Journal Articles
30 urtarrila, 2017
New BC3 Journal Article published: "Haeni, M., et al. (2017), Winter respiratory C losses provide explanatory power for net ecosystem productivity, J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci., 122, 243–260"
30 urtarrila, 2017
Monetary valuation of the environment is increasingly embedded in policy. Despite broad claims that valuation is policy-relevant, there is widespread frustration that it has not widely improved environmental outcomes, that it obscures many other types of values, and presents unintended consequences. We argue that this is, in part, because of a tendency to overlook the mechanics of how valuation tools and data are embedded into the institutions (regulations, norms, rules, schemes) that mediate decision-making.
27 urtarrila, 2017
Ecosystem recovery from anthropogenic disturbances, either without human intervention or assisted by ecological restoration, is increasingly occurring worldwide. As ecosystems progress through recovery, it is important to estimate any resulting deficit in biodiversity and functions. Here we use data from 3,035 sampling plots worldwide, to quantify the interim reduction of biodiversity and functions occurring during the recovery process (that is, the ‘recovery debt’). Compared with reference levels, recovering ecosystems run annual deficits of 46–51% for organism abundance, 27–33% for species diversity, 32–42% for carbon cycling and 31–41% for nitrogen cycling.
26 urtarrila, 2017
Global greenhouse gas emissions need to peak soon and be reduced practically to zero in the second half of this century in order to not exceed the climate targets adopted in the Paris Agreement. However, there are currently numerous coal-fired power stations around the world at different stages of construction and planning that could be completed in the next decade. If all these plants are actually built, their expected future emissions will make it very difficult to reach these targets, even in an optimistic scenario with the deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies. Policy makers around the world need to react quickly and help to redirect investment plans for new coal-fired power stations towards low-carbon technologies
18 urtarrila, 2017
The rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic is one of the most striking manifestations of climate change. As sea ice melts, more open water is exposed to solar radiation, absorbing heat and generating a sea-ice–albedo feedback that reinforces Arctic warming. Recent studies stress the significance of this feedback mechanism and suggest that ice-free summer conditions in the Arctic Ocean may occur faster than previously expected, even under low-emissions pathways.
2 urtarrila, 2017
On-farm anaerobic digestion (AD) has been promoted due to its improved environmental performance, which is based on a number of life cycle assessments (LCA). However, the influence of site-specific conditions and practices on AD performance is rarely captured in LCA studies and the effects on C and N cycles are often overlooked. In this paper, a new model for AD (SIMSWASTE-AD) is described in full and tested against a selection of available measured data.
15 azaroa, 2016
Assessing the status and monitoring the trends of land cover dynamics in and around protected areas is of utmost importance for park managers and decision makers. Moreover, to support the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s Strategic Action Plan including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,
15 azaroa, 2016
American crude oil prices have dropped significantly of late up to a low of less than $30 a barrel in early 2016. At the same time price volatility has increased and crude in storage has reached record amounts in America. Low oil prices in particular pose quite a challenge for the survival of America’s tight-oil industry.
15 azaroa, 2016
Agent-based models (ABMs) are increasingly recognized as valuable tools in modelling human-environmental systems, but challenges and critics remain. One pressing challenge in the era of “Big Data” and given the flexibility of representation afforded by ABMs, is identifying the appropriate level of complicatedness in model structure for representing and investigating complex real-world systems.