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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.

2016

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Abstract

Effects of clear-cut harvesting on ground vegetation plant species diversity and their cover are investigated at two Norway spruce sites in southern Norway, differing in climate and topography. Experimental plots at these two sites were either harvested conventionally (stem-only harvesting) or whole trees including crowns, twigs and branches were removed (whole-tree harvesting), leaving residue piles on the ground for some months. We compare the number of plant species in different groups and their cover sums before and after harvesting, and between the different treatments, using non-parametric statistical tests. An overall loss of ground vegetation biodiversity is induced by harvesting and there is a shift in cover of dominant species, with negative effects for bryophytes and dwarf shrubs and an increase of graminoid cover. Differences between the two harvesting methods at both sites were mainly due to the residue piles assembled during whole-tree harvesting and the physical damage made during the harvesting of residues in these piles. The presence of the residue piles had a clear negative impact on both species numbers and cover. Pile residue harvesting on unfrozen and snow-free soil caused more damage to the forest floor in the steep terrain at the western site compared to the eastern site.

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Abstract

Soil organic carbon (C), accumulated over millennia, comprise more than half of the C stored in boreal and temperate forest landscapes. We used the Norwegian national forest inventory and soil survey network (n = 719, no deep organic soils) to explore the validity of a deterministic model representation of this pool (Yasso07). We statistically compared simulated and measured soil C stocks and related differences (measured – simulated) to site factors (drainage, topography, climate, vegetation, C-to-N ratio, and soil classification). Median C stocks were 5.0 kg C·m−2 (model) and 14.5 kg C·m−2 (measurements). Soil C differences related to site factors (r2 of 0.16 to 0.37). For Brunisols, Gleysols, and wet Organic soils, differences related primarily to topographic wetness. For Regosols, Podzols, and Dystric Eluviated Brunisols, they related to climate, profile depth, and, in some cases, drainage class and site index. We argue that soil moisture regimes in our study area overrule tree productivity effects in the determination of soil C stocks and present conditions for soil formation that the model cannot (and does not explicitly) account for. These are processes such as humification and podsolization that involve eluviation and illuviation of dissolved organic C (DOC) with sesquioxides to form spodic B horizons and carbon enrichment due to hampered decomposition in frequently anoxic conditions.

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Abstract

There is evidence that recently occurring top dieback of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karsten) tress in southern Norway is associated with drought stress. We compared functional wood traits of 20 healthy looking trees and 20 trees with visual signs of top dieback. SilviScan technology was applied to measure cell dimensions (lumen and cell wall thickness) in a selected set of trunk wood specimens where vulnerability to cavitation (P50) data were available. The wall/lumen ratio ((t/b)²) was a quite good proxy for P50. Cell dimensions were measured on wood cores of all 40 trees; theoretical vulnerability of single annual rings could be thus estimated. Declining trees tended to have lower (t/b)² before and during a period of water deficit (difference between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration) that lasted from 2004 to 2006. The results are discussed with respect to genetic predisposition.

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Abstract

Background: A functional forest carbon measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) system to support climate change mitigation policies, such as REDD+, requires estimates of forest biomass carbon, as an input to estimate emissions. A combination of field inventory and remote sensing is expected to provide those data. By linking Landsat 8 and forest inventory data, we (1) developed linear mixed effects models for total living biomass (TLB) estimation as a function of spectral variables, (2) developed a 30 m resolution map of the total living carbon (TLC), and (3) estimated the total TLB stock of the study area. Inventory data consisted of tree measurements from 500 plots in 63 clusters in a 15,700 km2 study area, in miombo woodlands of Tanzania. The Landsat 8 data comprised two climate data record images covering the inventory area. Results: We found a linear relationship between TLB and Landsat 8 derived spectral variables, and there was no clear evidence of spectral data saturation at higher biomass values. The root-mean-square error of the values predicted by the linear model linking the TLB and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is equal to 44 t/ha (49 % of the mean value). The estimated TLB for the study area was 140 Mt, with a mean TLB density of 81 t/ha, and a 95 % confidence interval of 74–88 t/ha. We mapped the distribution of TLC of the study area using the TLB model, where TLC was estimated at 47 % of TLB. Conclusion: The low biomass in the miombo woodlands, and the absence of a spectral data saturation problem suggested that Landsat 8 derived NDVI is suitable auxiliary information for carbon monitoring in the context of REDD+, for low-biomass, open-canopy woodlands.