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.
2006
Abstract
Toxic effects of aluminium (Al) on Picea abies (L.) Karst. (Norway spruce) trees are well documented in laboratory-scale experiments, but field-based evidence is scarce. This paper presents results on fine root growth and chemistry from a field manipulation experiment in a P. abies stand that was 45 years old when the experiment started in 1996. Different amounts of dissolved aluminium were added as AlCl3 by means of periodic irrigation during the growing season in the period 19972002. Potentially toxic concentrations of Al in the soil solution were obtained. Fine roots were studied from direct cores (1996) and sequential root ingrowth cores (1999, 2001, 2002) in the mineral soil (040 cm). We tested two hypotheses: (1) elevated concentration of Al in the root zone leads to significant changes in root biomass, partitioning into fine, coarse, living or dead fractions, and distribution with depth; (2) elevated Al concentration leads to a noticeable uptake of Al and reduced uptake of Ca and Mg; this results in Ca and Mg depletion in roots. Hypothesis 1 was only marginally supported, as just a few significant treatment effects on biomass were found. Hypothesis 2 was supported in part; Al addition led to increased root concentrations of Al in 1999 and 2002 and reduced Mg/Al in 1999. Comparison of roots from subsequent root samplings showed a decrease in Al and S over time. The results illustrated that 7 years of elevated Altot concentrations in the soil solution up to 200 M are not likely to affect root growth. We also discuss possible improvements of the experimental approach.
Authors
T. Larssen E. Lydersen D. Tang Yi He Jixi Gao H. Liu Lei Duan H.M. Seip R.D. Vogt Jan Mulder M. Shao Yan-Hui Wang H. Shang X. Zhang Svein Solberg Wenche Aas Tonje Økland O. Eilertsen V. Angell Quanru Liu D. Zhao Renjun Xiang J. Xiao J. LuoAbstract
Acid rain emerged as an important environmental problem in China in the late 1970s. Many years of record economic growth have been accompanied by increased energy demand, greater coal combustion, and larger emissions of pollutants. As a result of significant emissions and subsequent deposition of sulfur, widespread acid rain is observed in southern and southwestern China. In fact, the deposition of sulfur is in some places higher than what was reported from the ?black triangle? in central Europe in the early 1980s. In addition, nitrogen is emitted from agriculture, power production, and a rapidly increasing number of cars. As a result, considerable deposition of pollutants occurs in forested areas previously thought to be pristine. Little is known about the effects of acid deposition on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in China. In this article, we present the current situation and what to expect in the future, largely on the basis of results from a five-year Chinese?Norwegian cooperative project. In the years ahead, new environmental challenges must be expected if proper countermeasures are not put into place.
Authors
Svein SolbergAbstract
Remote sensing is a promising tool for monitoring forest health. Foliar mass, or correspondingly leaf area index (LAI), together with chlorophyll concentration in the foliage, are two suitable measures of forest health. So far, airborne laser scanning has proven to be very suitable for measuring LAI. The work is in progress, and still in an early phase.
Abstract
In this study, forest treated with different strengths of selective cutting (2570 % of volume removed) was remeasured after twelve years in 2005. At each of the sixteen 0.2 ha plots, including four repeats of each treatment, all trees larger than dbh 2.5 cm were calipered. We investigated growth, changes in stand structure, tree age, tree damage and crown condition.The diameter distribution displayed a reverse J-curve at all plots both before and after the cuttings. Twelve years later the curve is only slightly changed. Increment cores from 300 trees were taken to analyse annual growth reactions in different diameter classes. Most trees reacted with increased growth from the second or third year after the cutting.This improved growth accelerated the following six or seven years with 20-80% increase. Both small and large trees reacted, including severely suppressed trees. The initial crown volume and crown vitality after cutting is essential for the increased growth since several years are necessary to build up a larger and better crown. The relationship between increased growth and reduced volume per hectare indicates less competition between trees regarding nutrients and light after the cutting.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Aksel GranhusAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Aksel GranhusAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Hydrological time-series are known to depict long-term structures, and pronouncednonlinearities. Singular System Analysis (SSA) is one way to extract long-term componentsof these data-sets. Classical SSA is a principal component analysis (PCA) inthe time domain...
Abstract
Ecosystems commonly fall under the rubric of complex systems (West and Brown 2004). Nevertheless, in the practical management of certain ecosystems, we encounter simple heuristic rules of human interference that are often derived from cultural traditions rather than from scientific study. The increased technical power of computer-based simulation tools and their increased mathematical formalization may either remove former technical limits (e.g., of prediction) or, in contrast, reveal the fundamental character of some of these limits. Here, we shall argue that both cases occur, and that the main effect of simulation technology is to bring the distinction between these cases into scientific awareness.