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
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Magnus Karlsson Ari M. Hietala Harald Kvaalen Halvor Solheim Åke Olson Jan Stenlid Carl Gunnar FossdalAbstract
Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) has a natural distribution in the northern parts of Europe and Asia and is economically the most important tree species grown in the Nordic countries. A common threat to Norway spruce is the basidiomyceteous fungus Heterobasidion parviporum Niemelä and Korhonen. H. parviporum mainly attacks Norway spruce, although Siberian fir (Abies sibirica Ledeb.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) occasionally get infected. One obstacle to studying host/pathogen interaction in conifers has been the limited availability of mature clones for controlled inoculations, as genetic variation within the host material and the lack of replicates complicate interpretation of the results. Somatic embryogenesis, rooted cuttings, and tissue cultures may provide solutions for this problem. Tissue cultures from mature Norway spruce trees have been proposed as a possible model system for assessing resistance toward fungal pathogens. Recent data on chitinase isoform activity in the Norway spruce/H. parviporum pathosystem are encouraging; clonal variation was observed in the isoforms affected by inoculation, and the isoforms showing increased band intensity following bark inoculation by H. parviporum were also induced in the inoculated tissue cultures of the corresponding clones. To investigate the biological relevance of tissue cultures in host-pathogen interaction studies, transcript levels of selected host and pathogen genes in tissue cultures of Norway spruce were compared to those in bark of 33-year-old ramets of the same clones upon challenge by the pathogenic fungus H. parviporum. Similar transcript profiles of the pathogen and host genes were observed in both tissues, this supporting the use of tissue cultures as experimental material for the pathosystem. Higher transcript levels of the host genes phenylalanine ammonia lyase, peroxidase, and glutathione-S-transferase were observed in the more resistant clone #589 than in the less resistant clone #409 during the early stages of colonization. The most striking difference between the spruce clones was related to gene transcript levels of a class IV chitinase, which showed a continuous increase in clone #409 over the experimental period, with a possible association of this gene product to programmed cell death. Several of the fungal genes assayed were differentially expressed during colonization, including putative glutathione-S-transferases, laccase, cellulase, cytochrome P450 and superoxide dismutase genes. The transcriptional responses suggest an important role for the antioxidant systems of both organisms.
Abstract
The minirhizotron technique provides the opportunity to perform in situ measurements of fine root dynamics and obtain accurate estimates of fine root production and turnover. The objective of the present work was to determine the fine root longevity and mycorrhization in a Norway spruce chronosequence. The study was carried out on four stands of planted Norway spruce (Picea abies), approximately 10, 30, 60 and 120 years old, during 2001 and 2002. The stands were located at Nordmoen, a plain of sandy deposits in southeast Norway (60o15 N, 11o06 E). For the root turnover study, altogether 60 minirhizotrones were installed and images were processed.Individual fine roots were identified, their mycorrhization assessed, appearance and possible disappearance dated, and growth in length measured. The data set was subjected to a survival analysis, using a Kaplan-Meier product-limit approach. The minirhizotron samples were stratified according to stand age class, and Coxs F-test was used to analyze differences in survival estimates. The analysis may also be extended to consider other covariates such as tree species (spruce, pine or birch), understory vegetation, or soil depth. Typical survival function estimates will be presented, and the influence of stand age on the mycorrhization and the dynamics of the fine roots will be discussed.
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.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Holger LangeAbstract
Most phenomena in ecosystem research are assessed via repeated measurements of environmental variables. The dynamics of these time series is investigated with a variety of statistical techniques; in this article, we focus on modern nonlinear methods. They enable separation of short- and long-term components, show all types of trends and quantify the information contained and the complexity of the data sets.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Fine root production, respiration, longevity and mortality are the major processes in carbon dynamics of the forest soils. The objective of the present work was to determine fine root biomass, respiration and root longevity. The study was carried out at a ten year-old stand of planted Norway spruce (Picea abies) (a clearcut, dominated by natural regrowth of Scots pine and birch) and three stands of Norway spruce, approximately 30, 60 and 120 years old, during 2001 and 2002. The stands were located at Nordmoen, a plain of sandy deposits in southeast Norway.Root biomass of both trees and understorey vegetation (0-1, 1-2 and 2-5 mm in diameter) in the humus layer and mineral soil horizons (to depth of 60 cm) was sampled by soil coring. Root respiration was performed in situ, by measuring the CO2 of excavated fine roots by using the CIRAS-I portable gas analyser. For the root turnover study, altogether 60 minirhizotrones were installed and images were processed. Root biomass and necromass (g m-2), specific root length (SRL, m g -1), root length density (RLD, cm cm-3), number of root-tips and mean longevity (y) were estimated.Root biomass was 2-3 times higher in the mineral soil than in the humus horizon. Compared with other stands, root biomass, SRL, RLD and the number of root tips were highest in the 30-year-old stand. At the 10 and 120 year-old stands understorey vegetation roots counted for 70 and 40% of total root biomass, respectively. The amount of necromass at 60 year-old stand was about twice as high (45%) compared to other stands.Root respiration (g C/min./g roots) was significantly lowest at 10-year-old stand. Root respiration among 30, 60 and 120 year-old stands was not significantly different, but it was highest in the 60-year-old stand. The respiration varied seasonally, with high peaks during the summer and lower values during the spring and autumn. Fine root longevity of tree and understorey roots at the 10-year-old stand were 1.2 and 1.4 years, respectively.It is concluded that stand age may influence the dynamics of the fine roots. The complexity of influences will be discussed.