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.
2023
Authors
Nicolas Valette Arnaud Legout Barry Goodell Gry Alfredsen Lucas Auer Eric Gelhaye Delphine DerrienAbstract
In forest ecosystems, fungi are the key actors in wood decay. They have the capability to degrade lignified substrates and the woody biomass of coniferous forests, with brown rot fungi being common colonizers. Brown rots are typically involved in the earliest phase of lignocellulose breakdown, which therefore influences colonization by other microorganisms. However, few studies have focused on the impact of introducing decayed wood into forest environments to gauge successional colonization by natural bacterial and fungal communities following partial decay. This study aimed to address this issue by investigating the bacterial and fungal colonization of Norway spruce (Picea abies) wood, after intermediate and advanced laboratory-based, pre-decay, by the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum. Using Illumina metabarcoding, the in situ colonization of the wood blocks was monitored 70 days after the blocks were placed on the forest floor and covered with litter. We observed significant changes in the bacterial and fungal communities associated with the pre-decayed stage. Further, the wood substrate condition acted as a gatekeeper by reducing richness for both microbial communities and diversity of fungal communities. Our data also suggest that the growth of some fungal and bacterial species was driven by similar environmental conditions.
Abstract
Brown rot fungi are a marvel and an enigma of Nature. They are capable of depolymerizing holocellulose within wood cell walls without significantly ineralizing lignin. The exact details behind this feat remain unknown, but a staggered mechanism has been identified: 1) an initial step characterized by oxidative degradation of the wood cell wall biopolymers and hypothesized to involve transport of Fe3+ chelated by oxalate into the cell wall, and 2) a second degradation step dominated by hydrolytic enzymes, primarily endoglucanase activity. We subjected spruce wood (Picea abies) to Rhodonia placenta and isolated xylem tissue in the initial stage of degradation. Confocal Raman microscopy revealed oxalate accumulation in the secondary cell wall of a tracheid having fungal hyphae within the lumen. This observation is the first in situ verification of oxalate accumulation within the cell wall during the first step of brown rot degradation.
Authors
Philip van Niekerk Gry Alfredsen Targo Kalamees Roja Modaresi Anna Sandak Jonas Niklewski Christian BrischkeAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Gunnhild SøgaardAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Gunnhild SøgaardAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Gunnhild SøgaardAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Marlee A. Tucker Aafke M. Schipper Tempe S.F. Adams Nina Attias Tal Avgar Natarscha L. Babic Kristin J. Barker Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau Dominik M. Behr Jerrold L. Belant Dean E. Beyer Jr. Niels Blaum J. David Blount Dirk Bockmuhl Ricardo Luiz Pires Boulhosa Michael B. Brown Bayarbaatar Buuveibaatar Francesca Cagnazzi Justin M. Calabrese Rok Cerne Simon Chamaillé-Jammes Aung Nyein Chan Michael J. Chase Yannick Chaval Yvette Chenaux-Ibrahim Seth G. Cherry Dusko Cirovic Emrah Coban Eric K. Cole Laura Conlee Alyson Courtemanch Gabriele Cozzi Sarah C. Davidson Darren DeBloois Nandintsetseg Dejid Vickie DeNicola Arnaud L.J. Desbiez Iain Douglas-Hamilton David Drake Michael Egan Jasper A.J. Eikelboom William F. Fagan Morgan J. Farmer Julian Fennessy Shannon P. Finnegan Christen H. Fleming Bonnie Fournier Nicholas L. Fowler Mariela G. Gantchoff Alexandre Garnier Morten Heim Marco Dietmar Heurich Petra Kaczensky Jonas Kindberg John Durrus Linnell Erling Meisingset Bram Van Moorter Atle Mysterud Manuela Panzacchi Christer Moe Rolandsen Erling Johan Solberg Olav Strand Peter Sunde Nathan J. Svoboda Jonathan Swart Jeffrey J. Thompson Katrina L. Toal Kenneth Uiseb Meredith C. VanAcker Marianela Velilla Tana L. Verzuh Bettina Wachter Brittany L. Wagler Jesse Whittington Martin Wikelski Christopher C. Wilmers George Wittemyer Julie K. Young Filip Zięba Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica Mark A. J. Huijbregts Thomas MuellerAbstract
COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effectson animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and roadavoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019.Individual responses were variable with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely dueto variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns 10-day 95th percentile displacementsincreased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. Animals’1-hour 95th percentiledisplacements declined by 12% and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint,indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors,highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide.
Authors
Robert Spitzer Cecilia Åström Annika Felton Monica Eriksson Erling Meisingset Erling Johan Solberg Christer Moe RolandsenAbstract
Coprophagy, the eating of feces, has been documented in a wide range of species but appears to be rare or difficult to detect in deer (Cervidae). Here, we report the first observation of coprophagy in moose Alces alces, which was recorded using camera collars on free-ranging moose in Norway. The footage shows an instance of allocoprophagy by an adult female moose in spring (May). We summarize the current knowledge about coprophagy in deer and briefly discuss potential drivers and possible implications for disease transmission. Further research is needed to determine whether coprophagy occurs frequently in moose and whether this behavior is positive (e.g., increased intake of nutrients) or negative (increased infection by parasites or pathogens). Alces alces, camera collar, chronic wasting disease, coprophagy, foraging, moose
Authors
Atle Mysterud Erling Johan Solberg Erling Meisingset Manuela Panzacchi Geir Rune Rauset Olav Strand Bram Van Moorter Christer Moe Rolandsen Inger Maren RivrudAbstract
The management of infectious wildlife diseases often involves tackling pathogens that infect multiple host species. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is aprion disease that can infect most cervid species. CWD was detected in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Norway in 2016. Sympatric populations of red deer(Cervus elaphus) and moose (Alces alces) are at immediate risk. However, the estimation of spillover risk across species and implementation of multispecies management policies are rarely addressed for wildlife. Here, we estimated the broad risk of CWD spillover from reindeer to red deer and moose by quantifying the probability of co-occurrence based on both (1) population density and(2) habitat niche overlap from GPS data of all three species in Nordfjella,Norway. We describe the practical challenges faced when aiming to reduce the risk of spillover through a marked reduction in the population densities of moose and red deer using recreational hunters. This involves setting the popu-lation and harvest aims with uncertain information and how to achieve them.The niche overlap between reindeer and both moose and red deer was low overall but occurred seasonally. Migratory red deer had a moderate niche over-lap with the CWD-infected reindeer population during the calving period, whereas moose had a moderate niche overlap during both calving and winter. Incorporating both habitat overlap and the population densities of the respective species into the quantification of co-occurrence allowed for more spatially targeted risk maps. An initial aim of a 50% reduction in abundance for the Nordfjella region was set, but only a moderate population decrease of less than 20% from 2016 to 2021 was achieved. Proactive management in the form of marked population reduction is invasive and unpopular when involving species of high societal value, and targeting efforts to zones with a high risk ofspillover to limit adverse impacts and achieve wider societal acceptance is important. disease management, host range, moose, multihost pathogens, niche overlap, Norway,population estimation, red deer, reindeer
Authors
Barbara Mariotti Juan A. Oliet Enrique Andivia Marianthi Tsakaldimi Pedro Villar-Salvador Vladan Ivetić Antonio Montagnoli Ivona Kerkez Janković Nebi Bilir Henrik Bohlenius Branislav Cvjetković Kārlis Dūmiņš Juha Heiskanen Georgi Hinkov Inger Sundheim Fløistad Claudia CocozzaAbstract
Purpose of Review The demand for forest tree seedlings is increasing globally, and Sphagnum peat moss is widely used as a component of growing media for container plant production. However, peat extraction is environmentally unsustainable. The forest nursery sector needs to switch to more sustainable alternatives to peat. This review aims to identify potential substitutes for peat by reviewing the worldwide literature on alternative materials for growing media in forest nurseries. Recent Findings Most studies on alternative growing media focused on single plant species growing under local conditions, thereby limiting generalizations about the effectiveness of alternative materials for plant production. To our knowledge, no systematic reviews of scientific literature on the effectiveness of new, alternative-to-peat materials for enhancing plant growth and the associated growing media characteristics for the forest nursery sector are currently available. Summary Most of the analyzed case studies focused on angiosperms (73.1%), with the majority of studies coming from tropical seasonal forests/savannas (36.5%), followed by woodlands/shrublands (31.6%), and temperate forests (15.0%) biomes. Compost was the most studied material (19.5%), followed by bark, other organic materials, and manure (9.8, 9.7, and 8.0%, respectively). Green and municipal wastes were the principal sources of compost (> 60%), while agriculture and green wastes were the first sources of other materials (> 90%). Tested materials were dependent on the geographic region. Thus, manure was the most tested material in Africa and South America, tree bark in North America, and compost in Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Alternative materials effectively provided optimal physicochemical characteristics of growing media and enhanced seedling nursery growth when compared with peat-based growing media in more than 60% of the case studies. This review helps to identify research gaps and, most importantly, provides the basis for the future application of alternative growing media materials in forest nursery management worldwide.