Older people's views of falls-prevention interventions in six European countries.

PURPOSE: Our study identified factors common to a variety of populations and settings that may promote or inhibit uptake and adherence to falls-related interventions. DESIGN AND METHODS: Semistructured interviews to assess perceived advantages and barriers to taking part in falls-related interventions were carried out in six European countries with 69 people aged 68 to 97 years. The sample was selected to include people with very different experiences of participation or nonparticipation in falls-related interventions, but all individuals were asked about interventions that included strength and balance training. RESULTS: Attitudes were similar in all countries and contexts. People were motivated to participate in strength and balance training by a wide range of perceived benefits (interest and enjoyment, improved health, mood, and independence) and not just reduction of falling risk. Participation also was encouraged by a personal invitation from a health practitioner and social approval from family and friends. Barriers to participation included denial of falling risk, the belief that no additional falls-prevention measures were necessary, practical barriers to attendance at groups (e.g., transport, effort, and cost), and a dislike of group activities. IMPLICATIONS: Because many older people reject the idea that they are at risk of falling, the uptake of strength and balance training programs may be promoted more effectively by maximizing and emphasizing their multiple positive benefits for health and well-being. A personal invitation from a health professional to participate is important, and it also may be helpful to provide home-based programs for those who dislike or find it difficult to attend groups.

Naudan lietelannan käsittelymenetelmien taloudellinen vertailu

Maataloudessa syntyvä lanta on arvokas lannoite ja maanparannusaine, jonka käsittelystä aiheutuu sekä kustannuksia että ympäristövaikutuksia. Muita haasteita ovat esimerkiksi lannan mikrobit, lannan levitykseen soveltuvan ajankohdan lyhyys, lannan ravinteiden sovittaminen kasvien tarpeisiin ja lannan ravinteiden määrä suhteessa levityskelpoisen peltoalan määrään. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tunnistaa naudan lietelannan käsittelyketjuihin liittyvät kustannukset ja osoittaa eri käsittelyketjujen kustannusten eroavaisuudet. Tavoitteena oli myös tunnistaa ja osoittaa käsittelyketjujen laadulliset erot. Kustannukset selvitettiin kustannuslaskelmin ja laadulliset erot SWOT-menetelmällä. Tutkimuksen kohteeksi valittiin 6 tilakokoluokkaa ja käsittelyketjuiksi lietelanta-, kompostointi- ja mädätysketju. Tutkimuksessa alhaisimmat kustannukset olivat lietelantaketjulla, jonka kustannukset 25 – 250 naudan tilalla olivat 5 200 – 6 600 €/a ja yksikkökustannukset 1 – 9 €/m3. Mädätysketjun kustannukset vastaavissa tilakokoluokissa olivat noin 33 000 – 50 000 €/a ja yksikkökustannukset 8 – 55 €/m3. Kompostointiketjun kustannukset olivat 35 000 – 143 000 €/a ja yksikkökustannukset 24 – 58 €/m3. Lietelantaketjun edullisuus johtui vähäisistä laite- ja rakennusinvestoinneista ja pienistä työmääristä ja kompostointiketjun kalleus suurista tukiaine- ja investointikustannuksista. Käsittelyketjujen asettaminen paremmuusjärjestykseen oli hankalaa. Työn määrä oli pienin lietelantaketjussa ja toiseksi pienin suurilla tiloilla mädätysketjussa. Kompostointiketjulla itse levitykseen kuluva aika oli pienin. Ravinteiden osalta mädätysketju oli parhain ja kompostointiketju huonoin. Ympäristövaikutuksiltaan ja hajuhaitoiltaan kompostointi- ja mädätysketju olivat parhaimmat. Mikrobien osalta parhain oli kompostointiketju.

The Current Situation of Sewage Sludge and Manure Treatment in Livestock Enterprises in the Leningrad Region

The problem concerning livestock waste handling in the Leningrad region has been subjected to a number of research works. However, the requirements for use of manure and sewage sludge as well as for treatment processes are not certain. So, this problem remains relevant and, therefore, further investigation ought to be made. Currently a large amount of sewage sludge and manure is generated in the Leningrad region. These livestock wastes have to be obligatory treated. The most common methods for treatment in the region, such as anaerobic digestion, composting and aging as well as the most potential methods are described in the thesis. The most potential methods for the Leningrad region are anaerobic digestion, composting and combustion. Each method has strengths and weaknesses, which are also considered in the paper. Aging was not considered as potential treatment method because it does not meet the sanitary and epidemiological requirements. Furthermore, the work gives an overview and comparison of Finnish and Russian legislative and normative acts concerning livestock wastes handling. On the whole the requirements of the Russian Federation concerning sewage sludge and manure are not much different from the Finnish ones.

Current status of the waste-to-energy chain in the County of North Savo, Finland

The aim of this report is to describe the current status of the waste-to-energy chain in the province of Northern Savonia in Finland. This work is part of the Baltic Sea Region Programme project Remowe-Regional Mobilizing of Sustainable Waste-to-Energy Production (2009-2012). Partnering regions across Baltic Sea countries have parallelly investigated the current status, bottle-necks and needs for development in their regions. Information about the current status is crucial for the further work within the Remowe project, e.g. in investigating the possible future status in target regions. Ultimate result from the Northern Savonia point of view will be a regional model which utilizes all available information and facilitates decision-making concerning energy utilization of waste. The report contains information on among others: - waste management system (sources, amounts, infrastructure) - energy system (use, supply, infrastructure) - administrative structure and legislation - actors and stakeholders in the waste-to-energy field, including interest and development ideas The current status of the regions will be compared in a separate Remowe report, with the focus on finding best practices that could be transferred among the regions. In this report, the current status has been defined as 2006-2009. In 2009, the municipal waste amount per capita was 479 kg/inhabitant in Finland. Industrial waste amounted 3550 kg/inhabitant, respectively. The potential bioenergy from biodegradable waste amounts 1 MWh/inhabitant in Northern Savonia. This figure includes animal manure, crops that would be suitable for energy use, sludge from municipal sewage treatment plants and separately collected biowaste. A key strategy influencing also to Remowe work is the waste plan for Eastern Finland. Currently there operate two digestion plants in Northern Savonia: Lehtoniemi municipal sewage treatment sludge digestion plant of Kuopion Vesi and the farm-scale research biogas plant of Agrifood Research Finland in Maaninka. Moreover, landfill gas is collected to energy use from Heinälamminrinne waste management centre and Silmäsuo closed landfill site, both belonging to Jätekukko Oy. Currently there is no thermal utilization of waste in Northern Savonia region. However, Jätekukko Oy is pretreating mixed waste and delivering refuse derived fuel (RDF) to Southern Finland to combustion. There is a strong willingness among seven regional waste management companies in Eastern Finland to build a waste incineration plant to Riikinneva waste management centre near city of Varkaus. The plant would use circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler. This would been a clear boost in waste-to-energy utilization in Northern Savonia and in many surrounding regions.

Kestävämpi maatalous Uudellemaalle. Tavoitteena vesien hyvä tila ja ravinteiden kierto.

Kestävämpi maatalous Uudellemaalle projektissa kartoitettiin Uudenmaan maatalouden nykytilaa ja pyrittiin selvittämään millä keinoilla maataloutta voitaisiin muuttaa kestävämmäksi vuoteen 2020 mennessä. Uusimaa on maatalousalueena hyvin kasvinviljelyvaltainen ja viljanviljely on yleisin päätuotantosuunta maatiloilla. Kotieläintalouden merkitys on Uudellamaalla vähäinen, eikä sen odoteta kasvavan lähitulevaisuudessa. Kuitenkin muuhun Suomeen verrattuna hevosia ja hevostaloutta on Uudellamaalla suhteellisen paljon. Ravinnekiertoja Uudenmaan maataloudessa tunnetaan melko huonosti, ja kotieläinten vähäisyydestä johtuen väkilannoitteita käytetään runsaasti. Uudenmaan vesistöt ovat pääosin tyydyttävässä ekologisessa tilassa ja maataloutta pidetään suurimpana yksittäisenä ravinnekuormituksen aiheuttajana. Maatalouden vesiensuojeluun on Uudellamaalla panostettu paljon, mutta työtä vesien tilan parantamiseksi on kuitenkin vielä paljon jäljellä. Projektissa selvitettiin Delfoi-menetelmän avulla asiantuntijoiden näkemyksiä Uudenmaan maatalouden kestävyydestä. Delfoi on tulevaisuudentutkimuksessa käytetty menetelmä. Sen tärkeimmät tunnuspiirteet ovat asiantuntijoiden anonyymius, kyselyn toistuminen sekä palaute. Tämä Delfoi-tutkimus toteutettiin kaksikierroksisena Internet-kyselynä, jossa pyrittiin saamaan tietoa maatalouden ympäristönsuojelun kannalta oleellisista toimenpiteistä ja ohjauskeinoista lähitulevaisuudessa. Tutkimukseen valittiin panelisteiksi 19 Uudenmaan maatalouden parissa työskentelevää asiantuntijaa. Delfoi-tutkimukseen osallistuneet asiantuntijat pitivät kestävämmän maatalouden kannalta tärkeimpinä toimenpiteinä suojavyöhykkeiden lisäämistä, luonnonhoitopeltojen lisäämistä, lanta- ja rehuyhteistyön lisäämistä kotieläin- ja kasvinviljelytilojen välillä, alus- ja kerääjäkasvien viljelyä, syyskylvöisen kasvialan lisäämistä sekä viljelykiertojen lisäämistä. Panelistien mielestä tärkeimmät kestävämmän maatalouden ohjauskeinot lähitulevaisuudessa ovat tilakohtainen ympäristöneuvonta sekä ympäristötuki/ympäristökorvaus.

Hevostoiminnan ympäristökysymyksiä Satakunnassa ja Varsinais-Suomessa

Hevosten määrä on yli kaksinkertaistunut massamme kolmen viime vuosikymmenen aikana. Hevostaloudella on tärkeä merkitys maaseudun yritys- ja elinkeinotoiminnan monipuolistamisessa. Toiminnan laajentuessa myös ympäristökysymyksiin tulee kiinnittää yhä enemmän huomiota. Raportissa käsitellään hevostoimintaa Varsinais-Suomessa ja Satakunnassa sekä käydään läpi tallien ympäristöasioita sekä alueellisella että yleisellä tasolla. Erityistä huomiota kiinnitetään lannan käsittelystä sekä jaloittelutarhoista aiheutuvaan ravinnekuormitusriskiin ja sen vähentämismahdollisuuksiin. Raportti on toteutettu osana Tehoa maatalouden vesiensuojeluun (TEHO) -hanketta.

Karjanlannan typpi- ja fosforimäärät sekä niiden jakautuminen Satakunnassa ja Varsinais-Suomessa

Karjanlanta on arvokasta lannoitetta, jonka sisältämät ravinteet tulisi käyttää mahdollisimman tehokkaasti hyödyksi viljelykasvien ravinteina. Kotieläimet ovat jakaantuneet epätasaisesti sekä valtakunnallisesti, alueellisesti että paikallisesti. Varsinais-Suomeen ja Satakuntaan on syntynyt erityisesti sika- ja siipikarjatalouskeskittymiä. Tämän seurauksena eräillä alueilla syntyy enemmän lantaa kuin viljelykasvien ravinteiksi tarvitaan. Runsaan fosforilannoituksen seurauksena peltojen fosforipitoisuus on noussut paikoin niin korkeaksi, että lannan levitys ole enää mahdollista ympäristötuen ehtojen mukaan. Tällöin lantaa joudutaan kuljettamaan yhä kauempana oleville pelloille, mikä lisää kustannuksia. Tällaisissa tilanteissa lannan käsittely (esim. separointi) saattaa tulla tarpeelliseksi. Julkaisussa esitetään tilastoihin perustuvien laskelmien avulla, kuinka paljon kotieläimet tuottavat vuosittain Satakunnassa ja Varsinais-Suomessa lannan mukana typpeä ja fosforia sekä kuvataan ravinteiden alueellista ja paikallista jakaantumista. Raportti on toteutettu osana Tehoa maatalouden vesiensuojeluun (TEHO) -hanketta.

Ravinteiden käytön yleissuunnitelma Saaristomeren valuma-alueella

Ravinteiden käytön yleissuunnitelma Saaristomeren valuma-alueelle – hanke sai rahoituksensa Ympäristöministeriön Ravinteiden kierrätyksen edistämistä ja Saaristomeren tilan parantamista koskevasta ohjelmasta. Hanke on toteutettu yhteistyössä Varsinais-Suomen ELY-keskuksen, MTK-Varsinais-Suomen, Biovakka Suomi Oy:n, Turun seudun puhdistamo Oy:n ja ympäristöministeriön kanssa. Suunnittelutyön on toteuttanut Sweco Ympäristö Oy ja Turun ammattikorkeakoulu. Hankkeen tarkoituksena oli laatia kattava katsaus Saaristomeren valuma-alueella muodostuvista kierrätykseen kelpaavista orgaanisista ravinnejakeista ja niiden mahdollisesta käyttötarkoituksesta siten, että Varsinais-Suomesta voitaisiin saada ravinteiden suhteen omavarainen alue. Tarkastelun alla ovat olleet eläinten lanta, jätevedenpuhdistuslaitosten lietteet, maatalouden sivuvirrat, teollisuuden orgaaniset jätteet, ruovikoiden niittojätteet ja hoitokalastetut kalat. Hankkeessa on laadittu kolme osaraporttia ja osaraporteista on laadittu tämä julkaisu, joka toimii samalla hankkeen loppuraporttina. Ensimmäisessä osaraportissa laadittiin orgaanisten ravinteiden muodostumisen sekä ravinteiden tarpeen ja levitysmahdollisuuksien perusteella ravinnekartat, joista selviävät ravinteiden yli- ja alijäämäalueet. Näiden perusteella määriteltiin yleiset toimenpide-ehdotukset ravinteiden kierrätyksen edistämiseksi. Alueille laadittiin lisäksi tarkemmat kierrätyksen toteuttamissuunnitelmat sekä yhdelle osa-alueelle yksityiskohtaisempi sijainninohjauspilotti. Ravinteiden käytön yleissuunnitelma soveltuu aluesuunnittelun ja kaavoituksen tukemiseen, elinkeinojen sijainninohjaukseen ja alueellisen maatalouspolitiikan kehittämiseen.

Detecting local adaptation in widespread grassland species - the importance of scale and local plant community

1 Adaptation of plant populations to local environments has been shown in many species but local adaptation is not always apparent and spatial scales of differentiation are not well known. In a reciprocal transplant experiment we tested whether: (i) three widespread grassland species are locally adapted at a European scale; (ii) detection of local adaptation depends on competition with the local plant community; and (iii) local differentiation between neighbouring populations from contrasting habitats can be stronger than differentiation at a European scale. 2 Seeds of Holcus lanatus, Lotus corniculatus and Plantago lanceolata from a Swiss, Czech and UK population were sown in a reciprocal transplant experiment at fields that exhibit environmental conditions similar to the source sites. Seedling emergence, survival, growth and reproduction were recorded for two consecutive years. 3 The effect of competition was tested by comparing individuals in weeded monocultures with plants sown together with species from the local grassland community. To compare large-scale vs. small-scale differentiation, a neighbouring population from a contrasting habitat (wet-dry contrast) was compared with the 'home' and 'foreign' populations. 4 In P. lanceolata and H. lanatus, a significant home-site advantage was detected in fitness-related traits, thus indicating local adaptation. In L. corniculatus, an overall superiority of one provenance was found. 5 The detection of local adaptation depended on competition with the local plant community. In the absence of competition the home-site advantage was underestimated in P. lanceolata and overestimated in H. lanatus. 6 A significant population differentiation between contrasting local habitats was found. In some traits, this small-scale was greater than large-scale differentiation between countries. 7 Our results indicate that local adaptation in real plant communities cannot necessarily be predicted from plants grown in weeded monocultures and that tests on the relationship between fitness and geographical distance have to account for habitat-dependent small-scale differentiation. Considering the strong small-scale differentiation, a local provenance from a different habitat may not be the best choice in ecological restoration if distant populations from a more similar habitat are available.

Potential contribution of natural enemies to patterns of local adaptation in plants

Genetic differentiation among plant populations and adaptation to local environmental conditions are well documented. However, few studies have examined the potential contribution of plant antagonists, such as insect herbivores and pathogens, to the pattern of local adaptation. Here, a reciprocal transplant experiment was set up at three sites across Europe using two common plant species, Holcus lanatus and Plantago lanceolata. The amount of damage by the main above-ground plant antagonists was measured: a rust fungus infecting Holcus and a specialist beetle feeding on Plantago, both in low-density monoculture plots and in competition with interspecific neighbours. Strong genetic differentiation among provenances in the amount of damage by antagonists in both species was found. Local provenances of Holcus had significantly higher amounts of rust infection than foreign provenances, whereas local provenances of Plantago were significantly less damaged by the specialist beetle than the foreign provenances. The presence of surrounding vegetation affected the amount of damage but had little influence on the ranking of plant provenances. The opposite pattern of population differentiation in resistance to local antagonists in the two species suggests that it will be difficult to predict the consequences of plant translocations for interactions with organisms of higher trophic levels.

Climate vs. soil factors in local adaptation of two common plant species

Evolutionary theory suggests that divergent natural selection in heterogeneous environments can result in locally adapted plant genotypes. To understand local adaptation it is important to study the ecological factors responsible for divergent selection. At a continental scale, variation in climate can be important while at a local scale soil properties could also play a role. We designed an experiment aimed to disentangle the role of climate and ( abiotic and biotic) soil properties in local adaptation of two common plant species. A grass (Holcus lanatus) and a legume ( Lotus corniculatus), as well as their local soils, were reciprocally transplanted between three sites across an Atlantic-Continental gradient in Europe and grown in common gardens in either their home soil or foreign soils. Growth and reproductive traits were measured over two growing seasons. In both species, we found significant environmental and genetic effects on most of the growth and reproductive traits and a significant interaction between the two environmental effects of soil and climate. The grass species showed significant home site advantage in most of the fitness components, which indicated adaptation to climate. We found no indication that the grass was adapted to local soil conditions. The legume showed a significant home soil advantage for number of fruits only and thus a weak indication of adaptation to soil and no adaptation to climate. Our results show that the importance of climate and soil factors as drivers of local adaptation is species-dependent. This could be related to differences in interactions between plant species and soil biota.

Biodiversity increases the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate extremes

It remains unclear whether biodiversity buffers ecosystems against climate extremes, which are becoming increasingly frequent worldwide. Early results suggested that the ecosystem productivity of diverse grassland plant communities was more resistant, changing less during drought, and more resilient, recovering more quickly after drought, than that of depauperate communities. However, subsequent experimental tests produced mixed results. Here we use data from 46 experiments that manipulated grassland plant diversity to test whether biodiversity provides resistance during and resilience after climate events. We show that biodiversity increased ecosystem resistance for a broad range of climate events, including wet or dry, moderate or extreme, and brief or prolonged events. Across all studies and climate events, the productivity of low-diversity communities with one or two species changed by approximately 50% during climate events, whereas that of high-diversity communities with 16–32 species was more resistant, changing by only approximately 25%. By a year after each climate event, ecosystem productivity had often fully recovered, or overshot, normal levels of productivity in both high- and low-diversity communities, leading to no detectable dependence of ecosystem resilience on biodiversity. Our results suggest that biodiversity mainly stabilizes ecosystem productivity, and productivity-dependent ecosystem services, by increasing resistance to climate events. Anthropogenic environmental changes that drive biodiversity loss thus seem likely to decrease ecosystem stability, and restoration of biodiversity to increase it, mainly by changing the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate events.

Plant diversity effects on grassland productivity are robust to both nutrient enrichment and drought

Global change drivers are rapidly altering resource availability and biodiversity. While there is consensus that greater biodiversity increases the functioning of ecosystems, the extent to which biodiversity buffers ecosystem productivity in response to changes in resource availability remains unclear. We use data from 16 grassland experiments across North America and Europe that manipulated plant species richness and one of two essential resources—soil nutrients or water—to assess the direction and strength of the interaction between plant diversity and resource alteration on above-ground productivity and net biodiversity, complementarity, and selection effects. Despite strong increases in productivity with nutrient addition and decreases in productivity with drought, we found that resource alterations did not alter biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships. Our results suggest that these relationships are largely determined by increases in complementarity effects along plant species richness gradients. Although nutrient addition reduced complementarity effects at high diversity, this appears to be due to high biomass in monocultures under nutrient enrichment. Our results indicate that diversity and the complementarity of species are important regulators of grassland ecosystem productivity, regardless of changes in other drivers of ecosystem function.