Nutrient loads from inland sources to the Baltic Sea and adjacent inland waters need to be reduced in order to prevent eutrophication and meet requirements of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP). We here investigate the spatial implications of using different possible criteria for reducing water-borne phosphorous (P) loads in the Northern Baltic Sea River Basin District (NBS-RBD) in Sweden. Results show that most catchments that have a high degree of internal eutrophication do not express high export of P from their outlets. Furthermore, due to lake retention, lake catchments with high P-loads per agricultural area (which is potentially of concern for the WFD) did not considerably contribute to the P-loading of the Baltic Sea. Spatially uniform water quality goals may, therefore, not be effective in NBS-RBD, emphasizing more generally the need for regional adaptation of WFD and BSAP-related goals.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union provides a common framework for water policy that focuses on holistic and integrated water management in river basins. In many member states, implementation of the WFD has shifted the main responsibility for local water issues from the municipal level to the regional or supra-regional levels. In this study, we investigated how the implementation of the WFD has influenced local-level water management including the interpretation of the new environmental quality standards. Specifically, we considered Sweden, which has traditionally had relatively strong governance at the municipal level. Because a sufficient amount of time has now passed for evaluation of WFD-related effects on operational water handling, we interviewed individuals directly involved in water planning and land use planning at the municipal level in one sub catchment in the Northern Baltic Sea River Basin District of Sweden, as well as representatives for superior levels and associations. Despite divergent views regarding the priority of water issues in physical planning among the local-level planners interviewed, they had all participated in successful inter-municipal pre-WFD collaboration projects. Although such collaborations could help increase the understanding and acceptance of WFD-related goals and costs, as well as facilitate conflict solving, as shown in the Oxunda Catchment, they have not gained much attention in the WFD implementation process. Additionally, physical planners have generally been reluctant to accept new environmental quality standards resulting from WFD implementation, in part because they lack precise definitions, but also because they could challenge the municipal routine of weighing various objectives against each other. Furthermore, despite WFD-related increases in ambition levels, lack of resource improvements at the municipal level were identified as potential problems by local environmental planners.

För 150 år sedan bodde större delen av Sveriges befolkning på landsbygden och var sysselsatta i primärnäringarna, men under de senaste 120 åren har den svenska landsbygden genomgått en kraftfull strukturomvandling. idag är det endast 15% av Sveriges befolkning som bor utanför någon av Sveriges tätorter. Det vill säga 85% av befolkningen bor på 1,3 procent av landarealen och ytterst få är sysselsatta i de gröna näringarna. Den pågående omstruktureringen av lantbruket innebär att många av de mindre gårdarna läggs ned och blir fritidshus eller hästgårdar. Samtidigt som nötkreaturen minskar i antal ökar antalet hästar och Sverige har blivit ett av de hästtätaste länderna i Europa.

Ungefär en halv miljon svenskar rider regelbundet och närmare en tredjedel av alla invånare i Sverige har på något sätt kontakt med hästar och de olika verksamheter som de ger upphov till. Denna ökning av sporthästar är särskilt märkbar i tätortsnära områden. I Stockholm och Uppsala län finns omkring 44 000 hästar och ca 78% av dessa finns i urbana eller tätortsnära områden. Hästarna har till viss del blivit landsbygdens räddning. hästar behöver mat, husrum och livsutrymme, vilket har skapat en välkommen extra inkomstkälla för lantbruket. Det är relativt vanligt att lantbrukare producerar och säljer hästfoder eller hyr ut stallplatser. Enligt lantbrukarnas Riksförbund, är hästnäringen den femte största inkomstkällan för jordbruket.  Hästen är även på andra sätt en viktig resurs i arbetet med att utveckla nya former för jordbruksföretagande och bidra till en levande landsbygd. Det ökande antalet hästar medför mer arbete för veterinärer, hovslagare och tränare/instruktörer. Dessutom växer det fram nya yrkesgrupper med specialinriktning mot hästar. Syftet med den här studien är att belysa kvinnliga hästföretagares syn på tätortsnära hästverksamheter och diskutera svårigheter och möjligheter för utvecklingen av hästnäringen med fokus på Stockholm- och Uppsalaområdet.

In this article, focusing on the ongoing implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, we analyze some of the opportunities and challenges for a sustainable governance of water resources from an ecosystem management perspective. In the face of uncertainty and change, the ecosystem approach as a holistic and integrated management framework is increasingly recognized. The ongoing implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) could be viewed as a reorganization phase in the process of change in institutional arrangements and ecosystems. In this case study from the Northern Baltic Sea River Basin District, Sweden, we focus in particular on data and information management from a multi-level governance perspective from the local stakeholder to the River Basin level. We apply a document analysis, hydrological mapping, and GIS models to analyze some of the institutional framework created for the implementation of the WFD. The study underlines the importance of institutional arrangements that can handle variability of local situations and trade-offs between solutions and priorities on different hierarchical levels.

The authors analyze sustainable cultural landscapes through the lens of ecosystem services. Their case study focuses on transformation of the peri-urban landscape of the Stockholm region, Sweden. Peri-urban landscapes are characterized by diversified and fragmented land uses that are strongly related to urban lifestyles. The rapidly increasing trend for recreational horse keeping is replacing traditional agriculture. Horse keepers’ and local government perspectives on horse keeping are examined, as well as the related demand for ecosystem services, which affects the landscape. The article is based on government documents, interviews with local government officials, and field visits to 16 horse-keeping facilities in two municipalities. Horse keeping was found important for sustaining cultural ecosystem services related to a rural cultural landscape and for maintaining traditional agriculture that provides provisioning ecosystem services. However, several differences between traditional agriculture and horse keeping that affect the demand for ecosystem services related to land use were found to shift the focus from provisioning services to recreational services. The authors conclude that horse keeping, as an emerging crosscutting issue in peri-urban landscapes, needs new more integrative planning processes that account for the full range of ecosystem services and links between cultural services and ecosystem functioning.

För att förstå utbredningen av den vanliga fästingen Ixodes ricinus, undersökte vi hur både lokala faktorer och olika landskapsegenskaper påverkar förekomsten av fästingar i grönområden längs med urbaniseringsgradienten i Stockholms län, Sverige. Fästingar och fältdata samlades in under 2017 och 2019 och analyserades i relation till habitatdata och landskapsdata framtaget från geografiskt informationssystem (GIS). 2017 samlades fästingar och fältdata in från 12 olika platser i Stockholms län som ursprungligen hade valts som slumpmässiga kontroller till en annan studie men aldrig använts. 2019 samlades fästingar och fältdata in från 35 olika platser längs med urbaniseringsgradienten. Dessa 35 platser valdes slumpmässigt ut med hjälp av GIS. För att beräkna urbaniseringsgraden för varje plats, använde vi andelen exploaterad mark i en 1000m buffertzon. För de 12 första insamlingsplatserna under 2017 valde vi slumpmässigt ut 10 2m × 2m rutor för inventering av fästingar och fältdata. På de 35 platser som vi inventerade 2019, samlade vi in fästingar i 5 2m × 2m rutor. Vi besökte alla platser en gång och totalt inventerades 295 provtagningsrutor. För varje ruta noterade vi datum, tid, väderförhållande, antal fästingar, vegetationshöjd och trädstamstäthet runt varje ruta. För att ta fram landskapsdata skapades 10 buffertzoner från 100m till 1000m radies runt varje insamlingsplats i GIS tillsammans med Naturvårdverkets Nationella Marktäckedata. Dessa satellitkartor har en upplösning på 10m och har följande huvudkategorier 1) Skog, 2) Öppen mark, 3) Åkermark, 4) Öppen våtmark, 5) Exploaterad mark, och 6) Vatten. För att identifiera riskfaktorer valde vi att använda dessa huvudkategorier med undantag for kategorin Skog där vi valde att inkludera de åtta olika skogstyperna: Tallskog, Granskog, Barrblandskog, Lövblandad barrskog, Triviallövskog, Ädellövskog, Triviallövskog med ädellövsinslag och Temporärt ej skog. För att ta fram statistik och beräkna konfigurationen av landskapet runt varje insamlingsplats, använde vi marktäckedata från 1000m buffertzonen som exporterades till GeoTIFF-format och som sedan analyserades med FRAGSTATS version 4. Vi använde Shannons diversitetsindex (SHDI) för att uppskatta mångfalden av marktäcketyper runt varje insamlingsplats. För att mäta aggregeringen av de olika martäcketyperna i landskapet använde vi Contagion (CONTAG). Som ett mått på skogens konfiguration använde vi PLAND, som är proportionen av skog i landskapet och total edge (TE) som är den totala skogskantslängden. Alla statistiska analyser har gjorts med R, versionen 4.0.3. För att analysera effekterna av olika riskfaktorer på fästingförekomst i olika grönområden, använde vi generaliserade linjära mixade modeller med Poisson-fördelade residualer. Eftersom datasetet innehöll fler nollor än vad som förväntas enligt en Poisson eller negativ binomialfördelning som orsakar överdispersion, använde vi nollinflations-Poissonmodeller i paketet glmmTMB.

Background: Urban green spaces are important for human health, but they may expose visitors to tick-borne diseases. This not only presents a potential public health challenge but also undermines the expected public health gains from urban green spaces. The aim of this study is to assess the public health risk of tick-borne diseases in an urban green space used for recreation in Stockholm, Sweden.

Methods: We used a mixed method approach identifying both the magnitude of the tick hazard and the extent of the human exposure to tick-borne diseases. At six entry points to an urban green space, we sampled ticks and documented microhabitat conditions from five randomly assigned 2 m × 2 m plots. Surrounding habitat data was analyzed using geographical information system (GIS). Nymphs and adult ticks were tested for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasma phagocytophilum using TaqMan qPCR. Positive B. burgdorferi (s.l.) ticks were further analyzed by nested PCR amplification and sequence analysis. Population census data and visitor count data were used to estimate the degree of human exposure to tick-borne diseases. To further understand the degree to which visitors get in contact with infected ticks we also conducted interviews with visitors to green spaces.

Results: High tick densities were commonly found in humid broadleaved forest with low field vegetation. High pathogen prevalence was significantly correlated with increasing proportions of artificial areas. Integrating the tick hazard with human exposure we found that the public health risk of tick-borne diseases was moderate to high at most of the studied entry points. Many of the visitors frequently used urban green spaces. Walking was the most common activity, but visitors also engaged in activities with higher risk for tick encounters. Individual protective measures were connected to specific recreational activities such as picking berries or mushrooms.

Conclusions: The number of visitors can be combined with tick inventory data and molecular analyses of pathogen prevalence to make crude estimations of the public health risk of tick-borne diseases in urban green spaces. The risk of encountering infected ticks is omnipresent during recreational activities in urban green spaces, highlighting the need for public health campaigns to reduce the risk of tick-borne diseases.

To better understand the spatial distribution of the common tick Ixodes ricinus, we investigated how local site factors and landscape characteristics influence tick presence and abundance in different greenspaces along the natural-urban gradient in Stockholm County, Sweden. Ticks and field data were collected in 2017 and 2019 and analyzed in relation to habitat type distributions estimated from land cover maps using geographical information system (GIS). A total of 1378 (992 larvae, 370 nymphs, 13 females, and 3 males) questing ticks were collected from 295 sampling plots in 47 different greenspaces. Ticks were present in 41 of the 47 greenspaces and our results show that both local site features such as vegetation height, and landscape characteristics like the amount of mixed coniferous forest, significantly affect tick abundance. Tick abundance was highest in rural areas with large natural and seminatural habitats, but ticks were also present in parks and gardens in highly urbanized areas. Greenspaces along the natural-urban gradient should be included in surveillance for ticks and tick-borne diseases, including highly urbanized sites that may be perceived by the public as areas with low risk for tick encounters.

Landscape characteristics influence both vector and host habitats affecting the spatial and temporal distribution of vector-borne diseases. Anaplasma phagocytophilum is one of the most widespread tick-borne diseases in Europe causing tick-borne fever (TBF) in domestic ruminants, and granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans, horses and companion animals. The aim of this study was to identify landscape factors associated with Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (EGA) cases in a refined temporal and spatial analysis by combining land cover data and presence/absence disease data, using a geographical information system (GIS). This study is a retrospective analysis utilizing 1030 EGA diagnostic test results extracted from the National Veterinary Institute (SVA, Sweden). The association between EGA and different land cover types was analyzed with generalized linear models. To analyze the relation between landscape heterogeneity and EGA, we calculated the Gini-Simpson index. Our results showed a significant increase in the proportion positive EGA cases from 2002 to 2015 and marked differences in the seasonal within year distribution of EGA cases. The association with landscape configuration is shown by the positive relationship between A. phagocytophilum and coniferous forest, water bodies, and landscape heterogeneity, respectively. The information on the eco-epidemiological drivers for EGA can be central for disease control and prevention. Our method of linking land cover to disease risk may be applied to other vector-borne diseases and to other study regions.

Eutrophication assessments in water management to quantify nutrient loads and identify mitigating measures seldom include the contribution from horse facilities. This may be due to lack of appropriate methods, limited resources, or the belief that the impact from horses is insignificant. However, the recreational horse sector is growing, predominantly in multi-functional peri-urban landscapes. We applied an ecosystem management approach to quantify nutrient loads from horse facilities in the Stockholm Region, Sweden. We found that horses increased the total loads with 30-40% P and 20-45% N, with average area-specific loads of 1.2 kg P and 7.6 kg N ha^-1 year^-1. Identified local risk factors included manure management practices, trampling severity, soil condition and closeness to water. Comparisons of assessment methods showed that literature standard values of area-specific loads and water runoff may be sufficient at the catchment level, but in small and more complex catchments, measurements and local knowledge are needed.

Artikeln tar upp geografiämnets roll i ett mastersprogram om infektionssjukdomar och de erfarenheter som gjordes under 2020 när kursen blev distanskurs under pågående covid-19-pandemi. Texten belyser geografiämnets bidrag och hur kunskap om kartografiska grunder behövs i dagens samhälle där vi dagligen omges av kartor utan att stanna upp och tänka över att kartan är en konstruktion där någon valt hur och vad som skall visas. Kortfattat beskrivs även några geografiska aspekter på hälsa  och ohälsa. Texten beskriver också hur kursens övningar behövde anpassas till distansövningar och att studenterna uttryckte behov av kursgemenskap och att kunna ta del av varandras frågor. 

Short-term changes in amino acid composition of near-bed particulate flux were studied at an upper shelf location in the southern Skagerrak, 55 m deep. Sediment trap samples were collected with a 3-d sampling interval from late April to late June 1992. A high settling rate (85 g m(-2) d(-1)) was intercepted in May, coinciding with high shear velocity and settling of fresh phytoplankton. During the peak in the settling rate, a decrease in the mole percentage of glycine was noticed. At the end of June, smaller peaks of high flux corresponded to periods of increased shear velocity; during this time, the amino acid composition did not change. A Q-mode factor analysis on the amino acid variation of collected particles showed a relation between certain samples consisting of fresh phytoplankton material. If organic carbon is compared to the shear velocity, the related phytoplankton samples had a positive correlation, whereas the more degraded samples had a negative correlation. The observed patterns suggest a coupling between food web dynamics and particle composition on the one hand and availability of benthic fluff at the sediment surface on the other. The length of the period affected by fresh material could be sorted out by using the amino acid composition and be made comparable to samples influenced by more degraded material.

The present study describes variations in the vertical fluxes measured concurrently with sediment traps at both a shallow water (4 m) and a deeper water (7.5 m) position in a coastal lagoon in April 1995. A tripod equipped with five sediment traps (trap openings at 0.35 m, 0.75 m, 1.05 m, 1.40 m, and 1.80 m above the seabed) was placed at the shallow water position. This tripod was deployed three times during the study period and deployment periods varied between 2 d and 5 d, The second sediment trap, placed at the deep water position in the central part of the lagoon, measured vertical flux for intervals of 12 h at 1.4 m above the seabed. The horizontal distance between the sediment traps was 8 km. The average maximum vertical flux at the shallow water position reached 27.9 g m(-2) d(-1) during a period of high, westerly wind speeds, and a maximum vertical flux of 16.9 g m(-2) d(-1) was reached at the deep water position during a period of high, easterly wind speeds. Both strong resuspension events were closely related to increased wave shear stress derived from surface waves. Maximum wave-induced resuspension rate was 10 times higher at the shallow water position and 3.8 times higher at the deep water position compared with the net sedimentation rate in the lagoon. Small resuspension events occurred at the shallow water position during periods of increased current shear stress. Estimations of conditions for transport of sediment between shallow water and deep water showed that particles must be resuspended to a height between 3 m and 4 m and that current speeds must be higher than about 0.1 m s(-1). An average sedimentation rate of 3.8 g m(-2) d(-1) was obtained at the shallow water position during a period without wave shear stress and low current shear stress. This rate measured by sediment traps is similar to a net sedimentation rate in the lagoon of 4.4 g m(-2) d(-1), which was determined by radiocarbon dating of a sediment core (Kristensen et al. 1995).

This conference paper highlights the unanticipated conflicts and pedagogical challenges  arisen in a university 'food course'. Students are active in their critique against the subordinated role of animalsin the Anthropocene. In society, such views are limited to a small share ofthe population (24 % vegetarians and 1 % vegans in Sweden in 2018) and there are few arenas where ‘the vegan point of view’ can be included in the efforts to improve sustainability in the food industry. The course offered anopportunity to understand veganism and how to overcome the lack of dialogue between vegans and non-vegans in society, especially since 30 percent of the students are vegans and the rest are sympathetic to vegan ideals. Our main conclusion is that the challenges experienced during the course, especially concerning the normative aspects of veganism can contribute to the development of better didactic and pedagogical approaches for a changing society in which a higher awareness of ethical andenvironmental aspects are needed.