Dr. Mette Vodder Carstensen is the second PhD-student associated with BIOWATER that has achieved a PhD, and the first that is funded by NordForsk. Mette studied at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and held her dissertation in December 2020. The final, formal approval was given at the end of February 2021, and now we are proud to present her work.

A new paper on lake water browning has just been published. Increasing lake water color has been observed in the Northern Hemisphere during recent decades. Browner water has pronounced effects on both the freshwater ecology and society, as it may reduce light transmission, alter aquatic species composition, enhance anoxia and increase the cost of drinking water treatment.  Explanation to increased

With the emerging bioeconomy it is important to understand how forestry drainage affects nutrient losses. A new paper has used long-term data to assess export at different spatial scales in Finland. The authors found that long-term impacts of forest drainage are much higher than previously estimated. Hence, drained areas of forests are hotspots for the export of total nitrogen, total

Reference conditions can be defined as the natural state of a water body. The concept is becoming increasingly important since climate and land use changes increase the pressures on our water bodies. However, determining nutrient reference conditions in areas that have been cultivated for centuries has proven difficult. BIOWATER scientists have therefore compared how the Nordic countries have approached the

“Ecosystem services” has become an increasingly used concept in the academic world. One (of many) definitions is that ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. Like the feature photo indicates, this can be the recreational benefits given to us by a lake, or it can be clean drinking water, healthy fish for dinner, insects that pollinate and thereby

BIOWATER hosted a virtual  SWAT scenario workshop on 4-6 November 2020,  and the lecturer was the SWAT expert Dr. Eugenio Molina Navarro from the University of Madrid. Why is this an important topic for BIOWATER? Well, across the Nordic countries we have asked stakeholders of their beliefs about future land uses in a bioeconomy. We have compiled their answers on

The cultivation of new land is a means to increase food production for a growing population. BIOWATER is concerned with what happens to our freshwaters when the land use is changed, and this is a concern that we share with our stakeholders. Based on requests from regional and national authorities, we have therefore conducted a literature survey to increase our

If the bioeconomy does not develop in a sustainable way, the modifications of the rural landscape, in combination with expected climate change, will seriously affect our freshwater resources, and thereby society. This is one of many conclusions in BIOWATER’s special issue “Environmental effects of a green bioeconomy” (Ambio 49-11). There are altogether 12 papers in the issue, and we have