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This report provides actors in the bee landscape Green Circles directions for making their area atfriendly. The report introduces ecoprofiles for pollinators and building blocks for the bee landscape and makes recommendations for a bee friendly management and design of the green infrastructure. The accompanying annex report provides more background information on the building blocks developed and the knowledge on which they are based. Dit rapport biedt actoren in het bijenlandschap Groene Cirkels handvaten voor het bij-vriendelijk maken van hun gebied. In het rapport worden ecoprofielen voor bestuivers en bouwstenen voor het bijenlandschap gepresenteerd en aanbevelingen gedaan voor een bij-vriendelijk beheer en inrichting van de groene infrastructuur. Het bijbehorende bijlagerapport geeft meer achtergrondinformatie over de ontwikkelde bouwstenen en de kennis waarop deze zijn gebaseerd.

The landscape services concept provides a lens to study relations within the social-ecological networks that landscapes are, and to identify stakeholders as either providers or beneficiaries. However, landscape services can also be used as a boundary concept in collaborative landscape governance. We demonstrate this by analysing the case of Gouwe Wiericke in the rural west of the Netherlands. Here, a collaborative landscape governance process started off with low levels of trust between farmers and regional governments, as a result of previous processes. The introduction of the landscape services concept helped to bridge social boundaries, which eventually resulted in collective action: farmers and governments reached an agreement on adapted management of ditches and shores to improve water quality and biodiversity. However, we propose that bridging the social boundaries was achieved not merely due to the landscape services concept, but also due to the fact that multiple boundaries were managed simultaneously, and additional arrangements were used in boundary management.

Current concepts that aim to align economic development with sustainability, such as the circular and green economy, often consider natural systems as externalities. We extend the green economy concept by including the landscape as the provider of social, economic and environmental values. Our aim is to explore how companies could engage in creating landscape-inclusive solutions for sustainable landscapes. We propose a conceptual model of the relationship between companies and landscape services based on a demand for landscape benefits by companies, implications for wider society. We present a short overview of how scientists addressed the role of companies in landscape-inclusive solutions. We also give some examples taken from the World Wide Web to illustrate the variety of ways in which companies already invest in landscape services. Our findings suggest that the relationship between companies and landscapes is not yet strongly recognized in sustainability science. However, examples from practice show that some companies do recognize the added values of landscape services, to the extent that they invest in landscape management. We conclude that future research should provide information on the added value of landscape-inclusive solutions to companies, and increase their capacity to engage in regional social–ecological networks.

A key issue in implementing adaptation strategies at the landscape level is that landowners take measures on their land collectively. We explored the role of information in collective decision-making in a landscape planning process in the Baakse Beek region, the Netherlands. Information was provided on (a) the degree to which measures contribute to multiple purposes, (b) whether they are beneficial to stakeholders representing different sectors of land use, and (c) the need for landscape-level implementation of adaptation measures. Our analysis suggests that the negotiation process resulted in collective decisions for more collaborative adaptation measures than could be expected from individual preferences previous to the planning session. Based on the results, it is plausible that the provided information enhanced integrative agreements by leading stakeholders to realize that they were mutually interdependent, both in acquiring individual benefits as well as in implementing the measures at the landscape level. Our findings are significant in the context of the emerging insight that targeted information provision for climate adaptation of landscapes can support collaboration between the relevant stakeholders.

Behaviour of nocturnal insects is routinely observed under red light, but it is unclear how the behaviour under red light compares to behaviour in complete darkness, or under a source of white light. Here, we measure movement behaviour of the nocturnal carabid beetle Pterostichus melanarius Illiger (Coleoptera: Carabidae) using camera recording under a near-infrared (nir), red or white radiation source. Red light significantly reduced movement speed in females similar to the effect of white light and different from nir. Also movement activity and pause length were affected by radiation source, with a significant difference between nir and white light, and with intermediate values in red light. The results presented here indicate that P. melanarius has different movement behaviour under the three radiation sources and suggest that nir rather than red radiation is most appropriate for measuring behaviour in total darkness. However, in the field total darkness is rare both because of natural light sources such as the moon and stars but increasingly also because of ecological light pollution, and therefore red light may still be of use for observing ecologically and practically relevant natural night-time behaviour.

The green–blue network of semi-natural non-crop landscape elements in agricultural landscapes has the potential to enhance natural pest control by providing various resources for the survival of beneficial insects that suppress crop pests. A study was done in the Hoeksche Waard to explore how generic scientific knowledge about the relationship between the spatial structure of the green–blue network and enhancement of natural pest control can be applied by stakeholders. The Hoeksche Waard is an agricultural area in the Netherlands, characterized by arable fields and an extensive network of dikes, creeks, ditches and field margins. Together with stakeholders from the area the research team developed spatial norms and design rules for the design of a green–blue network that supports natural pest control. The stakeholders represented different interests in the area: farmers, nature and landscape conservationists, water managers, and local and regional politicians. Knowledge about the spatial relationship among beneficial insects, pests and landscape structure is incomplete. We conclude that to apply scientific knowledge about natural pest control and the role of green–blue networks to stakeholders so that they can apply it in landscape change, knowledge transfer has to be transparent, area specific, understandable, practical and incorporate local knowledge.

There is general understanding that collaboration is a key element in the governance for a sustainable environment. In this context knowledge utilization has become a popular research topic. However, the role of information content in enhancing collaboration has been rarely addressed. We consider two types of information on mutual dependencies between actors that result from ecological interdependencies in the landscape: information on landscape sites providing multiple benefits to a range of stakeholders, and information on how these benefits depend on coordinated landscape-level management. Our survey of recent literature indicates that although there is a sound theoretical basis for the assumption that such information would enhance collaboration, the issue has been the subject of little empirical research thus far. We found some supporting studies demonstrating social network building and collective action, but none of them separated the effect of the information content from the effect of the organized social learning process. To increase understanding of the potential for informational governance of landscapes resources, we argue there is a need to integrate recent advances in the analysis of social network building in environmental management with emerging insights in knowledge utilization and spatial interdependencies of landscape benefits.

The concept of ecosystem services shifts the human–nature relationship from a conservation-oriented into a utility-oriented one. Advocates of the concept assume that it can alter the attitude and behaviour of human actors with respect to nature. The ecosystem services concept has so far received little attention in scientific literature about collaborative landscape planning. Consequently the potential of information about ecosystem services to influence landscape planning processes is unknown. In this paper we address the impact of different storylines about ecosystem services on actor behaviour. In these storylines, we distinguish three frames on ecosystem services: a social–cultural frame (emphasizing social–cultural services), an economic frame (emphasizing production services) and a sustainability frame (highlighting regulation services). We propose a conceptual framework in which we connect the concept of framing to attitudinal, sender–receiver and contextual factors. The framework is illustrated by a spatial planning experiment with academic students and by a case of collaborative landscape planning. The student experiment illustrates how attitudinal factors may intervene in the impact frames on actor behaviour. The case analysis shows how researchers who facilitated collaborative landscape planning used various frames as they attempted to build up the actor network to create collaborative relations in different phases of the planning process. The significance of our paper is that we provide an approach to investigate how information on ecosystem service benefits is processed by multiple actors in collaborative landscape planning processes. Our exploration implies that planners who facilitate a collaborative planning process have to be aware that purposively using ecosystem service frames stimulates engagement of actors with diverging backgrounds.

Stakeholders currently put much emphasis on participatory processes in landscape planning procedures. This poses a special challenge for research. What role does research play in our present world characterised by complexity, competing claims and development needs, and an increased concern for climate change and environmental impact? In the book 'Knowledge in Action' we explore different types of transdisciplinary research that scientists engage in. Depending on the societal context and the interests of local citizens, researchers apply different research approaches to optimally incorporate the various points of view in their research and promote processes enhancing dialogue and shared results. In the book authors present their research experiences: their theoretical inspiration, the research methodology applied to consult, share and collaborate with societal actors in order to create options for change. The book includes several striking examples from The Netherlands (both successful and less effective), and also innovative examples from communities in Africa and Asia. The authors reflect on opportunities, problems and dilemma's they had to deal with. They especially address how far the role and theoretical perspectives of collaborative researchers can lead them in action research. Can they limit themselves to joint knowledge production and learning processes or should they engage in strategic positioning, advocacy and entrepreneurship to make it happen? The book discusses the issues that researchers should consider when they position their research activities within ongoing developments at landscape level.

This book takes up the challenge of contemporary landscape research. Continued poverty and progressing environmental degradation and climate change show us that landscape development is complex and unpredictable. Landscapes consist of nested biophysical and social systems, which are multi-dimensional and highly dynamic, and simultaneously interact at various system levels. This leads to complex, non-linear, divergent processes and the emergence of new landscape arrangements. Scientists have to acknowledge that they cannot predict or control landscape dynamics but need the local specific knowledge and experimentation of local stakeholders. Collaborative research-for-action and research-in-action together with societal stakeholders are needed. Many scientists accept this challenge. Based on different types of system thinking, they develop theoretical frameworks and methodologies to integrate scientific and local knowledge and/or enhance learning between them and societal stakeholders for sustainable landscape development and governance. Landscape researchers, inspired by these theoretical frameworks and the perceived issue-at-stake, start defining the orientation of the research and change process in interaction with policy makers and stakeholders. The question is whether and how the different types of research contribute to ecologically sustainable, socially equitable development and governance, valued by or at least acceptable for the variety of stakeholders, organisations and institutions involved.

Sustainable landscape development means researchers have to engage in collaborative research to find an informed, ethical and locally-valued balance between ecological resilience and societal pursuits, and build the capacity for co-ordinated adaptive management of the involved stakeholders and governance institutions. In this last chapter we analyse the collaborative research processes, or so-called boundary-spanning-processes, of the case chapters. The timing and the type of boundary objects and methods used more or less define the level of participation of social stakeholders and the role and function of the researcher in the ongoing societal learning, negotiation and innovation process. The cases show the variety of functions and knowledge broker strategies pursued. From the chapters it is not clear whether all research efforts led to concrete impacts; several authors highlighted dilemma’s and bottlenecks that they found hard to deal with. We note that each type of problem and context setting requires a specific type of inquiry (theoretical system perspective), researcher role and boundary process, and to be effective the latter should evolve in line with the iterative societal learning, negotiation and innovation process. To be effective, collaborative researchers cannot limit themselves to ‘knowledge production for action’, but need to engage in ‘knowledge production in action’. They have to analyse the situation and embed their research in the ongoing change process; to opt for a multiple-dimensional, flexible research approach, and to wisely combine various types of system thinking and the respective paradigmatic assumptions. With enough background knowledge on various system approaches, continuous monitoring and reflection, collaborative researchers may become competent performers, but at the end of the day collaborative research is an art. Experts have a holistic perspective, ‘a feel’ for nuances and apply creative thinking in action.

The decentralization of planning is giving local planning groups more power in decision making on the spatial development of metropolitan landscapes. However, because scientific knowledge is rarely used in these decision-making processes, there is a risk of discrepancies between the conservation targets and the designed ecological conditions, which makes it unlikely that the objective of sustainable development will be achieved. A plausible reason why designers, planners, and local actors fail to use ecological knowledge properly is the wide diversity of species traits, the variety of spatial scales of ecological processes, and the complexity of metapopulation ecology. There is a need for knowledge systems that simplify this complex variety so that it can be understood and handled by local planners, and designers. To be applicable in spatial planning, such a system must be based on spatially explicit relationships between species traits and ecosystem patterns. We argue that the concept of ecosystem networks is suitable for linking ecological processes to ecosystem pattern features in metropolitan landscapes and is simple enough to be used and understood by local planners. The concept is derived from metapopulation ecology, a rapidly evolving field in spatial ecology. Based on the literature and recent applications in a variety of planning and design sessions with local stakeholders, we derive ten design guidelines for ecosystem networks. These guidelines can be incorporated into a coherent design method, but will entail involving ecologists, planners, designers, and stakeholders in a learning process.

In highly developed regions, ecosystems are often severely fragmented, whereas the conservation of biodiversity is highly rated. Regional and local actor groups are often involved in the regional planning, but when making decisions they make insufficient use of scientific knowledge of the ecological system that is being changed. The ecological basis of regional landscape change would be improved if knowledge-based systems tailored to the cyclic process of planning and negotiation and to the expertise of planners, designers and local interest groups were available. If regional development is to be sustainable, goals for biodiversity must be set in relation to the actual and demanded patterns of ecosystems. We infer a set of prerequisites for the effective use of biodiversity goal-setting methods in multi-stakeholder decision making. Among these prerequisites are the requirements that ecosystem patterns are set central and that methods integrate the demands of a suite of species, are spatially explicit, and allow the aspiration level to be modified during the planning process. The decision making must also be enriched with local ecological knowledge. The current methods for setting biodiversity targets lack crucial characteristics - in particular, flexibility - and often require too high a level of ecological expertise. The ecoprofile method we designed combines an ecosystem base with spatial conditions for species metapopulations. We report experiences with this approach in two case studies, showing that the method was understood by policy makers, planners, and stakeholders, and was useful in negotiation processes. We recommend experimenting with applying this approach in a variety of circumstances, to further improve its ecological basis.

In this paper, we propose the ecological network concept as a suitable basis for inserting biodiversity conservation into sustainable landscape development. For landscapes to be ecologically sustainable, the landscape structure should support those ecological processes required for the landscape to deliver biodiversity services for present and future generations. We first show that in multifunctional, human-dominated landscapes, biodiversity conservation needs a coherent large-scale spatial structure of ecosystems. Theory and empirical knowledge of ecological networks provides a framework for the design of such structures. Secondly, ecological networks can bridge the paradox between reserve conservation (fixing nature in space and time) and development, which implies change. This is because ecological networks can change structure without losing their conservation potential. Thirdly, ecological networks facilitate stakeholder decision-making on feasible biodiversity goals. They help to focus on an effective spatial scale. We conclude that extending the ecological network concept with multifunctional indicators is a promising step towards sustainable landscape development and stakeholder decision-making.

Kuiper, D. and Steingrover, E.G. 1989. Responses of growth, shoot to root ratio and cytokinin concentrations in root tissue of two barley varieties, differing in their salt resistance. Two varieties of barley, differing in their salt tolerance, were subjected to four different treatments. Plants were grown under control conditions plus or minus addition of benzyladenine and on saline nutrients solutions plus or minus benzyladenine. The salt resistant variety showed rapid responses after exposure to salt. Shoot growth and shoot to root ratio in this variety decreased. However, the addition of benzyladenine could overcome temporarily the salt induced effects. Concentrations of several cytokinins in the roots of the salt resistant variety correlated with the growth responses. Growth responses of plants of a salt sensitive variety to a salt treatment were very slow and no effects of salt on shoot to root ratio and on cytokinin concentrations were noticed. Benzyladenine affected growth adversely in plants of this variety. The results are discussed in connection to a growth-regulation model.

A method was described to determine root growth respiration and root maintenance respiration rate of plants, grown in culture solutions of high and low oxygen concentrations, during linear growth. Root growth respiration of aerobically grown plants was three to four times lower in the flood-intolerant Senecio jacobaea L. than in the flood-tolerant species. Senecio aquaticus Hill. Root growth respiration of Senecio aquaticus Hill decreased by a factor two to three upon transplantation to a culture solution of low oxygen tension. The difference in root growth respiration between aerobically and anaerobically grown Senecio aquaticus Hill was ascribed to the presence of a highly active non-phosphorylating oxidase.

During the night, shoot nitrate concentration in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. cv. Vroeg Reuzenblad) increased due to increased uptake of nitrate by the roots. When the plants were subjected to a one night “low light’period at 35 μmol m−2 s−1, the shoot nitrate concentration did not increase and was reduced by 25% compared to control plants in the dark. The major contribution to this decrease was located in the leaf blades, where the nitrate concentration was decreased by 60%, while the petiole nitrate concentration decreased by only 9%. Nitrate accumulated in the leaf blade vacuoles during a dark night, but this was not the case during the “low light’period. This decrease in vacuolar nitrate concentration, compared to control plants in the dark, was not caused by increased amounts of leaf blade nitrate reductase (NR; EC 1.6.6.1). During a “low light’night period, the cytoplasmic soluble carbohydrate concentration was increased compared to the control plants in the dark. Calculations showed in situ NR activity to be higher than in the control plants in the dark. This increase in NR activity, however, was not large enough to account for the total difference found in the shoot nitrate concentration. Net uptake of nitrate by the roots was increased during the initial hours of the dark night, while vacuolar nitrate concentration in the leaf blades increased at the same time. During the “low light’night period, however, net uptake of nitrate by the roots did not increase, and vacuolar nitrate concentration did not change. We conclude that nitrate uptake by the roots and vacuolar nitrate concentration in the leaf blades are tightly coupled. The decreased shoot nitrate concentration is mainly caused by a reduction in net uptake of nitrate by the roots. During the “low light’night period, carbohydrates and malic acid partly replaced vacuolar nitrate. A “low light’period one night prior to harvest provides a valuable tool to reduce shoot nitrate concentrations in spinach grown in greenhouses in the winter months.

The osmotic potential of cell sap from the storage root, lateral roots and shoots of carrot (Daucus carota L., cv. Amsterdamse Bak) was calculated from the concentration of osmotically active compounds in these tissues. The osmotic potential of the taproot did not change with age prior to and during the storage of osmotically active sugars, as sucrose and reducing sugars. The increased contribution of soluble sugars in the osmotic potential was accompanied by a proportionally decreased contribution of potassium and organic acids. Before storage of soluble sugars in the taproot occurred, potassium and organic acids contributed 80% to the total osmotic value, in contrast with lateral root tissue, where potassium and nitrate were the main osmotic solutes. The concentration of osmotically active solutes was lower in lateral root tissue than in storage root tissue. Shoot tissue resembled taproot tissue before storage, in having potassium and organic acids as the main osmotic solutes. The concentration of osmotically active solutes was highest in shoot tissue and it increased towards the end of the experimental period. The calculated osmotic potentials were in good agreement with the experimental values, as determined from the molecular depression of the freezing point of cell sap. Storage of reducing sugars and sucrose is discussed in relation to acid and neutral invertase activities.

Root growth respiration of Senecio aquaticus Hill (flood-tolerant) and Senecio jacobaea L. (flood-sensitive) was calculated, assuming different P: O ratios. The growth respiration values were calculated on the basis of the chemical composition of root and shoot dry matter, in combination with published data on the energy costs of biosynthetic and transport processes. The comparison between calculated and experimental values suggests a relatively low efficiency of ATP utilization in the roots of the flood-tolerant species. Root growth respiration of S. congestus (R.Br.)DC., which is also flood-tolerant, and Plantago lanceolata L. were also determined. The data showed that not all the flood-tolerant species investigated had high root growth respiration values. An “overflow model’ is proposed to explain observed differences in root growth respiration between species.

Under poor light conditions, as normally used during winter production of greenhouse vegetables, the nitrate concentration in the shoot of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. cv. Vroeg Reuzenblad) showed a diurnal rhythm. This rhythm was mainly caused by a decrease during the day, followed by an increase during the night in the leaf blade nitrate concentration. Nitrate was mainly located in the vacuoles of the leaf blades. A strong correlation was found between net uptake of nitrate by the roots and the nitrate concentration in the leaf blade vacuoles. The nitrate concentration in the leaf blades increased during the initial hours of the night. This increase was caused by a marked increase in the net uptake rate of nitrate by the roots during the first hours of the dark period. During the second part of the night both net uptake rate of nitrate by the roots and the vacuolar nitrate concentration in the leaf blades remained constant. We conclude that nitrate is taken up for osmotic purposes when light conditions are poor because of a lack of organic solutes. During the night, nitrate influx into the vacuole is needed for replacement of organic solutes, which are metabolized during the night, and possibly also for leaf elongation growth. During the day, vacuolar nitrate may be exchanged for newly synthesized organic solutes and be metabolized in the cytoplasm. A strong diurnal rhythm in nitrate reductase (NR; EC 1.6.6.1.) activity was absent, due to the poor light conditions, and in vitro NR activity was not correlated with nitrate flux from the roots. In vivo NR activity also lacked a strong diurnal rhythm, but it was calculated that in situ nitrate reduction was much lower during the night, so that the major nitrate assimilation took place during the day.

Experiments were designed to provide information about the physiological basis of flood-tolerance in Senecio species. The oxygen concentration in roots of S. jacobaea L., S. viscosus L. and S. vulgaris L. became almost zero after transplantation to a solution of low oxygen concentration, and it was concluded that the flood-sensitivity of these Senecio species could be due to insufficient oxygen transport from the shoots to the roots. The oxygen concentration in the roots of the flood-tolerant S. congestus (R.Br.) DC., growing in a solution of low oxygen tension, was almost sufficient to maintain oxygen utilization at the rate observed in roots of plants, grown in an air-saturated solution. Oxygen utilization by roots of the flood-tolerant S. aquaticus Hill, growing in a solution of low oxygen tension, was inhibited 50%. However, the oxygen concentration in the roots of this species remained high enough to maintain cytochrome oxidase activity and oxidative phosphorylation at the rate observed in roots from an air-saturated environment. The activity of a second (“alternative”) oxidase must have been drastically reduced. Alternative NADH-oxidizing enzymes, like nitrate reductase which was induced by anaerobiosis in roots of S. aquaticus, might replace the regulatory function of the alternative oxidase. — Thus, in S. aquaticus root porosity and root length contributed to the maintenance of an oxygen concentration which was sufficient for uninhibited cytochrome oxidase activity and oxidative phosphorylation rate in roots growing in a solution of low oxygen tension.

Summary Spinach plants were grown in nutrient solution at various NO3--concentrations under different photoperiods. Lowering of the nitrate concentration in the nutrient solution from 8 mM to 0.8 and 0.16 mM affected uptake and transport of NO3- rather than its reduction. When a «low light» treatment (16W m-2) was given during the night prior to the harvest, the nitrate content of the leaf blades was decreased by 50%, and the nitrate content of the shoot (petioles + leaf blades) by 25%. The «low light» treatment seemed to affect reduction rather than uptake and transport, as NRA in the leaf blades of the «low light» treated plants was about twice as high compared to the dark treated plants. A minimal level of fertilizer combined with a «low light» treatment one night before the harvest may provide a possible means in lowering the nitrate content of commercially grown vegetables.

Adaptation to climate change is becoming a prominent issue in both landscape research and land-use planning. Current research focuses mainly on the description of potential impacts for different societal sectors and in general fails to provide useful information to help define climate adaptation strategies and specific policy measures or development plans. This editorial briefly explores the reasons why this may be the case and proposes a conceptual framework for more effective climate adaptation research. Furthermore, it introduces three papers that address adaptation of landscape systems to climate change as an integrated multi-level challenge. The included papers focus on the relationship between climate-induced changes in the natural system and the economics-oriented societal system and specifically address the interdependencies across scales.

The accumulation of nitrate in the shoot of spinach, grown under low light conditions, is subject to a diurnal rhythm. The increase in the nitrate concentration at the end of the night period was mainly located in the leaf blades, although the petioles exhibited the highest nitrate concentration. This accumulation of nitrate was caused by an increased uptake of nitrate by the roots. In plants which were exposed to a ‘low light’ night treatment during the last night before harvest, the increase in the nitrate concentration of the leaf blades did not take place. The lowered nitrate concentration of the leaf blades was mainly caused by a reduction in the uptake of nitrate by the roots and not by increased reduction of nitrate in the leaf blades. The regulation of nitrate uptake by the roots is discussed in relation to the changes in the shoot. The nitrate concentration of the leaf blades was, at least partly, replaced by soluble sugars and malic acid.