Sweden: projects/activities

Directory entires that have specified Sweden as the primary or lead country for the project/activity and are included in the AMAP, ENVINET, SAON and SEARCH directories. To see the full list of countries, see the countries list. The specified country may not be the geographic region where the activity is taking place - to select a geographic region, see the list of regions.

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Displaying: 1 - 19 of 19
1. Metals in biota

National Environmental Monitoring in Sweden. Monitoring of heavy metals in fish is performed in 110 trend lakes in Sweden. Annual sampling is carried out in 32 lakes, of which seven are in AMAP area. Three fish species have been selected: Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), Northern pike (Esox lucius), and Perch (Perca fluviatilis). A selection of metals is analysed in prepared samples of muscle and liver tissue. Analysed metals in liver are : Al, Ag, As, Bi, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn and Zn. In muscle samples Hg and stabile isotopes δ 15N, δ 13C are analysed.

Arctic Biological effects Contaminant transport contamination Data management Discharges Fish lakes Local pollution Mapping Spatial trends Temporal trends trace elements vertebrate
2. The Swedish National Forest Inventory


This project was previously a part of the project: National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation.

The Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI) has the task of describing the state and changes of Sweden's forests. The inventory gathers basic information on forests, forest stand conditions and vegetation. Regularly monitored variables are: forest state, injuries, growth, logging operations, new forest stand, and environmental assessment. There is a close collaboration between the NFI and the Swedish Forest Soil Inventory (SFSI).

Biodiversity Biological effects Data management Environmental management forest Forest damage Temporal trends
3. National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation

 

This project has been divided into two new projects: The Swedish Forest Soil Inventory and the Swedish National Forest Inventory.

The Swedish National Forest Inventory has the task of describing the state and changes in Sweden's forests. The inventory gathers basic information on forests, soils and vegetation. It includes most aspects concerning soils, for example: soil types, soil chemistry including organic matter, water conditions and content of stones and boulders. Acidification, nitrogen deposition and the contribution by soils to climate change are some of the current issues dealt with. Regularly reported variables are: forest state, injuries, and growth, logging operations, new forest stand, and environmental assessment. Invented variables on permanent sampling plots include: position in the landscape, field vegetation, site conditions, soil sampling, assesment of soil characteristics, chemical analysis of soil in O-, B-, BC- and C-horizons.

acidification Biodiversity Biological effects Contaminant transport Data management Ecosystems Environmental management forest Forest damage Geochemistry Geology GIS Long-range transport Mapping Modelling Pathways Soils Spatial trends Temporal trends vegetation
4. Metals in mosses

National Environmental Monitoring Programme in Sweden. The objective is to follow the deposition of heavy metals over Sweden by the analyses of their concentration in two selected species of moss. The selected species are: Red-stemmed Feather-moss (Pleurozium schreberi) and Mountain Fern Moss (Hylocomnium splendens). Preferred specie: Red-stemmed Feather-moss (Pleurozium schreberi). Metals adsorbed by mosses almost exclusively come from the air and metal concentration in mosses are therefore seen as a proxy for metal deposition. Analysed elements are: Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, Zn (2015). The moss samples are taken from over 600 stands across Sweden.

Al As Atmosphere Biological effects Cd Cr Cu Fe Hg Hylocomnium Local pollution Long-range transport Mapping Mn Mo mosses Ni Pb Pleurozium Spatial trends Temporal trends V Zn (2010)
5. Lakes; Chemistry

Annual measurements of physical, chemical, and biological variables are taken in small to medium sized, mostly minimally disturbed lakes, situated across the country. Of the 108 lakes that are part of the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme, 20 are situated in AMAP area. The main aim of the monitoring programme is to document long-term changes related to global or regional change and human-generated stressors. To complement the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme, national lake surveys provide spatial data needed to determine regional patterns, and coupled with time-series data, changes in surface water quality. The National Lake Survey (the Surveillance Stations, re-sampled stations) programme for lake water quality, started in 2007 and results in data of all Swedish lake conditions. Each year some 800 new lakes are sampled to determine chemical and physical conditions; lakes are resampled at 6 year intevals. 4824 lakes are sampled in the country during a six-year sampling cycle, with 1270 situated in AMAP area. The variables included in the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme include water chemistry, fish, phytoplankton, macrophytes, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates, whilst the National Lake Survey is focused solely on chemical and physical parameters.

Absorban acidification Al algae Arctic As Benthos Biological effects Ca Cd conductivity Contaminant transport Cr Cu Data management Discharges Environmental management Epiphyton Eutrophication Fe Fish Food webs Hydrography K Local pollution Long-range transport Mapping Mg Mn N NH4 Ni NO2-NO2 Nutrients Pb pH phytoplankton Sediments Si Spatial trends Temperature Temporal trends TOC Total nitrogen Total phosphor V Zn zooplankton Turbidity Benthic fauna Chlorophyll Secchi depth Litoral zone Sublitoral zone Profundal zone Pelagic zone
6. Interactions between meiofauna and mat-forming microbes at the sediment-water interface - implications for benthic-pelagic coupling in coastal systems

The project investigated small-scale biotic interactions between laminated microbial communities and meiofauna at light-exposed sediment-water boundaries of estuarine lagoons. The production and biological structure of these systems is mainly determined by complex processes at the sediment-water interface which depend on finely scaled patterns, requiring appreciation of how the biota interact within these scales. We tested whether changing light conditions and active emergence of the harpacticoid species Mesochra lilljeborgi and Tachidius discipes are mediated by the activity of benthic oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophic microbes. Two hypotheses were tested which addresses to the question of causality between changing light conditions and active emergence of the harpacticoid copepods. (1)The harpacticoid copepods T. discipes and M. lilljeborgi will enter the bottom water during daylight when oxygenic photosynthesis of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae is blocked and conditions at the sediment-water interface have turned anoxic. (2)Both species will not emerge during dark exposures when transferred to sterilized sediments.

Biological effects Biology copepod microbial communities interactions Sediments Ecosystems
7. The significance of localised nutrient regeneration for the development and maintenance of nuisance macro-algal blooms in shallow embayments

The main objective was to investigate the importance of the sediment as a nutrient source for blooms of nuiscance filamentous algae. Nutrient fluxes from the sediment were hypothesised to be of greater importance in maintaining algal biomass than were nutrients originating from the overlying water column. We aimed to assess the relative importance of algal mats on sediment geochemistry and nutrient release under stillwater and controlled flow conditions. Using nutrient fluxes as a surrogate for ecosystem function, we wished to investigate the role of species richness in maintaining the integrity of nutrient diagenesis. In this context, it is not necessarily the number of species that is important in maintaining nutrient supply to algal blooms, but the contribution individual species make to mediate nutrient release.

Biological effects Biology bloom filamentous algae nutrient flux Sediments
8. Metabolic and behavioural reactions of Nordic krill, Meganyctiphanes norvegica, from Gullmarsfjorden towards environmental factors

The phsyiological and locomotive reaction to factors that influence environmental behaviour of Nordic krill from the Gullmarfjorden were studied in terms of swimming energetics, predator avoidence and food utilization. In a newly developed experimental approach, individuals were maintained under defined conditions in flow through chambers and continuously monitored for swimming activity and oxygen consumption. Chemical, physical and biological parameters were applied and the reaction of the krill determined. Stress levels, defined this way, will serve as a reference for unfavourable conditions in the field. Thermal characteristics of digestive enzymes from the midgut gland were furthermore identify the optimum conditions for nutrient assimilation. The results will contribute to the understanding of diel vertical migration, dispersion and aggregation of krill which, in turn is essential for the interpretation of ecosystem dynamics and trophic interactions.

Biological effects Biology krill predator avoidence swimming energetics food utilization oxygen consumption
9. Study of the mechaninsms of inorganic carbon acquisition in macroalgae of the Swedish westcoast

The aim of our work was to study the occurrence of inorganic carbon pumps in the cell membrane and their importance in the supply of C for photosynthesis in different macrophyte species. This was performed by checking and comparing responses of several green, brown and, especially, red marine macroalgae species under CO2 disequilibrium conditions in the presence of buffer and/or inhibitors of carbon uptake. In addition, the effect of the different treatments was also checked in the marine phanerogam Zostera marina.

Biological effects Biology photosynthesis CO2 macrophytes
10. Benthic Flux rates. Measurement of flow rates through and fluxes from individual tubes and burrows of benthic organisms

To asses the utility of a new range of microelectrode sensors in measuring the flux rates of oxygen and nutrients across the sedimentary diffusive boundary layer and into and through macrofaunal tubes and burrow structures.

Biological effects Biology oxygen polychaete bioturbation Sediments
11. Bioaccumulation, physiological and biochemical effects of pollutants in mussels

In order to evaluate the capacity of mussels to accumulate pollutants and to enhance growth and physiological effects, an investigation was carried out in the Faroe Islands and in the Skagerrak. In March 2000, about 1500 mussels of proper dimensions (length ranging between 5 and 6 cm) were collected in the Kaldbak Fjord (Faroe Islands) on a 10m water column. Selected mussels were divided in 4 groups (320 each) and deployed in 4 different stations (one at the Faroe Islands and three in the Skagerrak). Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were also deployed in the same stations for the preconcentration of lipophilic pollutants. One month later (end of April-beginning of May) mussels and SPMDs were recollected and sent to different laboratories for the determination of various parameters.

Mytilus Biological effects Biology scope for growth Organochlorines PCBs Heavy metals PCB bioindicator PAHs Long-range transport Contaminant transport Exposure PAH Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) Dioxins/furans SPMD bioconcentration
12. Interactions among infauna, microorganisms and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine sediments

Dose-response experiments using 5 different sediment concentrations of fluoranthene (Flu) and pyrene (Py) respectively. Measuring radioactive marked Flu and Py in brittlestars and polychaetes and microbial degradation of Flu and Py in sediment. Also growth rate of brittlestars and polychaetes and determination of regenerationtime of brittlestar-arms.

Biological effects Biology PAHs microorganisms Petroleum hydrocarbons infauna Exposure Sediments
13. Bioactivation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in crab (Cancer pagurus), shrimps (Crangon spp and Palaemon spp) and a polycheate (Neries pelagica).

To be completed.

Biological effects Biology PAHs
14. Benthic invertebrates as bioindicators of hypoxic conditions in coastal marine waters

To be completed.

Biological effects Biology
15. Salinity stress of young Nephrops as a result of discarding after trawling

To be completed.

Biological effects Biology
16. Life at the limits:ecophysiology of krill during diurnal vertical migrations into hypoxic waters

To be completed

Biological effects Biology
17. The ecophysiology of crustaceans used as biomarker of stress

Aim of the research is to diagnose and prognose ecologically relevant effects of pollution using ecological and physiological biomarkers in crustaceans. Field studies combined with laboratory experiments are carried out on epibenthic and relatively sedentary crustaceans as e.g. Norway lobster and amphipods. Changes in population structure, behaviour, fertility, recruitment, blood and nerve physiology, energy reserves and kinetics and body load of trace metals (mainly manganese, copper and iron) related to stress from toxic compounds and hypoxia are investigated.

Biological effects Biology
18. Effects of UV-B radiation on Microbial communities in Kongsfjorden

Effects of UV-B radiation on microbial communities in Kongsfjorden in relation to metal and dissolved organic matter availabillity.

Biological effects Ozone Biology UV radiation Heavy metals Environmental management Exposure Arctic Model ecosystem Ecosystems
19. Environmental impact assessments of the highway between Kiruna and Riksgränsen, northern Sweden

The pressure on the ecosystems of the mountains of northern Sweden has increased over the last hundred years as a result of, for example, hydropower and infrastucture development, mining and tourism. This paper discusses the impacts of a highway project between Kiruna and Riksgränsen, in a sensitive mountain area in northernmost Sweden. The study has a holistic and dynamic approach including components from bio-, earth- and social sciences. The project was carried out in three stages; the first covering the construction period between 1978-1984, the second 1985-1989 and the third from 1990-1997 describing the long term impact after the opening of the road. The studies include the monitoring of the water environment, vegetation changes, air pollution, wear, outdoor recreation, economic development, land use changes etc. The main result show that environmental impact decreased rapidly after the period of road construction. On the other hand, human activities were not greatly affected during the construction phase, but after the road was opened the number of visitors to the area increased for a few years. We could also observe increased secondary effects, such as land use changes and new construction stimulated by the opening of the road.

Biological effects Catchment studies Heavy metals Local pollution