Kalev Sepp

Estonian University of Life Sciences | EMU · Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Many studies have explored farmers' perspectives on biodiversity and ecosystem services, but fewer qualitative and cross-country comparisons exist. We develop a socio-ecological system to analyse agricultural landscape services, biodiversity, and drivers that have affected these services in recent decades. Via a systematic stake-holder mapping and...

Coastal wetlands provide a range of ecosystem services, yet are currently under threat from global change impacts. Thus, monitoring and assessment is vital for evaluating their status, extent and distribution. Remote sensing provides an excellent tool for evaluating coastal ecosystems, whether with small scale studies using drones or national/regio...

This paper explores local public support for nature protected areas (PAs) to identify primary social factors explaining support. The model was built and tested using survey data collected from approximately 2300 in- dividuals living inside or near six Protected Areas in five different European countries using both face-to-face and online methods. R...

Protected areas (PAs) are the foremost policy tool for biodiversity conservation internationally. In order for PAs to deliver desired conservation outcomes effectively, equitably, and for the long-term, they require a high level of support from local communities. A mosaic of factors have been proposed aiming to explain the level of support for PAs...

Invasive plant species pose a direct threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services. Among these, Rosa rugosa has had a severe impact on Baltic coastal ecosystems in recent decades. Accurate mapping and monitoring tools are essential to quantify the location and spatial extent of invasive plant species to support eradication programs. In this paper...

The importance of public and stakeholder participation in environmental assessments (EIA and SEA) has been increasing in the EU, international, and national policy contexts. However, to date, no synthesis of the literature that analyses the performance of participation in different EU countries has been conducted. This review aims to contribute to...

Coastal wetlands provide a range of important ecosystem services, yet they are under threat from a range of stressors including climate change. This is predominantly as a result of alterations to the hydroregime and associated edaphic factors. We used a three-year mesocosm experiment to assess changes in coastal plant community composition for thre...

Coastal communities are impacted by climate change, including sea-level rise, intensification of storms, floodings, and soil erosion. The Climate Science Special Report by the United States Global Change Research Program noted that coastal flooding doubled worldwide in the past thirty years (Russi et al., 2013). The function of Blue-Green coastal e...

Coastal wetlands are considered important stores of blue carbon, containing some of the largest stores of pedologic and biotic carbon per unit area on the planet. These ecosystems are however highly sensitive to Climate Change and changes in the management practices. It is of utmost importance to address relevant ecosystem scales in order to fully...

Coastal wetland systems are a priority habitat, according to the EU Habitats Directive (1992). They consist of a range of plant communities and in Europe can include salt marshes, coastal wet grasslands, swamp vegetation on the seaward edge, and scrub vegetation on the landward side. Coastal wetlands provide numerous essential ecosystem services, i...

Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) is a framing concept concerning the connectivity of ecosystems, founded on nature-based solutions and a multi-functionality approach, which includes contributions by nature to disaster risk reduction, infrastructure resilience, erosion control, land formation, and other ecosystem services (World Risk Report, 2012). T...

Protected Areas are the most widely applied policy tool for biodiversity conservation. In Europe, protected areas are expected to significantly increase as the new EU Biodiversity strategy sets an ambitious target of 30% of land and 30% of water to be protected by 2030. Despite the popularity of this environmental policy, understanding variations i...

Advances in unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have increased the potential of remote sensing to overcome scale issues for soil moisture (SM) quantification. Regardless, optical imagery is acquired using various sensors and platforms, resulting in simpler operations for management purposes. In this respect, we predicted SM at 10 cm depth using partial...

Coastal wetlands provide a range of important ecosystem services, yet they are under threat from a range of stressors including climate change. This is predominantly as a result of alterations to the hydroregime and associated edaphic factors. We used a three year mesocosm experiment to assess changes in coastal plant community composition for thre...

The incorporation of autonomous computation and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into smart agriculture concepts is becoming an expected scientific procedure. The airborne hyperspectral system with its vast area coverage, high spectral resolution, and varied narrow-band selection is an excellent tool for crop physiological characteristics...

The first study to describe the migration strategy of juvenile Eurasian Cranes (Grus grus) lead by their parents along the Baltic-Hungarian-Adriatic flyway is presented. A total of 15 stopover sites were identified along this migratory route, 10 of which were located between Estonia and Hungary, and four – south of Hortobágy NP, which is main stagi...

Despite the significant increase in protected territory globally, there is a common understanding that the designation of protected areas alone does not guarantee their effectiveness nor halt the loss of biodiversity. In addition to biodiversity conservation, protected areas are expected to perform a number of other functions, such as provide ecosy...

High-resolution images obtained by multispectral cameras mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are helping to capture the heterogeneity of the environment in images that can be discretized in categories during a classification process. Currently, there is an increasing use of supervised machine learning (ML) classifiers to retrieve accurate re...

The recent trend of automated machine learning (AutoML) has been driving further significant technological innovation in the application of artificial intelligence from its automated algorithm selection and hyperparameter optimization of the deployable pipeline model for unraveling substance problems. However, a current knowledge gap lies in the in...

A significant trend has developed with the recent growing interest in the estimation of aboveground biomass of vegetation in legume-supported systems in perennial or semi-natural grasslands to meet the demands of sustainable and precise agriculture. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are a powerful tool when it comes to supporting farm-scale phenotyping...

The main objectives of the paper are to provide a description of the ecological character of Estonian agricultural landscapes and also their contribution to biodiversity resources. Agricultural landscapes are vulnerable to alterations in environmental factors and management that lead to changes in the balance of plant species and, therefore, to mod...

The application of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in forest research includes a wide range of equipment, systems, and flight settings, creating a need for enhancing data acquisition efficiency and quality. Thus, we assessed the effects of flying altitude and lateral and longitudinal overlaps on digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) processing and the...

The application of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in forest research includes a wide range of equipment, systems, and flight settings, creating a need for enhancing data acquisition efficiency and quality. Thus, we assessed the effects of flying altitude and lateral and longitudinal overlaps on digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) processing and the...

We focused on the barriers to the implementation of enabling environments for sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Based on interviews and desktop research, we analyzed overall framework conditions in these countries as well as implementation practices in three cities. Our findings demonstrate that the main pro...

This study explores how local communities reflect on institutional frameworks and protected area governance in two national parks (NPs) with similar nature values in Estonia and Russia, and aims to understand the role of value systems in these interactions. It is based on 50 in-depth interviews with a broad range of stakeholders, and a desktop anal...

Coastal meadows provide a wide range of ecosystem services worldwide. In order to better target conservation efforts in these ecosystems, it is necessary to develop highly accurate models that account for the spatial nature of ecosystem structure, processes and functions. In this study, above-ground biomass was predicted at very high spatial resolu...

Charcoal deposits in forest soils have been considered mainly in the context of wildfires. However, slash-and-burn cultivation has been widespread in Northern Europe until the beginning of the 20th century and extensive areas of former swiddens are now covered by forests. The study sites were in Karula National Park in Southern Estonia. 19th-centur...

The area covered by low-input agroecosystems (e.g. semi-natural and permanent grasslands) in Europe has considerably decreased throughout the last century. To support more sustainable management practices and to promote biodiversity and ecosystem service values of such agroecosystems, a decision support tool was developed. The tool aims to enhance...

Dachas (collective gardens with summer houses in post-Soviet countries) is one of the most common features of peri-urban landscapes within the region that is the erstwhile USSR, with dacha conglomerates constituting half of the areas in the exurbs of major cities. In Belarus, Russia and Ukraine dachas largely preserved their original form and funct...

The project was initiated to model the species change in agricultural land under different scenarios in Estonia. This paper describes the first stages of the work. Thirty-five 1-km squares were selected for a survey using a dispersed random procedure within the eight classes of the Environmental Stratification of Estonia, which were weighted accord...

The majority of Common Cranes (Grus grus) breeding in northern Europe are short- to medium-distance migrants that overwinter in southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. However, some individuals migrate longer distances to as far as Ethiopia. Using data from 18 satellite-tracked juvenile Common Cranes, we assessed (1) the length and l...

Habitats are important indicators of biodiversity in their own right, as well as being linked to species, hence their widespread use in reporting on nature conservation planning and policy. For reporting consistent mapping and monitoring habitat extent and change is important. Remote Sensing techniques are becoming an important tool for this. In th...

Semi-natural grasslands harbour high biodiversity and play a key role in the supply of ecosystem services (ES). However, abandonment, changes in traditional management practices and agricultural intensification constitute a major threat to these grasslands worldwide and these practices have led to declines in species diversity. In this paper the mu...

Questions Long‐term fragmentation and land use in Europe have created a landscape pattern where small forest patches are embedded among agricultural landscapes. These small forest patches can be one of the few habitats left to maintain the species richness and ecosystem functions within intensively managed agroecosystems. We ask, which factors dete...

The European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action ESMERALDA aimed at developing guidance and a flexible methodology for Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) to support the EU member states in the implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s Target 2 Action 5. ESMERALDA’s key tasks included network cr...

The green infrastructure (GI) is a network of natural and semi-natural areas with environmental features that is designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. The concept has roots in the former hierarchical system of ecological networks. There are several examples of GIs, but details of their implementation at a landscape lev...

Throughout the second half of the 20th Century, the area of semi-natural grasslands in the Baltic States decreased substantially, due to agricultural abandonment in some areas and intensification in more productive soil types. In order to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by grasslands, the LIFE+ programme funded project...

Understanding complex processes of landscape change is crucial to guide the development of future landscapes and land resources. Through Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping, we studied the processes of landscape change of six different environmental zones in Europe. Results show that landscapes are complex systems, with many interactions. Except for one, all r...

ContextAnthropogenic and environmental changes are reshaping landscapes across the globe. In this context, understanding the patterns, drivers, and consequences of these changes is one of the central challenges of humankind. PurposeWe aim to test the possibilities of combining modern multidisciplinary approaches to reconstruct the land-cover and li...

Slash-and-burn cultivation has been a widespread practice in Northern Europe and large portions of modern forests have developed on former slash-and-burn land. After the decline of slash-and-burn sites, forests regenerated. The aim of the present study was to compare the environmental factors and forest ground vegetation of former rotational slash-...

Environmental stratifications provide the framework for efficient surveillance and monitoring of biodiversity and ecological resources, as well as modelling exercises. An obstacle for agricultural landscape monitoring in Estonia has been the lack of a framework for the objective selection of monitoring sites. This paper describes the construction a...

The red list has become a ubiquitous tool in the conservation of species. We analyzed contemporary trends in the threat levels of European orchids, in total 166 species characterized in 27 national red lists, in relation to their reproductive biology and growth form, distribution area, and land cover where they occur. We found that species in centr...

Within animal communities the loss of a single keystone species can lead to substantial change, or in extreme cases, community collapse. This phenomenon has been documented in different communities and habitats but has not been widely investigated in bird communities. We studied the long-term dynamics of breeding birds in a medium-sized hemiboreal...

Slash and burn is one of the oldest methods of clearing and fertilizing land for growing crops. The practice continued in Estonia until the beginning of the twentieth century. The historical background to the use of fire in Estonia is first described, including the legal controls that were set up. After cultivation the slash and burn fields left as...

Rural population ageing and decline is a serious problem throughout Europe resulting in a deterioration of the socioeconomic situation in rural areas. This leads to land abandonment, and consequently the loss of valuable cultural landscapes. Protected areas are no exception and inhabitants also face restrictions arising from the protection status....

Emergency preparedness and response is one of the key elements of the 14001 standard of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). ISO 14001 requires participating organisations to implement procedures for emergency preparedness and response. Organisations implementing and certifying environmental management systems (EMS) are obliged...

We used Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) to assess the process of landscape change. A Cognitive Map is a cognitive interpretation of the system and graphical representation, where components are represented as boxes and relationships as arrows. The state of a system component is not exact but rather represented in a number of classes (‘strong’ or ‘wea...

This study presents an enhanced methodology for modelling the impacts of sea level rise on coastal wetlands. The tool integrates dGPS-calibrated LiDAR data, isostatic uplift and sediment accretion rates to predict the location and extent of plant communities at three non-contiguous micro-topographical coastal wetlands in Estonia by 2100 in response...

This study investigated microtopography and edaphic factors to ascertain their use as determinants for identifying the location and extent of plant community types in internationally important Baltic coastal wetlands in Estonia. Plant community types were identified, and abundance and frequency of plant species were recorded within 105 1-m 2 quadra...

Context The Eurasian crane (Grus grus) is an iconic and sensitive species. It is therefore necessary to understand its landscape ecology in order to determine threats. Objectives (1) To map the distribution of cranes and then model their habitat requirements in Estonia, linked to the current level of protection. (2) To determine the environmental c...

This paper examines the valuation of mining heritage and tourism potential for regional development in Ida-Viru County, NE Estonia. The study is based on data from six focus groups and a survey (n = 255) involving local residents and people from outside the county, Estonians and those of other ethnicities. Estonia is the only country in the world t...

Habitat surveillance and subsequent monitoring at a national level is usually carried out by recording data from in situ sample sites located according to predefined strata. This paper describes the application of remote sensing to the extension of such field data recorded in 1-km squares to adjacent squares, in order to increase sample number with...

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of the public perception of oil shale mining and industrial heritage in regional revival. Oil shale mining and chemical operations have left an imprint on both the people and the landscape of Ida-Viru County, NE Estonia. Along with increasing or decreasing production volumes of oil shale mining, heritage...

Since the 1990s, the concept of High Nature Value (HNV) farmland has been accepted in Europe as a landscape measure that is correlated with biodiversity. Farmland is land used for agriculture and includes fields, linear features, woodlands, and grazed forests The objective of the paper is to provide an introduction to the concept in Estonia, in ord...

This paper discusses the conservation of protected areas of Estonia and rural cultural landscapes, in order to provide baseline information for key institutions in protected areas to develop more efficient management policies for cultural landscapes. Based on demographic and settlement analysis of protected areas, we found that present conservation...

Wader populations have been declining worldwide, providing a fundamental question as to which environmental factors limit population growth. Many studies have focused on the effects of habitat change on wader populations as a result of climate change, agricultural intensification or abandonment of arable land. However, there are few studies investi...

Boreal Baltic coastal wetlands differ markedly from temperate salt marshes by their generally low maximum elevation (between 0 and 1 m above m.s.l.), low seaward gradients and the irregular nature of flooding that is characteristic of the NE Baltic Sea coastal region. As a result of these factors these wetlands have been considered to be threatened...

The historical development of nature conservation ideas can be divided into a number of phases (Sepp et al 1999). First, the roots of nature conservation stem from the folk religion. Records from the 13th century speak of sacred trees and groves that were worshipped and preserved. To date, approximately 550 sacred groves and more than 2000 other an...