Index Measuring Land Use Intensity—A Gradient‐Based Approach

To monitor the changes in the landscape, and to relate these to ecological processes, we need robust and reproducible methods for quantifying the changes in landscape patterns. The main aim of this study is to present, exemplify and discuss a gradient‐based index of land use intensity. This index can easily be calculated from spatial data that are available for most areas and may therefore have a wide applicability. Further, the index is adapted for use based on official data sets and can thus be used directly in decision‐making at different levels. The index in its basic form consists of two parts where the first is based on the data of buildings and roads and the second of infrastructure land cover. We compared the index with two frequently used ‘wilderness indices’ in Norway called INON and the Human Footprint Index. Our index captures important elements of infrastructure in more detailed scales than the other indices. A particularly attractive feature of the index is that it is based on map databases that are updated regularly. The index has the potential to serve as an important tool in land use planning as well as a basis for monitoring, the assessment of ecological state and ecological integrity and for ecological accounting as well as strategic environmental assessments. infrastructure; land use; index; landscape; planning; monitoringpublishedVersio

Impacts of recent climate change on crop yield can depend on local conditions in climatically diverse regions of Norway

Globally, climate change greatly impacts the production of major crops, and there have been many attempts to model future yields under warming scenarios in recent years. However, projections of future yields may not be generalisable to all crop growing regions, particularly those with diverse topography and bioclimates. In this study, we demonstrate this by evaluating the links between changes in temperature and precipitation and changes in wheat, barley, and potato yields at the county-level during 1980–2019 in Norway, a Nordic country with a range of climates across a relatively small spatial scale. The results show that the impacts of climate variables on yield vary widely by county, and that for some crops, the strength and direction of the link depends on underlying local bioclimate. In addition, our analysis demonstrates the need for some counties to focus on weather changes during specific crucial months corresponding with certain crop growth stages. Furthermore, due to the local climatic conditions and varying projected climate changes, different production opportunities are likely to occur in each county.publishedVersio

Extrinsic and intrinsic controls of zooplankton diversity in lakes

Pelagic crustacean zooplankton were collected from 336 Norwegian lakes covering a wide range of latitude, altitude, lake area, mean depth, production (as chlorophyll a), and fish community structure. Mean zooplankton species richness during the ice-free season was generally low at high latitudes and altitudes. Further, lower species richness was recorded in western lakes, possibly reflecting constraints on migration and dispersal. However, despite obvious spatial limitations, geographic boundaries were only weak predictors of mean zooplankton richness. Similarly, lake surface area did not contribute positively to mean richness such as seen in other ecosystem surveys. Rather, intrinsic factors such as primary production and fish community (planktivore) structure were identified by regression analysis as the major predictors of zooplankton diversity, while a positive correlation was observed between species richness and total zooplankton biomass. However, in spite of a large number of variables included in this study, the predictive power of multiple regression models was modest (<50% variance explained), pointing to a major role for within-lake properties, as yet unidentified intrinsic forces, stochasticity, or dispersal as constraints on zooplankton diversity in these lakes

6-Chloro-9-(2-nitro­phenyl­sulfon­yl)-9H-purine

The title compound, C11H6ClN5O4S, crystallized with two independent mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit. The benzene ring makes dihedral angles of 66.46 (8) and 85.77 (9)° with the mean plane of the purine ring in the two mol­ecules. In the crystal, inter­molecular π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.8968 (12) Å], C—Cl⋯π inter­actions [Cl⋯centroid = 3.2505 (10) Å, C—Cl⋯centroid = 161.56 (18)°] and non-classical C—H⋯O and C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the molecules

Økologiske effekter av taretråling. Analyser basert på GIS-modellering og empiriske data

Årsliste 2006Et område på Mørekysten er valgt ut for beregning av effekter av taretråling basert på høstestatistikk, eksisterende kunnskap om tareskog og taretråling, og GIS baserte modeller for å beregne arealmessig utbredelse av tareskog. Beregnet innehold av tarebiomasse i området er langt over det som høstes totalt for hele landet. Den estimerte høsteeffektiviteten varierer mellom trålsonene og er avhengig av hvilke modellkriterier som blir brukt. For hele området er årlig høsteffektivitet beregnet til å ligge på noen få prosent av totalt stående tarebiomasse, men innen de områder og dybdeintervall der man antar at taren er størst og trålingen mest lønnsom vil gjennomsnittlig høsteffektivitet ligge mellom 9 og 18 %. Høsteeffektiviteten i enkelte soner er estimert til å være så høy som 40 %. Beregningene viser at innen de tareskogsområdene som direkte berøres av tråling vil taretrålingen redusere primær- og sekundærproduksjonen vesentlig. Primærproduksjonen blir redusert med ca 45 % og sekundærproduksjonen fra 70-98 %. I mengde innebærer dette en reduksjon på ca 50 000 tonn i primærproduksjonen og ca 10 000 tonn i redusert sekundærproduksjon. Men gitt det relativt lite arealet som sannsynligvis tråles (ca 7 km2) i forhold til tilgjengelig tareskogsareal (beregnet til ca 200 km2) blir den totale effekten sannsynligvis liten. Disse resultatene er representative for miljøforholdene og landskapstypen ved midt-Norge, som har optimale vekstforhold for stortaren. Andre områder som Rogaland og Hordaland har annen landskapstype, andre bunnforhold og andre miljøforhold enn det studerte området. Dette påvirker både vekstforholdene og utbredelsen til stortaren, samt hvor effektivt trålerne klarer å høste taren. I tillegg høstes taren oftere (hvert 4. år) i Rogaland enn andre steder langs kysten. Tilsvarende undersøkelser i disse områdene vil kunne vise regionale forskjeller i høsteeffektivitet og økologiske effekter av taretråling.Fiskeri- og kystdepartemente

Current state of terrestrial ecosystems in the joint Norwegian, Russian and Finnish border area

Appendix 15/15 of the publication "State of the environment in the Norwegian, Finnish and Russian border area 2007" (The Finnish Environment 6/2007)

Terpenyl-Purines from the Sea

Agelasines, asmarines and related compounds are natural products with a hybrid terpene-purine structure isolated from numerous genera of sponges (Agela sp., Raspailia sp.). Some agelasine analogs and related structures have displayed high general toxicity towards protozoa, and have exhibited broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against a variety of species, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and also an important cytotoxic activity against several cancer cell lines, including multidrug-resistant ones. Of particular interest in this context are the asmarines (tetrahydro[1,4]diazepino[1,2,3-g,h]purines), which have shown potent antiproliferative activity against several types of human cancer cell lines. This review summarizes the sources of isolation, chemistry and bioactivity of marine alkylpurines and their bioactive derivatives

MIAT: Modular R-wrappers for flexible implementation of MaxEnt distribution modelling

The maximum entropy (MaxEnt) method has gained widespread use for distribution modelling, mostly because of the practical simplicity offered by the maxent.jar software. Whilst MaxEnt was originally described as a machine learning method, recent studies have shown that the method can be explained in terms of maximum likelihood estimation. This opens for using MaxEnt with new settings and options, such as new model selection and model assessment criteria, and improved user control of the variable selection process. New practical tools are needed to explore the new opportunities and assess if they enhance model performance and ecological interpretability of the models. We present a new conceptual framework, the Modular and functionally Integrated component-based Approach (MIA) framework for practical distribution modelling by which the core components of the DM process are decoupled and then wrapped together more flexibly into component-based functional modules. Computational object-oriented and workflow approaches are integrated with ecological, statistical and modelling theory in order to handle the complexity associated with the full modelling process in a practical way. Objects (variables, functions, results, etc.) are defined according to specific modelling parameters. Properties (e.g., identities and content) are inherited between objects and new objects are created in a flexible and automated, yet traceable way. We operationalise this framework for MaxEnt by the MIA Toolbox (MIAT), a set of flexible, modular R-scripts (available in supplementary appendices) wrapped around maxent.jar and existing R-functions. MIAT covers the full range of options and settings for the maximum likelihood implementation of MaxEnt and provide flexible guidance of users through the DM process. A trail of models of increasing complexity is built to enhance traceability and interpretability, and to suit different modelling purposes. We briefly outline research questions that can be addressed by the MIAT