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.
2012
Authors
Ingeborg KlingenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Increasing inter-continental trade of wood chips for biofuel represents a significant risk of introducing invasive pest species that can cause biome-scale impacts on forest ecosystems. Some potentially invasive species have the capacity to cause high tree mortality on the Eurasian continent and could cause significant impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Because eradication of established species is difficult, there is a need for scientific studies that can evaluate the reliability of current import control practices to ensure lowest possible risk of establishment of potentially harmful species. We used a stochastic simulation model and sensitivity analyses to evaluate the chance of detecting harmful pests in imported wood chips by sampling according to the current use of internationally accepted standards. As an example, we focused on the North American beetle Agrilus anxius (bronze birch borer) that can cause 100% mortality of European and Asian birch species in North America. We simulated the process from logging in North America to sampling the wood chips upon arrival in Europe. The probability of pest detection for current sampling protocols used by port inspectors was very low (<0.00005), while a 90% chance of detection may require sampling 27 million litres of wood chips per shipload.
Authors
Kyrre Linné Kausrud Bjørn Økland Olav Skarpaas Jean-Claude Grégoire Nadir Erbilgin Nils Christian StensethAbstract
In recent decades we have seen rapid and co-occurring changes in landscape structure, species distributions and even climate as consequences of human activity. Such changes affect the dynamics of the interaction between major forest pest species, such as bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), and their host trees. Normally breeding mostly in broken or severely stressed spruce; at high population densities some bark beetle species can colonise and kill healthy trees on scales ranging from single trees in a stand to multi-annual landscape-wide outbreaks. In Eurasia, the largest outbreaks are caused by the spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus (Linnaeus), which is common and shares a wide distribution with its main host, Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst.). A large literature is now available, from which this review aims to synthesize research relevant for the population dynamics of I. typographus and co-occurring species under changing conditions. We find that spruce bark beetle population dynamics tend to be metastable, but that mixed-species and age-heterogeneous forests with good site-matching tend to be less susceptible to large-scale outbreaks. While large accumulations of logs should be removed and/or debarked before the next swarming period, intensive removal of all coarse dead wood may be counterproductive, as it reduces the diversity of predators that in some areas may play a role in keeping I. typographus populations below the outbreak threshold, and sanitary logging frequently causes edge effects and root damage, reducing the resistance of remaining trees. It is very hard to predict the outcome of interspecific interactions due to invading beetle species or I. typographus establishing outside its current range, as they can be of varying sign and strength and may fluctuate depending on environmental factors and population phase. Most research indicates that beetle outbreaks will increase in frequency and magnitude as temperature, wind speed and precipitation variability increases, and that mitigating forestry practices should be adopted as soon as possible considering the time lags involved.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Introductions of the pine wood nematode (PWN), which causes Pine Wilt Disease (PWD), have devastating effects on pine forests in regions with susceptible host trees under suitable climate conditions. Norwegian authorities have proposed a contingency plan if PWN is detected in Norway. We compare the costs of implementing this plan with the costs of further spread and damage of PWN under two climate change scenarios: present and the most likely future climate. With the present climate, PWD will not occur in Norway. Under climatic change, the cost of PWD damage is approximately 0.078–0.157 million NOK (0.01–0.02 million Euros) estimated as net present value with 2 and 4% p.a. discount rate. In contrast, the corresponding costs of implementing the suggested contingency plan will be 1.7–2.2 billion NOK (0.2–0.25 billion Euros). These costs are caused by reduced income from industrial timber production and the costs of the eradication measures. Costs related to reduced recreation or biodiversity are expected to be very high, but are not included in the above estimates. Many of the factors in the analysis are burdened with high uncertainty, but sensitivity analyses indicate that the results are rather robust even for drastic changes in assumptions. The results suggest that there is a need to revise the current PWN contingency plan in Norway.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The collapse of the Soviet Union in the Central Asian countries has led to enormous challenges for them ensuring a sustainable environment. Weak economies, weak institutions and lack of environmental sciences expertise were important reasons for the Norwegian support to the environmental sector in this region. The State Forest Service of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Norwegian Forestry Group initiated the TEMP project, later renamed TEMP-CA, in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2004. TEMP-activities in the Republic of Tajikistan were included in 2007 and in the Republic of Uzbekistan from 2008. In 2008, as a spin-off of TEMP-CA, the Ahangaran Forest Damage Project was initiated realizing that the Juniper forests surrounding the town of Angren were under environmental constrain, possibly due to massive industrial activities....
Authors
Belachew Asalf Tadesse Nina Trandem Arne Stensvand Vitalis Wekesa Gilberto J de Moraes Ingeborg KlingenAbstract
No abstract has been registered