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.
2019
Authors
Kjell Handeland Rebecca K. Davidson Hildegunn Viljugrein Anders Mossing Erling Meisingset Marianne Heum Olav Strand Ketil IsaksenAbstract
Nematodes of the genera Elaphostrongylus and Dictyocaulus are associated with disease in semi-domesticated tundra reindeer and farmed red deer whereas less knowledge exists in the wild. Their first stage larvae (L1) develop to the infective third stage (L3) in the environment; Elaphostrongylus spp. within intermediate gastropod hosts and Dictyocaulus spp. as free-living larvae. Larval development of Elaphostrongylus is highly temperature dependent with a developmental minimum of 9–10 °C. Larval development of Dictyocaulus spp. may occur at low temperatures (5 °C) but the larvae are sensitive to desiccation. We examined the prevalence and intensity of Elaphostrongylus spp. and Dictyocaulus spp. infections in six wild reindeer and two wild red deer populations in relation to altitude, temperature and rainfall in their respective main summer pasture area over the 5 summers prior to sampling. The parasitological examination was based upon morphological identification of L1 in the faeces of hunted animals. Altitude was calculated from animal position data and temperature and precipitation by means of a nationwide gridded data set. Temperature decreased with increasing altitude, from 13.3 °C for the lowest located red deer population (300 m) to 6.1 °C for the highest located reindeer population (1400 m). No significant relationship between altitude and rainfall was identified. Elaphostrongylus spp. infection decreased in prevalence with increasing altitude, being identified in 89% of investigated samples from the lowest located population and in 3% of samples from the highest. The prevalence of Dictyocaulus spp. infection varied between 28 and 80% and no relationship with altitude was found. The intensity of Elaphostrongylus spp. infection was low in reindeer and moderate in red deer whereas the intensity of Dictyocaulus spp. infection was moderate in both species. Our results indicated that the climatic conditions in all areas studied were suitable for Dictyocaulus spp., whereas summer temperature was a restrictive factor for Elaphostrongylus sp. in reindeer.
Abstract
With climate change, the effect of global warming on snow cover is expected to cause range expansion and enhance habitat suitability for species at their northern distribution limits. However, how this depends on landscape topography and sex in size-dimorphic species remains uncertain, and is further complicated for migratory animals following climate-driven seasonal resource fluctuations across vast landscapes. Using 11 years of data from a partially migratory ungulate at their northern distribution ranges, the red deer (Cervus elaphus), we predicted sex-specific summer and winter habitat suitability in diverse landscapes under medium and severe global warming. We found large increases in future winter habitat suitability, resulting in expansion of winter ranges as currently unsuitable habitat became suitable. Even moderate warming decreased snow cover substantially, with no suitability difference between warming scenarios. Winter ranges will hence not expand linearly with warming, even for species at their northern distribution limits. Although less pronounced than in winter, summer ranges also expanded and more so under severe warming. Summer habitat suitability was positively correlated with landscape topography and ranges expanded more for females than males. Our study highlights the complexity of predicting future habitat suitability for conservation and management of size-dimorphic, migratory species under global warming.
Authors
M. P. G. Hofman M.W. Hayward Morten Heim P. Marchand Christer Moe Rolandsen Jenny Mattisson F. Urbano M. Heurich Atle Mysterud J. Melzheimer N. Morellet U. Voigt B.L. Allen B. Gehr C. Rouco W. Ullmann Øystein Holand Nicolai Hermann Jørgensen Geir Steinheim F. Cagnacci M. Kroeschel Petra Kaczensky B. Buuveibaatar J.C. Payne I. Palmegiani K. Jerina P. Kjellander Ö. Johansson S. LaPoint R. Bayrakcismith John Durrus Linnell M. Zaccaroni M.L.S. Jorge J.E.F. Oshima A. Songhurst C. Fischer R.T. Mc Bride Jr. J.J. Thompson S. Streif R. Sandfort Christophe Bonenfant M. Drouilly M. Klapproth D. Zinner R. Yarnell A. Stronza L. Wilmott Erling Meisingset M. Thaker A.T. Vanak S. Nicoloso R. Graeber S. Saïd M.R. Boudreau A. Devlin R. Hoogesteijn J.A. May-Junior J.C. Nifong John Odden H.B. Quigley F. Tortato D.M. Parker A. Caso J. Perrine C. Tellaeche F. Zieba T. Zwijacz-Kozica C.L. Appel I. Axsom W.T. Bean B. Cristescu S. Périquet K.J. Teichman S. Karpanty A. Licoppe V. Menges K. Black T.L. Scheppers S.C. Schai-Braun F. C. Azevedo F.G. Lemos A. Payne L.H. Swanepoel B.V. Weckworth A. Berger A. Bertassoni G. McCulloch P. Šustr V. Athreya D. Bockmuhl J. Casaer A. Ekori D. Melovski C. Richard-Hansen D. van de Vyver R. Reyna-Hurtado E. Robardet N. Selva A. Sergiel M.S. Farhadinia P. Sunde R. Portas H. Ambarli R. Berzins P.M. Kappeler G.K. Mann L. Pyritz C. Bissett T. Grant R. Steinmetz L. Swedell R.J. Welch D. Armenteras O.R. Bidder T.M. González A. Rosenblatt S. Kachel N. BalkenholAbstract
Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden age of satellite telemetry, we need an in-Depth understanding of the main technological, species-specific and environmental factors that determine the success and failure of satellite tracking devices across species and habitats. Here, we assess the relative influence of such factors on the ability of satellite telemetry units to provide the expected amount and quality of data by analyzing data from over 3,000 devices deployed on 62 terrestrial species in 167 projects worldwide. We evaluate the success rate in obtaining GPS fixes as well as in transferring these fixes to the user and we evaluate failure rates. Average fix success and data transfer rates were high and were generally better predicted by species and unit characteristics, while environmental characteristics influenced the variability of performance. However, 48% of the unit deployments ended prematurely, half of them due to technical failure. Nonetheless, this study shows that the performance of satellite telemetry applications has shown improvements over time, and based on our findings, we provide further recommendations for both users and manufacturers.
Abstract
Ongoing global warming is now affecting migratory cycles in a large variety of taxa in seasonally variable environments. Disruption of migratory systems can cause population decline and affect ecosystem function across the globe. It is therefore urgent to understand the drivers of migration and how the different fitness limitations of the sexes affect migration, but studies seldom considered the full annual cycle. We analysed the annual migration cycle of 237 red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Norway and investigate how different seasonal limitations affected the variation in a suite of migration characteristics. We found fundamental differences in migration phenology between seasons, and migratory traits were much more variable in males. Spring migratory movements were characterized by longer distance roamed, lower speed, lasted longer, more frequent use of stopovers, timing was more synchronized and coincided with onset of plant growth, and with higher daily activity levels. Timing of autumn migration was more variable and not closely related to cease of plant growth. Our study emphasizes the benefits of studying the full annual cycle to gain further insight into the migration process, and how understanding the limitations of the full annual migration process of both sexes is critical for conservation purposes.
Authors
Kamal Atmeh Anne Loison Nicolas Morellet A. J. Mark Hewison P. Marchand Mathieu Garel Erling Johan Solberg Morten Heim Bernt-Erik Sæther Ivar Herfindal Atle Mysterud Erling Meisingset Martin-Hugues St-Laurent Guillaume PéronAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Idoia Biurrun Sabina Burrascano Iwona Dembicz Riccardo Guarino Jutta Kapfer Remigiusz Pielech Itziar García-Mijangos Viktoria Wagner Salza Palpurina Anne Mimet Vincent Pellissier Corrado Marcenó Arkadiusz Nowak Ariel Bergamini Steffen Boch Anna Mária Csergő John-Arvid Grytnes Juan Antonio Campos Brigitta Erschbamer Borja Jiménez-Alfaro Zygmunt Kącki Anna Kuzemko Michael Manthey Koenraad Van Meerbeek Grzegorz Swacha Elias Afif Juha M. Alatalo M Aleffi Manuel Babbi Zoltán Bátori Elena Belonovskaya Christian Berg Kuber Prasad Bhatta Laura Cancellieri Tobias Ceulemans Balázs Deák László Demeter Lei Deng Jiří Doležal Christian Dolnik Wenche Dramstad Pavel Dřevojan Klaus Ecker Franz Essl J. Etzold Goffredo Filibeck Wendy Fjellstad Behlul Güler Michal Hájek Daniel Hepenstrick John G. Hodgson João Honrado Annika Jagerbrand Monika Janišová Philippe Jeanneret András Kelemen Philipp Kirschner Ewelina Klichowska Ganna Kolomiiets Łukasz Kozub Jan Lepš Regina Lindborg Swantje Löbel Angela Lomba Martin Magnes Helmut Mayrhofer Marek Malicki Ermin Mašić Eliane S. Meier Denis Mirin Ulf Molau Ivan Y. Moysiyenko Alireza Naqinezhad Josep M. Ninot M Nobis Christian Pedersen Aaron Pérez-Haase Jan Peters Eulàlia Pladevall-Izard Jan Rolecek Vladimir Ronkin Galina Savchenko Dariia Shyriaieva Hanne Sickel Carly Stevens Sebastian Świerszcz Csaba Tölgyesi Nadezda Tsarevskaya Orsolya Valkó Carmen Van Mechelen Iuliia Vashenyak Ole Reidar Vetaas Denys Vynokurov Emelie Waldén Stefan Widmer Sebastian Wolfrum Anna Wróbel Ekaterina Zlotnikova Jürgen DenglerAbstract
Abstract: GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). Following a previous Long Database Report (Dengler et al. 2018, Phyto-coenologia 48, 331–347), we provide here the first update on content and functionality of GrassPlot. The current version (GrassPlot v. 2.00) contains a total of 190,673 plots of different grain sizes across 28,171 independent plots, with 4,654 nested-plot series including at least four grain sizes. The database has improved its content as well as its functionality, including addition and harmonization of header data (land use, information on nestedness, structure and ecology) and preparation of species composition data. Currently, GrassPlot data are intensively used for broad-scale analyses of different aspects of alpha and beta diversity in grassland ecosystems.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Increasing populations of large carnivores are leading to tension and conflicts with livestock production, a situation that potentially might escalate. In Norway the objective of the large carnivore policy is two-folded: to ensure viable carnivore populations and to secure a sustainable grazing industry. The main instrument is zonation, with carnivore management zones (CMZs) prioritized for reproduction of the large carnivore species separated from other areas prioritized for grazing livestock. The objective of this paper is to describe current knowledge about the impact of the zoning management strategy on the grazing industry. This is done by documenting status and changes in sheep production, losses of livestock to predating carnivores, and the use of grazing areas inside and outside the CMZs. CMZs offering protection for lynx, wolverine, bear and wolf cover 55% of the Norwegian mainland. 30% of the sheep and 50% of the Sami reindeer grazing areas are found inside the CMZs. Livestock (semi-domestic reindeer excluded) is using 59% of the available natural pasture areas outside the CMZs, but only 26% inside the CMZs. The lowest use of available grazing areas was found inside zones for wolves (12%) and brown bears (6%). Livestock in these zones are confined to fenced enclosures, mostly on the farm itself, or moved to pastures outside the management zone for summer grazing. Livestock losses increased in the affected regions during the period when carnivores were reestablished. Later, losses declined when CMZs were established and mitigation efforts were implemented in these zones. The bulk of sheep and reindeer killed by carnivores are now found in boundary areas within 50 km off the CMZs, where sheep are still grazing on open mountain and forest ranges. Therefore, instruments to protect livestock in areas close to the CMZs are also needed. The number of sheep declined inside the CMZs from 1999 to 2014, but increased outside the zones. The reduction in the absolute number of sheep in the CMZs is balanced by a similar increase outside, thus the total sheep production in Norway is maintained. We conclude that although of little consequence for the total food production in Norway, the economic and social impact of the large carnivore management strategy can be serious for local communities and individual farmers who are affected. There is a need for more exact carnivore population monitoring to quantify the carnivore pressure, better documentation of reindeer losses, and a clearer and stricter practicing of the zoning strategy. Increased involvement of social sciences is important in order to understand the human dimension of the carnivore conflicts.
Authors
Inger Hansen Grete H. M. Jørgensen Marianne Gilhuus Kristian Dalskau-Ellingsen Cecilie Marie MejdellAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Inger Hansen Grete H. M. Jørgensen Marianne Gilhuus Kristian Ellingsen-Dalskau Cecilie Marie MejdellAbstract
No abstract has been registered