Declines in insect pollinators across Europe have raised concerns about the supply of pollination services to agriculture. Simultaneously, EU agricultural and biofuel policies have encouraged ...substantial growth in the cultivated area of insect pollinated crops across the continent. Using data from 41 European countries, this study demonstrates that the recommended number of honeybees required to provide crop pollination across Europe has risen 4.9 times as fast as honeybee stocks between 2005 and 2010. Consequently, honeybee stocks were insufficient to supply >90% of demands in 22 countries studied. These findings raise concerns about the capacity of many countries to cope with major losses of wild pollinators and highlight numerous critical gaps in current understanding of pollination service supplies and demands, pointing to a pressing need for further research into this issue.
Vegetated coastal and marine habitats in the Nordic region include salt marshes, eelgrass meadows and, in particular, brown macroalgae (kelp forests and rockweed beds). Such habitats contribute to ...storage of organic carbon (Blue Carbon – BC) and support coastal protection, biodiversity and water quality. Protection and restoration of these habitats therefore have the potential to deliver climate change mitigation and co-benefits. Here we present the existing knowledge on Nordic BC habitats in terms of habitat area, C-stocks and sequestration rates, co-benefits, policies and management status to inspire a coherent Nordic BC roadmap. The area extent of BC habitats in the region is incompletely assessed, but available information sums up to 1,440 km
2
salt marshes, 1,861 (potentially 2,735) km
2
seagrass meadows, and 16,532 km
2
(potentially 130,735 km
2
, including coarse Greenland estimates) brown macroalgae, yielding a total of 19,833 (potentially 134,910) km
2
. Saltmarshes and seagrass meadows have experienced major declines over the past century, while macroalgal trends are more diverse. Based on limited salt marsh data, sediment C-stocks average 3,311 g C
org
m
-2
(top 40-100 cm) and sequestration rates average 142 g C
org
m
-2
yr
-1
. Eelgrass C-stocks average 2,414 g C
org
m
-2
(top 25 cm) and initial data for sequestration rates range 5-33 g C
org
m
-2
, quantified for one Greenland site and one short term restoration. For Nordic brown macroalgae, peer-reviewed estimates of sediment C-stock and sequestration are lacking. Overall, the review reveals substantial Nordic BC-stocks, but highlights that evidence is still insufficient to provide a robust estimate of all Nordic BC-stocks and sequestration rates. Needed are better quantification of habitat area, C-stocks and fluxes, particularly for macroalgae, as well as identification of target areas for BC management. The review also points to directives and regulations protecting Nordic marine vegetation, and local restoration initiatives with potential to increase C-sequestration but underlines that increased coordination at national and Nordic scales and across sectors is needed. We propose a Nordic BC roadmap for science and management to maximize the potential of BC habitats to mitigate climate change and support coastal protection, biodiversity and additional ecosystem functions.
•Residence near agriculture has been associated with childhood cancer risk.•Majority of Danish National Birth Cohort mothers lived within ½ kilometer of crops.•High area of crops within ½ kilometer ...increased risk of childhood leukemia.•High cattle density was associated with central nervous system tumors.•Novel findings - suggests agricultural exposures may increase childhood cancer risk.
Living in an agricultural area or on farms has been associated with increased risk of childhood cancer but few studies have evaluated specific agricultural exposures. We prospectively examined residential proximity to crops and animals during pregnancy and risk of childhood leukemia and central nervous system (CNS) tumors in Denmark.
The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) consists of 91,769 pregnant women (96,841 live-born children) enrolled in 1996–2003. For 61 childhood leukemias and 59 CNS tumors <15 years of age that were diagnosed through 2014 and a ~10% random sample of the live births (N = 9394) with geocoded addresses, we linked pregnancy addresses to crop fields and animal farm locations and estimated the crop area (hectares ha) and number of animals (standardized by their nitrogen emissions) by type within 250 meters (m), 500 m, 1000 m, and 2000 m of the home. We also estimated pesticide applications (grams, active ingredient) based on annual sales data for nine herbicides and one fungicide that were estimated to have been applied to >30% of the area of one or more crop. We used Cox proportional hazard models (weighted to the full cohort) to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of childhood leukemia and CNS tumors with crop area, animals, and pesticide applications adjusted for gender and maternal age.
Sixty-three percent of mothers had crops within 500 m of their homes during pregnancy; winter and spring cereals were the major crop types. Compared to mothers with no crops <500 m, we found increasing risk of childhood leukemia among offspring of mothers with increasing crop area near their home (highest tertile >24 ha HR: 2.0, CI:1.02–3.8), which was stronger after adjustment for animals (within 1000 m) (HR: 2.6, CI:1.02–6.8). We also observed increased risk for grass/clover (highest tertile >1.1 ha HR: 3.1, CI:1.2–7.7), peas (>0 HR: 2.4, CI: 1.02–5.4), and maize (>0 HR: 2.8, CI: 1.1–6.9) in animal-adjusted models. We found no association between number of animals near homes and leukemia risk. Crops, total number of animals, and hogs within 500 m of the home were not associated with CNS tumors but we observed an increased risk with >median cattle compared with no animals in crop-adjusted models (HR = 2.2, CI: 1.02–4.9). In models adjusted for total animals, the highest tertiles of use of three herbicides and one fungicide were associated with elevated risk of leukemia but no associations were statistically significant; there were no associations with CNS tumors.
Risk of childhood leukemia was associated with higher crop area near mothers’ homes during pregnancy; CNS tumors were associated with higher cattle density. Quantitative estimates of crop pesticides and other agricultural exposures are needed to clarify possible reasons for these increased risks.
Externality taxes are considered a key tool in the climate and environmental policy toolkit. However, externality taxes do not always deliver on their promise due to design flaws and low tax rates. ...The Danish pesticide tax, which was redesigned in 2013, addresses these flaws by differentiating tax rates according to the harmfulness of products and significantly increasing prices on the most harmful pesticides. This article evaluates the redesigned tax, using a panel data set with pesticide use on 1900 medium-size and large farms two years before and four years after the tax change. We find that the tax has been effective, prompting substitution from more harmful products to less harmful ones, resulting in a 16 pct. reduction in pesticide load. Response to the pesticide tax varies among farms, depending on the crop types grown. The study is highly policy relevant for countries aiming to lower pesticide load, providing empirical evidence that a proper tax design can overcome the low price sensitivity found with previous pesticide taxes in Denmark and elsewhere. Moreover, this study offers a rare example of an ex-post evaluation that builds on detailed farm-level data, following registered pesticide use before and after the tax redesign, which allows for a more precise estimation of the impact of the tax.
•Ex-post evaluation of the 2013 Danish pesticide tax.•Strong tax design, high tax rates on environmentally more harmful products.•Tax appears effective, pesticide load decreased by 16%.•Impact varies by land use patterns.•Panel data design tracking pesticide use.
This paper explores the scope for simultaneously managing nutrient abatement and climate change mitigation in the Baltic Sea (BS) region through the implementation of a selection of measures. The ...analysis is undertaken using a cost-minimisation model for the entire BS region, the BALTCOST model. In the present research, the model has been extended to include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions effects, enabling us to analyse the trade-offs between cost-effective GHG and nutrient load reductions. We run the model for four different scenarios in order to compare the environmental and economic consequences of contrasting strategies: single environmental objective management versus joint implementation strategy. The results show that implementing land-based measures with a sole focus on water quality (to meet the HELCOM's 2013 Baltic Sea Action Plan nutrient abatement targets) can produce climate change mitigation co-benefits equivalent to 2.3% of the 2005 emission level (from agriculture and waste water combined) for the entirety of the BS region. More interestingly, a joint implementation strategy can deliver further climate change mitigation benefit (i.e. up to 5.4%) at a marginal cost that is comparable to mitigation costs reported by other studies for efficient technologies. All in all the results demonstrate that a joint strategy to improve water quality and to reduce climate change is economically beneficial. Our findings show that the cost and the outcome of the implementation vary between countries. This illustrates the need to develop a joint regional policy for water and climate regulation that fully considers the asymmetry in both the expected effects and cost distribution across the countries in the region.
•We model the scope for simultaneously tackling nutrient and climate change abatement by optimizing measures.•Up to a point it is economically efficient to integrate climate change mitigation and water quality regulation.•The biophysical and economic effects of implementing a joint strategy are not evenly distributed between countries.•The asymmetry in the consequences of the implementation of the strategy further supports the call for regional cooperation.•The results highlight the opportunity for a collective, cost-effective strategy for joint water and climate regulation.
The substantial climate change mitigation potential of restoring peatlands through rewetting and intensifying agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions is largely recognized. The green ...deal in Denmark aims at restoring 100 000 ha of peatlands by 2030. This area corresponds to
more than half of the Danish peatland, with an expected reduction in GHG emissions of almost half of the entire land use, land use change and
forestry (LULUFC) emissions. Recent advances established the functional relationship between hydrological regimes, i.e., water table depth (WTD), and
CO2 and CH4 emissions. This builds the basis for science-based tools to evaluate and prioritize peatland restoration
projects. With this article, we lay the foundation of such a development by developing a high-resolution WTD map for Danish peatlands. Further, we
define WTD response functions (CO2 and CH4) fitted to Danish flux data to derive a national GHG emission estimate for peat
soils. We estimate the annual GHG emissions to be 2.6 Mt CO2-eq, which is around 15 % lower than previous estimates. Lastly, we
investigate alternative restoration scenarios and identify substantial differences in the GHG reduction potential depending on the prioritization of
fields in the rewetting strategy. If wet fields are prioritized, which is not unlikely in a context of a voluntary bottom-up approach, the GHG
reduction potential is just 30 % for the first 10 000 ha with respect to a scenario that prioritizes drained fields. This underpins the
importance of the proposed framework linking WTD and GHG emissions to guide a spatially differentiated peatland restoration. The choice of model
type used to fit the CO2 WTD response function, the applied global warming potentials and uncertainties related to the WTD map are
investigated by means of a scenario analysis, which suggests that the estimated GHG emissions and the reduction potential are associated with
coefficients of variation of 13 % and 22 %, respectively.
Methane (CH4) emissions from manure management on livestock farms are a key source of greenhouse gas emissions in some regions and for some production systems, and the opportunities for mitigation ...may be significant if emissions can be adequately documented. We investigated a method for estimating CH4 emissions from liquid manure (slurry) that is based on anaerobic incubation of slurry collected from commercial farms. Methane production rates were used to derive a parameter of the Arrhenius temperature response function, lnA', representing the CH4 production potential of the slurry at the time of sampling. Results were used for parameterization of an empirical model to estimate annual emissions with daily time steps, where CH4 emissions from individual sources (barns, outside storage tanks) can be calculated separately. A monitoring program was conducted in four countries, i.e., Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, during a 12-month period where slurry was sampled to represent barn and outside storage on finishing pig and dairy farms. Across the four countries, lnA' was higher in pig slurry compared to cattle slurry (p < 0.01), and higher in slurry from barns compared to outside storage (p < 0.01). In a separate evaluation of the incubation method, in-vitro CH4 production rates were comparable with in-situ emissions. The results indicate that lnA' in barns increases with slurry age, probably due to growth or adaptation of the methanogenic microbial community. Using lnA' values determined experimentally, empirical models with daily time steps were constructed for finishing pig and dairy farms and used for scenario analyses. Annual emissions from pig slurry were predicted to be 2.5 times higher than those from cattle slurry. Changing the frequency of slurry export from the barn on the model pig farm from 40 to 7 d intervals reduced total annual CH4 emissions by 46 %; this effect would be much less on cattle farms with natural ventilation. In a scenario with cattle slurry, the empirical model was compared with the current IPCC methodology. The seasonal dynamics were less pronounced, and annual CH4 emissions were lower than with the current methodology, which calls for further investigations. Country-specific models for individual animal categories and point sources could be a tool for assessing CH4 emissions and mitigation potentials at farm level.
Display omitted
•Methane production potentials of liquid manure could be estimated with in-vitro assay.•Across four countries, this potential was higher in pig manure than in cattle manure.•The potential was also higher in manure from barns compared to outside storages.•Empirical models with daily time steps could be defined based on experimental results.•Predicted effects of animal type and management were realistic, but lower than IPCC estimates.
Climate and water quality are important ecosystem services; but improving these impacts the provisioning service of food production. Using spatially explicit data from a Danish catchment, we uncover ...the trade-offs and synergies between efficient provision of the three services by multiobjective optimization. Results show that trade-offs exist between the regulating and provisioning services. Furthermore, synergies between the regulating services are significant; however, the cost of provision of one service depends on the level of provision of the other. The policy implication of this result is that significant gains can be achieved from joint implementation of ecosystem service policies.
Eutrophication events are frequent in Inner Danish waters and critical loads are exceeded for much of the Danish sensitive terrestrial ecosystems. The Danish air quality monitoring program combines ...measurements and model calculations to benefit from the complementarities in data from these two sources. Measurements describe actual status, seasonal variation, and temporal trends. Model calculations extrapolate the results to the entire country and determine depositions to specific ecosystems. Measurements in 2016 show annual depositions between 7.5 and 11 kg N/ha to terrestrial ecosystems, and a load to marine waters of 5.3 kg N/ha. The deposition on Danish marine waters in 2016 was calculated to be 73,000 tons N with an average deposition of 6.9 kg N/ha. For terrestrial areas, the deposition was calculated to be 57,000 tons N with an average deposition of 13 kg N/ha. This is above critical loads for sensitive ecosystems. Long-term trends show a 35% decrease since 1990 in measured annual nitrogen deposition. At two out of four stations in nature areas, measured ammonia levels exceeded critical levels for lichens and mosses. Conclusions: Nitrogen loads and levels to Danish nature is decreasing, but critical loads and levels are still exceeded for sensitive ecosystems. Combining measurements and model calculations is a strong tool in monitoring.
Soil organic carbon (SOC)11SOC: Soil Organic Carbon. plays a crucial role in regulating the global carbon cycle and its feedbacks within the Earth system. Compelling evidence exists that soil carbon ...stocks have reduced in many regions of the world, with these reductions often associated with agriculture. In a Danish context, research also suggests that soil carbon stocks are declining. The scope of Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES) approaches to effectively and efficiently address climate regulation will depend on the spatial distribution of the carbon assimilation capacity, current land use, the value of avoided emissions and land owners' objectives and preferences in terms of participating in initiatives to increase SOC. We map the carbon sequestration potential under different scenarios, value the potential sequestered carbon in terms of marginal costs of using voluntary agreements with agricultural land managers and compare these to the marginal abatement costs curve used in Danish climate policy. The cost effectiveness of reduced tillage as a climate mitigation PES scheme critically depends on the current debate on the net effects of carbon sequestration in reduced tillage practices. Based on existing IPCC guidelines, we find that reduced tillage has considerable potential for contributing to a cost effective climate mitigation policy.
•We investigate the willingness to accept reduced tillage among farmers using PES.•We compare the cost-effectiveness of reduced tillage to other mitigation measures.•Farmers would require increasing per hectare payments for increasing reduced tillage coverage.•PES tillage schemes can be designed with lower marginal abatement costs than other mitigation measures.
PDF
