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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.

2013

2012

2011

2010

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Abstract

Studying the winter survival of forage grasses under a changing climate requires models that can simulate the dynamics of soil conditions at low temperatures. We developed a simple model that simulates depth of snow cover, the lower frost boundary of the soil and the freezing of surface puddles. We calibrated the model against independent data from four locations in Norway, capturing climatic variation from south to north (Arctic) and from coastal to inland areas. We parameterized the model by means of Bayesian calibration, and identified the least important model parameters using the sensitivity analysis method of Morris. Verification of the model suggests that the results are reasonable. Because of the simple model structure, some overestimation occurs in snow and frost depth. Both the calibration and the sensitivity analysis suggested that the snow cover module could be simplified with respect to snowmelt and liquid water content. The soil frost module should be kept unchanged, whereas the surface ice module should be changed when more detailed topographical data become available, such as better estimates of the fraction of the land area where puddles may form.

Abstract

Docks are among the most important perennial weeds in grasslands throughout the world and the need for more effective control methods is especially crucial in organic forage production. To find more effective control methods, field trials over 2 years at 4 Norwegian locations, were carried out mainly as a full-factorial design, including factors expected to reduce docks significantly. (i) Date of grassland establishment: may be important for preventing/decreasing the flush of seedlings from seeds as well as shoots from root fragments.(ii) False seedbed preparation: to decrease soil seed bank. (iii) Use of nurse crop (cover crop) to increase competitiveness against Rumex seedlings. (iv) Cutting the taproot, using a rotary tiller before ploughing, or the "dock-plough" (a skimmer modified to cut roots in the entire furrow width at ca 7 cm depth): as new shoots mostly come from the neck and the upper 5 cm of the taproot. (v) Ploughing depth and skimming: to decrease shoots from root fragments. Weed development was assessed as the number of emerging Rumex seedlings and plants sprouting from root fragments. Results indicated that frequently more plants emerged from seeds than from root fragments. Neither renewing the grassland in summer, nor the use of the rotary tiller or the "dock plough" reduced the number of docks in the renewed grasslands. The use of the false seedbed and nurse crop, at some locations and years, reduced the number of docks in the renewed grasslands. Deep ploughing (24cm) reduced the number of Rumex plants from roots by 65% percent compared to shallow ploughing (16cm). Furthermore, the use of a skimmer reduced the number of docks sprouting from roots by 28%. Among the investigated factors, competitiveness, false seedbed and ploughing depth, as well as ploughing quality, seems to be the most promising factors for reducing the number of docks in renewed grassland.

2008

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Abstract

In Norway, public procurement of food to youth is not well developed in comparison to many other European and Scandinavian countries. School meals are only offered in very few primary schools, and the common school meal is a packed lunch (sandwiches) brought from home, consumed in the class room. Subscription schemes for milk were introduced around 1970, and for fruit around 1995. Organic milk and fruit is offered only in some regions. Since 2007, fruit is served without payment in all schools with a lower secondary level (class 8-10 or 1-10). This effort was introduced as a first step to develop a free school meal in all public schools, which is a goal of one of the political parties in the current government. As in many other European countries, free school meals were offered (especially to poor children) in schools in the larger Norwegian cities around 1900. However, these meals were criticised for being unhealthy, and replaced by whole grain bread, milk and vegetables around 1930. Increasing private wealth, and increased demand for investments in school buildings, books etc changed the public priority and free school meals disappeared in Oslo around 1960. Today, there is not a general agreement about the optimal school meal composition, and whether or not the meals should be funded by the public. However, the increasing length of the school day and unsatisfactory scores of Norwegian pupils in international comparison tests (e.g. PISA) makes the school meal sector highly relevant in the public debate. Three cases that will be studied in a research project about public organic food procurement for youth are briefly described: The municipality of Trondheim, Øya music festival in Oslo and the Air Force Academy. (Increased) serving of organic food is an important aim in all these cases, and young people are an important target group. The report is produced within the project “innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth”, iPOPY, and will be updated and revised during the project period (2007-2010).