Damage caused by the carnivores on livestock is one of the main challenges in carnivore management across the world. To prevent this conflicts various managment measures are used, from killing of predators to protection of domestic animals. In this review study we evaluated evidence for the functional effectiveness of lethal and non-lethal methods to prevent predation on livestock. Results showed that currenet management practices are often based on untested methods. Only 12 published tests met the accepted standard of scientific inference. Generally, non-lethal measures (e.g. livestock guarding dogs and fences) outperformed lethal methods; 80% of non-lethal tests effectivelly prevented livestock predation, whereas 29% of lethal tests were effective. Besides, counterintuitive increases in predation were shown in two lethal tests, which was likely connected with destabilazied social system in predator populations. For example, after key members are lost in the wolf packs, the remaining pack experience decrease in their hunting success on wild prey and in turn increase predation of livestock. Based on the results, we developed management recommendations to suspend predator control efforts that lack evidence for functional effectiveness. This will decrease conflicts and improve conservation of predators and functioning of the ecosystems. After the publication, numerous media across the globe and in Slovenia reported about the study.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4506790
We compare national policies affecting production and use of forest-based bioenergy in five European countries: Finland, Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Spain. Methodological approach combines horizontal and vertical policy interaction with three policy layers: policy objectives, policy instruments and thematic elements in implementation. Great variations are found in national bioenergy policies, with complex interlinkages revealed to national renewable energy and forest policies (horizontal dimension) and to EU policies (vertical dimension). Horizontally, the national bioenergy objectives are closely linked to forest policy objectives and, in Finland, also to renewable energy objectives. Policy instruments promoting bioenergy demand interact to various degrees with both renewable energy and forest policies, while supply side instruments, as well as implementation aspects, interact most closely with forest policies. Vertically, highest degree of interactions with EU polices are in this study revealed for policy objectives and instruments, less so for implementation. It is concluded that consideration of policy layers are useful for increasing the understanding of the complexity in horizontal and vertical policy interactions, and thus an important basis for understanding how to minimize conflicts and enhancing synergies among multiple forest objectives. We argue that the chosen analytical framework can enhance the understanding of complex interlinkages between bioenergy and broader policy and market developments. Identifying these complex interactions can contribute to facilitate policy developments promoting and regulating future production and use of forest-based bioenergy, while taking other forest objectives into consideration
COBISS.SI-ID: 4085926
Urbanisation developmentinfluences surrounding landscape processes, which are reflected by landscape structural patterns. Forest areas are often regarded as a spatial reserve for present and future urbanisation needs, while atthe same time they often representthe last remnant of natural environment. In the present research we analysed (1) the change in forest cover in the area of suburban forests of Ljubljana between 1975 and 2012,(2)the connectivity and conservation buffers as one ofthe foundations for the assessment of biodiversity functions. Between 1975 and 2012, all the forests with important cores were subject to clearings for settlement- and agricultural purposes, but clearing usually did not extend beyond forest edges. The real fragmentation occurred during the construction of the highway beltline. In the area of Ljubljana, connectivity changes and connectivity loss in two different time periods are presented by a spatial model based on the Graph Theory which can also be used in spatial planning. Due to the high percentage of forest cover and the favourable distribution of forest patches and cores around the city of Ljubljana, no connection is currently in danger; the weakest link is stretching from the centre of Ljubljana towards the southeast. In the process of evaluating the biodiversity of urban forests, it will be necessary to add connectivity among forest cores as an important index while evaluating the favourable conditions of different habitat types.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4402598
The increasing share of forests that are damaged due to natural disturbances potentially increases the risk of accident when cutting the affected forests. The main goal of the study was to analyse the odds of accident by type and causes of cutting. The study was based on 316 accidents among professional fellers during cutting in Slovenian state forests over a 7-year period. The two most rational binary logistic models were selected by using Akaike's Information Criterion. The research results indicated that the odds of accident increase with the slope of the terrain and total volume of felled trees. Contrary to expectations, the odds of accident are highest during the cutting of individual healthy and undamaged trees, lower in deforestation due to urbanisation and infrastructure requirements, which is similar to clearcutting, and lowest during the cutting of trees damaged by biotic and abiotic factors. As an individual cause of accident, cutting trees damaged by insects, fires and emissions is the least dangerous, while cutting trees damaged by glaze ice and snow is the most dangerous. The results indicate that, in addition to natural factors, the likelihood of cutting-related accidents also depends on the time of exposure to hazards, type of harvesting and tree characteristics. On the basis of the results, it is concluded that measures to reduce the likelihood of professional fellers must be particularly focused on routine tasks and on adjusting the work pace and technique to the working conditions.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4432038
Global warming, land-use change, mass tourism and a deteriorating socio-economic situation pose serious threats to the sustainability of mountain areas. The future development of these areas could be an example of the Great Transition scenario. Based on iterative and collaborative discussions with 60 treeline experts, we (1) envisioned plausible futures of treeline ecosystems in Europe and (2) explored the role of pragmatism in scenario development and use. The three global change scenario classes (Conventional Worlds, Barbarization, and Great Transitions) and four European scenarios (Economy First, Fortress Europe, Policy Rules, and Sustainability Eventually) were downscaled using the drivers-pressures-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework. The scenarios that emerged, i.e., Global Markets, Self-sufficient Economies, Tyranny of Climate Governance, and Sustainable Use of Ecosystem Services, show that pragmatism can have either a propitious role or pernicious role in scenario analysis. Instead of being truly honest brokers, scenario producers are likely to manipulate, reconstruct, and change scientific knowledge to avoid socially and politically undesired trajectories. We showed by mathematical optimization that scenario users are likely to miss the Sustainable Use of Ecosystem Services scenario if they search within the pragmatic decision space which optimally justifies the two pre-existing global policies: climate policy and economic growth. We conclude that pernicious pragmatism leads to %the trap of the day%%a tendency of both users and producers of scenarios to use pre-existing policy agendas and scientific narratives as a pretext to promote their own objectives instead of being open to transformation in science and policy.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4580006