Environmental change

Environmental change
Session is organised by the Annual Meeting of Finnish Geographers’ committee.
Thursday 29.10. 13:30–15:00
Chair: Elina Kasvi, University of Turku (emkasv@utu.fi)
The effect of underwater light availability dynamics on benthic macrophyte community formation on
a Baltic Sea archipelago coast
Niko Kulha, University of Helsinki
Magnetic monitoring of air pollutants – comparison of two sampling methods
Hanna Salo, University of Turku
Global meat consumption trends and local deforestation in Madre de Dios: assessing land use
changes and other environmental impacts
Francesca Allievi, University of Turku
Effects of discharge regulation and erosion control infrastructures on long-term river evolution on
cold regions
Elina Kasvi, University of Turku
The effect of underwater light availability dynamics on benthic macrophyte community
formation on a Baltic Sea archipelago coast
Niko Kulha
University of Helsinki
Light availability and its variation have an impact on underwater vegetation. To study the impact at
macrophyte community level, we combined information from underwater vegetation inventories to in
situ measured depth profiles of photosynthetically active radiation. The data were collected from the
Baltic Sea archipelago of south-western Finland during growing season in 2010. In variance
partitioning, macrophyte coverage was well explained by light variables, but the explained
proportions were notably lower for species number and floristic similarity index. Light variables
explained the coverage of annual macrophytes to a higher degree than the same of perennials, and
from the algae types, the explained proportion was highest for the green algae. Besides confirming
that light availability has an important role in regulating the macrophyte growth density in the euphotic
zone, our results further indicate that also intra-seasonal variability in the light availability affects the
macrophyte community structure.
Magnetic monitoring of air pollutants – comparison of two sampling methods
Hanna Salo
Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku
Air quality impacts substantially on health and well-being of humans particularly in urban areas.
Typically air pollutants are surveyed with fixed monitoring stations, which have poor spatial coverage
due to their limited number. Based on the use of surrogate species, active biomonitoring is efficient
and economical alternative for investigations of air quality and pollutants. Identification of pollution
sources and pollution levels, and determination of particle matter (PM) properties and distribution is
possible by combining magnetic methods with biomonitoring. Magnetic research methods give
information on iron oxides and associated heavy metal concentrations, compositions, and grain
sizes.
Moss bag technique, which is standardised in Finland, is highly suitable for magnetic biomonitoring.
This is the first study seasonally applying Sphagnum papillosum moss bags and vertical snow
samples for monitoring atmospheric pollution. Moss bags and snow samples were collected
simultaneously near Harjavalta Industrial Park in early March 2012. Magnetic, chemical, SEM-EDX
and Tomlinson pollution load index (PLI) results show parallel spatial trends of pollution dispersal for
both materials. Results strengthen previous findings: concentrate and slag handling activities are
important emission sources while the impact of Cu-Ni smelter’s pipe remains secondary especially
at closer distances. Statistically significant correlations exist between the variables of snow and moss
bags.
To conclude, both methods work well for sampling and are efficient pollutant accumulators. Moss
bags can be exposed and used also in winter conditions. Furthermore, they provide more
homogeneous and better controlled sampling method than snow samples.
Global meat consumption trends and local deforestation in Madre de Dios: assessing land
use changes and other environmental impacts
Francesca Allievi
University of Turku
Meat consumption is becoming one of the most relevant sectors in terms of environmental impacts
globally. In the Brazilian Amazon the effects of this process are seen in the ongoing deforestation
and land-use change (about 65% of deforestation can be linked to cattle ranching). One of the main
causes of this trend is the increased efficiency of the transport infrastructure: along both sides of the
Brazilian Inter-Oceanic highway, about 50km of rainforest have been converted to cattle ranching.
In 2011 the Inter-Oceanic highway was finalized also on the Peruvian side: the region of Madre de
Dios is neighboring the Brazilian Amazon, therefore the risk is that this area will undergo the same
kind of development.
The objective of this analysis is to highlight the contribution of global meat demand trend as cause
of land use change and deforestation in the Madre de Dios region. This focus has been chosen
since, nowadays, the magnitude of cattle ranching activities is hidden by more evident and damaging
activities (e.g., gold mining), and its near-future effects risk to be underestimated. By starting with
investigating the preliminary signals of cattle ranching contribution to the local deforestation process,
this analysis will serve as basis for more comprehensive future works on local data, including
monitoring campaigns of local biodiversity and GHG emissions. Land-use change is, thus, analyzed
through FAO data and also through data acquired with remote sensing carried out within other
projects. Meat consumption and production outcomes are obtained from the FAOSTAT database.
By integrating trends in the regional meat consumption with the emerging trading effects, which are
incremented by the new highway, it is possible to highlight the risk that the global convergence in
meat consumption trends can locally influence the deforestation in Madre de Dios.
Effects of discharge regulation and erosion control infrastructures on long-term river
evolution on cold regions
Elina Kasvi
University of Turku
Understanding how rivers respond to human activities is essential for sustainable river engineering
and conservation in the changing climatological conditions. However, the long-term effects of human
and climate forcing on river evolution are rather poorly understood, especially in world’s cold regions,
where the climate change is predicted to have a major effect on the hydrological conditions and land
use. This study increases our understanding on how the most typical forms of human forcing,
discharge regulation and erosion control infrastructures; affect the long-term (50-100 years<) river
channel evolution in cold regions. I will study past changes and present processes as well as provide
future forecasts taking into account the expected changes of climate and land use on different cold
regions (permanent snow and ice cover every winter), such as the Arctic and the mountainous areas.
The main emphasis of this study is in the past and future long-term river evolution, but a sound
understanding of the present processes is essential to investigate wider spatial and temporal scales.
The goals of this research will be reached by combining historical data, modern measurement
techniques and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the first time to study this particular subject.
Due to the innovative methodological approach, this research provides novel outcomes concerning
the human impact on the long-term river evolution in cold regions in present and future hydrological
and environmental conditions.