disturbances. The distinct scales of variation indicated hierarchical structure in the landscapes studied. Except for the large-scale variation, these scales were remarkably similar among the landscapes. This suggests that boreal forests may display characteristic scales of variation that occur somewhat independent of the tree species characteristics or the disturbance regime.Peer reviewe

The structure of boreal old-growth forests changes at multiple spatial scales over decades

Context: Changes in the structure of boreal old-growth forests are typically studied at a specific spatial scale. Consequently, little is known about forest development across different spatial scales. Objectives: We investigated how and at what spatial scales forest structure changed over several decades in three 4 km² boreal old-growth forests landscapes in northeastern Finland and two in Quebec, Canada. Methods: We used canopy cover values visually interpreted to 0.1-ha grid cells from aerial photographs taken at three time points between the years 1959 and 2011, and error distributions quantified for the interpretation. We identified the spatial scales at which canopy cover changed between the time points, and examined the credibility of changes at these scales using the error distributions in Bayesian inference. Results: Canopy cover changed at three to four spatial scales, the number of scales depending on the studied landscape and time interval. At large scales (15.4–321.7 ha), canopy cover increased in Finland during all time intervals. In Quebec, the direction of the large-scale change varied between the studied time intervals, owing to the occurrence of an insect outbreak and a consequent recovery. However, parts of these landscapes also showed canopy cover increase. Superimposed on the large-scale developments, canopy cover changed variably at smaller scales (1.3–2.8-ha and 0.1-ha). Conclusions: Our findings support the idea that the structure of boreal old-growth forests changes at discernible spatial scales. Instead of being driven by gap dynamics, the old-growth forests in the studied regions are currently reacting to large-scale drivers by an increase in canopy cover.Peer reviewe

Educators' occupational well-being in health and social care education

BackgroundThe occupational well-being (OW) of educators can be defined as a balance between resources and workload factors as seen from four aspects of working life: (i) individual, (ii) working conditions, (iii) professional competence and (iv) work community. The research in this study examined the individual aspect as particular importance to the physical and mental workability of educators. Aims To study the individual aspect of the OW of educators as well as the associating factors.MethodsA cross-sectional survey design was conducted among educators working in health and social care education in Finland. The data were collected with an electronic survey using the 'Occupational well-being of social and health care teachers-index questionnaire'. The data were analysed with an SPSS version 27 using descriptive statistics, explorative factor analysis and linear regression analysis.ResultsThe educators (n = 552, response rate 31%) assessed their resources for managing their mental workload as quite poor (2.41, standard deviation [SD] 0.98). In addition, workplace support promoting OW was assessed as being quite poor (2.37, SD 0.88), and as especially requiring more measures during working hours. Associations with the individual aspect of OW were found between the personal and work-related background variables as well as overall OW.ConclusionsThe perceptions of the educators indicated that resources to cope with workload factors should be promoted. Investing in educators' resources at work, enabling well-being actions during working hours and avoiding backlog situations would all help promote the educators' OW.</p

Nurse educator competence in four European countries—A comparative cross-sectional study

Abstract Aim The aim of this article is to describe and compare the nurse educator competences in four European countries using three different evaluators: nurse educators (n = 329), heads of a nursing subject (n = 60) and student nurses (n = 1058). Design The study was conducted as a comparative cross‐sectional survey in Finland, Malta, Slovakia and Spain between May 2021 and February 2022. Methods The data were collected with an online survey. The instrument used was a 20‐item Tool for Evaluation of Requirements of Nurse Teachers, utilizing a 5‐point Likert‐type scale. The data were analysed statistically and reported according to STROBE guidelines. Results Nurse educators' competence evaluated positively in all the groups of evaluators, with a mean of >3.5. The self‐evaluation of nurse educators' competence was higher than the other evaluators' evaluations. Having a degree in nursing, having completed some pedagogical studies and longer work experience as a nurse educator had a positive association with higher self‐evaluated competence among nurse educators. Conclusions Nurse educator competence is at a good level in the selected European countries, but further studies are required to find the reasons behind the differences in evaluations. Public Contribution Each participating educational institution named a contact person who distributed the surveys to the participants and returned the study's metadata to the researchers

Integrating fire-scar, charcoal and fungal spore data to study fire events in the boreal forest of northern Europe

Fire is a major disturbance agent in the boreal forest, influencing many current and future ecosystem conditions and services. Surprisingly few studies have attempted to improve the accuracy of fire-event reconstructions even though the estimates of the occurrence of past fires may be biased, influencing the reliability of the models employing those data (e.g. C stock, cycle). This study aimed to demonstrate how three types of fire proxies - fire scars from tree rings, sedimentary charcoal and, for the first time in this context, fungal spores of Neurospora - can be integrated to achieve a better understanding of past fire dynamics. By studying charcoal and Neurospora from sediment cores from forest hollows, and the fire scars from tree rings in their surroundings in the southern Fennoscandian and western Russian boreal forest, we produced composite fire-event data sets and fire-event frequencies, and estimated fire return intervals. Our estimates show that the fire return interval varied between 126 and 237 years during the last 11,000 years. The highest fire frequency during the 18th-19th century can be associated with the anthropogenic influence. Importantly, statistical tests revealed a positive relationship between other fire event indicators and Neurospora occurrence allowing us to pinpoint past fire events at times when the sedimentary charcoal was absent, but Neurospora were abundant. We demonstrated how fire proxies with different temporal resolution can be linked, providing potential improvements in the reliability of fire history reconstructions from multiple proxies.Peer reviewe

Professional competence, personal occupational well-being, and mental workload of nurse educators – A cross-sectional study in four European countries

BackgroundNurse educators need a high level of professional competence to educate future health care professionals. Professional competence supports occupational well-being whilst high mental workload can undermine it. There is little existing research into nurse educators' professional competence, occupational well-being, mental workload, and the relationships between them, particularly in the European context.ObjectivesTo describe the professional competence, personal occupational well-being, and mental workload of nurse educators in four European countries, and to explore how the professional competence and mental workload of nurse educators relate to their personal occupational well-being.DesignCross-sectional study design with quantitative survey data.SettingNurse educators from Finland, Spain, Slovakia, and Malta.MethodsThe data were collected from 302 nurse educators through an online questionnaire which used the Health and Social Care Educator's Competence (HeSoEduCo) instrument. This contains 43 items which measure areas of professional competence. Statistical analysis involved descriptive and multivariate analysis.ResultsNurse educators self-assessed their overall professional competence as high. Competence in evidence-based practice was assessed as the highest whilst cultural competence was perceived to be the lowest of the six competence areas. Nurse educators perceived their levels of personal occupational well-being and the balance of mental workload as moderate. However, these levels varied between the four countries. Professional competence, more specifically administrative and curriculum competence, and a balanced mental workload were positively related to personal occupational well-being.ConclusionsThe educators who perceive themselves to have very good professional competence and a balanced mental workload are more likely to report high occupational well-being. The findings suggest that nurse educators' cultural competence needs to be strengthened and intervention research is needed to determine ways of reducing mental workload and increasing the occupational well-being of nurse educators