Many research and higher education institutions are interested in their contribution to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Commercial services from Elsevier and Times Higher Education are addressing this by developing bibliometric queries for measuring SDG-related publications and SDG university rankings. However, such services should be evaluated carefully before use due to the challenging nature of interpreting the SDGs, delimiting relevance, and building queries. The aim of this bibliometric study was to build independent queries to find scholarly publications related to SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG 7, SDG 13, and SDG 14 using a consistent method based on SDG targets and indicators (the Bergen approach), and compare sets of publications retrieved by the Bergen and Elsevier approaches. Our results show that approach made a large difference, with little overlap in publications retrieved by the two approaches. We further demonstrate that different approaches can alter resulting country rankings. Choice of search terms, how they are combined, and query structure play a role, related to differing interpretations of the SDGs and viewpoints on relevance. Our results suggest that currently available SDG rankings and tools should be used with caution at their current stage of development.

The distribution of Codium fragile subsp. fragile and the native canopy-forming alga Fucus serratus was recorded at 51 sites in a 20 km long, sheltered region on the southwest coast of Norway. The purpose of the study was to examine if these species are potentially competing and how their distributions are related to wave-exposure and substrate. Codium fragile subsp. fragile was patchily distributed, a pattern which appears to have been sustained over time since its introduction to this area. It was almost always observed growing below mean low water, in the low intertidal and shallow subtidal. Both substrate type and wave-exposure influenced the vertical distribution of C. fragile subsp. fragile; growth occurred higher on the shore at sheltered sites and deeper in the subtidal on stony substrate. Its vertical range of growth overlapped with that of F. serratus and, when C. fragile subsp. fragile was abundant, F. serratus tended to grow higher on the shore and at lower abundances. This suggests that C. fragile subsp. fragile is affecting F. serratus in this area through competition, but only in the lower portion of the fucoid's vertical range and only at sites favorable for its own growth with regard to shelter and substrate.

Kelps and fucoids are important members of temperate seaweed communities, but may be negatively impacted by climate change and non-native species. We used a field experiment to investigate the effect of higher temperatures and a non-native seaweed, Sargassum muticum, on the kelp Saccharina latissima and fucoid Fucus serratus. All three are canopyforming species which may grow together in the infralittoral and upper sublittoral zones in southwestern Norway. Artificial assemblages with different combinations of the species were placed in the shallow sublittoral, and length changes, weight changes and survival of the thalli were measured. This was done over a hot summer and again over a cool summer. The results showed that the species and their competitive interactions were affected by the different thermal conditions. Saccharina latissima was the most successful species in the cool summer and had an impact on the other two species, but it was strongly negatively affected by the hot summer. Under these conditions, Fucus serratus became the most successful species, gaining the most weight. The effect of Sargassum muticum on the native species was no larger than the effect of intraspecific competition within those species. At the end of both summers S. muticum was in poor condition, potentially caused by low seawater nutrients resulting in low internal nitrogen.

Abstract:The green alga Codium fragile consists of 10 subspecies, of which subspecies fragile is a well-known invasive seaweed. Morphological work carried out in the 1950s suggested that there were three subspecies along the Norwegian coast: subsp. fragile, subsp. atlanticum and subsp. scandinavicum. However, more recent molecular data have shown the existence of only two subspecies and that these are frequently misidentified. The aims of the present study were therefore to verify which subspecies occur in Norway using the rpl16-rps3 chloroplast marker, to ascertain their likely time of arrival and to compare their morphology to their genetic identity. DNA sequences were obtained for 60 thalli from 18 sites along the coast (57-69° N) and 10 herbarium specimens . The sequences indicated that both subsp. fragile and subsp. atlanticum occur at present and have been in Norway since at least 1932 and 1948, respectively. The subspecies co-occurred at one site, but in general, subsp. atlanticum appears to have a narrower distribution than subsp. fragile, both geographically and in terms of habitat. Importantly, mucron length, other utricle features, or habitat were not always sufficiently reliable to give an accurate subspecies identification, demonstrating the necessity of DNA sequencing for the identification of these subspecies.

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