Botanist Kjell-Arne Olsson inventoried the plant fen ragwort Senecio paludosus 1983 in Scania andfound a big number of locations within Biosphere Reserve Kristianstad Vattenrike. In 2012, a reinventoryof the 1983 survey was carried out to study whether there has been any change in the fenragwort population in Kristianstad Vattenrike since the last inventory. The results show that therehas been no overall change in the number of fen ragwort in Kristianstad Vattenrike, on certainpremises they have increased in number while in others they have fallen. However, the inventoryshows that almost half of the locations with fen ragwort have disappeared during the same period.The main reason for this is that fen ragwort did not manage to competitive with other vegetation,taking in consideration this has been smaller premises with young plants. In addition to competitionother factors such as prolonged high water, grazing and caterpillars from Tyria jacobaeaecontributed to the decrease. Despite this the future looks stable for fen ragwort in KristianstadVattenrike where several very strong premises exist in the region.

Friluftsliv är en av nycklarna till att bevara den biologiska mångfalden. Tidigare studier visar att en del av bevarandet är att ge fler människor kunskap som kan leda till förståelse för biologisk mångfald. I denna studie undersöks hur biosfärområdet Kristianstad Vattenrike förmedlar biologisk mångfald utifrån ett friluftsperspektiv. Här ligger fokus på ekosystem och variationsrikedom av organismer, vilka tillsammans utgör definitionen av biologisk mångfald. Informationstavlor inventeras på besöksplatserna med hjälp av en kvantitativ checklista och två kvalitativa innehållsanalyser. Resultatet visar att biologisk mångfald förmedlas på samtliga inventerade besöksplatser, om än i varierande omfattning. Det totala antalet inventerade informationstavlor är 101 stycken. Av det totala antalet analyserade texter förmedlas ekosystem i hela 63 % genom samspel mellan abiotiska och biotiska faktorer. Variationsrikedom av organismer beskrivs 144 gånger genom arters förekomst och levnadssätt samt 37 gånger genom arters kännetecken. De besöksplatser som har utemuseum förmedlar över lag mest information om biologisk mångfald, möjligen till följd av att antalet tavlor är större på dessa platser.

Wetlands are vital ecosystems providing essential services to both humans and the environment, yet they face threats from human activities leading to loss and disturbance. This study utilizes remote sensing (RS) methods, including object-based image analysis (OBIA), to map and assess wetland health in Kristianstad’s Vattenrike in the southernmost part of Sweden between 2015 and 2023. Objectives include exploring RS capabilities in detecting wetlands and changes, deriving wetland health indicators, and assessing classification accuracy. The study uses Sentinel-2 imagery, elevation data, and high-resolution aerial images to focus on wetlands along the river Helge å. Detection and classifications were based on Sentinel-2 imagery and elevation data, and the eCognition software was employed. The health assessment was based on the spectral indices Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (mNDWI). Validation was conducted through aerial photo interpretation. The derived classifications demonstrate acceptable accuracy levels and the analysis reveals relatively stable wetland conditions, with an increase in wetland area attributed to the construction of new wetlands. Changes in wetland composition, such as an increase in open meadows and swamp forests, were observed. However, an overall decline in NDVI values across the study area indicates potential degradation, attributed to factors like bare soil exposure and water presence. These findings provide insights into the local changes in wetland extent, composition, and health between the study years.

In an increasingly complex, rapidly changing world, the capacity to cope with, adapt to, and shape change is vital. This thesis investigates how natural resource management can be organized and practiced to nurture this capacity, referred to as resilience, in social-ecological systems. Based on case studies and large-N data sets from UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BRs) and the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), it analyzes actors and social processes involved in adaptive co-management on the ground. Papers I & II use Kristianstads Vattenrike BR to analyze the roles of local stewards and bridging organizations. Here, local stewards, e.g. farmers and bird watchers, provide on-site management, detailed, long-term monitoring, and local ecological knowledge, build public support for ecosystem management, and hold unique links to specialized networks. A bridging organization strengthens their initiatives. Building and drawing on multi-level networks, it gathers different types of ecological knowledge, builds moral, political, legal and financial support from institutions and organizations, and identifies windows of opportunity for projects. Paper III synthesizes the MA community-based assessments and points to the importance of bridging organizations, leadership and vision, knowledge networks, institutions nested across scales, enabling policies, and high motivation among actors for adaptive co-management. Paper IV explores learning processes catalyzed by bridging organizations in BRs. 79 of the 148 BRs analyzed bridge local and scientific knowledge in efforts to conserve biodiversity and foster sustainable development, provide learning platforms, support knowledge generation (research, monitoring and experimentation), and frame information and education to target groups. Paper V tests the effects of participation and adaptive co-management in BRs. Local participation is positively linked to local support, successful integration of conservation and development, and effectiveness in achieving developmental goals. Participation of scientists is linked to effectiveness in achieving ‘conventional’ conservation goals and policy-makers enhance the integration of conservation and development. Adaptive co-management, found in 46 BRs, is positively linked to self-evaluated effectiveness in achieving developmental goals, but not at the expense of conservation. The thesis concludes that adaptive collaboration and learning processes can nurture resilience in social-ecological systems. Such processes often need to be catalyzed, supported and protected to survive. Therefore, bridging organizations are crucial in adaptive co-management.