Institution
Norwegian Environment Agency
Other•Trondheim, Norway•
About: Norwegian Environment Agency is a other organization based out in Trondheim, Norway. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Vegetation. The organization has 37 authors who have published 51 publications receiving 812 citations. The organization is also known as: Klima- og forurensningsdirektoratet & Statens forurensningstilsyn.
Topics: Population, Vegetation, Plant community, Climate change, Arctic
Papers
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Spanish National Research Council1, Polish Academy of Sciences2, Düzce University3, Russian Academy of Sciences4, United States Environmental Protection Agency5, Sapienza University of Rome6, Lviv University7, University of Lisbon8, University of Zagreb9, University of Tehran10, University of Ljubljana11, University of Helsinki12, Environment Agency13, University of Göttingen14, Pedagogical University15, Jiroft University16, Generalitat of Catalonia17, Norwegian Environment Agency18, Far Eastern Federal University19, Sukachev Institute of Forest20, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus21, Norwegian University of Life Sciences22, Peninsular Malaysia23, Hedmark University College24
TL;DR: Brown bear attacks on humans between 2000 and 2015 across most of the range inhabited by the species were investigated, and attacks have increased significantly over time and were more frequent at high bear and low human population densities.
Abstract: The increasing trend of large carnivore attacks on humans not only raises human safety concerns but may also undermine large carnivore conservation efforts. Although rare, attacks by brown bears Ursus arctos are also on the rise and, although several studies have addressed this issue at local scales, information is lacking on a worldwide scale. Here, we investigated brown bear attacks (n = 664) on humans between 2000 and 2015 across most of the range inhabited by the species: North America (n = 183), Europe (n = 291), and East (n = 190). When the attacks occurred, half of the people were engaged in leisure activities and the main scenario was an encounter with a female with cubs. Attacks have increased significantly over time and were more frequent at high bear and low human population densities. There was no significant difference in the number of attacks between continents or between countries with different hunting practices. Understanding global patterns of bear attacks can help reduce dangerous encounters and, consequently, is crucial for informing wildlife managers and the public about appropriate measures to reduce this kind of conflicts in bear country.
150 citations
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TL;DR: It is shown that an increasing number of people are involved in outdoor activities and, when doing so, some people engage in risk-enhancing behaviour that can increase the probability of a risky encounter and a potential attack by large carnivores.
Abstract: The media and scientific literature are increasingly reporting an escalation of large carnivore attacks on humans in North America and Europe. Although rare compared to human fatalities by other wildlife, the media often overplay large carnivore attacks on humans, causing increased fear and negative attitudes towards coexisting with and conserving these species. Although large carnivore populations are generally increasing in developed countries, increased numbers are not solely responsible for the observed rise in the number of attacks by large carnivores. Here we show that an increasing number of people are involved in outdoor activities and, when doing so, some people engage in risk-enhancing behaviour that can increase the probability of a risky encounter and a potential attack. About half of the well-documented reported attacks have involved risk-enhancing human behaviours, the most common of which is leaving children unattended. Our study provides unique insight into the causes, and as a result the prevention, of large carnivore attacks on people. Prevention and information that can encourage appropriate human behaviour when sharing the landscape with large carnivores are of paramount importance to reduce both potentially fatal human-carnivore encounters and their consequences to large carnivores.
149 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, a systematic review of 54 contemporary landscape characterisation approaches from all over the world, with the aim of identifying major methodological strategies, is presented, and a trend towards increasing observer-independence over time is identified.
131 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a newly developed 30-year 1 km spatial resolution dataset from 1986 to 2015, provided by the NOAA AVHRR series of satellites, in order to calculate the annual maximum NDVI over parts of Svalbard (78°N).
Abstract: Satellite-aided studies of vegetation cover, biomass and productivity are becoming increasingly important for monitoring the effects of a changing climate on the biosphere. With their large spatial coverage and good temporal resolution, space-borne instruments are ideal to observe remote areas over extended time periods. However, long time series datasets with global coverage have in many cases too low spatial resolution for sparsely vegetated high latitude areas. This study has made use of a newly developed 30 year 1 km spatial resolution dataset from 1986 to 2015, provided by the NOAA AVHRR series of satellites, in order to calculate the annual maximum NDVI over parts of Svalbard (78°N). This parameter is indicative of vegetation productivity and has therefore enabled us to study long-term changes in greening within the Inner Fjord Zone on Svalbard. In addition, local meteorological data are available to link maximum NDVI values to the temporal behavior of the mean growing season (summer) temperature for the study area. Over the 30 year period, we find positive trends in both maximum NDVI (average increase of 29%) and mean summer temperature (59%), which were significantly positively correlated with each other. This suggests a temporal greening trend mediated by summer warming. However, as also recently reported for lower latitudes, the strength of the year-to-year correlation between maximum NDVI and mean summer temperature decreased, suggesting that the response of vegetation to summer warming has not remained the same over the entire study period.
66 citations
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TL;DR: Examination of the effect of movement tactic on reproductive performance and survival of 82 GPS-marked female moose and their offspring in a partial migratory population in central Norway indicated higher growth in the migrating part of the population because migrating females produced more twins than resident females.
Abstract: Partially migratory populations comprise both resident and migratory individuals. These tactics may coexist if their demographic contribution to future generations (i.e. fitness) are equal or vary temporally with environmental conditions, or if individuals switch between being migrant and resident. Alternatively, the choice of movement tactic can be based on individual attributes such as age, competitive ability or personality. In the latter cases, the two tactics are not expected to have similar average fitness. In this study, we examined the effect of movement tactic on reproductive performance and survival of 82 GPS-marked female moose and their offspring in a partial migratory population in central Norway. The results indicated higher growth in the migrating part of the population because migrating females produced more twins than resident females. We found no differences in pregnancy rates or survival of adults or their offspring, indicating a net fitness benefit of being migrant. We found the average shoulder height of residents to be slightly lower than of migrants, but doubt that this affected their migration ability. A more likely explanation is that migratory females are both more fecund and grow bigger because of better conditions in their summer ranges. This may be a temporal phenomenon if the fitness differences between migratory and resident moose vary according to environmental fluctuations.
61 citations
Authors
Showing all 37 results
Name | H-index | Papers | Citations |
---|---|---|---|
Jon E. Swenson | 75 | 270 | 17537 |
Ronny Aanes | 24 | 37 | 2800 |
Åshild Ønvik Pedersen | 15 | 56 | 985 |
Eivind Farmen | 14 | 18 | 536 |
Tomas Holmern | 12 | 24 | 870 |
Veronica Sahlén | 10 | 12 | 568 |
Helene Frigstad | 9 | 18 | 219 |
Gunnbjørn Bremset | 5 | 30 | 156 |
Linda Dalen | 5 | 6 | 382 |
Eirik Hovland Steindal | 4 | 6 | 38 |
Kari Bjørneraas | 4 | 7 | 499 |
Steinar Sandøy | 4 | 7 | 57 |
Trond Simensen | 4 | 6 | 100 |
Tord Bretten | 3 | 4 | 99 |
Morten I. Wedege | 3 | 3 | 33 |