University of Lapland

About: University of Lapland is a education organization based out in Rovaniemi, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Arctic & Context (language use). The organization has 665 authors who have published 1870 publications receiving 39129 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Rovaniemi & Lapin yliopisto.

Evidence of evolutionary homogenization of bird communities in urban environments across Europe

Abstract: Aim The process of urbanization can lead to specialist species being replaced by generalist species in space and time, increasing similarity among bird communities. This phenomenon is termed biotic homogenization and is directly related to taxonomic and functional diversity. However, the effects of urbanization on phylogenetic diversity remain unclear. Our study addresses the effects of the process of urbanization on the evolutionary distinctiveness (a quantitative measure of the genetic or evolutionary uniqueness of species) of bird communities. Location Europe. Methods Mixed models were used to compare the effects of urbanization on the evolutionary distinctiveness of bird communities in rural and urban environments in six different European cities from different ecoregions. Results Our study presents unique large-scale evidence of a negative impact of urban environments on the evolutionary uniqueness of birds. Compared with bird communities in rural environments, bird communities in urban environments have lower average evolutionary distinctiveness in all countries, independent of ecoregion, and these values are unrelated to the taxonomic diversity present in each country. Main conclusions Our findings provide important information on the spectrum of effects on global biodiversity of changes in land use related to the process of urbanization. Therefore, urban environments are a factor of concern for maintaining diversity across the tree of life of birds, and we suggest that urbanization planning could help buffer against extreme loss of phylogenetic diversity caused by this process.

Spatial similarity of urban bird communities: a multiscale approach

Abstract: Aim Human land use, especially urbanization, might homogenize the world's biota. The objective of this study is to find out if urbanization homogenizes wintering bird communities, and if habitat type affects the spatial variation of urban bird communities across spatial scales. Location We compared the quantitative similarity of winter bird communities between town centres, apartment block areas and single-family house areas across regional and local scales in five towns in northern Finland. Methods The wintering birds were surveyed using a single-visit study plot (30 ha) method in January and February 2001. The validity of single-visit and single-year data was confirmed by using data from several-visit surveys and multi-year data set. The level of urbanization was measured according to the number of inhabitants and general structure of the habitat. Results Temporal variability in species richness and total number of individuals was low, both between winters and within winter. Bird community similarity between different habitat types within a single town was about the same as that in similar habitats in different towns. At the regional scale, bird community similarity between town centres (30%) was lower than between areas of apartment blocks (54%) or between areas of single-family houses (54%). We detected a threshold point between towns of 35,000 and 105,000 inhabitants and between town sizes of 5.0-8.5 km in diameter where human impact causes marked changes in bird community structure. At the local scale, bird community similarity level between apartment block areas (49%) and single-family house areas (62%) were about the same. Passer domesticus, Parus major and Pica pica dominated the bird communities in residential areas. Different habitat factors affected bird species abundances on the local and regional scales. Conclusions Urbanization cannot be seen as a process that monotonically increases the similarity of bird communities. Our results indicate that the similarity between urban bird communities is dependent on the size of the town, location of the study site within the town and especially the local habitat structure. Because different habitat factors affected bird species abundances, it is difficult to extrapolate bird-habitat relationships derived from one scale to other scales. In wintertime, single-family house areas are important biodiversity hotspots in cities. Therefore, it is especially important to understand the factors affecting the occurrence of birds in the single-family house area in order to maintain or even increase diversity on winter birds in other urban habitats.

Requesting Pervasive Services by Touching RFID Tags

Abstract: As the vision of pervasive computing gradually becomes a reality, we are seeing an increasing number of services in our everyday environments. We don't just access them at desktop computers but everywhere our activities lead us-using mobile terminals and built-in technology. Although a positive phenomenon, this transition also introduces considerable challenges to discovering and selecting services. The authors propose a general framework for requesting pervasive services by touching RFID tags. Visual symbols communicate to users the objects that they can touch and that activate services. When a user touches such a symbol with a mobile phone, the data stored in the tag and other contextual information related to the situation trigger the requested service. The authors designed a set of visual symbols and implemented the required functionality as component-based middleware. They studied this novel system's usability and user experience. This article is part of a special issue on RFID Technology.

Characteristics and distribution patterns of snow and meteoric ice in the Weddell Sea and their contribution to the mass balance of sea ice

Abstract: . Based on snow- and ice-thickness measurements at >11 000 points augmented by snow- and icecore studies during 4 expeditions from 1986 - 92 in the Weddell Sea, we describe characteristics and distribution patterns of snow and meteoric ice and assess their importance for the mass balance of sea ice. For first-year ice (FY) in the central and eastern Weddell Sea, mean snow depth amounts to 0.16 m (mean ice thickness 0.75 m) compared to 0.53 m (mean ice thickness 1.70 m) for second-year ice (SY) in the northwestern Weddell Sea. Ridged ice retains a thicker snow cover than level ice, with ice thickness and snow depth negatively correlated for the latter, most likely due to aeolian redistribution. During the different expeditions, 8, 15, 17 and 40% of all drill holes exhibited negative freeboard. As a result of flooding and brine seepage into the snow pack, snow salinities averaged 4‰. Through 18O measurements the distribution of meteoric ice (i.e. precipitation) in the sea-ice cover was assessed. Roughly 4% of the total ice thickness consist of meteoric ice (FY 3%, SY 5%). With a mean density of 290 kg/m3, the snow cover itself contributes 8% to total ice mass (7% FY, 11% SY). Analysis of ∆18O in snow indicates a local maximum in accumulation in the 65 to 75°S latitude zone. Hydrogen peroxide in the snow has proven useful as a temporal tracer and for identification of second-year floes. Drawing on accumulation data from stations at the Weddell Sea coast, it becomes clear that the onset of ice growth is important for the evolution of ice thickness and the interaction between ice and snow. Loss of snow to leads due to wind drift may be considerable, yet is reduced owing to metamorphic processes in the snow column. This is confirmed by a comparison of accumulation data from coastal stations and from snow depths over sea ice. Temporal and spatial accumulation patterns of snow are shown to be important in controlling the sea-ice cover evolution.