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.
2017
Sammendrag
Changes in forest management have been suggested as a government policy to mitigate climate change in Norway. Tree species change is one of the major strategies considered, with the aim to increase the annual uptake of CO2 as well as the long-term storage of carbon (C) in forests. The strategy includes replacing native, deciduous species with fast-growing species, mainly Norway spruce. Forests in western Norway host some of the largest soil C pools in Scandinavia, and may potentially function as a long-term C reservoir as well as a large source of atmospheric CO2 through decomposition. The project BalanC was initiated in 2016 in order to estimate the C storage potential related to tree species in a total of 15 parallel plots of birch and planted Norway spruce at 5 locations in western Norway. In addition to estimates of C stocks in biomass and soils, we investigate soil C processes, soil fungal and earthworm diversity, albedo, and wood product life-cycles. The current presentation focuses on C stocks in soils relative to trees, soil respiration, and soil climate data. Preliminary results indicate that the soil respiration in spruce was 85 % of the respiration in birch, with a span ranging from 55-151%. The preliminary soil temperature and soil moisture data of the spruce stands were 97 and 73%, respectively, of the birch stands, indicating cooler and drier conditions under spruce which may affect decomposition and C accumulation rates. We expect C allocation in the soil to be affected by tree species, with larger C stocks in the forest floor of spruce stands compared to the mineral soil. Consistent differences in the bulk density of soils under each tree species are likely to be observed, pointing out the need to compare soil C stocks based on equal soil mass. The magnitude of the combined C stock in biomass and soil may increase with planting of spruce, however, we also expect an impact on C stability that will affect the overall mitigation effect of this measure.
Sammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Forfattere
Ingeborg Callesen Marjo M. Palviainen O. Janne Kjønaas Kȩstutis E. Armolaitis Charlotte RasmussenSammendrag
Soil texture is a key soil physical property for soil quality and used in modeling studies through pedotransfer functions (PTF) for the prediction of physical, e.g. hydraulic, soil properties. Soil texture is quantified by a particle size distribution (PSD) of the fine earth fraction and often translated into a texture class using defined separates of clay (0 - 2 µm), silt (2 µm to 20 µm, 50 µm or 63 µm) and sand (20 µm, 50 µm or 63 µm up to 2 mm) illustrated in a texture triangle. Until now pretreatment methods (e.g. humus and carbonate removal and dispersion) followed by standardised sedimentation and sieving methods have been well-defined. From literature and a mini-survey, we know already that laser diffraction is a commonly used analytical method for soil PSD determination in scientific environmental studies that involve soils. A body of literature has documented that colloid-sized fraction results obtained by laser diffraction analysis of fine-textured soil samples are not comparable to those obtained with sedimentation and sieving methods, when translating to the traditional particle size limits clay, silt and sand. Also, operating procedures for pretreatment of soil samples are variable, and the analyzed sample volumes are small, adding to uncertainty. In this study we first compared PSD’s from three different instruments for a set of soil samples to study reproducibility using the analytical operating procedures developed by the owner institutions (Malvern Mastersizer 2000, University of Copenhagen, Coulter LS230, University of Helsinki, and Sympatec Helos, Aarhus University). Secondly, we compared the influence of 1 mm sieving and found decreased fraction standard deviation and improved repeatability of the PSD determination by laser diffraction on the Coulter LS230. 1 mm sieving should be corrected for if the mass is more than a few percent, but depending on study purpose. Thirdly, the laser diffraction PSD’s were compared with PSD’s obtained by sieving and hydrometer analysis showing well-known underestimation of colloids and fine fractions, that increased with colloid content. We conclude that PSD’s obtained by the laser diffraction method are repeatable and mostly reproducible given standardised pretreatment. Translation to texture class using traditional separates does not work well, and more work and new PTF’s for soils are needed that can translate a laser diffraction PSD into a texture class and its associated physical properties for further use in modeling studies.
Forfattere
Anna Sandak Jakub Sandak Athanasios Dimitriou Ingunn Burud Thomas Kringlebotn Thiis Lone Ross Graham Alan Ormondroyd Dimitrios KraniotisSammendrag
Bio-based building materials offer a wide range of outlooks, from traditional rustic to modern design products. Recent development in the science of materials significantly improves their functional performance. However, when considering the use of bio-materials in outdoor environments, materials will deteriorate due to processes like weathering, oxidation, biodegradation, wear, and decay. Consequentially, biomaterials may lose visual appeal, leading to a perceived need for replacement even if the material is far from reaching functional failure. Visual assessment is the most direct method for evaluation of the aesthetic appearance of materials. However, it possesses a high degree of subjectivity when performed by an untrained person. On the contrary, measurement of surface properties with dedicated sensors provides objective values that might be related to the current state of the material in use. Recent developments in field of optics and electronics opens a new possibility to perform measurements in-situ. Colour-, gloss-, or spectro-photo-meters allow non-destructive measurements without particular sample preparation. Since all of the above techniques provide complementary information, the multi-sensor approach is more frequently suggested for applied research. The material state can be assessed regularly during service life. In this case, such measurement turns into monitoring. The paper illustrates examples of assessment and monitoring of biomaterials’ degradation due to weathering. Direct implementation of various sensors is demonstrated. A proposal for the approach of combining data provided by various sensing techniques with data mining is also presented.
Sammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Sammendrag
Mould growth is an important contributor to colour change of untreated wood exposed outdoors. Predicting the development of mould growth is therefore important to ensure successful use of untreated wood as a façade material. More knowledge about the factors affecting mould growth on outdoor exposed wood is required to give better predictions. In this study, climatic factors and material properties affecting mould growth have been investigated by exposing selected wooden specimens (aspen, pine sapwood, pine heartwood, spruce sapwood and spruce heartwood) to 8 different climates for 91 days. The climates were defined in a factorial design with two levels of relative humidity (65 and 85 %), wetting period (2 and 4 hours per day) and temperature (10 and 25 °C), respectively. The degree of mould growth was visually evaluated once a week during the exposure period. Aspen and pine sapwood were the substrates most susceptible to mould growth. There were no significant differences in susceptibility between pine heartwood and spruce heartwood, but the difference between heartwood and sapwood was significant for both pine and spruce. The effect of density on mould growth was tested for the spruce heartwood material, but was not found to reduce the residual variance significantly. However, all the tested climatic factors affected mould growth significantly; relative humidity was most important, while there was a somewhat smaller effect of wetting period and a minor effect of temperature. Overall, increased RH, longer wetting period and increased temperature had a positive effect on the mould growth. It was found a significant interaction between temperature and relative humidity, indicating that the temperature had larger effect on the mould growth at lower relative humidity, and that the relative humidity had larger effect at lower temperature. There was a tendency that the relative performance of the substrates was dependent on climate, but this interaction effect was not significant for any of the climatic factors.
Sammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Sammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Forfattere
Lone RossSammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Forfattere
Lone RossSammendrag
No abstract has been registered