Denitrifying microbial communities provide an important ecosystem function in aquatic systems. Yet, knowledge on predictive and modeling of these complex and changing communities is limited. The emergently challenging question of how the geographical distribution of denitrifiers responds to ongoing and future environmental change is not yet fully understood. In our study we use metadata-based correlative niche modeling to analyze the geographical distribution of selected putative denitrifiers in the genus Sphingomonas, Mycoplana, Shewanella, and Alteromonas at different predicted environmental conditions and future climatic scenarios across the Baltic Sea. Using the predictive power of an ensemble modeling approach and eight different machine-learning algorithms, habitat suitability and the distribution of the selected denitrifiers were evaluated using geophysical and bioclimatic variables, benthic conditions, and four Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) trajectories of future global warming scenarios. All algorithms provided successful prediction capabilities both for variable importance, and for habitat suitability with Area Under the Curve (AUC) values between 0.89 and 1.00. Model findings revealed that salinity and nitrate concentrations significantly explained the variation in distribution of the selected denitrifiers. Rising temperatures of 0.8 to 1.8 °C at future RCP60–2050 trajectories are predicted to diminish or eliminate the bioclimatic suitable habitats for denitrifier distributions across the Baltic Sea. Multi-collated terrestrial and marine environmental variables contributed to the successful prediction of denitrifier distributions within the study area. The correlative niche modeling approach with high AUC values presented in the study allowed for accurate projections of the future distributions of the selected denitrifiers. The modeling approach can be used to improve our understanding of how ongoing and predicted future environmental changes may affect habitat suitability for organisms with denitrification capacity across the Baltic Sea.

The value and importance of lectures in higher education is part of a modern education discourse worldwide. This study aims to estimate the importance of lectures for prospective teachers of kindergarten, preschool and early primary school. We analysed academic achievements of prospective teachers who had either mandatorily or voluntarily attended lectures in the subject of teaching and learning mathematics. Students’ examination grades in a maths course with mandatory or voluntary lecture attendance were analysed with a logistic model testing the association between lecture attendance requirement and grades. We show that mandatory lecture attendance (1) more than double the odds of students receiving a pass grade when their situated and tacit knowledge was examined and (2) quadrupled the odds of students achieving the highest grade (pass with distinction) when both their understanding of elementary mathematics and their situated and tacit knowledge of teaching and learning mathematics were examined. Our study provides evidence for a significant positive role of lecture attendance for students acquiring skills in Teaching and Learning Mathematics. While attending lectures students receive situated tacit knowledge of the subject which is otherwise difficult, if not impossible, for them to obtain in a different way. The observed improvement may have an additional positive effect in being a step towards overcoming a maths anxiety, which is otherwise relatively common among prospective teachers.

Digitalization and multidisciplinary approach are the new trends in Teaching and Learning theory and practice. The article lays emphasis on mathematics teaching and learning knowledge, based on Action Research Theory, New Learning Theory and Variation Theory. Preservice early elementary school teachers created audiovisual video films (AV) and Podcasts (PD) lessons integrating Mathematics, Music and Language during a university course in teacher education. These multidisciplinary lessons were used as intelligent tutors in a flipped classroom model. The lessons are dealing with proportionality, one of the most difficult items in elementary school mathematical curriculum. For explaining proportionality, the preservice teachers have used multiple representations such as manipulatives, fiction stories, videogame Minecraft, “Smash up” in tennis table, musical intervals, self-composed, self-written and self-performed songs about mathematical rules in easy to remember rap-style. Preservice teachers have shown their AV or PD lessons to elementary school students followed by joint discussions and exercisers in solving of mathematical problems. Preservice teachers analyzed their work in an essay-form report describing creation of their intelligent tutors for elementary school students’ knowledge development in mathematics, music and language, including pronunciation, explanation and understanding of mathematical terminology. The multipart flipped classroom approach promoted prospective teachers’ professional growth. For future analysis the described multipart flipped classroom model can be further developed in international collaboration.

Every year, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) causes severe central nervous system infection in 10 000 to 15 000 people in Europe and Asia. TBEV is maintained in the environment by an enzootic cycle that requires a tick vector and a vertebrate host, and the adaptation of TBEV to vertebrate and invertebrate environments is essential for TBEV persistence in nature. This adaptation is facilitated by the error-prone nature of the virus's RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which generates genetically distinct virus variants called quasispecies. TBEV shows a focal geographical distribution pattern where each focus represents a TBEV hotspot. Here, we sequenced and characterized two TBEV genomes, JP-296 and JP-554, from questing Ixodes ricinus ticks at a TBEV focus in central Sweden. Phylogenetic analysis showed geographical clustering among the newly sequenced strains and three previously sequenced Scandinavian strains, Toro-2003, Saringe-2009 and Mandal-2009, which originated from the same ancestor. Among these five Scandinavian TBEV strains, only Mandal-2009 showed a large deletion within the 3' non-coding region (NCR), similar to the highly virulent TBEV strain Hypr. Deep sequencing of JP-296, JP-554 and Mandal-2009 revealed significantly high quasispecies diversity for JP-296 and JP-554, with intact 3' NCRs, compared to the low diversity in Mandal-2009, with a truncated 3' NCR. Single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis showed that 40% of the single-nucleotide polymorphisms were common between quasispecies populations of JP-296 and JP-554, indicating a putative mechanism for how TBEV persists and is maintained within its natural foci.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a collective name for approximately 4700 synthetic chemicals ubiquitous in the aquatic environment worldwide. They are used in a wide array of products and are found in living organisms around the world. Some PFAS have been associated with cancer, developmental toxicity, endocrine disruption, and other health effects. Only a fraction of PFAS are currently monitored and regulated and the presence and effects on aquatic organisms of many PFAS are largely unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the health effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of PFAS on aquatic organisms at different consumer trophic levels through a systematic review and meta-analysis. The main result shows that PFAS in concentrations up to 13.5 μg/L have adverse effects on body size variables for secondary consumers. However, no significant effects on liver or gonad somatic indices and neither on fecundity were found. In addition, the results show that there are large research gaps for PFAS effects on different organisms in aquatic environments at environmentally relevant concentrations. Most studies have been performed on secondary consumers and there is a substantial lack of studies on other consumers in aquatic ecosystems.

The occurrence pattern of the marsh fritillary was studied within a patch network on the Baltic island Oland, Sweden. Presence/absence was established for potentially suitable habitat patches (n = 158) on calcareous moist grassland and analyzed in a multiple logistic regression model where patch area, patch isolation and nine habitat quality variables were included as explanatory variables. Larval food plant density was positively, and patch isolation negatively, correlated to the presence of Euphydryas aurinia. Area did not contribute to the explanation of the occurrence pattern. Significant interactions between larval food plant density times patch isolation, and larval food plant density times vegetation height, show that with low food plant density the butterfly primarily occurs in patches with a vegetation height of 4-10 cm, within a distance of 250 m from nearest occupied patch. In patches with a high food plant density the butterfly occurs in patches where the vegetation height is higher, 4-16 cm, and the distance to nearest occupied patch can be longer, up to 1.4 km. This study supports earlier findings in other regions, suggesting that a network of adjacent patches with a high food plant density and a vegetation height within the preferred threshold, despite their size, is an apparent conservation goal.

Evolution and maintenance of male sterility in seed plants can be explained by the maternal inheritance of mitochondria, which encode the trait, and by adaptive functions that enhance female fecundity in male-sterile compared to hermaphrodite individuals. Protogyny and male sterility can independently decrease the negative effect of pollen–pistil interference in selfincompatible species. In Plantago maritima, which possesses both traits, protogyny increases seed set in hermaphrodite individuals. This is shown both by a significantly positive association between seed set and retarded dehiscence of the anthers and by a more than 50% reduction in seed set following self-pollination. Male sterility does not seem to increase seed set further, as female and hermaphrodite plants do not differ significantly in mean seed set per capsule. Bagging experiments demonstrate strong self-incompatibility in the study populations. Hence, in P. maritima male sterility seems neither to prevent selfing nor to reduce the effect of pollen–pistil interference. Females had significantly larger stigmas than hermaphrodites, but seed set varied negatively with stigma length among females, indicating that the evolution of unisexuality in P. maritima is not due to prefertilization sex allocation. I therefore conclude that the genetical system of nucleocytoplasmic determination of gender is the main cause for maintenance of male sterility in P. maritima.

Size, allocation of biomass, seed production of hermaphrodites and male steriles as well as germination, growth rate and survival among their progeny were compared between male fertile and male sterile cytoplasmic genotypes of Plantago maritima. The cytoplasmic genomes in angiosperms are predominantly maternally inherited. Thus we used the progeny originating from the male fertile and male sterile mothers in order to examine the relative success of the mothers. The progeny was grown together at three different densities in a greenhouse competition experiment. The results were analysed in a hierarchical model with siblings as replicates of mothers and mothers as replicates of sex-morphs. Differences between sex morphs were very small, but they were consistent in that the progeny from male steriles always performed less well than did the progeny from hermaphrodites. Male sterile progeny matched the hermaphrodite progeny best at the lowest density, where there was no effect of sex type on the level of individual performance. One explanation why hermaphrodites perform relatively better at higher densities could be that they are more plastic in their response to competition induced stress. This was indicated by density dependent allocation pattern of biomass to different parts of the plants, where the progeny of hermaphrodites appeared to be more plastic. The results from this experiment, and other studies, supports the idea that male sterility, if nucleo-cytoplasmically determined, can persist in a population even without any fitness advantages for females.

Sexual polymorphism in angiosperms can be explained both by the functional responses of male and female function to autogamy and geitonogamy, and by the conflict between the nuclear and cytoplasmic genomes. In predominantly hermaphrodite species, cytoplasmically determined male sterility may persist in a population because of maternal inheritance, i.e, the loss of male function does not change the fitness of the cytoplasmic genome. However, in populations with cytoplasmic male sterility, male fertility is often restored by nuclear genes. Therefore, in populations with genetical substructure, the frequencies of the different sex-morphs will fluctuate depending on the presence of both the male sterile cytoplasms, and of their specific nuclear restorer genes. In Plantagomaritima, we showed that the frequencies of male sterility were highest in regions with the highest population turnover rates and that male sterile individuals were more frequently found in the lower, less dense parts of the meadows. This indicates that male sterile cytoplasms have their highest probabilities to escape their nuclear restorer genes during recolonisation in disturbed regions within populations. We also found that male sterile individuals dispersed their seeds a little bit further than did the hermaphrodites. This can be interpreted as an adaptive response to the local occurrence of nuclear restorer genes.

The aim with this study was to analyse the population dynamics of Saxifraga cotyledon, a rare, long lived herb, with semelparous rosettes. In Sweden, S. cotyledon grows in fragmented habitats at high altitude and is classified as vulnerable according to the IUCN system. From a five year demographical study we estimated population growth rates and extinction risks for one small and one large subpopulation. In the small subpopulation deterministic matrix simulations showed large variation, with two transitions projecting negative and two projecting positive population growth. The large subpopulation also showed large variation, but all yearly transitions projected positive population growth. In both subpopulations survival and growth contributed more than twice as much to population growth rates than did sexual reproduction, vegetative reproduction and the seed bank all taken together. In stochastic simulations the maximum likelihood growth estimator was larger than 1 for both subpopulations. None of the two subpopulations suffer from high extinction rates and although the effect of demographic stochasticity increase extinction risk in small populations it is enough with 70 individuals for a viable population of S. cotyledon. Hence, for the studied population of S. cotyledon, rareness per se is not a good indicator of vulnerability.

A multiple regression model was used to analyse if the structure of vegetation and soil patches in grazed units (pastures) can be used as explanatory variables to predict the prevalence of Dicrocoelium dendriticum, a common parasite of cattle and sheep, in grazing cattle stocks on the Baltic island of land in southern Sweden. The scale dependency was evaluated by comparing three levels of spatial resolution of patches. Prevalence data were obtained from slaughtered animals. Our models predict that the prevalence of D. dendriticum increases in grazed areas with woody vegetation, whereas moist and wet areas decrease parasite prevalence. The predictive power of the statistical models increased with increasing level of patch resolution. Approximately 42% of the variation in parasite prevalence (angular transformation) was explained by the areal proportion of vegetation types (4th-root-transformed). Based on the results obtained, we believe that our model strategy provides a rational and systematic tool to identify habitats that carry risk for D. dendriticum infection of ruminants, and that it can be applied to other parasites with similar life cycles such as Fasciola hepatica.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of fungal bloodstream infections (BSI), especially candidaemia, has been increasing globally during the last decades. Fungal diagnosis is still challenging due to the slow growth of fungal microorganisms and need for special expertise. Fungal polymicrobial infections further complicate the diagnosis and extend the time required. Epidemiological data are vital to generate effective empirical treatment strategies.

OBJECTIVES: The overall aim of this project is to describe the epidemiology of monomicrobial candidaemia and polymicrobial BSI, both with mixed fungaemia and with mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs.

METHODS: We conducted a single-centre retrospective epidemiological study that encompasses 950,161 blood cultures during the years 2010 to 2020. The epidemiology of monomicrobial and polymicrobial candidaemia episodes were investigated from the electronic records.

RESULTS: We found that 1334 candidaemia episodes were identified belonging to 1144 individual patients during 2010 to 2020. Candida albicans was the most prevalent species detected in candidaemia patients, representing 57.7% of these episodes. Nakaseomyces (Candida) glabrata and Candida parapsilosis complex showed an increasing trend compared to previous studies, whereas Candida albicans demonstrated a decrease. 19.8% of these episodes were polymicrobial and 17% presented with mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs while 2.8% were mixed fungaemia. C. albicans and N. glabrata were the most common combination (51.4%) in mixed fungaemia episodes. Enterococcus and Lactobacillus spp. were the most common bacteria isolated in mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs.

CONCLUSIONS: Polymicrobial growth with candidaemia is common, mostly being mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs. C. albicans was detected in more than half of all the candidaemia patients however showed a decreasing trend in time, whereas an increase is noteworthy in C. parapsilosis complex and N. glabrata.

Local stakeholder participation in water management is emphasized in the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Wetland creation to mitigate nutrient leakage from agriculture is one example where participation of local farmers is needed. In this case study of the Himmerfjärden coastal catchment area, south of Stockholm, Sweden, we assessed both the importance of several demo-graphic factors, and of the main subsidy factors in the present Agri-Environmental Scheme (AES) for their effects on farmers’ willingness to create wetlands on their farms. The farm and farmer characteristics analyzed were age, gender, knowledge of the WFD, education, farm size, land ownership, current measures to reduce nutrient leakage and trust for other actors. The main factors from the AES were defined as five attributes in a discrete choice experiment approach related to the current agri-environmental policy instrument for wetland creation applied in the area. The results showed that approximately 30 % of the farmers were interested in wetland creation at their farms. The most common reason for not wanting to create a wetland was economic cost. Males were significantly more willing than females to create wetlands. Younger farmers were significantly more willing than older. Prior knowledge of the WFD increased willingness almost threefold, and land owners were significantly more willing than leaseholders. The choice experiment showed that higher cost ceiling for subsidies, higher compensation percentage and higher annual subsidies can significantly increase the willingness to create wetlands. However to attract also the remaining 70% of all farmers to join the AES we must look at other options than only using action based AES.

Blood volume is the most important variable, for detection of microorganisms in blood cultures (BC). Most standards recommend 40-60 ml blood, collected in several BC bottles filled up to 10 ml. We measured blood volume in individual BC bottles, and analysed the association of hospital, bottle type, day of the week, daily sampling time, and age and gender of the patient, with sampling volume and BC result. The variation in blood volume per BC bottle was analysed in a mixed linear model using hospital, bottle type, weekday, sampling time, age and gender as fixed factors, and patient ID and episode as random factors to control for repetitive sampling of individual patients. Only 18 % of all bottles were filled with the recommended 8-10 ml, and 47 % were filled with less than 8 ml. The mean (±SE) volume was larger in positive 9.09 (±0.15) compared to negative bottles 8.47 (±0.07) (p<0.001). Blood volume was larger in BacT/ALERT-FA Plus than in -FN Plus BC bottles (p<0.001). There was significantly lower volumes collected during the night (p<0.001). The volume of blood collected decreased significantly with increasing patient age (p<0.001). Larger volumes were collected from males compared to females, 8.78 (±0.06) vs. 8.36 (±0.06) ml (mean ± SE) respectively (p<0.001). The odds of detecting a positive patient increases with 13 % for each additional ml blood drawn. Our results show that we need to work actively with development of blood sampling routines to overcome age and gender effects, and to optimize blood sampling volumes.

We made a reciprocal transplantation experiment with Carlina vulgaris, among 12 semi-natural grassland sites situated in southwest Sweden. The fate of seeds and seedlings were followed during 2 years. Local adaptation was investigated both by native superiority over non-natives, and by comparing the observed performance of a population to the fitted value of a reduced statistical model that showed the populations' performance at all sites and the performance of all other populations at its home site. The latter method indicates presence of local adaptation even when natives are inferior to introduced populations as long as the negative difference in fitness between the populations is smaller at the native population's home site. The strength of local adaptation was measured as the ratio of the observed to the expected performance in reduced statistical models and regressed on the degree of isolation and population size. We found no evidence of local adaptation in terms of native superiority compared to non-natives, but with the relative method we found one of six fitness components, juvenile survival, to be 6% higher for natives at their home sites compared to how they performed at other sites and how others performed at their site. Further, our results indicate that both isolation and population size have a positive effect on the process of local adaptation.

In 2017, ticks and field data were collected from 12 different sites in Stockholm County originally chosen as random controls for another study but was never used. In 2019, we collected ticks and field data at 35 randomly selected sites along the natural-urban gradient. To calculate and urbanization index, we used the proportion of artificial surfaces surrounding each site. All sampling sites were visited once with a total of 295 sampling plots inventoried for ticks and field data. For each sampling plot, we recorded date, time, temperature, weather conditions, number of ticks, vegetation height and tree stem density surrounding the inventory plot. To retrieve large landscape characteristics, we established 10 buffer zones ranging from 100m to 1000m around each sampling site in GIS using satellite land cover maps (retrieved from: https://www.naturvardsverket.se/verktyg-och-tjanster/kartor-och-karttjanster/nationella-marktackedata/ladda-ner-nationella-marktackedata/). These maps have a spatial resolution of 10m and include the following main categories 1) Forest and seminatural areas, 2) Open areas, 3) Arable land, 4) Wetlands, 5) Artificial surfaces and 6) Inland and marine water. These main categories are further divided into subcategories with detailed information regarding the different land cover classes. In the analyses, we used the main categories, with the exception of Forest and seminatural areas where we included eight individual forest types: Pine forest, Spruce forest, Mixed coniferous forest, Mixed forest, Broadleaved forest, Broadleaved hardwood forest, Broadleaved forest with hardwood forest and Temporarily non-forest. To calculate landscape configuration metrics at each sampling site, we used land cover data from the GIS buffers with a 1000m radius, exported to GeoTIFF format and analyzed them with FRAGSTATS version 4. For landscape heterogeneity we used Shannons’ diversity index (SHDI) and to measure the aggregation of landscape attributes we used Contagion (CONTAG). As measures of forest configuration, we used percent of forest cover (PLAND) and total forest edge length (TE). All statistical analyses were performed with R version 4.0.3. To analyze the effect of possible risk factors for tick abundance in different greenspaces across the natural-urban gradient, we used generalized linear mixed models assuming Poisson distributed residuals. As the data contained a larger proportion of zeros than would be expected according to a Poisson or a negative binomial distribution causing overdispersion, we fitted zero-inflated Poisson models using the package glmmTMB (generalized linear mixed models using Template Model Builder).

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.

Policies and planning processes related to land use play an important role in maintaining and developing ecosystem services. The incorporation of ecosystem services into local plans is considered an indicator of the plan's capacity to implement strategic action. This study provides a national overview of the incorporation of the ecosystem service concept in current municipal comprehensive plans in Sweden and explores the actions taken by three municipalities in Stockholm County to implement the ecosystem service concept in practice. A multi-method design was employed including a qualitative content analysis of 231 municipal comprehensive plans, a statistical analysis analyzing temporal changes from 2005 – 2017, and dialogue meetings with municipal practitioners from the three municipalities. We divided the level of integration to four categories, A (Advanced) - D (Not included). Overall, the integration of the ecosystem service concept has significantly increased in municipal comprehensive plans during the last decade. At national level, 23% of municipalities have explicitly mentioned ecosystem services, and within Stockholm County, 42%. The dialogue meetings with municipal practitioners revealed that the municipalities were at different stages of implementing the ecosystem service concept, with diverse actions being implemented for advancing practice. These included capacity building, participatory processes and development of thematic plans and operational documents. To support the future implementation of the ecosystem service concept from vision to action, both local and national initiatives are needed.

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.

Objectives The performance of blood cultures (BC) relies on optimal sampling. Sepsis guidelines do not specify which sampling protocol to use, but recommend two sets of BC bottles, each set containing one aerobic and one anaerobic bottle. For the single-site sampling (SSS) protocol, only one venipuncture is performed for all four bottles. The predominating multi-site sampling (MSS) protocol implies that BC bottles are collected from two separate venipuncture sites. The aim of this study was to compare SSS and MSS. Primary outcomes were number of BC sets collected, sample volume and diagnostic performance. Methods This was a retrospective clinical study comparing BC results in an emergency department before and after changing the sampling protocol to SSS from MSS. All BC samples were incubated in the BacT/ALERT BC system. Results The analysis included 5,248 patients before and 5,364 patients after the implementation of SSS. There was a significantly higher proportion of positive BCs sampled with SSS compared to MSS, 1,049/5,364 (19.56%) and 932/5,248 (17.76%) respectively (P=0.018). This difference was due to a higher proportion of solitary BC sets (two BC bottles) in MSS. Analyzing only patients with the recommended four BC bottles, there was no difference in positivity. SSS had a higher proportion of BC bottles with the recommended sample volumes of 8-12 ml than MSS (P<0.001). Conclusions Changing the sampling protocol to SSS from MSS resulted in higher positivity rates, higher sample volume and fewer solitary BC sets. These advantages of SSS should be considered in future sepsis guidelines.

Aim: There is an intense debate about whether habitat fragmentation has a negative or positive effect on biodiversity. We examined whether species richness and incidence of forest plants were negatively or positively associated with fragmented forest configuration. We also analysed whether the results support the fragmentation threshold hypothesis with fragmentation effects only in landscapes with small habitat amount.

Location: Sodermanland province, south-eastern Sweden (8,388 km(2)).

Methods: Data consisted of plant distribution maps and landscape data on forest amount and configuration in 2.5 km x 2.5 km quadrats. We carried out models including forest area together with clumpiness index (CL models) or edge density (ED models) as the measure of habitat configuration. We focused on plant taxa with positive association between incidence and forest area (163 taxa in CL models; 119 taxa in ED models).

Results: Responses to fragmented configuration were negative more often than by random (33 and 22 taxa in CL and ED models, respectively; includes only models without significant forest area x configuration interaction), whereas positive responses were rare (four taxa in both models). When forest area x configuration interaction was significant, the most common response had a negative effect of fragmented configuration when forest area was low and no effect of configuration when forest area was high, which agrees with the fragmentation threshold hypothesis. Species richness also had this type of response. In another common interactive response, the effect of fragmented configuration was negative at low forest area and positive at high forest area.

Main conclusions: Responses to fragmented forest configuration, when significant, were usually negative. When responses to fragmented configuration were modulated by forest area, they were negative when forest area was low. The findings of complex interaction between forest area and configuration have implications for selection of appropriate patch sizes in sustainable forest management.

Vi, 1 620 forskare samt lärare vid universitet och högskolor, är eniga med de unga bakom Auroramålet: De drabbas och riskerar att drabbas allvarligt av klimatkrisen under sin livstid. De klimatåtgärder vi vidtar i närtid avgör deras framtid. Sverige måste ta ansvar och göra sin rättvisa andel av det globala klimatarbetet. 

I strid med Parisavtalet ökar utsläppen av växthusgaser i en takt som gör att 1,5-gradersmålet kan överskridas om några år. De globala effekterna blir allt mer synliga med ständiga temperaturrekord, smältande isar, havshöjning och extremväder som torka, förödande bränder och skyfall med enorma översvämningar, som i Pakistan nyligen. Försörjningen av befolkningen utsätts för allvarliga hot i många länder.

Minskningen av den biologiska mångfalden är extrem. Klimatkrisen är enligt WHO det största hotet mot människors hälsa i hela världen och barn utgör en särskilt sårbar grupp. Med Sveriges nordliga läge sker uppvärmningen här dubbelt så fort som det globala genomsnittet. Det förskjuter utbredningsområden för växtlighet och sjukdomsbärande insekter och ökar förekomsten av extremväder såsom värmeböljor, skogsbränder och översvämningar samt av många olika sorters infektioner och allergier. När extremväder ökar, ökar även stressen och risken för mental ohälsa. Värmeböljor ökar risken för sjukdom och död hos sårbara grupper som äldre, små barn och personer med kroniska sjukdomar. De negativa effekterna på hälsan kommer att öka i takt med klimatkrisen och barn riskerar att drabbas av ackumulerade negativa hälsoeffekter under hela sina liv. Redan i dag är mer än hälften av unga mellan 12 och 18 år i Sverige ganska eller mycket oroliga för klimat och miljö. Detta är förståeligt när våra beslutsfattare inte gör vad som krävs.

Den juridiska och moraliska grunden för arbetet mot klimatförändringarna är att varje land måste göra sin rättvisa andel av det globala klimatarbetet. Centralt i det internationella klimatramverket är att rika länder med höga historiska utsläpp, däribland Sverige, måste gå före resten av världen. Dessa länder måste också bidra till att finansiera klimatomställningen i länderna i det Globala Syd, som är minst ansvariga för klimatkrisen men drabbas hårdast. Denna rättviseprincip är tydlig i Parisavtalet och var en het diskussionsfråga under COP27 i Sharm el-Sheikh, men lyser med sin frånvaro i det svenska klimatarbetet. 

Sverige har satt mål för att minska sina utsläpp. Men de är helt otillräckliga: minskningstakten är för låg och målen tillåter samtidigt att åtgärder skjuts på framtiden. Dessutom exkluderas merparten av Sveriges utsläpp från de svenska nationella utsläppsmålen; bland annat utelämnas utsläpp som svensk konsumtion orsakar utanför Sveriges gränser, utsläpp från utrikes transporter och utsläpp från markanvändning och skogsbruk, exempelvis utsläpp från förbränning av biobränslen eller utsläpp från dikade våtmarker (Prop. 2016/17:146 s.25-28).

Sverige saknar dessutom ett eget mål för att öka upptaget av växthusgaser genom utökat skydd och restaurering av ekosystem, något som krävs för att begränsa de värsta konsekvenserna av klimatkrisen (IPCC s.32). Trots dessa låga ambitioner misslyckas Sverige med att nå sina utsläppsmål, konstaterar både Klimatpolitiska rådet och Naturvårdsverket. En klimatpolitik i linje med Parisavtalet kräver både att alla typer av växthusgasutsläpp minskar samtidigt som – inte i stället för – upptaget av växthusgaser maximeras: i dag misslyckas Sverige på bägge fronter.

Slutsatsen är tydlig. Sverige vidtar inte de åtgärder som krävs för att skydda barns och ungdomars rättigheter enligt Europakonventionen till skydd för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Detta medför allvarliga risker för liv och hälsa för unga generationer, människor i andra länder och särskilt utsatta grupper. Detta kan inte fortsätta. Därför ställer vi oss bakom Auroras krav att Sverige börjar göra sin rättvisa andel och omedelbart sätter igång ett omfattande och långtgående klimatarbete som vilar på vetenskaplig grund och sätter rättvisa i centrum.

Sewage treatment plant effluents contain a complex mixture of pharmaceuticals, personal care products and industrial chemicals, thus exposing aquatic organisms. Still, the consequences of exposure to combinations of different classes of drugs is largely unknown. In this study, we expose adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) males and females to low, environmentally relevant concentrations of the endocrine disrupting chemical 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE₂) and the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram, alone and in combination, and analyse three non-reproductive behaviours of importance for population fitness.

Two weeks exposure to 0.1 and 0.5 ng/LEE₂ resulted in increased anxiety in males in the scototaxis (light/dark preference) test. Significantly longer latency periods before entering the white zone and fewer visits in the white zone were observed in males exposed to both 0.1 and 0.5 ng/LEE₂ compared to unexposed males. No significant effects of citalopram alone (0.1 and 0.5 µg/L) were observed in the scototaxis test. The combined exposures (0.1 ng/L EE₂ + 0.1 µg/L citalopram and 0.5 ng/L EE₂ + 0.5 µg/L citalopram) resulted in abolishment of the anxiogenic effects of EE₂, with significantly shorter latency period (low dose) and more transitions to white (high and low dose) than in fish exposed to EE₂ alone. No significant effects of either EE₂, citalopramor the combination of the two were observed in females. In the novel tank test, significantly more transitions to the upper half of the tank were observed in males exposed to 0.1 µg/L citalopram alone compared to unexposed males while males exposed to 0.1 ng/lEE₂ had significantly shorter latency period to enter the upper half. Exposure to the combination of the two low concentrations did, however, result in a significantly longer latency and fewer transitions to upper half compared to both control, EE₂- and citalopram-exposed males. These males also spent significantly less time in the upper half than the fish exposed to 0.1 ng/l EE₂ or 0.1 µg/l citalopram alone. No significant effects on novel tank behaviour were observed in females or males exposed to the higher concentrations. In the shoaling test, males exposed to 0.1 µg/L citalopram and females exposed to 0.5 ng/l EE₂ made significantly fewer transitions away from peers while males exposed to 0.1 µg/L citalopram + 0.1 ng/l EE₂ performed significantly more transitions than the fish exposed to 0.1 µg/L citalopram alone.

In conclusion, this study shows that very low concentrations ofEE_2, at or slightly above the predicted noeffect concentration (NOEC), affects anxiety in zebrafish males. Furthermore, citalopram, in spite of marginal effect of its own at such low levels, counteracts the response to EE₂. This study represents an initial effort to understand the effects on water-living organisms of the cocktails of anthropogenic substances contaminating aquatic environments.

The synthetic estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), ubiquitous in the aquatic environment and commonly detected in sewage effluents, interferes with the endocrine system in multiple ways. Exposure during sensitive windows of development causes persistent effects on fertility, reproductive and non-reproductive behavior in mammals and fish. In the present study, three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were exposed to nominal 0 and 20 ng/L EE2 from fertilization to 7 weeks post-hatch. After 8 months of remediation in clean water three non-reproductive behaviors, not previously analyzed in developmentally EE2-exposed progeny of wild-caught fish, were evaluated. Chemical analysis revealed that the nominal 0 and 20 ng/L exposure contained 5 and 30 ng/L EE2, respectively. Therefore, the use of control fish from previous experiments was necessary for comparisons. Fish exposed during development showed significant concentration-dependent reduction in anxiety-like behavior in the scototaxis (light/dark preference) test by means of shorter latency to first entrance to the white compartment, more visits in white, and longer total time in white compared to unexposed fish. In the novel tank test, developmental exposure significantly increased the number of transitions to the upper half of the aquaria. Exposure to EE2 during development did not alter shoal cohesion in the shoaling test compared with unexposed fish but fish exposed to 30 ng/L EE2 had significantly longer latency to leave the shoal and fewer transitions away from the shoal compared to fish exposed to 5 ng/L EE2. Skewed sex ratio with more females, sex reversal in genetic males as well as intersex in males was observed after exposure to 30, but not 5 ng/L EE2. In conclusion, EE2 exposure during development in three-spined stickleback resulted in persistent effects on anxiety-like behaviors. These long-term effects from developmental exposure are likely to be of higher relevance for natural populations than are short-term effects from adult exposure.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands of highly persistent anthropogenic chemicals widely used in many industries. Therefore, they are, ubiquitously present in various types of environments. Despite their omnipresence, ecotoxicological studies of most PFAS are scarce, and those available often assess the effects of long chain PFAS. In this study, we present the results of an exposure experiment in which wild aquatic amphipod Gammarus spp. was exposed to the short chain perfluorinated substance perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) at very low and environmentally relevant concentrations of 0, 10 and 100 ng/L. The exposure lasted for 12 days, and food intake and non-reproductive behavior were analyzed. Exposure to 10 and 100 ng/L PFBA resulted in a lower consumption of food during exposure but no effect on behavior was found. 

17α-Ethinylestradiol (EE2) is a ubiquitous aquatic contaminant shown to decrease fish fertility at low concentrations, especially in fish exposed during development. The mechanisms of the decreased fertility are not fully understood. In this study, we perform transcriptome analysis by RNA sequencing of testes from zebrafish with previously reported lowered fertility due to exposure to low concentrations of EE2during development. Fish were exposed to 1.2 and 1.6 ng/L (measured concentration; nominal concentrations 3 and 10 ng/L) of EE2 from fertilization to 80 days of age, followed by 82 days of remediation in clean water. RNA sequencing analysis revealed 249 and 16 genes to be differentially expressed after exposure to 1.2 and 1.6 ng/L, respectively; a larger inter-sample variation was noted in the latter. Expression of 11 genes were altered by both exposures and in the same direction. The coding sequences most affected could be categorized to the putative functions cell signalling, proteolysis, protein metabolic transport and lipid metabolic process. Several homeobox transcription factors involved in development and differentiation showed increased expression in response to EE2 and differential expression of genes related to cell death, differentiation and proliferation was observed. In addition, several genes related to steroid synthesis, testis development and function were differentially expressed. A number of genes associated with spermatogenesis in zebrafish and/or mouse were also found to be differentially expressed. Further, differences in non-coding sequences were observed, among them several differentially expressed miRNA that might contribute to testis gene regulation at post-transcriptional level. This study has generated insights of changes in gene expression that accompany fertility alterations in zebrafish males that persist after developmental exposure to environmental relevant concentrations of EE2 that persist followed by clean water to adulthood. Hopefully, this will generate hypotheses to test in search for mechanistic explanations.

Ornamental plants rich in pollen and nectar are often marketed as “pollinator-friendly” by flower retailers. However, even though the plants are attractive from a foraging perspective, i.e pollen and nectar rich, bees and other pollinating insects could be at risk from exposure of pesticide residues on the plants or from pesticide used during production. Pesticides used in ornamental plant production could lead to environmental emissions both during cultivation, at retailer displays and when planted in gardens by the consumers. This study aims to investigate what pesticides that are used in the production of perennial ornamental plants sold in Sweden and if the residues could pose a risk for wild pollinators. We analyze an array of 536 pesticides in whole flowers, leaves, roots and soil of 54 individual (46 had flowers) perennial plants specifically marketed as “bee friendly”. In addition, seeds from 65 seed bags were analyzed for the same pesticides. Our result show for the first time the distribution of pesticide residues between flowers, leaves, roots and soils of ornamental plants. We also show that all ornamental plants analyzed contained at least one pesticide, and that some samples contained up to 19 different substances.

The synthetic estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is an endocrine disrupting compound of concern due to its persistence and widespread presence in the aquatic environment. Effects of developmental exposure to low concentrations of EE2 in fish on reproduction and behavior not only persisted to adulthood, but have also been observed to be transmitted to several generations of unexposed progeny. To investigate the possible biological mechanisms of the persistent anxiogenic phenotype, we exposed zebrafish embryos for 80 days post fertilization to 0, 3 and 10 ng/L EE2 (measured concentrations 2.14 and 7.34 ng/L). After discontinued exposure, the animals were allowed to recover for 120 days in clean water. Adult males and females were later tested for changes in stress response and shoal cohesion, and whole-brain gene expression was analyzed with RNA sequencing. The results show increased anxiety in the novel tank and scototaxis tests, and increased shoal cohesion in fish exposed during development to EE2. RNA sequencing revealed 34 coding genes differentially expressed in male brains and 62 in female brains as a result of EE2 exposure. Several differences were observed between males and females in differential gene expression, with only one gene, sv2b, coding for a synaptic vesicle protein, that was affected by EE2 in both sexes. Functional analyses showed that in female brains, EE2 had significant effects on pathways connected to the circadian rhythm, cytoskeleton and motor proteins and synaptic proteins. A large number of non-coding sequences including 19 novel miRNAs were also differentially expressed in the female brain. The largest treatment effect in male brains was observed in pathways related to cholesterol biosynthesis and synaptic proteins. Circadian rhythm and cholesterol biosynthesis, previously implicated in anxiety behavior, might represent possible candidate pathways connecting the transcriptome changes to the alterations to behavior. Further the observed alteration in expression of genes involved in synaptogenesis and synaptic function may be important for the developmental modulations resulting in an anxiety phenotype. This study represents an initial survey of the fish brain transcriptome by RNA sequencing after long-term recovery from developmental exposure to an estrogenic compound.

In conservation management, there is an urgent need for estimates of population viability and for knowledge of the contributions of different life-history stages to population growth rates. Collection of long-term demographic data from a study population is time-consuming and may considerably delay the start of proper management actions. We examined the possibility of replacing a long-term temporal data set (demographic data from several years within a population) with a short-term spatial data set (demographic data from different populations for the same subset of two continuous years) for stochastic estimates of population viability. Using matrix population models for ten perennial plant species, we found that the matrix elements of spatial data sets often deviated from those of temporal data sets and that matrix elements generally varied more spatially than temporally. The appropriateness of replacing temporal data with spatial data depended on the subset of years and populations used to estimate stochastic population growth rates (log lambda(s)). Still, the precision of log lambda(s) estimates measured as variation in the yearly change of logarithmic population size rarely differed significantly between the spatial and temporal data sets. Since a spatiotemporal comparison of matrix elements and their variation cannot be used to assess whether spatial and temporal data sets are interchangeable, we recommend further research on the topic.

Mountain agriculture emerged at the intersection of the "wild economy," which focused on hunting, fishing and gathering wild plants and the agricultural based economy that is characterized by the domestication of animals and cultivation of the soil. Like other traditional systems based on pasture, the Swedish mountain systems is based on the use of inherited traditional knowledge and mountain pastures have over centuries created a very rare and rich habitat in the form of upland hay meadows. Today, both traditional knowledge and the rich biodiversity in the mountains are endangered by the implementation of modern practices that lead to a number of conflicts that go beyond the tragedy of the commons. One important source of conflict emanates from the changing role of the countryside, a role that creates expectations on farmers to deliver recreation, magnificent landscapes, new job opportunities, operate hotels , produce, cheese, maintain a cultural heritage and contribute to the conservation of native breeds . Another problem is caused by new support systems and regulations that create incentives to intensify the exploitation of summer farms by using the pastures for modern meat cattle breeds, which changes the landscape, but also makes traditional farmers upset, because of the risk of losing the traditions of summer farms.

An additional source of conflict is created by the state’s changing attitudes towards the mountain world, as the state aims to shut down all existing (state owned) leased mountain flats (fjällägenheter) by cutting down basic infrastructure. The remaining flats are located primarily in the northern parts of Jämtland. They contribute to the maintenance of a very unique flora and insect fauna.  By comparing two cases, one in Klövsjö and one in the northern part of the region, this paper contributes with new knowledge about  mountain agriculture, including interlocking interests, competitive activities, potentials and conflicts.

The Baltic Sea is heavily affected by eutrophication caused by nutrient overload, climate, and infrequency in major inflow events, resulting in widespread areas of oxygen depleted waters and sediments. A Major Baltic Inflow event (MBI) brings saline and oxygenated Atlantic Ocean water into the Baltic Sea, as occurred in 2014. Using a theoretical framework based on metapopulation and metacommunity theory we predicted a transition of the sediment bacterial community after the MBI, from a more heterogeneous community pattern driven by local colonisation-extinction dynamics towards a more pronounced environmental gradient but with reduced beta-diversities. Community diversity patterns before and after the MBI were investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of samples from 42 Baltic Sea environmental monitoring stations. Results showed strong metapopulation dynamics with many satellite and few core taxa. NMDS-ordination showed distinct geographical clustering. After the MBI, alpha-diversity increased, beta-diversity decreased and a significant distance-decay relationship developed. Changes in community composition correlated significantly with changes in oxygen and salinity from 2010 to 2015. Our results indicate strong metapopulation and metacommunity structuring of sediment bacterial diversity and composition in the Baltic Sea and how movements of large-scale water bodies affect bacterial communities through changes in large-scale environmental gradients and dispersal patterns.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global major health concern. Spatial analysis is considered an invaluable method in health studies. Therefore, we explored the usage of spatial analysis in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in studies on AMR in the environment. This systematic review is based on database searches, a content analysis, ranking of the included studies according to the preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE) and estimation of data points per km2. Initial database searches resulted in 524 records after removal of duplicates. After the last stage of full text screening, 13 greatly heterogeneous articles with diverse study origins, methods and design remained. In the majority of studies, the data density was considerably less than one sampling site per km2 but exceeded 1,000 sites per km2 in one study. The results of the content analysis and ranking showed a variation between studies that primarily used spatial analysis and those that used spatial analysis as a sec ondary method. We identified two distinct groups of GIS methods. The first was focused on sample collection and laboratory testing, with GIS as supporting method. The second group used overlay analysis as the primary method to combine datasets in a map. In one case, both methods were combined. The low number of articles that met our inclusion criteria highlights a research gap. Based on the findings of this study we encourage application of GIS to its full potential in studies of AMR in the environment.

To assess the effects of landscape configuration on local plant species richness, we tested whether local species richness of forest understory plants is affected by the total forest area and forest edge length in the adjacent landscape. We also tested whether the landscape effect on species richness is different for forest and edge species. We estimated species richness from 113 forest sites in four regions in Northern Europe. At each site, we studied two plots, one at the edge and one in the core of the forest. Total forested area and forest edge length in circles with a 1-km radius, together with plot-specific variables of environmental conditions and temporal continuity of forests, were recorded at each plot. The amount of forest and the length of the forest edge in the adjacent landscape had a significant positive effect on local species richness of all understory plant species. As expected, edge species were positively affected by increasing length of the forest edge in the landscape, but surprisingly there was no effect of forest area on species richness of forest species. Temporal forest continuity had a negative effect on species richness of edge species but no effect on species richness of forest species. Our results suggest that forest edge length had a stronger landscape effect on understory plant species richness than forest area. Implications of these findings for the management of forest landscapes depend on priorities given to different species groups in biodiversity conservation, i.e. if emphasis is in total species richness or species richness of forest or edge species.

Exposure to estrogenic endocrine disruptors (EDCs) during of development affects fertility, reproductive and non-reproductive behavior in mammals and fish. These effects can also be transferred to coming generations. In fish, the effects of developmental EDC exposure on non-reproductive behavior is less well studied. Here, we analyze the effects of 17α-Ethinylestradiol (EE2) on anxiety, shoaling behavior and fertility in zebrafish after developmental treatment and remediation in clean water until adulthood. Zebrafish embryos were exposed from day 1 to day 80 post fertilization to actual concentrations of 1.2 and 1.6ng/L EE2. After remediation for 82days non-reproductive behavior and fertilization success were analyzed in both sexes. Males and females from the 1.2ng/L group, as well as control males and females, were bred, and behavior of the untreated F1 offspring was tested as adults. Developmental treatment with 1.2 and 1.6ng/L EE2 significantly increased anxiety in the Novel Tank test and increased shoaling intensity in both sexes. Fertilization success was significantly reduced by EE2 in both sexes when mated with untreated fish of opposite sex. Progeny of fish treated with 1.2ng/L EE2 showed increased anxiety in the Novel tank test and increased light avoidance in the Scototaxis test compared to control offspring. In conclusion, developmental exposure of zebrafish to low doses of EE2 resulted in persistent changes in behavior and fertility. The behavior of unexposed progeny were affected by their parents' exposure, which might suggest transgenerational effects.