Wendy Fjellstad
Research Scientist
(+47) 974 81 279
wendy.fjellstad@nibio.no
Place
Ås O43
Visiting address
Oluf Thesens vei 43, 1433 Ås
Biography
Abstract
The visual impacts of landscape change are important for how people perceive landscapes and whether they consider changes to be positive or negative. Landscape photographs and photographs of landscape elements may capture information about the visual qualities of landscapes and can also be used to illustrate, and even to quantify, how these visual qualities change over time. We developed a methodology for a monitoring scheme, based on taking photographs from exactly the same locations at different points in time. We tested two methods: one where fieldworkers chose freely the location and direction of photographs, and one where photo locations and four out of five directions were predefined. We found that the method using predefined locations provided a representative sample of the visual qualities present in the landscape and was relatively person-independent but missed rare landscape components. The method using free selection of photo locations and directions captured rarities, but the content of the photos varied from photographer to photographer. Considering the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches, we recommend a method that combines aspects of both when establishing a monitoring scheme based on repeat photography, with predefined locations to ensure that the entire area is covered, and additional freely chosen photo locations to capture special subject matter that would otherwise be missed.
Authors
Philippe Jeanneret Gisela Lüscher Manuel K. Schneider Philippe Pointereau Michaela Arndorfer Debra Bailey Katalin Balázs András Báldi Jean-Philippe Choisis Peter Dennis Mario Díaz Sebastian Eiter Zoltán Elek Wendy Fjellstad Thomas Frank Jürgen Kurt Friedel Ilse R. Geijzendorffer Pippa Gillingham Tiziano Gomiero Gergely Jerkovich Rob H. G. Jongman Max Kainz Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki Gerardo Moreno Juri Nascimbene Marie-Louise Oschatz Maurizio Guido Paoletti Jean-Pierre Sarthou Norman Siebrecht Daniele Sommaggio Sebastian Wolfrum Felix HerzogAbstract
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Abstract
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Authors
Wenche Dramstad Wendy Fjellstad Geir-Harald Strand Henrik Forsberg Mathiesen Gunnar Engan Jogeir N. StoklandAbstract
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Abstract
Urban agriculture is often considered a tool to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems. However, sustainability is difficult to measure, resulting in debate about how sustainable urban agriculture truly is. There is therefore a lack of incentive to promote urban agriculture or protect existing initiatives that are threatened by development pressure on urban land. Monitoring the sustainability impact of urban agriculture could provide evidence and enable politicians and decision makers to make informed decisions about whether and where to prioritise different forms of urban agriculture above competing interests. We used case examples from five European cities to identify the challenges involved in monitoring urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data, to using the results. We found large differences in approach in terms of what topics to monitor and who was responsible, who gathered the data and when, what data was recorded and how they were stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these experiences, we recommend stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring urban agriculture, and promotion of convenient tools for data collection by citizen science and for long-term data storage.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Semi-natural grasslands are amongst the most species-rich habitats in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. However, the ecological values of these habitats are threatened, by intensification of agriculture in some areas and by abandonment in others. A key question is whether current measures aiming to protect this biodiversity in Norway are in fact successful. We evaluated, in the field, the condition of 55 localities of semi-natural pastures and hay meadows recorded in the Norwegian nature database, Naturbase. We found that only 20 localities (36%) were receiving the agri-environmental subsidies for which they were all eligible. All but one of the localities receiving the subsidies were in fair to good condition, compared with just 41% of the localities that did not receive subsidies. However, only four the 16 most valuable localities, those classed as nationally important, received agri-environmental subsidies. Through a questionnaire to landowners, we found that many were not aware of the biodiversity value on their properties. Of 33 respondents, 20 (61%) knew that they had these valuable ecosystems on their property, whilst 13 (39%) did not. Further, twenty respondents were not aware that they were eligible for financial support to maintain their species-rich grasslands. We conclude that to achieve long-term conservation in habitats dependent on management, it is essential to improve dialogue with landowners.