Forest management influences the effects of streamside wet areas on stream ecosystems.

Riparian zones contain areas of strong hydrological connectivity between land and stream, referred to as variable source areas (VSAs), and are considered biogeochemical control points. However, little is known about whether VSAs influence stream communities and whether this connectivity is affected by forest management. To address this, we used multiple biotic and abiotic indicators to (1) examine the influence of VSAs on riparian vegetation and stream ecosystems by comparing VSA and non-VSA reaches and (2) explore how forest management may affect the influence of VSAs on stream ecosystems. We detected some significant differences between VSA and non-VSA reaches in the riparian vegetation (greater understory and lower tree density) and stream ecosystem indicators (greater dissolved organic matter aromaticity, microbial biomass, peroxidase activity and collector-gatherer density, and lower dissolved organic carbon concentrations, algal biomass, and predatory macroinvertebrate density), which suggests that VSAs may create a more heterotrophic ecosystem locally. However, we show some evidence that forest management activities (specifically, road density) can alter the influence of VSAs and eliminate the differences observed at lower forest management intensities, and that the most hydrologically connected areas seem more sensitive to disturbance. Therefore, we suggest that the heterogeneity in hydrological connectivity along riparian zones should be considered when planning forest harvesting operations and road building (e.g., wider riparian buffers around VSAs).

Current trends in Finnish drug abuse: Wastewater based epidemiology combined with other national indicators.

No single measure is able to provide a complete picture of population- or community-level drug abuse and its current trends. Therefore, a multi-indicator approach is needed. The aim of this study was to combine wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) with data from other national indicators, namely driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) statistics, drug seizures, and drug use surveys. Furthermore, drug market size estimates and a comparison of confiscated drugs to drugs actually consumed by users were performed using the WBE approach. Samples for wastewater analysis were collected during one-week sampling periods in 2012, 2014 and 2015, with a maximum of 14 cities participating. The samples were analysed with a validated ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric (UHPLC-MS/MS) methodology for various common drugs of abuse. The results were then compared with data from other national indicators available. Joint interpretation of the data shows that the use of amphetamine and MDMA has increased in Finland from 2012 to 2014. A similar trend was also observed for cocaine, although its use remains at a very low level compared to many other European countries. Heroin was practically absent from the Finnish drug market during the study period. The retail market for the most common stimulant drugs were estimated to have been worth EUR 70 million for amphetamine and around EUR 10 million for both methamphetamine and cocaine, in 2014 in Finland.