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.
2020
Authors
Heleen A de Wit Ahti Lepistö Hannu Marttila Hannah Wenng Marianne Bechmann Gitte Blicher-Mathiesen Karin Eklöf Martyn N. Futter Pirkko Kortelainen Brian Kronvang Katarina Kyllmar Jelena RakovicAbstract
Agricultural, forestry‐impacted and natural catchments are all vectors of nutrient loading in the Nordic countries. Here, we present concentrations and fluxes of total nitrogen (totN) and phosphorus (totP) from 69 Nordic headwater catchments (Denmark: 12, Finland:18, Norway:17, Sweden:22) between 2000 and 2018. Catchments span the range of Nordic climatic and environmental conditions and include natural sites and sites impacted by agricultural and forest management. Concentrations and fluxes of totN and totP were highest in agricultural catchments, intermediate in forestry‐impacted and lowest in natural catchments, and were positively related %agricultural land cover and summer temperature. Summer temperature may be a proxy for terrestrial productivity, while %agricultural land cover might be a proxy for catchment nutrient inputs. A regional trend analysis showed significant declines in N concentrations and export across agricultural (−15 μg totN L−1 year−1) and natural (−0.4 μg NO3‐N L−1 year−1) catchments, but individual sites displayed few long‐term trends in concentrations (totN: 22%, totP: 25%) or export (totN: 6%, totP: 9%). Forestry‐impacted sites had a significant decline in totP (−0.1 μg P L−1 year−1). A small but significant increase in totP fluxes (+0.4 kg P km−2 year−1) from agricultural catchments was found, and countries showed contrasting patterns. Trends in annual concentrations and fluxes of totP and totN could not be explained in a straightforward way by changes in runoff or climate. Explanations for the totN decline include national mitigation measures in agriculture international policy to reduced air pollution and, possibly, large‐scale increases in forest growth. Mitigation to reduce phosphorus appears to be more challenging than for nitrogen. If the green shift entails intensification of agricultural and forest production, new challenges for protection of water quality will emerge possible exacerbated by climate change. Further analysis of headwater totN and totP export should include seasonal trends, aquatic nutrient species and a focus on catchment nutrient inputs.
Abstract
Land use and climate change can impact water quality in agricultural catchments. The objectives were to assess long-term monitoring data to quantify changes to the thermal growing season length, investigate farmer adaptations to this and examine these and other factors in relation to total nitrogen and nitrate water concentrations. Data (1991–2017) from seven small Norwegian agricultural catchments were analysed using Mann–Kendall Trend Tests, Pearson correlation and a linear mixed model. The growing season length increased significantly in four of seven catchments. In catchments with cereal production, the increased growing season length corresponded to a reduction in nitrogen concentrations, but there was no such relationship in grassland catchments. In one cereal catchment, a significant correlation was found between the start of sowing and start of the thermal growing season. Understanding the role of the growing season and other factors can provide additional insight into processes and land use choices taking place in agricultural catchments.
Authors
Hannu Marttila Ahti Lepistö Anne Tolvanen Marianne Bechmann Katarina Kyllmar Artti Juutinen Hannah Wenng Eva Skarbøvik Martyn Futter Pirkko Kortelainen Katri Rankinen Seppo Hellsten Bjørn Kløve Brian Kronvang Øyvind Kaste Anne Lyche Solheim Joy Bhattacharjee Jelena Rakovic Heleen de WitAbstract
Nordic water bodies face multiple stressors due to human activities, generating diffuse loading and climate change. The ‘green shift’ towards a bio-based economy poses new demands and increased pressure on the environment. Bioeconomy-related pressures consist primarily of more intensive land management to maximise production of biomass. These activities can add considerable nutrient and sediment loads to receiving waters, posing a threat to ecosystem services and good ecological status of surface waters. The potential threats of climate change and the ‘green shift’ highlight the need for improved understanding of catchment-scale water and element fluxes. Here, we assess possible bioeconomy-induced pressures on Nordic catchments and associated impacts on water quality. We suggest measures to protect water quality under the ‘green shift’ and propose ‘road maps’ towards sustainable catchment management. We also identify knowledge gaps and highlight the importance of long-term monitoring data and good models to evaluate changes in water quality, improve understanding of bioeconomy-related impacts, support mitigation measures and maintain ecosystem services.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Roar Linjordet Divina Gracia P. Rodriguez Mehreteab Tesfai Anne Prestvik Salome Modiselle Primrose Magama Mokhele MoeletsiAbstract
This chapter analyses the main challenges and opportunities to promote sustainable biogas technology adoption by smallholders through integrated food and energy systems (IFES), using a case study from Malonga village in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Biogas has become attractive in recent years because of its multiple benefits and the contributions it can make to the UN SDGs. However, in Africa, its adoption remains low, due to several constraints, including: (1) water scarcity and lack of access to feedstocks; (2) high initial/upfront cost of installation and lack of investment; (3) lack of skilled labour for installation, operation and maintenance; (4) limited training facilities; (5) inadequate policy support and extension services; and (6) slow behavioural and social acceptance. Based on the information collected, integrated framework conditions that can encourage the adoption of smallholder biogas technology through IFES, were suggested. IFES will only succeed in delivering benefits, if the necessary framework conditions, such as adequate feedstock and water, training, policy support, stakeholder collaboration, credit and insurance and support services are provided. The implementation of the necessary framework conditions for biogas technology should be underpinned by conducting an integrated research study on using IFES type 2 in the context of smallholder farmers in Africa.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Hermine Mitter Anja-K. Techen Franz Sinabell Katharina Helming Erwin Schmid Benjamin Leon Bodirsky Ian Holman Kasper Kok Heikki Lehtonen Adrian Leip Chantal Le Mouel Erik Mathijs Bano Mehdi Klaus Mittenzwei Olivier Mora Knut Øistad Lillian Øygarden Jörg A. Priess Pytrik Reidsma Rüdiger Schaldach Martin SchönhartAbstract
Scenarios describe plausible and internally consistent views of the future. They can be used by scientists, policymakers and entrepreneurs to explore the challenges of global environmental change given an appropriate level of spatial and sectoral detail and systematic development. We followed a nine-step protocol to extend and enrich a set of global scenarios – the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) – providing regional and sectoral detail for European agriculture and food systems using a one-to-one nesting participatory approach. The resulting five Eur-Agri-SSPs are titled (1) Agriculture on sustainable paths, (2) Agriculture on established paths, (3) Agriculture on separated paths, (4) Agriculture on unequal paths, and (5) Agriculture on high-tech paths. They describe alternative plausible qualitative evolutions of multiple drivers of particular importance and high uncertainty for European agriculture and food systems. The added value of the protocol-based storyline development process lies in the conceptual and methodological transparency and rigor; the stakeholder driven selection of the storyline elements; and consistency checks within and between the storylines. Compared to the global SSPs, the five Eur-Agri-SSPs provide rich thematic and regional details and are thus a solid basis for integrated assessments of agriculture and food systems and their response to future socio-economic and environmental changes.
2019
Authors
Robert Barneveld Sjoerd E.A.T.M. van der Zee Inga Greipsland Sigrun Hjalmarsdottir Kværnø Jannes StolteAbstract
Measures designed to control erosion serve two purposes: on site (reduce soil loss) and off site (reduce sediment delivery to streams and lakes). While these objectives often coincide or at least are complementary, they could result in different priority areas when spatial planning is concerned. Prioritising for soil loss reduction at the field level will single out areas with high erosion risk. When sediment flux at the catchment scale is concerned, sediment pathways need to be identified in ex ante analyses of soil conservation plans. In Norway, different subsidy schemes are in place to reduce the influx of solutes and sediments to the freshwater system. Financial support is given to agronomic measures, the most important of which is reduced autumn tillage where areas with higher erosion risk receive higher subsidies. The objectives of this study are (1) to assess the use of an index of connectivity to estimate specific sediment yields, and (2) to test whether conservation measures taken in critical source areas are more effective than those taken at where erosion risk levels are the highest. Different modelling approaches are combined to assess soil loss at catchment level from sheet and gully erosion and soil losses through the drainage system. A calibration on two parameters gave reasonable results for annual soil loss. This model calibration was then used to quantify the effectiveness of three strategies for spatial prioritisation: according to hydrological connectivity, sheet erosion risk level and estimated specific sediment yield. The latter two strategies resulted in a maximum reduction in total soil loss due to reduced autumn tillage of 10%. Both model performance and the effectiveness of the different prioritisation strategies varied between the study catchments.
Abstract
Knowledge of soil microtopography and its changes in space and over time is important to the understanding of how tillage influences infiltration, runoff generation and erosion. In this study, the use of a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) is assessed for its ability to quantify small changes in the soil surface at high spatial resolutions for a relatively large surface area (100 m2). Changes in soil surface morphology during snow cover and melt are driven by frost heave, slaking, pressure exertion by the snowpack and overland flow (erosion and deposition). An attempt is undertaken to link these processes to observed changes at the soil surface. A new algorithm for soil surface roughness is introduced to make optimal use of the raw point cloud. This algorithm is less scale dependent than several commonly used roughness calculations. The results of this study show that TLSs can be used for multitemporal scanning of large surfaces and that small changes in surface elevation and roughness can be detected. Statistical analysis of the observed changes against terrain indices did not yield significant evidence for process differentiation.
Authors
Robert BarneveldAbstract
No abstract has been registered