Waterbirds in a changing world : effects of climate, habitat and conservation policy on European waterbirds

Climate change has become a major threat for biodiversity in recent decades. Waterbirds, in particular, are very responsive to climate change compared to other avian species and have already shown changes in phenology and distribution. Such strong and rapid response of some species to climate change has motivated debate about the effectiveness of the site-safeguard network, as climate change may ultimately push species of conservation concern out of the protected areas. One such network, which aims to protect all European bird species, is the Special Protection Area (SPA), designated under the EU Birds Directive. My thesis overviews the most important environmental factors acting upon Nordic waterbird populations now and in the future. In addition, I studied (i) the spatial changes in wintering abundances of 25 waterbird species in Europe in relation to weather conditions, (ii) the effectiveness of the SPA network delivering climate change adaptation for a protected waterbird species and (iii) the effects of weather conditions and habitat type on the abundance of 17 waterbird species breeding in Finland. Results show differential response of 25 waterbird species (classified into five guilds) to inter-annual variation in weather conditions. The centre of gravity in abundance of dabbling ducks, diving ducks, swans and other waterbird species (non-Anatidae) moved southwestwards in cold winters. On the other hand, only the centre of gravity in abundance of dabbling and diving ducks moved northeastwards in warm, and a priori beneficial, winter weather conditions. In this case, diving ducks responded the fastest. There was no link between the movement of the centre of gravity in abundance of geese with winter weather conditions. These differences in responses to weather conditions are probably related to different food and habitat requirements during winter as well as to life-history traits. Furthermore, while the centre of gravity in abundance of diving ducks showed a steadily long-term shift northeastwards over the past three decades, that of other waterbird species shifted southwestwards in recent years probably due to several consecutive cold winters. Dabbling ducks, swans and geese did not show long-term shifts. A detailed study about the wintering distribution of the smew Megellus albellus supports the above-mentioned findings and shows that the wintering numbers of this protected diving duck in the northeastern part of the wintering range increased from 6% of the total wintering population in the early 1990s to 32% in the early 2010s. In this context of climate-driven redistribution of wintering waterbirds, the EU s SPA network facilitated the redistribution of wintering smew towards the northeast: smew wintering numbers increased twice as fast inside than outside SPAs. However, results also pinpointed big gaps in the SPA network in north European countries, as most of the individuals winter outside the network in Sweden (79%) and Finland (95%). This findings call for an urgent assessment of the network in northern Europe, where wintering numbers are rapidly increasing. Furthermore, due to the high flexibility in migration of this and other waterbirds according to current weather conditions, it is of paramount importance to maintain a cohesive and coherent site-safeguard network throughout the flyway, including cold weather refuge sites. Lastly, the abundance of waterbird species breeding in Finland was higher after mild winters in western and northern Europe likely due to improved survival. This beneficial effect of mild weather conditions was more apparent in eutrophic wetlands than in oligotrophic ones. However, my analysis of population trends in different habitat types revealed faster population declines in wetlands surrounded by agricultural and urban areas, possibly due to hyper-eutrophication processes that renders such wetlands unsuitable for waterbirds to breed. These findings suggest that the impact decreased habitat quality can overcome the positive effects of milder winters and cause populations to decline.Ilmastonmuutoksesta on tullut merkittävä uhka luonnon monimuotoisuudelle. Vesilinnuilla on osoitettu ilmaston aiheuttamia muutoksia fenologiassa ja levinneisyydessä, ja ne reagoivat voimakkaammin muuttuvaan ilmastoon kuin monet muut lintulajiryhmät. Nopeat muutokset ovat käynnistäneet keskustelun suojelualueverkoston toimivuudesta ilmaston ja lajien levinneisyysalueiden muuttuessa, sillä ilmastonmuutos voi työntää suojeltavan lajin levinneisyyden suojelualueiden ulkopuolelle. Euroopan Unionin lintudirektiivin perusteella rauhoitetut SPA-alueet (Special Protection Areas) muodostavat merkittävän suojelualueverkoston. Väitöskirjani koostuu neljästä osatyöstä ja näiden yhteenvedosta. Ensimmäinen osatyöni käsittelee tärkeimpiä Pohjoismaiden sorsakantoihin nyt ja tulevaisuudessa vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Loput kolme osatyötäni tarkastelevat (i) vesilintujen talvipopulaatioiden muutoksia Euroopassa 25 vesilintulajilla viime vuosikymmeninä, (ii) EU:n suojelualueverkoston tehokkuutta sopeutua vesilintujen talviaikaisiin levinneisyysmuutoksiin ja (iii) säätekijöiden sekä elinympäristön laadun yhteisvaikutusta 17 vesilintulajin pesimäpopulaatioihin Suomessa. Tulokset osoittavat, että viiteen vesilintukiltaan jaetut 25 vesilintulajia reagoivat eri tavalla talven sääolojen vaihteluun. Puolisukeltaja- ja sukeltajasorsien ja joutsenten talviset runsauden painopisteet siirtyivät kohti lounasta kylminä talvina, mutta keskimääräistä lämpiminä talvina painopiste siirtyi kohti koillista vain puolisukeltaja- ja sukeltajasorsilla. Sukeltajasorsat olivat ainoa ryhmä, jolla talvirunsauden painopiste on siirtynyt kohti koillista viimeisen 25 vuoden aikana. Alueelliset muutokset lajien talvirunsauden muutoksista ja niiden yhteys talven sääoloihin riippunevat lajiryhmien ravinto- ja elinympäristövaatimuksista. Erillinen tarkastelu EU:n lintudirektiivin erityissuojellulla sukeltajasorsalajilla, uivelolla, osoitti, että Pohjois-Euroopassa talvehtivien lintujen osuus koko talvikannasta on kasvanut 6 %:sta 32:een vuosina 1990 2011. Tulokset viittaavat, että EU:n suojelualueverkosto tukee lajin levittäytymistä kohti pohjoista, sillä Pohjois-Euroopassa talvikanta kasvoi lähes kaksi kertaa nopeammin EU:n SPA-alueilla. Tutkimukseni kuitenkin paljasti, että osassa Pohjois-Euroopan maissa lajin suojelutilanne on heikko: SPA-alueiden ulkopuolella talvehtivien lintujen osuus oli Ruotsissa 79 % ja Suomessa peräti 95 %. Tulosten perusteella suojelualueen kattavuutta tulisi päivittää säännöllisesti etenkin pohjoisilla alueilla, sillä ilmastonmuutoksen myötä lajien levinneisyysalueet ja runsaudet muuttuvat. Koska kylmät talvet työntävät vesilintuja talvehtimaan eteläisille alueille, eteläisten alueiden suojelu on edelleen tärkeää suojelualueverkoston joustavuuden kannalta. Viimeisessä osatyössäni selvitin, että vesilintulajilla pesimäkannat kasvoivat leutojen talvien jälkeen todennäköisesti parantuneen hengissäsäilyvyyden takia. Tämä leutojen talvien suotuisa vaikutus oli voimakkaampaa rehevillä kosteikoilla kuin karuilla vesillä. Elinympäristökohtainen tarkasteluni kuitenkin paljasti, että vesilinnut taantuivat kaikkein voimakkaimmin maatalousympäristöjen ja taajamien läheisillä kosteikoilla, todennäköisesti liiallisen rehevöitymisen takia. Tulokset osoittavat, että heikentynyt elinympäristön laatu voi kumota leudontuneen ilmaston positiiviset vaikutukset

Effects of flyway-wide weather conditions and breeding habitat on the breeding abundance of migratory boreal waterbirds

Anthropogenic habitat loss and climate change are among the major threats to biodiversity. Bioclimatic zones such as the boreal and arctic regions are undergoing rapid environmental change, which will likely trigger changes in wildlife communities. Disentangling the effects of different drivers of environmental change on species is fundamental to better understand population dynamics under changing conditions. Therefore, in this study we investigate the synergistic effect of winter and summer weather conditions and habitat type on the abundance of 17 migratory boreal waterbird species breeding in Finland using three decades (1986–2015) of count data. We found that above-average temperatures and precipitations across the western and northern range of the wintering grounds have a positive impact on breeding numbers in the following season, particularly for waterbirds breeding in eutrophic wetlands. Conversely, summer temperatures did not seem to affect waterbird abundance. Moreover, waterbird abundance was higher in eutrophic than in oligotrophic wetlands, but long term trends indicated that populations are decreasing faster in eutrophic than in oligotrophic wetlands. Our results suggest that global warming may apparently benefit waterbirds, e.g. by increased winter survival due to more favourable winter weather conditions. However, the observed population declines, particularly in eutrophic wetlands, may also indicate that the quality of breeding habitat is rapidly deteriorating through increased eutrophication in Finland which override the climatic effects. The findings of this study highlight the importance of embracing a holistic approach, from the level of a single catchment up to the whole flyway, in order to effectively address the threats that waterbirds face on their breeding as well as wintering groundsPeer reviewe

Assessing the effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention in preserving wintering waterbirds in the Mediterranean

lthough biological conservation is based on international agreements, its effectiveness depends on how countries implement such recommendations as effective conservation tools. The Ramsar Convention is the oldest international treaty for wetland and waterbird conservation, establishing the world's largest network of protected areas. However, since it does not constitute any binding measure, its effectiveness in protecting wintering waterbird populations at an international scale has been questioned. Here, we use long-term (1991–2012) count data to assess the effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention in the Mediterranean Basin. We compared abundance and temporal trends of 114 waterbird species between 251 Ramsar wetlands and 3486 non-Ramsar wetlands. We found that the Ramsar network is critical for wintering waterbirds, concentrating nearly half of all waterbirds counted in the Mediterranean Basin in only 7% of monitored wetlands. Waterbird trends followed a northwestsoutheast gradient, with a population decrease in the East. A significant and positive Ramsar effect on population trends was only found for the species of higher conservation concern in the Maghreb, particularly when a management plan was implemented. The Ramsar Convention was previously used on very important wetlands for waterbirds in Southern Europe, but is now an underused conservation tool. Our study suggests weaknesses in the use of Ramsar as an effective conservation tool in most of the Mediterranean Basin. However, the Ramsar Convention effectiveness to enhance waterbird populations in the Maghreb should encourage strengthening the Ramsar Convention. It should be done particularly in countries with limited environmental agreements and by systematic implementation of management plans. Conservation measures International conventions Protected areas Protection status Monitoring WetlandsacceptedVersio

The future distribution of wetland birds breeding in Europe validated against observed changes in distribution

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.Wetland bird species have been declining in population size worldwide as climate warming and land-use change affect their suitable habitats. We used species distribution models (SDMs) to predict changes in range dynamics for 64 non-passerine wetland birds breeding in Europe, including range size, position of centroid, and margins. We fitted the SDMs with data collected for the first European Breeding Bird Atlas and climate and land-use data to predict distributional changes over a century (the 1970s-2070s). The predicted annual changes were then compared to observed annual changes in range size and range centroid over a time period of 30 years using data from the second European Breeding Bird Atlas. Our models successfully predicted ca. 75% of the 64 bird species to contract their breeding range in the future, while the remaining species (mostly southerly breeding species) were predicted to expand their breeding ranges northward. The northern margins of southerly species and southern margins of northerly species, both, predicted to shift northward. Predicted changes in range size and shifts in range centroids were broadly positively associated with the observed changes, although some species deviated markedly from the predictions. The predicted average shift in core distributions was ca. 5 km yr-1 towards the north (5% northeast, 45% north, and 40% northwest), compared to a slower observed average shift of ca. 3.9 km yr-1. Predicted changes in range centroids were generally larger than observed changes, which suggests that bird distribution changes may lag behind environmental changes leading to 'climate debt'. We suggest that predictions of SDMs should be viewed as qualitative rather than quantitative outcomes, indicating that care should be taken concerning single species. Still, our results highlight the urgent need for management actions such as wetland creation and restoration to improve wetland birds' resilience to the expected environmental changes in the future.Peer reviewe

Protected area characteristics that help waterbirds respond to climate warming

Protected area networks help species respond to climate warming. However, the contribution of a site's environmental and conservation-relevant characteristics to these responses is not well understood. We investigated how composition of nonbreeding waterbird communities (97 species) in the European Union Natura 2000 (N2K) network (3018 sites) changed in response to increases in temperature over 25 years in 26 European countries. We measured community reshuffling based on abundance time series collected under the International Waterbird Census relative to N2K sites' conservation targets, funding, designation period, and management plan status. Waterbird community composition in sites explicitly designated to protect them and with management plans changed more quickly in response to climate warming than in other N2K sites. Temporal community changes were not affected by the designation period despite greater exposure to temperature increase inside late-designated N2K sites. Sites funded under the LIFE program had lower climate-driven community changes than sites that did not received LIFE funding. Our findings imply that efficient conservation policy that helps waterbird communities respond to climate warming is associated with sites specifically managed for waterbirds

Distribution changes, species richness and the role of protected areas in Europe and Northern Africa. The case study of waterbirds

Evidence is accumulating that avian species, and particularly waterbirds, are responding to anthropogenic pressure and climate change by, inter alia, changing their distributions, both in the breeding and non-breeding season. This ongoing process raise a question about the effectiveness of the current network of protected areas delivering climate change adaptation for waterbird species at larger scale than individual countries. To improve the knowledge concerning this topic, we analysed 26 years of data on wintering waterbirds (International Waterbird Census) across 44 countries in Europe and Africa. Specifically, our goals were (1) to test if the winter abundances of 166 species have changed during the past three decades across the two most important flyways in Europe and northern Africa, (2) to study whether such long-term trends in wintering numbers differed between protected and unprotected areas (SPAs, RAMSAR) and between IBAs and non-IBAs, (3) to assess potential changes in species richness (i.e. number of species) over the study period in the northeastern, central and southwestern part of the flyways, and (4) to compare whether changes in richness is linked to the amount of protected land in each region. The results of the analyses will be discussed.peerReviewe

Positive impacts of important bird and biodiversity areas on wintering waterbirds under changing temperatures throughout Europe and North Africa

Migratory waterbirds require an effectively conserved cohesive network of wetland areas throughout their range and life-cycle. Under rapid climate change, protected area (PA) networks need to be able to accommodate climate-driven range shifts in wildlife if they are to continue to be effective in the future. Thus, we investigated geographical variation in the relationship between local temperature anomaly and the abundance of 61 waterbird species during the wintering season across Europe and North Africa during 1990–2015. We also compared the spatio-temporal effects on abundance of sites designated as PAs, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), both, or neither designation (Unlisted). Waterbird abundance was positively correlated with temperature anomaly, with this pattern being strongest towards north and east Europe. Waterbird abundance was higher inside IBAs, whether they were legally protected or not. Trends in waterbird abundance were also consistently more positive inside both protected and unprotected IBAs across the whole study region, and were positive in Unlisted wetlands in southwestern Europe and North Africa. These results suggest that IBAs are important sites for wintering waterbirds, but also that populations are shifting to unprotected wetlands (some of which are IBAs). Such IBAs may therefore represent robust candidate sites to expand the network of legally protected wetlands under climate change in north-eastern Europe. These results underscore the need for monitoring to understand how the effectiveness of site networks is changing under climate change. © 2020 The Author

Norsk hekkefuglovervåking systemdokumentasjon. Overordnet beskrivelse av database, web-portaler, arkitektur og dataflyt.

Vang, R., Stokke, B.G., Kålås, J.A., Berge, S.E. & Pavón-Jordán, D. 2023. Norsk hekkefuglovervåking systemdokumentasjon. Overordnet beskrivelse av database, web-portaler, arkitektur og dataflyt. NINA Rapport 2230. Norsk institutt for naturforskning. Som en del av arbeidet med ivaretakelse av biologisk mangfold i Norge overvåkes hekkebestander av terrestriske fuglearter i et nettverk av lokaliteter fordelt over hele Norge (Framstad & Kålås 2001). Prosjektet «Norsk hekkefuglovervåking» (tidligere TOV-E) startet i 2005, og i perioden 2005-2010 ledet BirdLife Norge og NINA arbeidet med å etablere takseringsnettverket over hele landet. For å forenkle datainnsamlingen og for å holde oversikt over dataene, besluttet man tidlig at man ville utvikle en database og en infrastruktur for å legge inn og kvalitetssikre data via Internett. Denne rapporten beskriver infrastrukturen som er utviklet i samarbeid mellom BirdLife Norge og NINA, både på konseptuelt og teknisk nivå. Innledningsvis beskrives selve databasen med de forskjellige tabeller, databasevisninger, lagrede prosedyrer og funksjoner som er i bruk av webapplikasjonene. Hvert databaseobjekt beskrives i lys av hvilken funksjon det har i webapplikasjonene. Det er utviklet to ulike webapplikasjoner i prosjektet. Den første som er beskrevet (kapittel 3) er den som benyttes av deltagerne i hekkefugltakseringen, der de a) har tilgang på alt de trenger av materiell til å gjennomføre de årlige takseringene, og b) rapporterer resultatene. I tillegg finnes et administrasjonsgrensesnitt for regionledere og administrator for å planlegge årets sesong, tildele ruter, kvalitetssikre registreringer og godkjenne eller underkjenne takseringer. Hvilken tilgang og funksjonalitet brukeren har i webgrensesnittet styres via brukerroller. Den andre webapplikasjonen som er utviklet mot databasen til Norsk hekkefuglovervåking er en innsynsløsning som er åpent tilgjengelig for alle uten innlogging. Rapporten inneholder også informasjon om hvordan flere språk er implementert i webapplikasjonen for feltpersonellet, hvilke vurderinger som er gjort i forbindelse med personverforordningen GDPR og ekstern bruk av dataene fra Norsk hekkefuglovervåking. I tillegg er det inkludert en oversikt over hvilke faste årlige aktiviteter som utføres i forbindelse med drift og vedlikehold av databasen til prosjektet

Forskningskart på vindkraft – en pilotstudie. Vindkraftens påvirkninger på fugl og cybersikkerhet i drift av vindkraft

Nilsson, A.L.K, Skytterholm, A.N., Frassinelli, F., Jaatun, M.G., Vang, R., Pavón-Jordán, D., May, R.F. & Stokke, B.G. 2023. Forskningskart på vindkraft – en pilotstudie. Vindkraftens påvirkninger på fugl og cybersikkerhet i drift av vindkraft. NINA Rapport 2206. Norsk institutt for naturforskning. Et forskningskart er en grafisk oversikt over et forskningsfelt som viser hvor mye forskning som finnes på feltet, og hvor kunnskapen eventuelt er mangelfull. Her beskriver vi fremgangsmåten for å lage et forskningskart, samt demonstrerer forskningskartet for to ulike fagområder: “vindkraftens påvirkninger på fugl” og “vindkraft og cybersikkerhet”. For å hente ut all relevant litteratur til forskningskartet over vindkraftens påvirkning på fugl gjorde vi litteratursøk med søketermer definert ut fra standarden til fullverdige systematiske litteratursøk, der man tar utgangspunkt i en gjennomarbeidet problemstilling. Metoden er kalt PICO (Populasjon, Intervention, Comparator og Outcome) og bidrar til å generere spørsmål som gjør det enklere å finne frem til all tilgjengelig litteratur innenfor det definerte spørsmålet: hvilken effekt har vindkraft på fugl? For fugl gjorde vi søk i ISI Web of Science og Google Scholar (heretter forkortet WoS og GS), for å dekke vitenskapelig litteratur, så vel som rapporter og annen “grålitteratur”, på engelsk, norsk og svensk. GS tillater kun en kortere søkestreng sammenlignet med WoS, noe som begrenset antallet mulige søketermer. I tillegg kompletterte vi litteratursøkene ved å inkorporere litteratur fra kunnskapsbasen Tethys, som også inneholder en database over vitenskapelige arbeider innenfor påvirkninger av vindkraft på miljøet, inkludert fugl. Sammen med søk i WoS og GS, utgjør dette en formidabel oversikt over dagens kunnskapsstatus om hvordan vindkraft påvirker fugl. For å søke i GS og håndtere dataene fra de ulike databasene brukte vi programvaren R med ulike tilleggsprogramvarer, såkalte pakker. Selv om GS inneholder viktig litteratur, er den ikke designet for systematiske litteratursøk, og derfor brukte vi pakken ‘GSscraper’ for å søke og hente ut dataene. Deretter lastet vi inn alle datafilene, kombinerte dem til en fil, sorterte ut duplikater og eksporterte filen i et format som kunne brukes videre for å lage forskningskartet. Vindparker er gjerne driftet og fjernstyrt fra lokasjoner i Norge og utlandet, og bruk av digital teknologi eksponerer dem for cyberangrep. Forskningskartet for cybersikkerhet i drift av vindkraft skal bidra til at NVE kan holde god oversikt over forskning på området, og identifisere hvor forskningen er mangelfull. For cybersikkerhet var hovedfokuset i starten av prosjektet å få på plass kategorier til forskningskartet som dekker området cybersikkerhet i drift av vindkraft. Kategoriene ble utarbeidet i flere omganger gjennom møter med NVE, og de er blant annet basert på områder nevnt i utlysningen til NVE. Søkestrengene som ble laget for cybersikkerhet i drift av vindkraft er basert på de utarbeidede kategoriene. Vi gjorde litteratursøk i Scopus, GS og Cristin for å dekke både vitenskapelige artikler, rapporter og grålitteratur, og søkestrengene er tilpasset de enkelte databasene. Cristin ble brukt da vi manglet en tilsvarende ressurs som Tethys for cybersikkerhet, men som det beskrives under var resultatene ved bruk av Cristin nedslående. Det var også et ønske fra NVE at relevante reguleringer og standarder kunne legges til i forskningskartet, og i denne versjonen av forskningskartet må disse legges til manuelt i bibliografi-filen. En bibliografi-fil genereres fra henholdsvis Scopus og Cristin ved hjelp av et API og Python skript for hver av databasene. I likhet med for fugl, har vi for GS brukt ‘GSscraper’ for å hente ut en fil med søketreff som konverteres til riktig bibliografi-format ved hjelp av et Python-skript. Bibliografi-filene for alle databasene legges deretter i en mappe, og et annet Python-skript brukes for å slå disse sammen og fjerne duplikater, noe som resulterer i den endelige bibliografi-filen som mates inn i forskningskartet. Bibliografi-filene ble konvertert til en SQLite database og ble deretter tagget etter et sett med regler gjennom å bruke et fulltekst-søk-databasespråk på SQLite. Den ferdige databasen ble delt via en webapplikasjon gjennom å bruke programvaren Datasette. Ulike spørsmål definerer de ulike delene av forskningskartet, som er bygget med hjelp av Vega-Lite. Forskningskartene finnes på: https://forskningskart-nve.nina.no. Vanskeligheten med å formulere treffsikre søkestrenger varierte mellom de utvalgte fagområdene i dette prosjektet, og er noe som må vurderes nøye når den utviklede metoden tas i bruk på nye forskningsfelt. Fremtidige, fullverdige forskningskart bør utvides med litteratursøk på flere språk, evaluering av hvor godt søkene treffer relevant litteratur, samt komplettering av litteratur som mangler unik ID i form av “doi”. Den valgte metoden for å lage selve kartet viste seg å fungere godt uavhengig av fagområde, og kartene kan relativt enkelt oppdateres med ny litteratur gjennom å følge metodikken beskrevet i denne rapporten. Vi konkluderer med at til tross for de identifiserte svakhetene i pilotstudien, gir de produserte forskningskartene en god oversikt over forskningsfeltene for vindkraftens påvirkninger på fugl og cybersikkerhet i drift av vindkraftanlegg.Nilsson, A.L.K, Skytterholm, A.N., Frassinelli, F., Jaatun, M.G., Vang, R., Pavón-Jordán, D., May, R.F. & Stokke, B.G. 2023. Research map on wind power – a pilot study. Effects of wind power on birds and cyber security. NINA Report 2206. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. A research map is a graphical illustration of a field of research and demonstrates the state-of-the-art within each subfield, and which fields we should direct more research efforts into. This report documents how we developed research maps for the effects of wind power on birds, and cyber security in wind power projects, respectively. To compile all relevant literature for the research map on wind power effects on birds, we defined search terms after the PICO-method (Population, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcome), commonly used in systematic literature searches. This contributes to defining a specific question used to accumulate all relevant literature within the defined question, in this case: What is the effect of wind power on birds? For birds, we searched the ISI Web of Science and Google Scholar (hereafter WoS and GS, respectively), to cover the scientific as well as the non-scientific literature in English, Norwegian and Swedish. GS only allows short search strings, reducing the number of search terms that can be included. In addition, we complemented the literature searches with the addition of the wind power knowledge base Tethys, which contains a database of scientific works on wind power effects on birds. Together with the searches in WoS and GS, this comprises a comprehensible overview of the current state-of-the-art. To search for literature in GS and handle the different data sources, we used the open software R with add-on packages. GS is a valuable source, but it is not designed for easy access to successful hits. We, therefore, used the ‘GSscraper’ to search for and retrieve literature from GS. Then we compiled all the data in R, deduplicated it and exported in a bib-format for the research map. Wind farms are often operated and controlled remotely from abroad. This operational concept, in combination with the use of digital technology, makes wind farms exposed to cyberattacks. The research map on cybersecurity in wind farm operations provides NVE with a good overview of relevant research and helps to identify topics where research is lacking. For cybersecurity, the main focus at the beginning of the project was to identify the main categories of the research map that covers the area of cybersecurity in wind farm operations. The categories were developed through several iterations in collaboration with NVE and also based on requirements stated in the NVE call for tender. The search strings used for cybersecurity in wind farm operations are based on the developed categories. We conducted literature searches in Scopus, GS and Cristin to cover academic literature, reports and grey literature, and the search strings were adjusted to the specific databases. Cristin was used partly due to the fact that we lacked an equivalent resource to Tethys for cyber security, but the results from use of Cristin were inconclusive. NVE also wanted relevant regulations and standards to be included in the map, and in this version of the research map, these topics must be added manually to the bibliography-file. A bibliography-file is generated from Sco-pus and Cristin with the use of an API and a Python-script for each of the databases. For GS we have used ‘GSscraper’ to retrieve a .csv-file. The .csv-file is converted to the correct bibliography format by using a Python script. The bibliography files from all the databases can then be added to a folder, and another Python script can be used to merge these files together and remove duplicates. This gives us the final bibliography file that is fed into the research map. The bibliography files are then converted to an SQLite database and tags are added based on a set of rules by taking advantage of the full-text search query syntax of SQLite. The resulting database is shared with a web application using Datasette and queried to produce the maps that are created on-the-fly using Vega-Lite. The maps can be found at: https://forskningskart-nve.nina.no. The difficulty of developing search strings varied between research fields, and this needs to be accounted for in further applications of the methods in new areas of research. Future, full-scale research maps should preferably be extended to literature searches in more languages, careful evaluation of the relevance of the captured literature, and supplemented with searches for missing doi’s. When applied, the developed map application illustrated equally well the two different fields of research. Moreover, the research maps can easily be updated with new literature by adhering to the methodology described. Despite the weaknesses of the pilot study, the resulting research maps offer a comprehensive overview of the research fields wind power effects on birds and cyber security in wind power, respectively

Forvaltningsrelevant bruk av akustikk for overvåking av norsk natur II

Rosten, C. M., Bick, I. A., Cretois, B., Fremstad, J., Gelderblom, F.B., Pavón-Jordán, D., Reinen, T. A., Sethi, S. S. & Wiel, J. 2023. Forvaltningsrelevant bruk av akustikk for overvåking av norsk natur II. NINA Rapport 2215. Norsk institutt for naturforskning. Akustisk naturovervåking blir i økende grad brukt i forsknings- og forvaltningssammenheng, både i Norge og internasjonalt. Utvikling av sensorteknologi gjør at disse kan logge og sende data i sanntid over flere måneder uten tilsyn. Automatisering av analysemetoder betyr at mange tusentalls timer av data kan analysers i løpet av kort tid. Dette gjør at metoden er klar til å ta i bruk for naturovervåking. I denne rapporten presenterer vi for første gang prosjektet Sound of Norway 2022, som i år er utført i samarbeid med prosjektet Norsk hekkefuglovervåking. Så vidt vi kjenner til, er dette det første eksempelet på et landsdekkende autonomt akustisk overvåkingsnett med stor geografisk spredning i Norge. Tretti enheter ble installert i åtte klynger med stor geografisk spredning i Norge på lokaliteter undersøkt av Norsk hekkefuglovervåking. Det akustiske nettverket var aktivt fra mars til november 2022 og samlet inn totalt 76 746 timer med lydopptak. Lyddataene ble lastet opp direkte fra lydloggerne over en mobil internettforbindelse og analysert i sanntid ved hjelp av en modell for deteksjon av fuglevokalisering (BirdNET). Basert på ekspertvalidering har vi per nå godkjent 61 fuglearter for bruk i automatisert identifikasjon fra våre datasett. Kravet er et presisjonsnivå på over 80 %. Vi valgte ut tre lokaliteter, én i Nord-, én Midt- og én Sør-Norge for å illustrere hvordan kontinuerlig akustisk overvåking kan komplementere Norsk hekkefuglovervåking ved å vurdere mønstre og oppdage tilstedeværelse av mindre vanlige arter. Data fra disse tre lokalitetene illustrerer ankomst og forekomst av trekkende arter om våren og framover sommeren. Basert på lydata kunne vi se at antall arter økte først i sør, deretter i Midt-Norge og til slutt i nord. Toppen i artsrikdom ble observert fra lyddata i sør i slutten av september. Dette tyder på at systemene detekterte nordlige arter som migrerer gjennom de sørlige områdene. Vi valgte to arter; bjørkefink (Fringilla montifringilla) og granmeis (Poecile montanus) for analyse i rapporten. Bjørkefink som er en trekkende art med begrenset hekkeutbredelse i Fennoskandia og Nord-Sibir, ble påvist på alle tre lokalitetene, først i sør, deretter i Midt-Norge og til slutt i nord. Norsk hekkefuglovervåking har som mål å dokumentere endringer i antall par i hekkeområdet over tid for mer vanlige fuglearter i Norge. Bjørkefink ble ikke registrert i 2022 i den sørlige loka-liteten som er utenfor hekkeområdet, men den ble derimot registrert i sitt hekkeområde lenger nord. Dette er et godt eksempel på at selv om Norsk hekkefuglovervåking når sitt mål om å registrere vanlige arter i hekkeområdet sitt kan tilleggsinformasjon om fenologi fra kontinuerlig akustisk overvåking tilføre noe. For eksempel ser vi at granmeis, som er en rødlistet art kategorisert som sårbar (VU) i Norge, ble oppdaget på alle tre lokalitetene ved bruk av kontinuerlig akustisk overvåking. Denne arten ble ikke registrert i Norsk hekkefuglovervåking i 2022 da den ikke er blant de vanlige hekkefuglene i målgruppen. Dette er et eksempel på at komplementær informasjon fra kontinuerlig akustisk overvåking i noen tilfeller kan hjelpe til med å oppdage sjeldne eller vanskelig oppdagbare arter både i og utenfor hekkeområdet. Både punkt- og linjetransekter brukt i Norsk hekkefuglovervåking, og akustisk overvåking har fordeler innenfor sine bruksområder. De vil gjensidig styrke hverandre og potensielt gi et bredere overvåkningsresultat. Naturen påvirkes stadig mer av menneskelig aktivitet, og motorferdsel er en aktivitet som det hittil har vært vanskelig å dokumentere. Det gjelder både antall kjøretøyer og kontroll med hvem som kjører ulovlig med snøskuter og ATV-er i terrenget. Motorferdsel kan forstyrre dyreliv direkte på grunn av støy, eller indirekte gjennom at mennesker tar seg inn i områder det vanligvis oppholder seg få eller ingen personer. Kjøretøyene kan også forårsake skader på terrenget. Akustisk overvåking kan tilby en løsning for å dokumentere motorferdsel i naturen. NINA og SINTEF (Akustikkgruppa ved SINTEF Digital) har utviklet en modell som oppdager snøskutere ved hjelp av maskinlæring av lydopptak fra naturen. Modellen viste døgntrender i snøskutertrafikk fra lydopptak gjort i Yellowstone National Park, USA og skilte mellom trafikkerte snøskuterspor og områder uten snøskutertrafikk. Ved bruk av BirdNET og snøskuterdetektoren i det samme datasettet, viser vi responsen hos fugler på snøskuterpassering. Modellen kan brukes på undersøkelser av snøskuterbruk og snøskuteres påvirkning på naturen, men også tilpasses til å overvåke andre motorkjøretøy. Til slutt presenterer vi dagens status for akustisk naturovervåking og gir klare anbefalinger for hvordan akustisk overvåking best kan bidra til norsk naturforvaltning i dag. Disse inkluderer: (1) Fortsatt samkjøring av prosjektene Sound of Norway og Norsk hekkefuglovervåking over flere år, (2) Fokusere på arter som er sjeldne, fremmede eller vanskelig å oppdage, (3) Iverksette måling av menneskelig påvirkning på naturen gjennom motorferdsel i eksisterende naturovervåkingsprosjekter, (4) Utvikle og teste et system for varsling av ulovlig motorferdsel i naturen i sanntid og (5) Kartlegge fritidsbruk av naturen.Rosten, C. M., Bick, I. A., Cretois, B., Fremstad, J., Gelderblom, F.B., Pavón-Jordán, D.,Reinen, T. A., Sethi, S. S. & Wiel, J. 2023. Management-relevant applications of acoustic monitoring for Norwegian nature II. NINA Report 2215. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Acoustic nature monitoring is increasingly used in research and management contexts, both in Norway and internationally. The development of sensor technology allows audio devices to log and send data in real time over several months without supervision. Automation of analytical methods means that many tens of thousands of hours of data can be analyzed in a short period of time. This means that the method can now be applied to nature monitoring on a national scale. In this report we first present the Sound of Norway project 2022, which this year aligned with the Norwegian Breeding Bird Survey. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a nationwide autonomous acoustic monitoring network, covering the full latitude and longitude of Norway. Thirty devices were installed in eight clusters across Norway on sites surveyed by the Norwegian Breeding Bird Survey. The network ran from March to November 2022 gathering in total 76 746 hours of audio data. Audio data were uploaded directly from the field over a mobile internet link and analysed in real-time using a bird vocalisation detection model (BirdNET). Based on expert validation, we have now approved 61 bird species with precision over 80 % for use in automated classification from our datasets. We selected three sites, one in the north, one in the centre and one in the south of Norway to illustrate how continuous acoustic monitoring can complement the Norwegian Breeding Bird Survey by assessing patterns and detecting presence of less common species. Data from these three sites illustrate the onset of spring and influx of migratory species. Species richness based on vocalisations increased first in the south, so in the centre, finally rising in the north. The peak was short lived in the north, extending in duration towards the south. A second peak in species diversity was seen in the south in late September, suggesting that the systems picked up on northern species migrating through. Two species, the brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) and the willow tit (Poecile montanus) were selected for further analysis. The brambling, a migratory species with a restricted breeding distribution to Fennoscandia and northern Siberia, was detected on all three sites. Again, detections followed the migration of the species with first detection in the south, then centre and finally in the north. Based on the timing of the Norwegian Breeding Bird Survey transect sampling, the transect in the south did not record the brambling. However, they were recorded within their breeding range further north. This is a good example of additional information on phenology that continuous acoustic monitoring could bring to the Norwegian Breeding Bird Survey. The willow tit, a red-listed species categorised as Vulnerable in Norway was again detected at all three sites by continous acoustic monitoring. Based on timing of the transect the willow tit was missed during the Norwegian Breeding Bird Survey sampling. Since the Norwegian Breeding Bird Survey aims to monitor common terrestrial breeding birds, it is not unexpected that this species went unrecorded. This is however, a good example of complimentary information continuous acoustic monitoring can bring on rare, and difficult to detect species. Nature is increasingly affected by human activity, and motor traffic is an area that has so far been difficult to document and control. Motor traffic can disturb wildlife directly through noise or indirectly by people entering remote areas usually without human presence. Vehicle use (e.g. ATV) can also cause terrain damage. In addition, illegal driving with snowmobiles and ATVs in the terrain is very difficult to detect and document. Acoustic monitoring can offer a solution for documenting motor traffic in nature. We developed a model that detects snowmobiles using machine learning of sound recordings from nature. The model demonstrated diurnal trends in snowmobile traffic from audio recordings made at Yellowstone National Park, USA and distinguished between busy snowmobile tracks and those with no snowmobile traffic. Using both BirdNET and the snowmobile detector on the same data set, we show the response of birds to snowmobiles passing. The model can be applied to investigations of snowmobile use and impact on the nature of snowmobiles, but also adapted to detect other motor vehicles. Finally, we present the current status of acoustic nature monitoring and provide clear recommendations for how acoustic monitoring can best contribute to Norwegian nature management today. These include: (1) Continued aligned cooperation of the Sound of Norway and Norwegian Breeding Bird Monitoring projects over several years, (2) Focus on rare, alien and difficult to detect species, (3) Implement measurement of human impact on nature through motor traffic in existing nature monitoring projects, (4) Develop and test a system for warning of illegal motor traffic in nature in real time and (5) Map recreational use of nature.Miljødirektoratet: M-2457|202