Governing the Interplay between Industrial Ecosystems and Environmental Regulation

Many scholars of industrial ecology have focused on the institutional and organizational challenges of building and maintaining regional industrial symbiosis through the synergistic integration of material and energy flows. Despite the promise that these intellectual developments hold for the future dematerialization of industrial production, they rarely address the actual regulatory obstacles of turning wastes into raw materials. In this article we introduce a potential future industrial symbiosis around the Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden, and assess the regulatory bottlenecks related to waste by‐product consideration. We find that although the Gulf of Bothnia region has technological and economic potential for industrial symbiosis, the regulatory support for this is insufficient. We suggest a common pool resource‐based governance system that could utilize market and regulatory mechanisms in a regional‐level cross‐border system of governance. Importantly, the suggested governance system would protect the users of potential raw materials from unpredictable waste regulation, market risks related to large‐scale material flows, and societal risks of hazardous waste treatment.     

The Effects of Peatland Restoration on Water‐Table Depth,Elemental Concentrations,and Vegetation: 10 Years of Changes

We studied the effects of restoration on water‐table depth (WTD), element concentrations of peat and vegetation composition of peatlands drained for forestry in southern Finland. The restoration aimed to return the trajectory of vegetation succession toward that of undisturbed systems through the blockage of ditches and the removal of trees. Permanent plots established on a bog and a fen were sampled 1 year before, and 1, 2, 3, and 10 years after the restoration. The restoration resulted in a long‐term rise of the water‐table in both peatlands. Ten years after restoration, the mineral element concentrations (Ca, K, Mg, Mn, and P) of peat corresponded to those reported from comparable pristine peatlands. In particular, the increase of K and Mn concentrations at both sites suggests the recovery of ecosystem functionality in terms of nutrient cycling between peat and plants. The restoration resulted in the succession of plant communities toward the targeted peatland vegetation of wetter condition at both sites. This was evident from the decreased abundance of species benefiting from drainage and the corresponding increase of peatland species. However, many species typical of pristine peatlands were missing 10 years after restoration. We conclude that the restoration led to a reversal of the effects of drainage in vegetation and studied habitat conditions. However, due to the slow recovery of peatland ecosystems and the possibility that certain failures in the restoration measures may become apparent only after extended time periods, long‐term monitoring is needed to determine whether the goals of restoration will be met.     

Improving the thermostability and activity of Melanocarpus albomyces cellobiohydrolase Cel7B

Two different types of approach were taken to improve the hydrolytic activity towards crystalline cellulose at elevated temperatures of Melanocarpus albomyces Cel7B (Ma Cel7B), a single-module GH-7 family cellobiohydrolase. Structure-guided protein engineering was used to introduce an additional tenth disulphide bridge to the Ma Cel7B catalytic module. In addition, a fusion protein was constructed by linking a cellulose-binding module (CBM) and a linker from the Trichoderma reesei Cel7A to the C terminus of Ma Cel7B. Both approaches proved successful. The disulphide bridge mutation G4C/M70C located near the N terminus, close to the entrance of the active site tunnel of Ma Cel7B, led to improved thermostability (ΔT _m = 2.5°C). By adding the earlier found thermostability-increasing mutation S290T (ΔT _m = 1.5°C) together with the disulphide bridge mutation, the unfolding temperature was increased by 4°C (mutant G4C/M70C/S290T) compared to that of the wild-type enzyme, thus showing an additive effect on thermostability. Both disulphide mutants had increased activity towards microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel) at 75°C, apparently solely because of their improved thermostability. The addition of a CBM also improved the thermostability (ΔT _m = 2.5°C) and caused a clear (sevenfold) increase in the hydrolysis activity of Ma Cel7B towards Avicel at 70°C.     

Biased predation could promote convergence yet maintain diversity within Müllerian mimicry rings of Oreina leaf beetles

Müllerian mimicry is a classic example of adaptation, yet Müller's original theory does not account for the diversity often observed in mimicry rings. Here, we aimed to assess how well classical Müllerian mimicry can account for the colour polymorphism found in chemically defended Oreina leaf beetles by using field data and laboratory assays of predator behaviour. We also evaluated the hypothesis that thermoregulation can explain diversity between Oreina mimicry rings. We found that frequencies of each colour morph were positively correlated among species, a critical prediction of Müllerian mimicry. Predators learned to associate colour with chemical defences. Learned avoidance of the green morph of one species protected green morphs of another species. Avoidance of blue morphs was completely generalized to green morphs, but surprisingly, avoidance of green morphs was less generalized to blue morphs. This asymmetrical generalization should favour green morphs: indeed, green morphs persist in blue communities, whereas blue morphs are entirely excluded from green communities. We did not find a correlation between elevation and coloration, rejecting thermoregulation as an explanation for diversity between mimicry rings. Biased predation could explain within‐community diversity in warning coloration, providing a solution to a long‐standing puzzle. We propose testable hypotheses for why asymmetric generalization occurs, and how predators maintain the predominance of blue morphs in a community, despite asymmetric generalization.     

Phytoplankton richness is related to nutrient availability,not to pool size,in a subarctic rock pool system

In small aquatic ecosystems, communities are strongly affected by environmental filtering such as disturbances and fine-scale heterogeneity of physicochemical properties. Aim of this study was to examine the effects of abiotic variables on phytoplankton richness in 30 subarctic rock pools in Finnish Lapland and further to test species–area and productivity–diversity relationships. We used Moran’s correlograms to examine if phytoplankton richness and explanatory variables show spatial autocorrelation. We then related phytoplankton richness to physical, chemical and spatial variables (derived from Principal Coordinates of Neighbor Matrices based on either overland or water course distances) using generalized linear model (GLM). Correlograms did not indicate clear gradient-like spatial structures in the data. According to the best-approximating GLM, phytoplankton richness showed a highly significant positive relationship with total P concentrations, which differed by one magnitude among the pools, and showed also a marginally significant negative relationship with conductivity. Richness scaled nonsignificantly with pool volume. We conclude that rock pools with higher nutrient availability are capable of supporting more phytoplankton species in this low-energy ecosystem. We did not find any support for the species–area relationship across the pools possibly because the pools were similarly affected by random disturbances irrespective of their volume.     

Predation on two vole species by a shared predator: antipredatory response and prey preference

In prey communities with shared predators, variation in prey vulnerability is a key factor in shaping community dynamics. Conversely, the hunting efficiency of a predator depends on the prey community structure, preferences of the predator and antipredatory behavioural traits of the prey. We studied experimentally, under seminatural field conditions, the preferences of a predator and the antipredatory responses of prey in a system consisting of two Myodes species of voles, the grey-sided vole (M. rufocanus Sund.) and the bank vole (M. glareolus Schreb.), and their specialist predator, the least weasel (Mustela nivalis nivalis L.). To quantify the preference of the weasels, we developed a new modelling framework that can be used for unbalanced data. The two vole species were hypothesised to have different habitat-dependent vulnerabilities. We created two habitats, open and forest, to provide different escape possibilities for the voles. We found a weak general preference of the weasels for the grey-sided voles over the bank voles, and a somewhat stronger preference specifically in open habitats. The weasels clearly preferred male grey-sided voles over females, whereas in bank voles, there was no difference. The activity of voles changed over time, so that voles increased their movements immediately after weasel introduction, but later adjusted their movements to times of lowered predation risk. Females that were more active had an elevated mortality risk, whereas in the case of males, the result was the opposite. We conclude that, in vulnerability to predation, the species- or habitat-specific characteristics of these prey species are playing a minor role compared to sex-specific characteristics.     

Assessing the current related heterogeneity and diversity patterns of benthic diatom communities in a turbid and a clear water river

Benthic diatoms were sampled in two rapids, in a turbid South-Finnish river (R. Keravanjoki, 22 FTU) and a clear water river in eastern Finland (R. Vaikkojoki, 4 FTU), to evaluate the diversity and spatial distribution patterns of diatom communities and especially their relationships to current velocity. In both rapids, epilithic diatoms were sampled in 15 sampling squares within three current velocity classes (10 cm s^–1, 40 cm s^–1 and 100 cm s^–1). The sampling squares had significantly different diatom communities in the three current velocity classes at both sampling sites, however, separation of the communities was much more pronounced in the clear water river (p < 0.001) than in the turbid river (p < 0.05). In the clear water river, communities at the highest velocity were highly different from those at the lower velocities. On the other hand, in the turbid river, communities were more similar at all velocities. Significant (p < 0.05) indicators for highest current velocity in the clear water R. Vaikkojoki were Fragilaria capucina var. gracilis Hustedt, F. capucina var. rumpens Lange-Bertalot and Meridion circulare Agardh. There were no significant indicators for high current velocity in the turbid R. Keravanjoki. Cocconeis placentula Ehr., Cymbella sinuata Gregory and Navicula lanceolata (Agardh) Ehr. were the three most abundant species in the highest velocity. This study showed that diatom community was highly specialized but low in diversity at the highest velocity in the clear water river. This pattern was not seen in the turbid R. Keravanjoki, indicating that the diatom community could withstand at the higher current velocities. In addition, the results show the importance of sampling in a variety of current regimes, particularly in clear water rivers, in order to properly assess the diatom diversity and community of a river section.     

Stream diatom assemblages as predictors of climate

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