Public opinions on biological diversity in Norway: Politics,science, or culture?

Loss of biological diversity is among the most pressing environmental problems facing modern societies. Whereas today much is known about peoples' opinions on climate change, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding how people asses the issue of biological diversity. The article represents a step towards a better understanding of public opinions on the issue of biodiversity, and hence also of the prerequisites and possibilities for a more or less vigorous or legitimate policy on this issue. The analyses show that social background matters for concern about biodiversity, but only to a certain extent: women are less negative towards biodiversity protection than men, the older segments of the population, at least in Norway, are less concerned with biodiversity, and education has only a marginal effect. Hence, to a large extent, political attitudes matter and indicate that concern for biodiversity seems to work by various types of available heuristics whereby a given case is linked to political understandings of other and similar and/or familiar issues. The inclusion of other political variables (local decision-making) and what the authors label ‘cultural variables’ (e.g. view of nature and trust in science) seem also to matter decisively for attitudes towards biodiversity.     

The ambivalent nature of biodiversity: Scientists' perspectives on the Norwegian Nature Index

The Norwegian Nature Index is intended to provide an overview of the state of biodiversity in Norway. From the perspective of the sociology of knowledge, the author explores how biologists make sense of biodiversity and how they identify scientific uncertainty in the context of the Nature Index. Anchoring and themata are employed as tools for analysis in the investigation of scientists' representation of the Nature Index and its subject matter, namely biodiversity. In-depth interviews indicated that most of the scientists perceived the results as intuitively sound, but they also revealed an outspoken ambivalence about compressing complex ecological relationships into standardized numbers. In covering both natural and cultural landscapes as habitats for biodiversity, there seems to be a symbolic mismatch between the operationalization of biodiversity in the index and the intuitive anchoring of biodiversity as ‘untouched’ nature. Hence, the thematizing of the divide between the untouched and what is human may be seen as a form of conceptual uncertainty underlying the Nature Index.     

The Norwegian Nature Index – conceptual framework and methodology

The Norwegian Nature Index (NI) is a general, integrated framework developed to synthesize and communicate the current knowledge of the state and development of biodiversity. It is designed to make the most of the available knowledge in the ecological research community, including expert judgment. The authors present the basic concepts and definitions of the NI, the associated quantitative expressions, and the practical implementation of data collection and integration of expert judgment and data on biodiversity in Norway. The NI can be implemented in data-rich and data-poor areas, it contains information on both the state of biodiversity and the state of knowledge, and it can be aggregated or disaggregated to address specific management themes, which gives the framework the potential to become an efficient management tool.     

基于生态系统服务视角的“土地分离与共享框架”解析

“土地分离和共享框架”是协调物质生产和生态保护、促进土地可持续利用的重要理论。本文梳理了“土地分离与共享框架”和生态系统服务间关联,剖析生态系统服务应用于该框架的理论基础,结合美国典型土地共享案例,分析了土地利用策略选择对粮食生产、生物多样性、直接和间接生态系统服务的影响,并探讨了该框架对中国生态系统工程的启示。结果表明：随着人类对土地功能认知的不断深入,“土地分离与共享框架”的拓展表现为从单一的粮食供给服务需求演进到粮食供给服务和其他生态系统服务的综合需求。当粮食供给服务与其他服务处于权衡状态时,在生态脆弱、恢复力差的地区,不同生态系统服务间多处于凸权衡关系,一般适宜采用分离策略;在生态系统稳定、恢复力强的地区,不同生态系统服务多处于凹权衡关系,一般适宜采用共享策略。结合美国典型土地共享案例发现,其土地利用实践中选择土地功能共享策略是比较适宜的;生态系统服务作为政策评估工具,可在策略选择和评估实施效果中发挥一定作用。研究结果可为可持续土地利用提供理论与方法支撑,并为中国制定土地利用策略提供参考。     

国家级自然保护区土地覆盖类型转换趋势

国家为了防止生态系统恶化、保护自然栖息地及其生物多样性,到2010年底已建立2588 个自然保护区,总面积达 149.44×10⁶hm²,超过中国陆地总面积的15%。土地覆盖变化作 为导致生物多样性变化的首要因素,直接影响生态系统的结构和功能。本文选取180个国家级 自然保护,总面积44.71×10⁶hm²,占自然保护区总面积的29.9%,全国陆地面积的4.7%,根 据各保护区的生态系统特征和主要保护对象,将其划分为森林生态系统、草地生态系统、湿 地生态系统、珍稀动物、珍稀植物、地质和古生物遗址、以及荒漠生态系统7类自然保护区类 型,并在此基础上按东北、华北、华东、中南、西北及西南6个大区对其进行空间分析。论文 构建土地覆盖类型转换方向判别指数模型,运用生态多样性模型和斑块连通性模型,对各大 区内各类国家级自然保护区及其核心区、缓冲区和实验区的土地覆盖转换趋势进行计算。结 果显示,在20世纪80年代后期-2005年时段内,180个国家级自然保护区的土地覆盖转换强度 整体呈减缓趋势,西南地区的平均转换强度最大,而华东地区的平均转换强度最小。在各类 国家级自然保护区中,除了森林生态系统保护区外,其他各类型保护区的土地覆盖都存在逆 向转换,但逆向转换速率总体呈减缓趋势。国家级自然保护区的核心区土地覆盖逆向转换的 速度平均为0.16%/10a减少,其土地覆盖景观格局相对于缓冲区的和实验区更为稳定。生态多 样性指数和斑块连通性指数模型计算显示,国家级自然保护区土地覆盖景观格局的生态多样 性和斑块连通性在1995-2005年总体呈上升趋势。另外,各大区国家级自然保护区与非保护区 的土地覆盖转换强度对比显示,保护区土地覆盖转换强度整体上小于非保护区的土地覆盖转 换强度。总之,分析结果表明,国家级自然保护区的土地覆盖转换处于良性变化趋势,尤其是在1995-2005年期间,保护区内的土地覆盖类型及分布逐渐趋于正向转换和稳定态势。     

资源信息系统建设方法探讨

该文通过对资源管理理论和方法的分析 ,根据资源信息系统对地理信息的需求展开讨论 ,针对现有资源信息系统建设常用方法及其存在的问题 ,讨论了通用资源信息系统建设中若干关键技术问题。     

Mobility encounter: The narratives of Burmese refugees in Norway

The article examines the lived experiences of Burmese refugees in Norway in order to understand how they experience integration into local society and how they manage their transnational lives in new socio-economic, political, and cultural contexts. The examination is performed from the perspective of mobility as the entanglement of movement, representation, and practice. In teasing out the refugees' various experiences, the author emphasizes the diversity of migrant groups in terms of their ethnicity, religion, gender, and age, as well as multiple dimensions of mobilities. The complex politics of mobility – how different mobilities are produced, practised, and regulated in relation to issues such as transnational migration, diasporic cultures, and communication technologies – is seen as underlying the narratives of Burmese refugees in Norway. Their narratives equate mobilities with escape from poverty, highlighting the linkage that mobility has with poverty and development. The discussion reveals the potential for divisiveness within wider society in Norway, and it is argued that a nuanced understanding of how mobilities are differentially accessed within immigrant groups is essential for conceiving a multicultural society in Norway.     

The interpretation of culture in nature: Landscape transformation and vegetation change during two centuries at Hystad,SW Norway

In Norway, on-site biological surveys precede the designation of nature reserves. Although many nature conservation areas have been affected by past human use (e.g. cattle grazing, timber harvesting), a typical biological survey may fail to portray the extent of human influence on biodiversity and vegetation dynamics. In 1984, Hystad forest (western Norway) was made a nature reserve after botanists interpreted the ecosystem 'close to untouched'. It was thought best to leave the forest alone, so no management plan was developed. It was later realized that the vegetation was changing, but the reason was not obvious. I gathered and analyzed further biological data plus information on land-use history from varied sources (e.g. cadastral maps, archive material and oral histories). The area has undergone a series of transformations since the 17th century. The present forest is no more than 100 years old, and extensive parts are much younger. The initial survey underestimated the extent of cultural impact and failed to predict vegetation change subsequent to reserve establishment, whereas a historical-geographical approach reveals that the vegetation is in a state of transition, driven primarily by a change from active farming to farm abandonment. Planning for conservation must recognize past as well as present human use of the landscape to anticipate consequent land cover responses.     

How to Earn the Status of Honest Broker? Scientists’ Roles Facilitating the Political Water Supply Decision-Making Process

“Honest broker” refers to scientists facilitating complex political decisions from a neutral position, aiming to expand the scope of choice available instead of advocating a certain policy. This article reflects on the experiences of three scientists acting as honest brokers while carrying out a multicriteria evaluation to help politicians choose the water supply option for the city of Oulu, Finland. The process was considered successful and many politicians said that they have never before been that well informed when making a decision. The case primarily shows that besides the common knowledge brokerage roles targeting knowledge exchange, the honest brokerage approach relates more to managing social relationships and balancing political games and rapidly evolving discussions. Trustful relationships increased the perceived credibility of the brokers and ensured two-way communication. On the other hand, the brokers faced ethical dilemmas and difficulties of staying impartial while finding out confidential information related to political strategies.     

Do protected areas networks ensure the supply of ecosystem services? Spatial patterns of two nature reserve systems in semi-arid Spain

Protected areas are essential for conserving biodiversity, and these lands have traditionally been set aside for this purpose alone. However, the increasing global demand for agricultural and forestry commodities creates conflict and tradeoffs between dedicating land for conservation versus food production. Efforts to set aside new lands for biodiversity conservation are compromised by the globally rising demand, creating trade-offs between lands dedicated to conservation versus food production. Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems. Recent studies suggest that protected areas provide social and economic benefits that can be used to build political support and raise funds for conservation. We analyzed the capability of current protected area networks in the semi-arid region of Spain to provide intermediate regulating services (habitat preservation for threatened species, climate regulation, erosion control and water flow maintenance) to support the final provisioning service of cultivated crops to support local communities. We found that existing networks of protected lands supply considerable quantities of ecosystem services, in particular carbon stocks and groundwater recharge. Our results demonstrate that the integration of systematic analyses of ecosystem services gaps in protected area planning could contribute substantially to safeguarding ecosystem services and biodiversity jointly. However, our study also reveals substantial differences in intermediate ecosystem services supplied by different of protected areas networks, with category VI areas (Natura-2000 sites) generally showing the highest potential for ecosystem services supply. This demonstrates the important role of Natura-2000 sites for preserving regulating services in the European semi-arid region.     

中国国家自然保护区土地覆被变化(英文)

For preventing ecosystem degradation,protecting natural habitats and conserving biodiversity within the habitats,2588 nature reserves have been established in China at the end of 2010.The total area is up to 149.44 million ha and covers over 15% of Chinese terrestrial surface.Land-cover change,as the primary driver of biodiversity change,directly impacts ecosystem structures and functions.In this paper,180 National Nature Reserves(NNRs) are selected and their total area is 44.71 million ha,accounting for 29.9% of all NNRs in China.In terms of the ecosystem characteristics and their major protected object,all selected NNRs are classified into 7 types.A Positive and Negative Change Index of Land-cover(PNCIL) was developed to analyze the land-cover change of each NNRs type from the late 1980s to 2005.The results show that the land-cover of all selected NNRs types have degradated to a certain degree except the forest ecosystem reserves with a decreasing rate,but the rate of degradation alleviated gradually.The mean positive and negative change rates of land-cover in all core zones decreased by 0.69% and 0.16% respectively.The landscape pattern of land-cover in the core zones was more stable than that in the buffer zones and the experimental zones.Furthermore,the ecological diversity and patch connectivity of land-cover in selected NNRs increased generally.In short,the land-cover of 180 selected NNRs in China had a beneficial change trend after NNRs established,especially between 1995 and 2005.     

Political geography in Norway: Current state and future prospects

The article provides a brief review of the current state and future prospects of political geography in Norway. Although political geography has been revitalised internationally, it has a relatively short history and weak institutional basis in Norway. There are, however, notable exceptions both within and outside the discipline. The main part of the article reviews recent research within political geography at the University of Olso, emphasising the shared focus on contextualised politics of representation, especially in the Global South. This thematic and geographical orientation gives Norwegian political geography a distinct character that also frames the prospects for further development and contribution to international political geography.     

Finnskogene I Norge

Recently, increased attention has been paid to the importance of everyday landscapes in the Western world, and a stronger political will to involve local participation in planning processes has emerged. The authors discuss the implementation of the political will to engage the Norwegian public in local heritage planning and whether or not this new role can have a mobilising effect on heritage protection. In Norway, cultural heritage managers have established methods for identifying valuable heritage assets in cultural historic landscapes. As increased responsibility for cultural heritage management is given to municipalities, more municipalities are making their own heritage plans to improve local heritage management. The article investigates how cultural heritage management in everyday landscapes is taking place, how heritage plans are developed, how local knowledge is involved, and what assets local residents appreciate in their environment, based on an in-depth study of two medium-sized Norwegian regional towns. The results show that local stakeholders were often invited to participate in planning processes, but that their contributions were largely kept out of official plans at the final stage. Further, the study revealed that memories and personal histories related to heritage appreciations are important elements in building identity, both at a personal level and at a local level.     

Object-oriented classification of very high resolution airborne imagery for the extraction of hedgerows and field margin cover in agricultural areas

The recent advancement in technology for the airborne collection and subsequent processing and analysis of digital remotely sensed data has been significant. An investigation into the contributions that recent developments have made to the assessment and extraction of hedgerow and field margins is presented. Research into the active legislation by which hedgerows and agricultural biodiversity in England are bound is brought together in the concept of an ideal classification. Using Leica Geosystems ADS40 data, collected for Berkshire (UK), the degree to which the ideal classification can be reached is investigated, focusing on the extraction of hedgerows and unploughed field margin protective boundary strips as image objects. Elevation data were derived from the ADS40 imagery data to accompany true-colour and colour-infrared spectral information. By buffering the detected hedgerow objects in a GIS, we facilitated an investigation of the presence of measures that satisfy the minimum hedgerow protection requirements stipulated by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). In our study area, it was estimated that 68% of areas that need to be classified as ‘grassy hedgerow boundary strip’ to satisfy the minimum requirements of the legislation were established with low-lying grassy cover before the introduction of the legislation in July 2005. The implications of this research for the development of automated classification methods for field scale agricultural mapping are discussed.     

The look of agricultural landscapes – How do non-crop landscape elements contribute to visual preferences in a large-scale agricultural landscape?

ABSTRACT

Efficiency in agricultural food production has long been in focus and this has affected the spatial structure of agricultural land use. One outcome has been extensive criticism based on a wide range of negative consequences, such as for biodiversity, accessibility, cultural heritage, and aesthetics. In line with the European Landscape Convention (ELC), management of people’s everyday landscapes is important. In Norway, agricultural landscapes are the ‘everyday landscape’ for a large proportion of the population. The aim of the article is to contribute to the understanding of landscape changes perceived as positive or negative by the inhabitants. The authors focused on grain-crop dominated landscapes and the impact of smaller non-crop elements on people’s landscape preferences. They administered a photo-based questionnaire using manipulated photos to assess preferences for different agricultural landscapes. Additionally, people’s perceived objectives for the agricultural sector and agriculture’s primary functions were assessed. The results documented positive perceptions of added landscape elements and that people were both aware of and agreed on the multifunctional role of agriculture. The authors conclude that if the public’s preferences are to be taken into consideration, such as during policymaking, it is important to maintain various landscape elements in the large-scale grain field landscapes of Norway.     

基于常识的空间推理研究

空间推理是空间信息智能化处理的难题之一,目前的空间推理过程缺乏柔性化与智能化的一个重要原因就是不能有效利用常识。该文中阐述常识、常识推理及常识的表示,研究空间推理、基于常识的空间推理的关键技术及其在空间信息处理中的作用。最后结合基于常识的空间推理的空间可视性分析示例,提出利用空间常识提高空间信息处理系统智能性的思路。     

Palaeosurfaces and major valleys in the area of the Kjǿlen Mountains,southern Norway - consequences of uplift and climatic change

Protected area management in Norway is undergoing institutional changes with the implementation of management models aimed at increased public participation. At the same time tourism enterprises are increasing in number within the protected areas. Greater levels of interaction with stakeholders place new demands on lead institutions in terms of communication, transparency, involvement, and power sharing. A governance perspective was used to examine some facets of the interaction between a local council managing a national park in Norway and tourism companies using the park for their operations. The main objective was to assess how the tourism sector perceives the cooperation and interface with the management institution. Semi-structured interviews were used, together with a framework of United Nations Development Programme principles of good governance: legitimacy and voice, direction, performance, accountability, and fairness. The results showed rather negative evaluations by the tourism sector, and operators expressed views, implying that the current management model fails to achieve most of the principles of good governance. Although based on a one-sided view by one group of stakeholders, the study suggests that lack of access to important processes and decisions, perceived bias towards traditional conservation, neglect of cultural heritage, and undue restrictions on access could have serious implications for developing an effective management model.     

Ecosystem Services in a Transitional Forest Landscape: Shifting Trajectories in Southeast Michigan,USA

North American forests provide multiple ecosystem services, such as carbon storage, biodiversity, and recreation. These services are often coordinated through multifunctional management, whereby various users and owners contribute to collective agendas. Forests in exurban “transition” zones are crucial components in the sustainability of broader metropolitan landscapes, but represent a particularly understudied confluence of ecosystem services and multifunctional management. In this paper, we develop a place-based approach to assess ecosystem services in transitional forests (those between rural and urban). We demonstrate how trajectories of forest composition are linked with shifting ecosystem services that both shape and are shaped by management activities. Sited in Stinchfield Woods, a forest in southeast Michigan, this study draws on a household survey, interviews, ecological data, and archival information. Given variations in priorities over time and among different users, we suggest that coordinated, adaptive management may improve provisioning of ecosystem services in ways that benefit multiple users.     

Science,local knowledge and exclusionary practices: Lessons from the Alta Dam case

The Alta Dam project in Norway is used to illustrate how state control of information may result in environmental injustice through a process of closed decision-making and political marginalization. By closing the decision-making process and related research from stakeholders, a state can attempt to insulate itself from criticism and contrary opinion, even if such practices run contrary to the traditions of inquiry. The exclusionary practices at Alta are examined in relation to the environmental justice literature and history of the Alta dam.