Integrating ecosystem services in Swedish environmental assessments: an empirical analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1. The location of the three case studies in Sweden and a short description of the areas. Source: The Authors.

Table 1. Main ES for Kallak Norra and how they are impacted.

Provisioning ES		Supporting ES
Ecosystem service	Why and how	Ecosystem service	Why and how
Timber and pulpwood	Active forestry is performed in the area which will stop if the mine is accepted	Photosynthesis	Dust may cover plants and inhibit photosynthesis causing slower growth rates
Hunting	Hunting possibilities, especially for moose, will be changed near the concession area since wild animals may leave due to noise and dust	Maintenance of habitats	The planned activities will partly exploit areas with declared natural values. Three swamp forests and areas with high nature values are situated within the concession area
Reindeer and forage	The planned mining overlap areas of national interest for reindeer herding, particularly migrating routes and grazing land. Due to noise, people and dust reindeer will avoid grazing there		There are national interests for nature conservation, cultural heritage, outdoor life and Natura 2000 sites between 8 and 20 km from the concession area. The World Heritage Laponia areas are not considered directly affected by the mine, but indirectly parts of Laponia may be affected by transports along the highway
	Loss of grazing areas may necessitate additional feeding making herding less profitable and wild reindeers more tame. There is a risk of unintended mixing between different groups of reindeer inducing more herding work or costs for fencing		Several red-listed species will be affected: Hypogymnia tubulosa, Lobaria scrobiculata, Surnia ulula, Emberiza rustica, Picoides tridactylus and Hydnellum aurantiacum
	Transports estimated to be approximately 360 trucks per day will divide grazing lands
Berries and mushrooms	The picking of berries and mushrooms in the area will be affected
Drinking water	Groundwater aquifers are situated 7–8 km from the concession areas and a lowering of the water table is expected
Regulating ES		Cultural ES
Regulation of hydrology	The hydrogeological conditions in the adjacent areas will be affected inducing a loss of water. During operation of the mine, the water table will be lowered up to 375 m inside an influence area near the quarry	Recreation and outdoor life	The area is used for recreation and outdoor life including berry and mushroom picking, hunting and fishing
	The catchment area of some streams will be reduced. After the mine is shut down the water table is predicted to successively reach its original level		The influence on recreation and outdoor life is thought to be moderate in the vicinity of the mine
	Some extra water supply may be required for the mining. The function of Lake Kallakjaure may be shifted from natural lake to a magazine for regulation of the water discharge	Tourism	The area is reported to be used for ecotourism through wildlife tourism and canoeing. It is stated that the mine may have positive effects on tourism
Climate change regulation	Most of the iron will be transported on either trains or trucks. Increased emissions of greenhouse gases may be expected	Environment and aesthetics	The scenery will be significantly changed as the overburden stockpile and sand magazine grow
			Neighbours may be affected by visual and audible impacts as well as dust and vibrations. Transports may contribute to these disturbances
		Mental and physical health	The activities will generate noise that may disturb people and animals

Table 2. Main ES for Kattegatt Offshore and how they are impacted.

Provisioning ES		Supporting ES
Ecosystem service	Why and how	Ecosystem service	Why and how
Fish	Decreased catches of fish are expected during both the construction period and when the windmills are running due to the fact that trawling for cod will become more difficult in the area	Maintenance of habitat	New hard bottoms will create new substrate for macro algae, blue mussels and barnacles
	Increased turbidity due to high amounts of suspended material may disturb adult fish and larvae during the construction period as will high sound levels due to piling of the fundaments		The area is habitat for several species of fish, for example, salmon. A porpoise population appears in the area which may be disturbed, for example, by high underwater noise during construction
	The fundaments will act as artificial hard bottoms which will favour growth of macro algae and shellfish such as blue mussels and this reef effect might enhance recruitment		The area is a spawning ground for cod which is a threatened species and hence sensitive to pressures. Cod has been in focus within several studies connected to the statement
Shellfish	Lobster fishing may be stimulated due to the introduction of hard substrates. Trawling for Norway lobster is affected as for fish		The area is not estimated as important for birds and bats since no breeding spots are localized there and no migration routes are near
		Nutrient cycling	Macro algae as well as filtering mussels will take up large amounts of nutrients from the water and decrease nutrient levels in the water column. Macro algae incorporate carbon dioxide during growth and produce oxygen
Regulating ES		Cultural ES
Climate change regulation	Reduction in air pollution when wind replaces coal-based electricity production	Recreation and outdoor life	Small-scale recreational fishing will not be affected according to the assessment statement. There are boats in the area but they will probably not be negatively affected
		Tourism	To some extent tourism may be negatively affected due to the view of the wind mills
		Environment and aesthetics	The wind mills will be visible from land both day and night, especially from Skrea Beach, which is one of Sweden’s top five beaches

Table 3. Main ES for Storvreta and how they are impacted.

Provisioning ES		Supporting ES
Ecosystem service	Why and how	Ecosystem service	Why and how
Timber and pulpwood and agricultural products	Buildings and parks will according to the plan be positioned on productive forest land (50%), productive agricultural land (25%) and the rest on parkland and other urban land but there is no mentioning of the effect this will have on the use of forest and agricultural land	Maintenance of habitats	The change in land use will undoubtedly affect habitats. As non-disturbed forest and agricultural areas will be replaced with buildings and roads such habitat areas will be lost. This is not mentioned in the statement
			However, it is argued that the area is already disturbed by the E4 freeway passing through the area although the overall municipal plan earlier has described the area as a relatively unaffected landscape
		Genetic resources	Genetic resources are mentioned to be undisturbed
		Oxygen production, carbon dioxide uptake and filtration of rainwater	Such services will be affected
Regulating ES		Cultural ES
Climate change regulation	More traffic to and from the town of Storvreta and the new shopping mall and amusement park at Fullerö Park along with an increased population in and around of Storvreta will affect the climate which is against the overall plan for the community	Recreation and outdoor life	The intention to build more apartments is thought to intrude on recreation in the specific area; however, it is described that enough recreational areas are still available in the community, especially in the nearby Natura 2000 areas
Regulation of hydrology	The area with the shopping centre lies within the outer restricted area for water retrievement and as such no effects on water quality are expected	Environment and aesthetics	Road and railroad constructions will generate a considerable amount of noise which however will be below specified limits through the use of noise reduction
	Local management of storm water is expected to be enough for protection		The landscape view is not expected to be affected when building the apartment buildings at Storvreta since they are planned to be situated in forest edges and not in the open landscape. On the contrary, the large Fullerö Park cannot be built without affecting the landscape view considerably
	Risk activities such as gas filling stations, roads and railways need protection zones around them to prevent that groundwater will be at risk		The area is compelled with national interests of cultural landscapes with a large abundance of ancient remains which calls for protection or excavation