Carin Nilsson

Host affiliation in two subarctic hemiparasitic plants: Bartsia alpina and Pedicularis lapponica

Visual examination of root connections and 14C labelling were used to identify host ranges of two hemiparasitic angiosperms, Bartsia alpina (L.) and Pedicularis lapponica (L.). Labelling with 14C w...

Production and use of regional climate model projections – A Swedish perspective on building climate services

We describe the process of building a climate service centred on regional climate model results from the Rossby Centre regional climate model RCA4. The climate service has as its central facility a web service provided by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute where users can get an idea of various aspects of climate change from a suite of maps, diagrams, explaining texts and user guides. Here we present the contents of the web service and how this has been designed and developed in collaboration with users of the service in a dialogue reaching over more than a decade. We also present the ensemble of climate projections with RCA4 that provides the fundamental climate information presented at the web service. In this context, RCA4 has been used to downscale nine different coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) from the 5th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to 0.44° (c. 50 km) horizontal resolution over Europe. Further, we investigate how this ensemble relates to the CMIP5 ensemble. We find that the iterative approach involving the users of the climate service has been successful as the service is widely used and is an important source of information for work on climate adaptation in Sweden. The RCA4 ensemble samples a large degree of the spread in the CMIP5 ensemble implying that it can be used to illustrate uncertainties and robustness in future climate change in Sweden. The results also show that RCA4 changes results compared to the underlying AOGCMs, sometimes in a systematic way.

Roles Played by Timing of Seedling Development and Host Identity in Determining Fitness of an Annual, Subarctic, Hemiparasitic Plant

Individually mapped plants of Euphrasia frigida, a hemiparasitic annual, were followed for one growing season at a subarctic site in northern Sweden. The strongest factor influencing seed-set was the date when the seedling stage ended, i.e., when plants produced their first noncotyledonous leaves, probably equalling date of attachment to a host. The advantage for early-developing plants was large even with just a 5-d difference in development. A positive effect was caused by presence of the perennial legume Astragalus alpinus, both on seedling development and plant performance, whereas the total cover of nonleguminous herbs or graminoids had no influence on the performance of E. frigida.

Adapting to an Uncertain Climate -Lessons from Practice

Benefits policy developers and advisors, practitioners, researchers and others interested in dealing with uncertainty in climate adaptation decision-making Offers case studies from different geographical regions and a wide variety of real-life adaptation situations Presents a new support framework for climate change adaptation decisions under uncertainty Climate change highlights the challenges for long-term policy making in the face of persistent and irreducible levels of uncertainties. It calls for the development of flexible approaches, innovative governance and other elements that contribute to effective and adaptive decision-making. Exploring these new approaches is also a challenge for those involved in climate research and development of adaptation policy. Targeted specifically at policy developers and advisors, practitioners, climate knowledge brokers, researchers and interested adaptation decision-makers, this book differs from other titles addressing climate change adaptation and uncertainty by using real life cases to address distinct and pertinent uncertainties in actual adaptation situations. The editors introduce the role of uncertainties in informing adaptation decisions, showing why and how this is important, and why decisions do not have to wait until uncertainties are resolved. They go on to explore uncertainty assessments supporting decision-making on climate change adaptation, with sections on variability, uncertainty typology, climate change and projection of risks. A discussion of national adaptation planning follows with sections on sources and levels of uncertainty, communication of uncertainty and guidance for adaptation planning under uncertainty. The book provides a dozen real-life examples of adaptation decision making in the form of case studies: · Studies on water supply management in Portugal, England and Wales and Hungary · Studies on flooding, including flood risk in Ireland, coastal flooding and erosion in Southwest France and flood management in New Zealand’s Hutt River region · Studies on transport and utilities, including the Austrian Federal railway system and public transit in Dresden, and Quebec hydro-electric power · A report examining communication of large numbers of climate scenarios in Dutch climate adaptation workshops The concluding section outlines a new support framework for adaptation decisions under uncertainty, as well as guidance, recommendations and decision support for readers to apply in their own work. In the spirit of the newly adopted EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change, the book aims - as does the CIRCLE-2 project from which it emanates - to assist informed decision-making, and to provide added value through increased knowledge sharing.

Introduction to the Use of Uncertainties to Inform Adaptation Decisions

Our social, cultural and economic sustainability and that of future generations depend on quality decisions and policies that address risks and opportunities. As these decisions and policies are for the most part evidence-based and uncertainties are inherent in that evidence, the quality of those decisions and policies requires effective use of that evidence, including the uncertainties. This chapter provides an introduction to this subject and to the experiences and lessons learnt presented in the publication. It indicates why the authors of the publication believe such a publication is needed and the audience we believe will benefit from such a publication. It also provides a brief description of the content of the ensuing chapters and suggests alternative pathways by which those with specific interests may navigate through the publication. In so doing, the intention has been to invite those interested to learn from others and benefit from those shared experiences.