Forest and water relations in miombo woodlands

Miombo is a significant biome covering about 10% of the African landmass. Climate semi-aridity is the main edaphic determinant. Range of annual rainfall and dry season length is high, but the unimodal rainfall distribution is common for all miombo. Water is increasingly an issue of trade-off between different land uses and increasing demand on biomass production. This review gives a basic description of major components in the relations between tree cover and water in semi-arid landscapes. From this, in lack of relevant research within miombo landscapes, a scientifically based discussion is given on how future uses and management of these complex woodlands could serve in better management of scarce water resources and in what ways more research in these aspects could enlighten this discussion. It is concluded that, like for other semi-arid landscapes, there is need for understanding and developing more complex stand management to optimize biomass production and water use efficiency. At the same time climate change adaptation will add to this need of deepened biophysical process understandin

Exploring brand research in the social media sphere (guest blog)

If we were to map our online behaviour we would be presented with an interesting reflection of our offline lives. So it is only natural that companies are starting to leverage vast amounts of easily available end-user-generated content in order to get a good idea of real market trends. New research suggests that measuring that kind of ‘sentiment’ is getting more sophisticated. This report by Polis intern Faith Malmer

Reporting the riots – Paul Lewis at Polis LSE

Burning buildings, wrecked cars, raided shops, youths in hoodies wreaking havoc, and five deaths. These are the lasting images of the London Riots that went on virtually unchecked for four consecutive nights in August 2011, leaving Britain’s leaders and security forces stunned. The events were no less daunting for journalists intent on reporting the events. Singled out as targets, many were attacked for merely carrying a camera. Polis intern Faith Malmer reports on a lecture given as part of our free public Tuesday Media Agenda Talks by Paul Lewis at Polis/LSE on how he covered these extraordinary events in a cutting edge way

Workshop on good practices on increased accessibility of research/innovation infrastructure to industry for testing, demonstration and co-creation: Test beds as drivers for EU growth and innovation

From 30 November to 1 December 2017, a workshop discussing the role of test and demonstration facilities to drive innovation and growth was held in Gothenburg, Sweden. The event was co-organised by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries (Teknikföretagen) in collaboration with Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) under the JRC/TTO Circle network. The theme of the workshop was: “Good practices on increased accessibility of research/innovation infrastructure to industry for testing, demonstration and co-creation”. Panel debates and presentations took place, during which representatives from business, RTOs, academic institutions, the Swedish Government and the European Commission expressed their views. This brief report summarises the workshop’s main findings and sets out the way forward. The objectives of the workshop were to: Discuss how to develop a strategy for test and demonstration infrastructures at EU level, and how to integrate different kinds of infrastructures into attractive and leading global innovation environments. Review different approaches for business models, quality controls, IPR conditions, funding opportunities, etc., with a view to their potential harmonisation. Explore synergies with the ESFRI network. Look into In-Real-Life (IRL) test and demonstration sites, such as cities. Explore ways of open innovation partnerships, for example, collaboration between SMEs and larger corporations. Identify potential pilot activities within the framework of the Support to the TTO Circle network. Provide guidelines to the JRC on how to make their infrastructures more accessible for external use. The conclusions of the meeting will feed into the broader political debate on how to maximise the use of test and demonstration facilities in Europe in the run up to the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. In response to strategies on both regional and national levels, RISE and Teknikföretagen would like to see a comprehensive European strategy towards a “Test bed Europe” in the framework of EU, national and regional programmes. Such a strategy would encourage collaboration between business, the research environment and the public sector. It would also increase innovation and competitiveness and help the EU meet global challenges.JRC.I.4-Intellectual Property and Technology Transfe

The Aeronautical Laboratory of the Stockholm Technical Institute

This report presents a detailed analysis and history of the construction and operation of the aeronautical laboratory of the Stockholm Technical Institute. Engines and balances are discussed and experimental results are also given

Carbon sequestration in peatland: patterns and mechanisms of response to climate change

The response of peatlands to changes in the climatic water budget is crucial to predicting potential feedbacks on the global carbon (C) cycle. To gain insight on the patterns and mechanisms of response, we linked a model of peat accumulation to a model of peatland hydrology, then applied these models to empirical data spanning the past 5000 years for the large mire Store Mosse in southern Sweden. We estimated parameters for C sequestration and height growth by fitting the peat accumulation model to two age profiles. Then, we used independent reconstruction of climate wetness and model reconstruction of bog height to examine changes in peatland hydrology. Reconstructions of C sequestration showed two distinct patterns of behaviour: abrupt increases associated with major transitions in vegetation and dominant Sphagnum species (fuscum, rubellum-fuscum and magellanicum stages), and gradual decreases associated with increasing humification of newly formed peat. Carbon sequestration rate ranged from a minimum of 14 to a maximum of 72 g m(-2) yr(-1), with the most rapid changes occurring in the past 1000 years. Vegetation transitions were associated with periods of increasing climate wetness during which the hydrological requirement for increased seepage loss was met by rise of the water table closer to the peatland surface, with the indirect result of enhancing peat formation. Gradual decline in C sequestration within each vegetation stage resulted from enhanced litter decay losses from the near-surface layer. In the first two vegetation stages, peatland development (i.e., increasing surface gradient) and decreasing climate wetness drove a gradual increase in thickness of the unsaturated, near-surface layer, reducing seepage water loss and peat formation. In the most recent vegetation stage, the surface diverged into a mosaic of wet and dry microsites. Despite a steady increase in climate wetness, C sequestration declined rapidly. The complexity of response to climate change cautions against use of past rates to estimate current or to predict future rates of peatland C sequestration. Understanding interactions among hydrology, surface structure and peat formation are essential to predicting potential feedback on the global C cycle

Report from the project: Indigenous and local knowledge in a scoping study for a Nordic IPBES assessment

The recently established international body, IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Services) is in the next few years planning on doing regional assessments regarding the status and trends of biological diversity and ecosystem services. The purpose is to create the best possible conditions for future decision-making and in that context to involve different kinds of knowledge, also traditional knowledge. Traditional knowledge (indigenous and local knowledge), i.e. people’s practical, experience-based knowledge transferred from generation to generation, is considered to be an important prerequisite in conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity as well as in the development of a sustainable society. This report is the result of a study in order to develop a methodology regarding how a full and effective participation of traditional knowledge holders in a Nordic IPBES assessment ought to be achieved

Vulkanism : en fara för vår hälsa?

Det senaste århundradet har cirka 380 vulkaner varit aktiva. Vid vulkanisk aktivitet förs naturliga ämnen upp från jordens inre. Dessa ämnen kan sedan släppas ut i form av bland annat gaser och askor. De ämnen som frigörs kan ha en skadlig effekt på människors hälsa och orsaka både tillfälliga och kroniska åkommor. Partiklarnas farlighet beror bland annat på sammansättning, storleksfördelning, koncentration och exponeringstid. Dessa egenskaper kan variera kraftigt mellan olika vulkaner, men även mellan olika utbrott hos samma vulkan. Några av de vanligaste ämnena som finns i utsläppen är koldioxid, kiseldioxid, svavelgaser och halider. Det bor uppskattningsvis 500 miljoner människor i närheten av aktiva vulkaner. På grund av att emissionerna med vindar transporteras långa sträckor kan vulkanutbrott påverka även globalt. Partiklarna tar sig främst in i kroppen genom inandning, men kan även förgifta vatten och mat som sedan intas. Då emissionerna har potential att orsaka stor skada på det biologiska systemet är det av stor vikt att övervaka vulkaner för att minimera skador vid utbrott i så stor mån som möjligt.The last century approximately 380 volcanoes have been active. Volcanic activity brings up natural ele-ments from deep within the Earth. These elements can then be released into the atmosphere in the form of gases and ash, etc. The released elements may be harmful to humans and cause both temporary and chronic diseases. How hazardous the particles in the emissions are depends, among other things, on composition, size distribution, con-centration and exposure time. These features can vary markedly between different volcanoes, even eruptions from the same volcano can have different characteristics. Some of the most common elements in the emissions are car-bon dioxide, silica, sulfur gases and halides. Approximately 500 million people worldwide live close to active vol-canoes. Since the emissions are transported long distances by wind eruptions can also affect people globally. Par-ticles primarily enters the human body by inhalation, but can also be ingested through contaminated water and food. Since the emissions have potential to cause serious damage to the biological system it is important to monitor vol-canoes in order to minimize damages in case of eruption

Connecting diverse knowledge systems for enhanced ecosystem governance: The multiple evidence base approach

Indigenous and local knowledge systems aswell as practitioners’ knowledge can provide valid anduseful knowledge to enhance our understanding of governanceof biodiversity and ecosystems for human wellbeing.There is, therefore, a great need within emergingglobal assessment programs, such as the IPBES and otherinternational efforts, to develop functioning mechanismsfor legitimate, transparent, and constructive ways of creatingsynergies across knowledge systems. We present themultiple evidence base (MEB) as an approach that proposesparallels whereby indigenous, local and scientificknowledge systems are viewed to generate differentmanifestations of knowledge, which can generate newinsights and innovations through complementarities. MEBemphasizes that evaluation of knowledge occurs primarilywithin rather than across knowledge systems. MEB on aparticular issue creates an enriched picture of understanding,for triangulation and joint assessment ofknowledge, and a starting point for further knowledgegeneration