IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

The massive geographic expansion of terrestrial plant crops, livestock, and marine aquacultured species during the 19th and 20th centuries provided local economic benefits, stabilized food demands, and altered local ecosystems. The invasion history of these translocations remains uncertain for most species, limiting our understanding of their future adaptive potential and historical roles as vectors for coinvaded species. We provide a framework for filling this gap in invasion biology using the widely transplanted Pacific oyster as a case study. A two-dimensional summary of population-level variation in single nucleotide polymorphisms in native Japan reflected the geographical map of Japan and allowed identification of the source regions for the worldwide expansion. Pacific oysters proliferate in nonnative areas with environmental temperatures similar to those areas where native lineages evolved. Using Approximate Bayesian Computation, we ranked the likelihood of historical oyster or shipping vectors to explain current-day distribution of genotypes in 14 coinvaded algal and animal species. Oyster transplants were a more likely vector than shipping for six species, shipping activity was more likely for five species, and a vector was ambiguous for three species. Applying this approach to other translocated species should reveal similar legacy effects, especially for economically important foundation species that also served as vectors for nonnative species.

Stocks of the European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis, have collapsed due to overfishing, habitat destruction, and pathogen outbreaks across most of their distribution range. Nonetheless, as a result of lower exploitation pressure and the absence of pathogens in the most northern part of the range, a large part of the remaining wild population can be found in relatively high densities in Scandinavia, a region in Northern Europe. However, despite recent studies focusing on flat oyster population structure along the European coast, little is known about the population structure of oysters in the Skagerrak marginal sea in Scandinavia, and how it is related to neighbouring regions. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the population structure of flat oysters in Scandinavia, with a special emphasis on the Skagerrak. We gathered low‐coverage whole‐genome sequencing data from oysters in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, the three countries that border the Skagerrak. Genetic diversity appeared to be homogeneously distributed over the sampled area in the Skagerrak, while samples collected from the east coast of Denmark and from a location with known historical farming activity on the Norwegian West Coast were genetically distinct from Skagerrak samples. A genetic barrier analysis indicated barriers to gene flow in the Baltic Sea transition zone and on the west coast of Norway. Overall, our results suggest that flat oysters from the Swedish Skagerrak coasts form a single panmictic population that is distinct from neighbouring seas, potentially allowing for regional management of stocks and restoration translocations in the area. However, the genetic composition of donor and recipient stocks should be assessed on a case‐by‐case basis, genetic diversity effects of hatchery practices should be monitored, and biosecurity measures need to be considered prior to any movement of stock.

Despite the key role that local authorities play in shaping energy policies and implementing action plans, their level of involvement has been insufficiently examined. This study aims to assess how different socio-geographical factors impact the adoption of fossil-free vehicle technologies and fuels for private cars, buses, and trucks. Using a participatory energy systems modeling approach, this study explores the cost-optimal decarbonization of road transport in four urban and non-urban Swedish municipalities. By collaborating with local authorities, socio-technical scenarios are modeled to reflect climate actions, resources and infrastructure availability, as well as travel patterns. The findings reveal a preference for lower upfront costs in urban areas with shorter trip distances, leading to a higher small-size battery electric vehicles (BEVs) share. Conversely, in non-urban areas with longer trip distances, fuel economy, fuel cost, as well as operation and maintenance costs outweigh upfront costs, increasing average-size BEVs share. Buses and trucks also experience a growing BEVs and fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) share, driven by their typically high annual mileage. Biofuels play an intermediate role until BEVs and FCEVs are reduced in cost. Tailoring decarbonization strategies to local contexts is essential for maximum effectiveness, balancing national and regional climate goals with urban and non-urban challenges.

A growing population imposes an increased demand on textile fibres based on cellulose. Forecasts predict a cellulose gap due to the lack of cotton and the need to assess other sustainable cellulose resources for dissolving pulp production. Circular cellulose resources might be agricultural wastes. Here we evaluated oat husks, wheat straw, potato pulp and pressed sugar beet pulp which are available in sufficient amounts in Sweden to produce dissolving pulp using the soda pulping process. Initial pulps from oat and wheat were further refined to achieve the purity of the dissolving pulp while potato and sugar beets were discarded due to processing difficulties. High purity dissolving pulps were obtained including both acid prehydrolysis pretreatment, soda cooking and a bleaching sequence. To evaluate the environmental impact of the production of dissolving pulp from oat husks and wheat straw, the process was scaled-up from lab scale to industrial scale and simulated, using Aspen PLUS. The results of the process simulations were evaluated through life-cycle assessment. Processing wheat straw required a higher chemical and energy demand compared to oat, but wheat pulp had a lower environmental impact. Both wheat and oat pulp had a higher impact than wood due to differences in cultivation. Nevertheless, dissolving pulp from wheat and oat might be a sustainable substitute for cotton or dissolving pulp from wood.

In this article we introduce a method to be used for life cycle-based assessment in early innovation to fill the gap of tools for assessing emerging technologies. The approach is intended to support innovation processes for clean technology. Thus, it needs to facilitate a dialogue and encourage innovators to share uncertain information. Such information could potentially hamper the development process if conclusions are drawn based on concepts before scale-up. For the required flexibility and transparency, we propose a series of direct exchanges and preliminary evaluations. The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, outlined to implement the European Green Deal, calls for the transition towards use of safe and sustainable chemicals, hence the Joint Research Center (JRC) published a framework for Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) chemicals and materials. Among the key features of the framework is the application for early-stage developments of innovations, during which the outcome can be influenced, and parameters are not fully decided. The method proposed in this publication, life cycle-based risk and opportunity mapping (LCBROM), may be used both prior an SSbD assessment to facilitate its scoping process, as well as during an SSbD procedure. An LCBROM intends to bring together knowledge and requirements from different stakeholders in an innovation process and has been applied in four case studies within the area of clean technology. By applying the method we have realized that i) opportunity mapping is key for good involvement of the innovation owner but can only be performed if there is a suitable benchmark technology as reference or the consequences of inaction can be defined, ii) Several methods exist that in theory could be applied for assessing emerging technologies, although none seems to be commonly used, and iii) LCBROM has the potential to fulfill four criteria that we see as crucial for tools intended for assessing innovations at low TRL. A major benefit of the mapping approach is the increased transparency and communication between technology developer, problem owner and assessment experts. Such communication guides the process and allows for understanding of each other’s questions and feedback. LCBROM will be further improved and tested in the EU funded research programme BioSusTex.

At Gårdsjön, Sweden, a long-term experiment has been conducted in which a 5250-m² coniferous-forested catchment (G2 NITREX) receiving 8 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ ambient N deposition has been given an additional 40 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in 20 small portions yearly. Catchment inputs and outputs of N have been monitored. The soils were systematically sampled in 1990 and 2016. Over 26 years (1991—2016) cumulative inputs were 1290 kg N ha⁻¹ (deposition 230, additions 1030, nitrogen fixation 30). Cumulative outputs were 231 kg N ha⁻¹ (runoff dissolved inorganic N 89, runoff dissolved organic N 55, denitrification 87). The ecosystem retained about 80% (1060 kg N ha⁻¹) of the incoming N in the biomass and soils. About 80% of the retained N was found in the soil, mostly in the mineral horizons. The C/N ratio of the organic soil decreased from 32 to 29. The remaining 20% of the retained N went to plant biomass. The enhanced N deposition has resulted in sequestration of 44 t C ha⁻¹. The C sequestered in the ecosystem had a C/N ratio of 34. The ecosystem has moved towards N saturation; the fraction of N added that is leached to runoff has increased from about 1% in 1991 to nearly 30% in 2022, 32 years later. As the N leaching and denitrification increase, less of the incoming N is available for C sequestration.

To mitigate the impact of the climate, there is an advantage in incorporating climate calculations for design alternatives early in the design process. However, there is a need for tools dedicated to providing climate feedback on design sketches in the early design stages. A main actor in this stage is the architect. It is therefore beneficial if the toolchain already used by architects can be adapted to provide the necessary decision support for climate optimized design. For this purpose, a software tool called LCAnt version 0.2.2 was developed. This tool assists in determining amounts of materials from volume sketches in Rhino using a novel method for estimating the load-bearing structure and connecting it to an existing life cycle assessment database through Grasshopper. A real-life case study was used to demonstrate and evaluate how this type of tool can be applied in early design stages. This study was expanded by exploring strategies for managing uncertainties naturally present in these early design stages. This work demonstrates how to incorporate uncertainty evaluation into the early building design phase to obtain higher-quality decision support for low-climate-impact buildings. The uncertainty evaluation will at the same time identify in which stage important decisions regarding layout and material choices should be made to minimize the climate impacts of the finished building. Combining this with the studied tool LCAnt, which adapts to the workflow of professional building design, will facilitate implementation.

Urban Building Energy Models (UBEMs) are emerging as a powerful tool for cities and regions seeking to make decisions on the best pathways for increasing the energy efficiency of their buildings. As model results are used to inform critical policy decisions, it is essential to understand and communicate the limits of inference of model results and how sensitive they are to changes in inputs. In the absence of standard datasets and protocols for model validation, Uncertainty Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis (UASA) procedures offer vital insights. However, there is no consensus on how UASA should be applied to bottom-up building physics-based UBEMs, nor on how different use cases might influence the choice of UASA approach. This study uses a systematic review of the literature (2009–2023) to explore the procedures which are applied and assess their appropriateness. We find a need for a more holistic view of uncertainty to be taken, and present a decision framework for selecting the most appropriate form of quantitative sensitivity analysis, based on model form, data provenance and use case. We also propose a number of approaches to improve the application of sensitivity analysis in UBEM studies, including the importance of undertaking a complementary assessment of information quality.

During periods of environmental change, genetic diversity in foundation species is critical for ecosystem function and resilience, but it remains overlooked in environmental monitoring. In the Baltic Sea, a key species for monitoring is the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus , which forms sublittoral 3D habitats providing shelter and food for fish and invertebrates. Ecological distribution models predict a significant loss of Baltic F. vesiculosus due to ocean warming, unless populations can adapt. Genetic variation and recombination during sexual reproduction are essential for adaptation, but studies have revealed large‐scale clonal reproduction within the Baltic Sea. We analysed genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from the east Atlantic, the “Transition zone,” and the Baltic Sea, and found a mosaic of divergent lineages in the Baltic Sea, contrasting an outside dominance of a few genetic groups. We determined that the previously described endemic species Fucus radicans is predominantly a large female clone of F. vesiculosus in its northern Baltic distribution. In the two Estonian sites, however, individuals earlier referred to as F. radicans are sexually and reproductively isolated from Baltic F. vesiculosus , revealing a separate lineage that may have diverged long before the formation of the Baltic Sea. Monitoring Baltic Fucus without considering this genetic complexity will fail to prioritise populations with adaptive potential to new climate conditions. From our genomic data, we can extract informative and diagnostic genetic markers that differentiate major genetic entities. Such a SNP panel will provide a straightforward tool for spatial and temporal monitoring and informing management decisions and actions.

Safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) is a pre-market approach that integrates innovation with safety and sustainability along the entire life cycle. It aims to (i) steer the innovation process towards a sustainable industrial transition; (ii) minimise the production and use of substances of concern and phase them out in material and product flows; and to (iii) minimise the impact on health, climate and the environment during sourcing, production, use and end-of-life of chemicals, materials and products. The aim of this perspective is to share reflections on how an SSbD approach can accelerate the industrial transition towards safer and more sustainable chemicals, materials, processes, and products, and circular value chains. To achieve the speed, efficacy and efficiency needed to support this urgently required transition, an efficient science–policy–industry interface is imperative. It is essential that the safety and sustainability knowledge generated in research supports policy and, more importantly, is taken up by industry. Bridges are needed between research, policy, investment, and industry through closer collaboration. But there is also a need for internal collaboration within companies along the life cycle of products. This means a stronger alignment between research and development (R&D), sustainability, design, business, and production departments. To bridge these different silos, a community and platform is needed as a multi-sectoral “one-stop-shop” to bring the field of innovation closer to the fields of safety and sustainability (environmental, social, economic). Policy needs to set goals, related criteria and methodologies, and incentives; academia and research need to support the development of knowledge, data, and tools needed and provide critical interdisciplinary education; and industry has to make its information on chemical impacts and choices transparent and institutionalise it in a systematic and thoughtful way.

Bonamia (Haplosporida) are oyster parasites capable of devastating oyster populations. The near-circumglobal distribution of the host generalist B. exitiosa has previously been associated with the natural and anthropogenic dispersal of broadly distributed non-commercial oysters in the Ostrea stentina species complex. Here, we took a global snapshot approach to explore the role of the widely introduced Pacific oyster Magallana gigas , a commercially important species that can be found on every continent except Antarctica, in transporting Bonamia. We screened 938 M. gigas individuals from 41 populations in this oyster’s native and non-native geographic range for presence of Bonamia DNA using PCR. B. exitiosa was the only species detected and only within 2 of 5 populations from southern California, USA (10 and 42% PCR prevalence). Therefore, M. gigas could have played a role in transporting B. exitiosa to California (if introduced) and/or maintaining B. exitiosa populations within California, but morphological confirmation of infection needs to be done to better understand the host-parasite dynamics within this system. We detected no Bonamia DNA within any other non-native M. gigas populations (n = 302) nor within native M. gigas populations in Japan and Korea (n = 582) and thus found no evidence to support the co-dispersal of M. gigas and other Bonamia species. Lower sample sizes within some populations and the non-systematic nature of our sampling design may have led to false negatives, especially in areas where Bonamia are known to occur. Nevertheless, this global snapshot provides preliminary guidance for managing both natural and farmed oyster populations.

Evolutionary changes in populations of microbes, such as microalgae, cannot be traced using conventional metabarcoding loci as they lack intraspecific resolution. Consequently, selection and competition processes among strains of the same species cannot be resolved without elaborate isolation, culturing, and genotyping efforts. Bamboozle, a new bioinformatic tool introduced here, scans the entire genome of a species and identifies allele‐rich barcodes that enable direct identification of different genetic strains from a population using amplicon sequencing of a single DNA sample. We demonstrate its usefulness by identifying hypervariable barcoding loci (< 500 bp) from genomic data in two microalgal species, the diploid diatom Skeletonema marinoi and the haploid chlorophyte Chlamydomonas reinhardtii . Across the two genomes, four and twenty‐two loci, respectively, were identified that could in silico resolve all analysed genotypes. All of the identified loci are within protein‐coding genes with various metabolic functions. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) provided the most reliable genetic markers, and among 54 strains of S. marinoi, three 500 bp loci contained, on average, 46 SNPs, 103 strain‐specific alleles, and displayed 100% heterozygosity. This high level of heterozygosity was identified as a novel opportunity to improve strain quantification and detect false positive artefacts during denoising of amplicon sequences. Finally, we illustrate how metabarcoding of a single genetic locus can be used to track abundances of S. marinoi strains in an artificial selection experiment. As future genomic datasets become available and DNA sequencing technologies develop, Bamboozle has flexible user settings enabling optimal barcodes to be designed for other species and applications.

Informing and engaging all actors in the land sector, including land-owners and managers, researchers, policy-makers and citizens, on the most effective sustainable land-based solutions and behavioural changes is a key strategy for achieving climate change adaptation and mitigation targets at the global as well as at EU and local level. One requisite to support actors in the land sector is to provide them publicly available, reliable and ready-to-use information related to the implementation of Land-based Adaptation and Mitigation Solutions (LAMS). Here we introduce a LAMS catalogue, a collection of meaningful quantitative and qualitative information on 60 solutions characterised according to a set of specifications (e.g., mitigation and adaptation potential, cost of implementation, suitability factors, synergies and trade-offs, drivers and barriers to the implementation). The catalogue offers a reliable, science-based tool useful for different users’ needs, including valuable references for deriving context-specific quantitative inputs to simulate and evaluate the performance of solutions over time using modelling tools, such as Integrated Assessment Models at any scale.

Fruits and vegetables require proper packaging to ensure safe transports from farm to shops and retailers. Poor packaging may result in food losses or waste by reduced shelf life. The production and use of the packaging material generates GHG emissions and so does transports and disposal of packaging. The use of reusable plastic crates (RPC), instead of disposable boxes, was found to be a feasible solution in reducing waste and environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle of secondary and tertiary packaging. The aim of this study is to provide a review of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of RPC systems for fruits and vegetables under different scenarios. The paper focuses LCA studies of RPC systems for fruits and vegetables from cradle to grave. It aims to review the key designs of the LCA and identify the system boundary, functional unit and main findings. The review presents global warming potential (GWP) results associated with the use of reusable plastic crates, which were observed to be 65–628 g CO2 eq. per cycle of crate during service life. Meanwhile, cross-cutting issues are discussed which can reduce food losses as part of transportation, providing additional benefits for this system as compared to conventional crate solutions.