Thesis (Ph.D. (Plant Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Changes in climate and land-use, collectively called environmental changes, have been a source of concern globally, particularly in dryland grasslands, where people still heavily rely on services from these ecosystems. Extreme climatic conditions have been projected to increase both in intensity and frequency globally. In semi-arid regions, drought is anticipated to occur more frequently and to last longer as a consequence of climate change. Moreover, as human populations continue to grow, there is an increase in demand for natural resources that are already diminishing. Consequently, the combination of these factors has a negative effect on the functions and services of the dryland grassland ecosystems. Therefore, to counteract the degradation of these socioeconomically significant ecosystems, it is vital to understand how these systems respond to the long-term effects of drought and grazing. Limpopo province is largely dominated by drylands; comprising arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems. In Limpopo province, rangelands and agroforestry systems deliver important ecosystem services. Arable lands, rangeland, agroforestry, and orchards are three major land-use types contributing greatly to local livelihoods within Limpopo’s multi-use landscapes. Motivated by the above mentioned factors this study had the following objectives; (i) to review the impact of climate change on dryland grasslands, (ii) to evaluate ecosystem functioning through the assessment of climate related effects on taxonomic diversity and density demography from the grass layer, (iii) to analyse the effects of drought and grazing on the grass layer and to understand the factors affecting tree populations, particularly tree establishment patterns, (iv) to measure ecosystem service provision from the savanna ecosystem and also, to bridge the knowledge gap on the importance of biodiversity in an ecosystem. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, a comprehensive literature analysis was conducted on the effects of climate change on dryland grasslands to assess the magnitude of this impact and the existing understanding of vegetation dynamics in the face of climate change. The study also took advantage of the large-scale field experiment which evaluated, through precipitation manipulation, the impact of drought on grazed and ungrazed vegetation in the dryland grasslands of Limpopo province, South Africa, labeled drought Act experiment. In the Drought Act experiment, passive rain-out shelters and grazing ex-closure fences were set up to simulate a severe drought in combination with differing resting schemes of the rangeland. This was done in order to assess the effect of previous drought events on herbaceous vegetation. Grazing and drought treatments were implemented across four treatment plots per block, via a full factorial design. The study also took advantage of the steep gradient of climatic aridity in Limpopo province and used a space-for-time substitution to evaluate the effects of climate-induced risks and factors impacting the establishment of encroaching woody species under conditions of climate change. Two climate zones and soil types were selected; semi-arid vs. dry sub-humid zone, and Glenrosa soil vs. Hutton soil. Data analysis was executed using the R statistical software package. The examination of literature revealed that African dryland ecosystems are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, resulting in biodiversity loss, structural and functional changes to the ecosystem, and a diminished capacity to deliver ecosystem services. Climate change’s most susceptible species and functions have a great potential to be utilized as early warning signs. Furthermore, precipitation manipulation experiments are a great tool for investigating the impact of climate change as they allow for precipitation reduction below the natural range. There is still a general lack of information regarding the effects that extreme climatic conditions have on ecosystems and the mechanisms that determine how ecosystems respond and recover from stress and disturbances. The Drought Act experiment showed that prolonged drought had a substantial and negative impact on the biomass output of the vast majority of taxonomic groups and plant functional types (PFTs). This reduction in biomass production from the grass layer results in limited grazing for livestock, which is a primary ecosystem service provided by dryland grasslands. However, the study revealed that few species and PFTs were resistant to the effects of prolonged drought and grazing. In general, the study showed that long-term drought and grazing winners were primarily forbs and narrow-leaved perennial grasses with low leaf area (LA) and high leaf dry matter content (LDMC). Furthermore, the negative impact of drought on the taxonomic richness and species per unit area and ultimately diversity, worsened as the drought period increased. Additionally, grazing exclusion (resting) was shown to have a negative influence on species richness, abundance, and diversity, especially over long periods of time. Bottom-up mechanisms such as soil type had a greater impact on the establishment, recruitment, and survival of invading woody species than top-down mechanisms such as precipitation. In addition, the significant correlation that was established in the study between the age of trees and the circumferences of their stems, measured at breast height, provided evidence that non-destructive methods of estimating the age of trees are feasible. Further development of non-invasive approaches in the field of dendrochronology is also made possible by these findings. The findings of this thesis indicate, on the whole, that; to gain a better understanding of dryland vegetation dynamics in the face of drought, researchers need to investigate further the impact of climatic extremes on ecosystem functions and services. Moreover, winners and losers of long-term drought can be distinguished by their unique characteristics; hence, taxonomic groups and functional characteristics could be utilized as early markers of veld degradation, which would permit timely management interventions. The negative impact of long-term drought and grazing on the grass layer limits the ecosystem’s capacity to carry livestock and wildlife for extended periods, thus impacting the livelihoods of the people who rely on these ecosystems. In addition, the tendency of higher tree establishment in lower rainfall years suggests that drought could be a driving factor for woody vegetation propagation. The trait-based approach is very instructive when it comes to researching the dynamics of vegetation in dryland grasslands. This is especially true when considering the effects of changing climate and land-use. This study has contributed to a better knowledge of the ecosystem function under changing climate and land-use, which is the basis of enhancing the resilience of different land-use systems and reducing risks to ecosystem functions and services while optimizing production. / NRF, DAAD, UL, SALL net, Universitat Potsdam

Ecosystems world-wide experience changes in species composition in response to natural and anthropogenic changes in environmental conditions. Research to date has greatly improved our understanding of how species affect focal ecosystem functions. However, because measurements of multiple ecosystem functions have not been consistently justified for any given trophic group, it is unclear whether interpretations of research syntheses adequately reflect the contributions of consumers to ecosystems. Using model communities assembled in experimental microcosms, we examined the relationship between four numerically dominant detritivore species and six ecosystem functions that underpin fundamental aspects of carbon and nitrogen cycling aboveand below-ground. We tested whether ecosystem responses to changes in detritivore identity depended upon species trait dissimilarity, food web compartment (aboveground, belowground, mixed) or number of responses considered (one to six). We found little influence of detritivore species identity on brown (i.e. soil-based) processes. Only one of four detritivore species uniquely influenced decomposition, and detritivore species did not vary in their influence on soil nitrogen pools (NO3 − and NH4 +), or root biomass. However, changes in detritivore identity influenced multiple aboveground ecosystem functions. That is, by serving as prey, ecosystem engineers and occasionally also as herbivores as well as detritivores, these species altered the strength of aboveground predator–herbivore interactions and plant–shoot biomass. Yet, dissimilarity of detritivore functional traits was not associated with dissimilarity of ecosystem functioning. These results serve as an important reminder that consumers influence ecosystem processes via multiple energy channels and that food web interactions set important context for consumer-mediated effects on multiple ecosystem functions. Given that species are being lost, gained and redistributed at unprecedented rates, we can anticipate that changes in species identity will have additional ecosystem consequences beyond those predicted by species’ primary functional role.

Um den wachsenden Herausforderungen, denen Städte weltweit gegenüberstehen, entgegenwirken zu können, bedarf es an Schutz und Förderung urbaner Ökosysteme (oder auch “Stadtnatur”). Urbane Ökosysteme stellen eine Vielfalt diverser Ökosystemleistungen bereit und sind damit elementar für den Erhalt der Lebensqualität und des Wohlergehens städtischer Bevölkerung. Zudem spielt die Förderung urbaner Ökosysteme eine bedeutende Rolle in der Anpassung an die Folgen des Klimawandels, da sie in der Lage sind, klimatische Extremereignisse abzumildern. In diesem Kontext ist es von hoher Bedeutung, die Position urbaner Ökosysteme in der Stadtentwicklung und im Rahmen von Entscheidungsprozessen zu stärken; denn gerade diese “Leistungserbringer” sind es, die stark gefährdet sind und durch zunehmende Bebauungen, Versiegelungen und klimatische Veränderungen in Städten negativ beeinflusst werden. Eine stärkere Einbindung des Ökosystemleistungskonzepts kann die Position urbaner Ökosysteme in Stadtplanungsprozessen stärken und deren Erhalt und Förderung evozieren. Hierzu werden standardisierte und praxisorientierte Methoden zur Erfassung und Bewertung urbaner Ökosystemleistungen benötigt. Die Betrachtung lokaler, kleinräumiger Skalen und Bereiche ist in diesem Zusammenhang von hoher Bedeutung, da diese einerseits die Planungsebene und andererseits auch die Nachfrage seitens der lokalen Bevölkerung direkt betreffen. Hier knüpft die vorliegende Dissertation an und verfolgt das übergeordnete Ziel, einen anwendungsorientierten methodischen Ansatz für die Erfassung und Bewertung urbaner Ökosystemleistungen auf kleinräumiger Skala zu entwickeln und zu erproben. Die vorliegende Dissertation ist in drei aufeinanderfolgende Untersuchungsstufen aufgeteilt: (1) „Review”, (2) „Development” und (3) „Transfer”. Jeder Artikel dieser kumulativen Dissertation adressiert jeweils eine dieser Stufen und befasst sich mit jeweiligen Untersuchungszielen sowie Fragestellungen. Der erste Artikel stellt eine systematische Literaturübersicht über den aktuellen Wissensstand zu Bewertungsmethoden urbaner Ökosystemleistungen unterschiedlicher Grüninfrastrukturtypen und Raumskalen vor. Es konnte aufgezeigt werden, dass ein Großteil der Methoden generalisierender Art ist und damit nur wenige Ansätze auch einzelne, kleinskalige Raumstrukturen (z.B. Einzelbäume, kleine Grünflächen) untersuchen. Vielmehr werden Grüninfrastrukturen aggregiert und zusammengefasst bewertet. Mit der ersten Stufe dieser Dissertation („Review”) konnte eine Übersicht über den Wissensstand gegeben und bestehender Forschungsbedarf aufgezeigt werden. In dem zweiten Artikel wurde die Entwicklung sowie Anwendung eines praxisorientierten methodischen Ansatzes zur Erfassung und Bewertung urbaner Ökosystemleistungen kleinskaliger Raumstrukturen präsentiert. Mittels dieses Ansatzes, welcher die zweite Stufe „Development” adressiert, können Potenziale urbaner Ökosystemtypen hinsichtlich der Bereitstellung von drei ausgewählten Ökosystemleistungen bewertet werden. Darüber hinaus können gezielte Maßnahmenvorschläge abgeleitet werden, die z.B. den Zustand und folglich das Leistungsvermögen dieser Ökosystemtypen verbessern können. Der dritte Artikel dieser Dissertation ist der Untersuchungsstufe „Transfer” zugehörig und befasst sich mit digitalen Tools, die die Planung und Umsetzung von Klimaanpassungsmaßnahmen auf kleinen, urbanen Raumskalen erleichtern. Der erste Teil des Artikels analysiert bestehende Tools und identifiziert optimale Tooleigenschaften sowie Forschungslücken, welche für die Entwicklung entsprechender anwendungsfreundlicher Planungstools von Bedeutung sind. Im zweiten Teil dieses Artikels werden diese Ergebnisse aufgegriffen und ein sich in Entwicklung befindliches, webbasiertes Tool zur Ableitung kleinskaliger Hitzeanpassungsmaßnahmen für die Planungspraxis vorgestellt. Der zuvor entwickelte und präsentierte methodische Ansatz der „Development”-Stufe stellt dabei einen integrierten Bestandteil des Tools dar und kann zur Förderung von Ökosystemleistungen bei der Planung kleinräumiger Hitzeanpassungsmaßnahmen beitragen. Die Dissertation leistet einen Beitrag für das Forschungsfeld urbaner Ökosystemleistungen, insbesondere deren Erfassung und Bewertung auf kleinräumigen Skalen. Mit den aufeinander aufbauenden Untersuchungsstufen und damit verbundenen wissenschaftlichen Artikeln konnten zum einen der Stand der Wissenschaft sowie bestehende Forschungslücken aufgezeigt werden. Zum anderen konnten diese Erkenntnisse in der Folge im Rahmen der Entwicklung eines methodischen Ansatzes zur Erfassung und Bewertung urbaner Ökosystemleistungen aufgegriffen werden. Die Anwendung dieses Ansatzes wurde ebenfalls an zwei deutschen Stadtteilen (Dresden-Gorbitz, Erfurt-Oststadt) demonstriert. Die praxisorientierte Ansatzentwicklung stellt eine Basis für einen Transfer in die Planungspraxis in Form eines Webtools dar, wodurch die Dissertation zudem zur Entwicklung eines Hilfsinstrumentes für eine nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung beitragen kann. Aus den drei Artikeln dieser kumulativen Dissertation können einerseits im Rahmen der Synthese Potenziale für weitere Forschungen sichtbar gemacht werden, wie beispielsweise einer Erweiterung des Ansatzes um Zustands- und Bewertungsparameter sowie Möglichkeiten zur digitalen Generierung der benötigten Datengrundlage. Andererseits werden im Syntheseteil auch methodische Schwächen aufgezeigt und reflektiert, wie z.B. sich potenziell ergebende Verzerrungen durch den Einbezug von Fachexpertise in den Bewertungsschlüssel. Zusammenfassend ist hervorzuheben, dass das Ökosystemleistungskonzept durch eine gezielte Darstellung und Vermittlung von Werten urbaner Ökosysteme einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur nachhaltigen Stadtplanung leisten kann. Die Entwicklung von Methoden zur Erfassung und Bewertung dieser Leistungen, welche bestenfalls standardisiert sowie praxisorientiert sind und kleinräumige Maßstäbe berücksichtigen, spielt dabei eine elementare Rolle. Der Einsatz solcher Methoden kann dazu beitragen, dass Ökosystemleistungen in urbanen Räumen erhalten und gar gefördert werden. Letztlich ergeben sich hierdurch Potenziale für nachhaltige Stadtentwicklungen und den dazugehörigen Entscheidungsprozessen. / In order for cities to withstand or even counteract the growing challenges they face, it is vital to protect and promote urban ecosystems (or “urban nature”). Providing a variety of diverse ecosystem services, urban ecosystems are fundamental to maintaining the quality of life and well-being of city residents. In addition, the promotion of urban ecosystems plays an important role in the task of adapting to the repercussions of climate change and can help mitigate extreme climatic events. In this context, it is hugely important to strengthen the position of urban ecosystems within urban development and decision-making processes, because it is precisely these “service providers” that are seriously endangered and negatively affected by the spread of built-up areas, the expansion of soil sealing and related changes in the urban climate. A stronger integration of the ecosystem services concept and thus the representation and communication of the various ecosystem services can ensure that greater account is taken of urban ecosystems in urban planning processes and at the same time secure their preservation. For this purpose, we need standardized and practice-oriented methods for mapping and assessing urban ecosystem services, in particular regarding local, small-scale sites and areas, as these are directly related to both the planning level and the needs of the local population. This is the point of departure for the present dissertation, which pursues the overall objective of developing and testing an application-oriented methodological approach for the mapping and assessment of urban ecosystem services at small spatial scales. The dissertation is divided into three successive stages of investigation: (1) Review, (2) Development and (3) Transfer. Each article in this cumulative dissertation addresses one of these stages by considering the respective research objectives as well as questions. The first article presents a systematic literature review of current methods to assess urban ecosystem services for different green infrastructure types and at various spatial scales. It is shown that most previous methods are rather generalized, i.e. only a few approaches allow the investigation of individual, small-scale spatial structures such as single trees or small green spaces. Instead, most standard methods assess green infrastructure in an aggregated manner. The opening Review stage of this dissertation provides an overview of the current state of knowledge and identifies existing research needs. In the second article, I present the development and application of a practice-oriented methodological approach for the mapping and assessment of urban ecosystem services provided by small-scale spatial structures. Through this approach, which addresses the second Development stage, the potentials of urban ecosystem types can be assessed with respect to the provision of three selected ecosystem services. Such assessments can then be used to identify proposals for targeted measures to improve the condition and consequently the capacity of these ecosystem types to deliver ecosystem services. The third article of this dissertation belongs to the Transfer stage and deals with digital tools to facilitate the planning and implementation of climate change adaptation measures at small (urban) spatial scales. The first part of the article analyzes existing tools and identifies optimal tool features as well as research gaps relevant to the development of appropriate user-friendly planning tools. The second part addresses these findings and presents a web-based tool currently under development aimed at deriving small-scale heat adaptation measures for planning practice. The previously developed and presented methodological approach of the Development stage represents an integrated component of the tool which can contribute to the promotion of ecosystem services in the planning of heat adaptation measures at small spatial sites. The dissertation contributes to the research field of urban ecosystem services, in particular their mapping and assessment at small spatial scales. Through the successive stages of investigation and the publishing of associated scientific articles, I was able to determine the state of the art and pinpoint existing research gaps. These findings could subsequently be exploited to develop a methodological approach for the mapping and assessment of urban ecosystem services. The application of this approach was demonstrated on two German city districts, namely Dresden-Gorbitz and Erfurt-Oststadt. The practice-oriented approach ultimately enabled a transfer to planning practice in the form of a web tool, whereby the dissertation also contributes to the development of a supporting tool for sustainable urban development. Potentials for further research can be drawn from the three articles of this dissertation, such as an extension of the methodological approach by condition and assessment parameters as well as possibilities for digital generation of the required data basis. Furthermore, methodological limitations are also identified and reflected on, such as potential biases due to the inclusion of expert opinions within the assessment key. In summary, it should be emphasized that the ecosystem services concept can make a significant contribution to sustainable urban planning through the targeted presentation and communication of urban ecosystem services. Here we require methods for mapping and assessing these services which are standardized, practice-oriented and take small-scale scales into account. The use of such methods can help to maintain and even promote ecosystem services in urban areas. Ultimately, this will lead to fresh potentials for sustainable urban development and improvements in the associated decision-making processes.

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) champions the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Moreover, EbA presents an exemplary opportunity to confer social-ecological resilience. But how can such initiatives be effectively implemented and managed towards a resilient supply of key ecosystem services? Through case study research on community-led water sow and harvest (WSH) – a traditional form of EbA in the Peruvian Andes – this thesis explores social-ecological conditions for self-organization, collaboration and learning for the adoption of the practice, as well as the emergence of adaptive co-management (ACM) and its potential for building local water resilience. Qualitative data collected from interviews and participatory observations were thematically coded, and analysed for self-organization using the Multilevel Nested Framework (Ostrom 2009) and subsequently for social learning using ACM literature. This study found that self-organization for the adoption of WSH was primarily influenced by strong leadership, the importance of the water resource to the community, and users bonded by formal institutions of collective choice and social norms rooted in Andean culture. In addition, four types of collaboration and five learning activities were found to conform a social learning process and result in social learning outcomes for enhanced adaptive capacity, indicating the emergence of ACM around community-led WSH. By supporting knowledge exchange through a social network, ACM allows the practice to be scaled-up to create enabling legislation, scaled-out to increase the number of communities adopting WSH, and scaleddeep to support cultural internalization of the practice. Such scaling can potentially enable community-led WSH to build local water resilience through: 1) implementation at the landscape level to match the scale of ecological processes that sustain water ecosystem services; and 2) continuous management over time to support adaptive forms of water resource governance in the face of change and uncertainty.

Våtmarker förser oss människor med ett stort antal viktiga ekosystemtjänster, såsom vattenrening, vattenreglering, klimatreglering och rekreation. Delvis eftersom många våtmarker försvunnit och försämrats i Sverige under drygt de senaste hundra åren finns ett behov av att restaurera och anlägga våtmarker. Ekosystemtjänsternas värde uttrycks vanligtvis inte på marknaden, och restaureringstakten är för låg. Ett möjligt sätt att hantera detta är att värdera våtmarkers ekosystemtjänster ekonomiskt. Syftet med denna rapport är att utreda hur ekosystemtjänster och de värden de genererar synliggörs och påverkar beslut kring restaurering och anläggning av våtmarker i Sverige. Detta har uppnåtts genom att intervjua tre personer som varit inblandade i restaurering eller anläggning av våtmarker, samt att sammanställa syften som angetts för projekt inom bidragssystemet LONA våtmark. Resultatet visar att förbättring till tillgången till flera olika ekosystemtjänster eftersträvas, bland annat utjämning av vattenflöden, minskning av näringsämnen och rekreation. Våtmarkers ekosystemtjänster har dock sällan värderats och deras värden lyfts inte fram i någon större utsträckning. Hur värdering av ekosystemtjänster skulle kunna användas i större utsträckning vid restaurering och anläggning av våtmarker diskuteras också. / Wetlands provide us humans with a large number of important ecosystem services, such as water purification, water regulation, climate regulation and recreation. Partly because many wetlands have disappeared and deteriorated from Sweden for just over the last hundred years, there is a need to restore and build wetlands. The value of ecosystem services is usually not expressed in the market, and the rate of restoration is too low. One possible way to handle this is to evaluate wetland ecosystem services economically. The purpose of this report is to investigate how ecosystem services and the values they generate are made visible and influence decisions regarding the restoration and construction of wetlands in Sweden. This has been achieved by interviewing three people who have been involved in the restoration or construction of wetlands, as well as compiling objectives stated for projects within the LONA wetland grant system. The results show that improvement in access to several different ecosystem services is sought, including equalization of water flows, reduction of nutrients and recreation. However, wetland ecosystem services have rarely been evaluated and their values are not highlighted to any great extent. How valuation of ecosystem services could be used to a greater extent in the restoration and construction of wetlands is also discussed.

The electrification of heavy road transport is ongoing in Sweden. Multiple electrification technologies are emerging and electric truck models are being added to the product portfolios of the truck manufacturers. However, questions have remained regarding how the electrification of heavy road transport will unfold in practice, as it has been unclear what roles the actors of the emerging electric heavy road transport ecosystem will enact in terms of who should finance, build, own, operate and use the technical components deemed critical to the transition. This thesis addresses this issue through a case study on the electrification of heavy road transport along E16 Borlänge - Gävle Hamn, based on interviews with representatives of goods owners, haulage contractors, truck manufacturers, the port authority, electrical grid owners and charging infrastructure companies. By exploring the varying perceptions of the transition to electric heavy road transport, the studied case provides insight into how ecosystem actors manage opportunities and challenges through business model innovation and in effect contribute to the development of the ecosystem. First, the thesis addresses how the ecosystem actors perceive business model opportunities and challenges with the transition to electric heavy road transport, what roles these actors could potentially consider enacting in the transition and what roles are considered critical. From the interviews with representatives of the ecosystem actors, a wide range of opportunities and challenges are identified, as well as differing perceptions of specific opportunities, challenges and roles. It is argued that these differing perceptions add to the complexity of the emerging ecosystem, in addition to the multilateral and complementary relationships between actors, and that such complexity could be managed by one or several ecosystem actors enacting a leadership role to guide ecosystem development at its early stages. Second, how the ecosystem actors manage the perceived opportunities and challenges through business model innovation and thus participate in the development of the ecosystem is addressed. From the interviews with representatives of the ecosystem actors, the ecosystem actors are demonstrated to innovate all but one sub-component of the business model to manage these opportunities and challenges, where some actors are innovating to a greater extent than others and in turn managing a greater number of opportunities and challenges. In addition, some ecosystem actors are demonstrated to proactively innovate their business model to drive ecosystem change, as compared to the ecosystem actors who reactively innovate their business model to adapt to change. It is argued that it is the ecosystem actors who proactively innovate a great number of sub-components of the business model who will enact a leadership role and steer the development of the ecosystem, whereas the other actors follow and will have to adapt to the ecosystem leaders. Thus, by combining ecosystem and business model innovation theory, it is demonstrated that in addition to that development at an ecosystem level induces business model innovation, business model innovation inversely induces ecosystem level development. / Elektrifieringen av tunga vägtransporter fortgår i Sverige. Flera elektrifieringstekniker växer fram och elektriska lastbilsmodeller adderas till lastbilstillverkarnas produktportföljer. Frågor kvarstår dock angående hur elektrifieringen av tunga vägtransporter kommer att utvecklas i praktiken, eftersom det har varit oklart vilka roller aktörerna i det framväxande elektriska tunga vägtransportekosystemet kommer att ta när det gäller vem som ska finansiera, bygga, äga, drifta och använda de tekniska komponenter som anses vara avgörande för denna övergång. Detta examensarbete adresserar detta problem genom en fallstudie av elektrifieringen av tunga vägtransporter längs E16 Borlänge - Gävle Hamn, baserad på intervjuer med företrädare för godsägare, åkerier, lastbilstillverkare, hamnmyndigheten, elnätsägare och laddinfrastruktursföretag. Genom att utforska de varierande uppfattningarna av övergången till elektrifierad tung vägtransport, bidrar fallstudien med insikter i hur ekosystemsaktörer hanterar möjligheter och utmaningar genom affärsmodellsinnovation och därmed bidrar till ekosystemets utveckling. Först och främst behandlar examensarbetet hur ekosystemsaktörerna uppfattar affärsmodellsrelaterade möjligheter och utmaningar med övergången till elektriska tunga vägtransporter, vilka roller dessa aktörer potentiellt skulle kunna tänka sig att ta i övergången och vilka roller som anses vara kritiska. Från intervjuerna med företrädare för ekosystemsaktörerna identifieras ett stort antal möjligheter och utmaningar, samt olika uppfattningar om specifika möjligheter, utmaningar och roller. Dessa olika uppfattningar påstås bidra till komplexiteten i det framväxande ekosystemet, utöver de multilaterala och komplementära relationerna mellan dessa aktörer. Dessutom tyder resultaten på att sådan komplexitet skulle kunna hanteras av en eller flera ekosystemsaktörer som intar en ledarroll för att på så vis vägleda ekosystemsutvecklingen i dess tidiga skede. Vidare behandlas frågan kring hur ekosystemsaktörerna hanterar de upplevda möjligheterna och utmaningarna genom att innovera sina affärsmodeller och hur de därmed deltar i utvecklingen av ekosystemet. Från intervjuerna med företrädare för ekosystemsaktörerna påvisas det att ekosystemsaktörerna utvecklar alla utom en delkomponent av affärsmodellen, för att hantera möjligheter och utmaningar. Det framgår även att vissa aktörer innoverar sin affärsmodell i en större utsträckning än andra aktörer och därmed hanterar en större mängd möjligheter och utmaningar. Därtill belyses det att vissa ekosystemsaktörer förnyar sin affärsmodell på ett proaktivt sätt för att driva ekosystemsförändring, jämfört med de ekosystemsaktörer som förnyar sin affärsmodell reaktivt för att anpassa sig till förändring. Resultatet pekar också på att det är de ekosystemsaktörer som proaktivt förnyar ett stort antal delkomponenter av affärsmodellen som kommer att ta en ledarroll och styra utvecklingen av ekosystemet, medan resterande aktörer följer efter och kommer att behöva anpassa sig till ekosystemsledarna. Således, genom att kombinera ekosystems- och affärsmodellsinnovationsteori, påvisas det att utöver att utveckling på en ekosystemsnivå kan medföra affärsmodellsinnovation, kan affärsmodellsinnovation omvänt medföra ekosystemsutveckling.

Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to investigate incumbent automakers in their role as ecosystem orchestrators in order to study how they facilitate organizational learning within ecosystems for the benefit of themselves and their partners, as well as barriers that prohibit learning. Method - Qualitative, exploratory multiple case study of incumbent automakers. Data collection included 20 interviews in three waves and the data was analysed using a thematic analysis.  Findings - The findings of this thesis are divided into three parts. First, we shed light on the organizational learning activities employed by automakers to learn from and within their ecosystems. Second, we present three distinct categories of ecosystem design factors that promote the facilitation of learning in ecosystems. Third, we present three categories of barriers that prohibit automakers from orchestrating learning in their ecosystems. Theoretical implications - This thesis contributes to previous literature on learning in ecosystems in three ways. First, we contribute by showing that learning in ecosystems is not always actively facilitated by the orchestrator and instead occurs spontaneously. Second, our findings contribute to literature by revealing that automakers are not utilizing small-scale rollouts and pilot projects as a means to experiment and learn from partners to a large extent, which have led to automakers associating ecosystem collaboration with high risk. Third, this thesis contributes by identifying organizational factors that form barriers to learning in ecosystems. Practical implications - This thesis offers practical implications for managers looking to learn from and with partners in ecosystems by identifying activities that can be used to actively facilitate learning. Additionally, we shed light on factors that can be considered when designing an ecosystem for learning. Finally, we help managers avoid pitfalls by identifying common barriers to learning in ecosystems. / Syfte - Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka etablerade biltillverkare i deras roll som orkestratör av ekosystem för att studera hur de faciliterar organisatoriskt lärande inom ekosystem till fördel för dem själva och deras partners, och barriärer som förhindrar lärande. Metod - Kvalitativ, explorativ flerfallstudie av etablerade biltillverkare. Datainsamlingen inkluderade 20 intervjuer i tre omgångar och analysmetoden var tematisk analys. Resultat - Resultatet av detta examensarbete är uppdelat i tre delar. Till att börja med belyser vi aktiviteter för organisatoriskt lärande som tillämpas av biltillverkare för att lära sig från och inom sina ekosystem. Vidare presenterar vi tre distinkta kategorier av faktorer rörande ekosystemets uppbygnad som främjar faciliterande av lärande i ekosystem. Till sist presenterar vi tre kategorier av barriärer som förhindrar biltillverkare att orkestrera lärande i sina ekosystem. Teoretiska implikationer - Detta examensarbete bidrar till tidigare litteratur om lärande i ekosystem på tre sätt. Vårt första bidrag är att visa att lärande i ekosystem inte alltid aktivt faciliteras av orkestratören utan i stället sker spontant. Vidare bidrar vi till litteratur genom att illustrera att biltillverkare inte nyttjar småskaliga pilotprojekt som ett sätt att experimentera och lära sig från sina partners i någon större utsträckning vilket har lett till att biltillverkare associerar ekosystem med hög risk. Slutligen bidrar detta examensarbete till litteratur genom att identifiera organisatoriska faktorer vilka formar barriärer till lärande i ekosystem.  Praktiska implikationer - Detta examensarbete erbjuder praktiska implikationer för chefer som ämnar att lära sig från och med partners inom ekosystem genom att identifiera aktiviteter som kan användas för att aktivt facilitera lärande. Dessutom belyser vi faktorer som kan beaktas när ett ekosystem formas för att främja lärande. Slutligen erbjuder vårt arbete hjälp i att undvika fallgropar genom att identifiera vanliga barriärer till lärande i ekosystem.

This thesis aims to establish analytical frameworks to map urban growth patterns with spaceborne remote sensing data and to evaluate environmental impacts through Landscape Metrics and Ecosystem Services. Urbanization patterns at regional scale were evaluated in China's largest urban agglomerations and at metropolitan scale in Shanghai, Stockholm and Beijing using medium resolution optical satellite data. High-resolution data was used to investigate changes in Shanghai’s urban core. The images were co-registered and mosaicked. Tasseled Cap transformations and texture features were used to increase class separabilities prior to pixel-based Random Forest and SVM classifications. Urban land cover in Shanghai and Beijing were derived through object-based SVM classification in KTH-SEG. After post-classification refinements, urbanization indices, Ecosystem Services and Landscape Metrics were used to quantify and characterize environmental impact. Urban growth was observed in all studies. China's urban agglomerations showed most prominent urbanization trends. Stockholm’s urban extent increased only little with minor environmental implications. On a regional/metropolitan scale, urban expansion progressed predominately at the expense of agriculture. Investigating urbanization patterns at higher detail revealed trends that counteracted negative urbanization effects in Shanghai's core and Beijing's urban-rural fringe. Beijing's growth resulted in Ecosystem Services losses through landscape structural changes, i.e. service area decreases, edge contamination or fragmentation. Methodological frameworks to characterize urbanization trends at different scales based on remotely sensed data were developed. For detailed urban analyses high-resolution data are recommended whereas medium-resolution data at metropolitan/regional scales is suggested. The Ecosystem Service concept was extended with Landscape Metrics to create a more differentiated picture of urbanization effects.​ / <p>QC 20160205</p>

The plants and animals that inhabit river channels may act as zoogeomorphic agents affecting the nature and rates of sediment recruitment, transport and deposition. The impact of benthic-feeding fish, which disturb bed material sediments during their search for food, has received little attention, even though benthic feeding species are widespread in rivers and may collectively expend significant amounts of energy foraging across the bed. A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the impacts of benthic feeding fish on the structure and composition of gravel-bed river sediments, and the implications for bed material transport. An ex-situ experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of a benthic feeding fish (European Barbel Barbus barbus) on particle displacements, bed sediment structures, gravel entrainment and transport fluxes. In a laboratory flume, changes in bed surface topography were measured and grain displacements examined when an imbricated, water-worked bed of 5.6-16 mm gravels was exposed to feeding juvenile Barbel. For substrates that had been exposed to feeding fish and control substrates which had not, grain entrainment rates and bedload fluxes were measured under a moderate transport regime. On average, approximately 37% of the substrate, by area, was modified by foraging fish during a four-hour treatment period, resulting in increased microtopographic roughness and reduced particle imbrication. Structural changes caused by fish increased bed load flux by 60% under entrainment flows, whilst on average the total number of grains transported during the entrainment phase was 82% higher from substrates that had been disturbed by Barbel. An ex-situ experiment utilising Barbel and Chub Leuciscus cephalus extended this initial study by considering the role of fish size and species as controls of sediment disturbance by foraging. Increasing the size of Barbel had a significant effect on measured disturbance and bedload transport. Specifically, the area of disturbed substrate, foraging depth, microtopographic roughness and sediment structure all increased as functions of fish size, as did bedload flux and total transported mass. In a comparison of the foraging effects of like-sized Barbel and Chub 8-10 in length, Barbel foraged a larger area of the riverbed and had a greater impact on microtopographic roughness and sediment structure. Foraging by both species was associated with increased sediment transport, but the bed load flux after foraging by Barbel was 150% higher than that following foraging by Chub and the total transported mass of sediment was 98% greater. An in-situ experiment quantified the effects of foraging fish, primarily Cyprinids (specifically Barbel and Chub), on gravel-river bed sediment structures, surface grain-size distributions, sediment transport fluxes and grain entrainment in the River Idle, Nottinghamshire, UK. This was achieved by installing large experimental sediment trays seeded with food at typical densities. The experiments yielded data about 1) topographic and structural differences between pre- and post-feeding substrates using DEMs interpolated from laser scans, 2) modifications to surface and sub-surface grain-size distributions as a function of fish foraging and 3) differences in sediment entrainment from water-worked substrates exposed to feeding fish and control substrates, without fish. Small sections of the substrate trays were recovered in tact from the field and for substrates that had been exposed to feeding fish and control substrates which had not, grain entrainment rates and bedload fluxes were measured under a moderate transport regime in the laboratory. On average, approximately 74% of the substrate, by area, was modified by foraging fish during a twelve-hour period, resulting in increased microtopographic roughness and substrate coarsening which had significant implications for bed material transport during the steady entrainment flow. Together, results from these experiments indicate that by increasing surface microtopography, modifying the composition of fluvial substrates and undoing the naturally stable structures produced by water working, foraging can influence sediment transport dynamics, predominately by increasing the mobility of river bed materials. The implication of this result is that by influencing the quantity of available, transportable sediment and entrainment thresholds, benthic feeding may affect sediment transport fluxes in gravel-bed rivers. In addition, three discrete studies were performed alongside the core experiments described above. A quantitative examination of habitat conditions favoured by feeding Barbel was conducted in the River Idle (Nottinghamshire, UK) which served to supplement existing literature pertaining to Barbel ecology, and inform experimental design during the core experiments. Two further studies considered the potential importance of foraging as a zoogeomorphic activity in terms of spatial extent, at a variety of scales, thereby extending core experiments to larger spatial scales in-situ.

Background: Swedish textile waste management ecosystem is recognized to be a multi-actor ecosystem as opposed to a single-actor scenario whereas actors tend to perform their activities single-handedly and in a fragmented manner. Participating actors, each play a significant role in handling and treating the textile waste but this fragmented system renders certain drawbacks. The main treatment of textile waste in Sweden is incineration which addresses environmental damages. This in particular is more worrying when textiles are used as a fuel. This highlights the necessity for the actors to perform in a network and expand their collaboration, thus move more efficiently towards development of a sustainable innovation and find an alternative for the current treatment of textile waste. Purpose: This study strives to investigate the challenges and at the same time opportunities of implementation of a collaborative business model for sustainable innovation. This has been achieved through taking benefits of value mapping tool and actor-mapping. The core values of actors have been identified which was continued by identification of their shared and conflicting values. Methodology: Pre-study was conducted in order to design and develop two mappings, “main actors mapping”, “actor’s activity mapping” which helped the authors and the interviewees to gain a better realization of the Swedish Textile Waste Management ecosystem through visualization. The process of data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews with Open-ended questions which resulted to rich detailed responses from the interviewees. Seven organizations as the representative of Swedish textile waste management ecosystem were reached and studied. The outcomes of the interview were analyzed by the aid of value mapping tool and led the authors to formulate the answer to the research question. Interview findings: Interview findings presents the outcome of the collected data in accordance with the purpose of the study and the answer to the proposed research question. Consequently, this chapter provides a description of the Activity classification in TWM eco-system in Sweden as an outcome of the pre-study, continued by expanding on the results of Actors mapping &amp; their activities in TW eco-system and Activity mapping in relation to actors’ interactions, which were achieved by the aid of value mapping tool. This chapter is concluded by providing actors perspectives regarding the formation and the suitability of a collaborative business model for sustainable innovation on the basis of mapped values within textile waste scenario in Sweden. Analysis&amp; Discussion: This study tends to present rich and comprehensive picture in a descriptive manner in regards with participating actors, their activities, collaboration and value-orientations within Swedish textile waste scenario and propose a solution to the identified short-comings of the system by investigating the potentials of a collaborative business model for sustainable innovation. The literature review confirm and support the interview findings and addresses the need for further dialogue and collaboration among actors while highlighting the need from moving from ego-centric business model to multi-actor business model. This chapter is concluded by the response to the research question.