Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2023
Authors
Helene Müller Haugan Joseph Chipperfield Bjørn Arild Hatteland Alexander Dumbrell Rakel BlaalidAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Haruna Sekabira Ghislain Tchoromi Tepa-Yotto Arnaud R. M. Ahouandjinou Karl Thunes Barry Pittendrigh Yusuf Kaweesa Manuele TamòAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, surprised many through its impact on the food systems, resulting in collapses in the food production value chains and in the integrated pest disease management sector with fatal outcomes in many places. However, the impact of COVID-19 and the digital experience perspective on Integrating Pest Management (IPM) is still yet to be understood. In Africa, the impact was devastating, mostly for the vulnerable smallholder farm households, who were rendered unable to access markets to purchase inputs and sell their produce during the lockdown period. By using a holistic approach the paper reviews different Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), digitalization, and how this enhanced the capacity of smallholder farmers resilient, and inform their smart-IPM practices in order to improve food systems' amidst climate change during and in the post-COVID-19 period. Different digital modalities were adopted to ensure continuous food production, access to inputs and finances, and selling surplus production among others. This was largely possible by using ICTs to deliver these needed services digitally. The study shares contributions and capacity perspectives of ICTs for empowering smallholder farmers to boost the resilience of their food systems based on COVID-19 successful experiences. Thus digital solutions must be embraced in the delivery of extension service on pest management and good agronomic practices, money transfers for purchasing inputs, receiving payment for sold farm produce, and markets information exchange. These are key avenues through which digital solutions strategically supported smallholder-based food systems through the pandemic.
Authors
Dario Isidro Ojeda Alayon Max John Robert L. Hammond Riitta Savolainen Kari Vepsäläinen Torstein KvammeAbstract
The Formicoxenus genus-group comprises six genera within the tribe Crematogastrini. The group is well known for repeated evolution of social parasitism among closely related taxa and cold-adapted species with large distribution ranges in the Nearctic and Palearctic regions. Previous analyses based on nuclear markers (ultraconserved elements, UCEs) and mitochondrial genes suggest close relationship between Formicoxenus Mayr, 1855, Leptothorax Mayr, 1855 and Harpagoxenus Forel, 1893. However, scant sampling has limited phylogenetic assessment of these genera. Also, previous phylogeographic analyses of L. acervorum (Fabricius, 1793) have been limited to its West-Palearctic range of distribution, which has provided a narrow view on recolonization, population structure and existing refugia of the species. Here, we inferred the phylogenenetic history of genera within the Formicoxenus genus-group and reconstructed the phylogeography of L. acervorum with more extensive sampling. We employed three datasets, one data set consisting of whole mitochondrial genomes, and two data sets of sequences of the COI-5P (658 bp) with different number of specimens. The topologies of previous nuclear and our inferences based on mitochondrial genomes were overall congruent. Further, Formicoxenus may not be monophyletic. We found several monophyletic lineages that do not correspond to the current species described within Leptothorax, especially in the Nearctic region. We identified a monophyletic L. acervorum lineage that comprises both Nearctic and Palearctic locations. The most recent expansion within L. acervorum probably occurred within the last 0.5 Ma with isolated populations predating the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which are localized in at least two refugial areas (Pyrenean and Northern plateau) in the Iberian Peninsula. The patterns recovered suggest a shared glacial refugium in the Iberian Peninsula with cold-adapted trees that currently share high-altitude environments in this region.
Abstract
Elymus repens is a problematic perennial weed in annual crops, grasslands and leys. Rhizome fragmentation by vertical disking can potentially reduce E. repens abundance with minimal tillage, but data are lacking on its efficiency in forage production. In a two-year study (2017–2018, 2018–2019) conducted in two forage grass-clover leys that were mostly weed-free except for large E. repens populations, this study examined effects on forage yield, botanical composition, and E. repens rhizome biomass of rhizome fragmentation at significant growth initiation in spring (early rhizome fragmentation, ERF) and/or when conditions allowed after the first forage cut (late rhizome fragmentation, LRF). Cold, wet springs and hard, dry soil in summer delayed treatment in both treatment years, to late spring (ERF) and late summer/early autumn (LRF). In the treatment year, ERF reduced first-cut forage yield by 44% compared with no rhizome fragmentation, while LRF decreased second- and third-cut yield by 24% and 53%, respectively. In the year after treatment, ERF increased total forage yield by on average 10%, while LRF had no effect. Over both years, combined forage yield was reduced by 11% by ERF and 4% by LRF. Both treatments reduced E. repens rhizome biomass, but inconsistently (ERF by 25% in one year only, LRF by 24% at one of two sites). ERF reduced E. repens incidence in forage by 10% in the treatment year, but had no effect in the following year. Thus, rhizome fragmentation by vertical disking can reduce E. repens abundance in grass-clover leys, but the effect is inconsistent and forage yield can be impaired, especially in swards with much E. repens. Moreover, disking is hampered by hard, dry soil conditions.
Authors
Therese With BergeAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Therese With BergeAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Nina Johansen Arne Stensvand Aruppillai Suthaparan Annichen Smith Eriksen Pål Johan From Ellen Altenborg Runa Gidske Thomas Petillon Carl Emil ØyriAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Weed harrowing is commonly used to manage weeds in organic farming but is also applied in conventional farming to replace herbicides. Due to its whole-field application, weed harrowing after crop emergence has relatively poor selectivity and may cause crop damage. Weediness generally varies within a field. Therefore, there is a potential to improve the selectivity and consider the within-field variation in weediness. This paper describes a decision model for precision post-emergence weed harrowing in cereals based on experimental data in spring barley and nonlinear regression analysis. The model predicts the optimal weed harrowing intensity in terms of the tine angle of the harrow for a given weediness (in terms of percentage weed cover), a given draft force of tines, and the biological weed damage threshold (in terms of percentage weed cover). Weed cover was measured with near-ground RGB images analyzed with a machine vision algorithm based on deep learning techniques. The draft force of tines was estimated with an electronic load cell. The proposed model is the first that uses a weed damage threshold in addition to site-specific values of weed cover and soil hardness to predict the site-specific optimal weed harrow tine angle. Future field trials should validate the suggested model.
Abstract
The European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus and the North American spruce beetle Dendroctonus rufipennis cause high mortality of spruces on their native continents. Both species have been inadvertently transported beyond their native ranges. With similar climates and the presence of congeneric spruce hosts in Europe and North America, there is a risk that one or both bark beetle species become established into the non-native continent. There are many challenges that an introduced population of bark beetles would face, but an important prerequisite for establishment is the presence of suitable host trees. We tested the suitability of non-native versus native hosts by exposing cut bolts of Norway spruce (Picea abies), black spruce (Picea mariana) and white spruce (Picea glauca) to beetle attacks in the field in Norway and Canada. We quantified attack density, brood density and reproductive success of I. typographus and D. rufipennis in the three host species. We found that I. typographus attacked white and black spruce at comparable densities to its native host, Norway spruce, and with similar reproductive success in all three host species. In contrast, D. rufipennis strongly preferred to attack white spruce (a native host) but performed better in the novel Norway spruce host than it did in black spruce, a suboptimal native host. Our results suggest that I. typographus will find abundant and highly suitable hosts in North America, while D. rufipennis in Europe may experience reduced reproductive success in Norway spruce.