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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.

2024

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Abstract

Drought hardening is a nursery technique aimed to enhance early forest plantation establishment under dry conditions, which is a main limiting factors for plantation success. However, the quantitative effectiveness of drought hardening remains unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of different factors in the effectiveness of drought hardening on seedling post-planting survival and growth. Overall, drought hardening did not significantly affect survival or growth, as several factors induced great heterogeneity, but analyses of those factors explained its effectiveness, especially on survival. A longer time between hardening and transplanting strongly reduced survival. Indoor-grown seedlings did not benefit more from hardening than outdoor-grown seedlings. Evaluations of drought hardening effectiveness in pots showed positive effects on survival but negative effects on growth, while no effects were found in large bed experiments. In field experiments, hardening significantly increased survival and growth with site aridity. Survival benefits were independent of species drought tolerance, measured by osmotic potential at the turgor loss point (πtlp), in moderate to high aridity sites. However, in low aridity sites, hardening increased survival in drought-tolerant species but decreased it in drought-intolerant species. Field results showed that hardening benefited shrubs more than trees in angiosperms. In conclusion, drought hardening at the end of nursery cultivation tend to increase post-planting seedling performance particularly in scenarios limiting post-planting root growth such as in arid climates and pot experiments. Our findings highlight the importance of future research on modelling the interaction between these technical features and species water use strategies..

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Abstract

Non-steady-state chambers are often used for greenhouse gas flux measurements, and while there are recommendations on how long to keep the chamber closed, it is less investigated to what extent the length of the chamber closure period affects the estimated flux rates and which closure periods may provide the most accurate linear and non-linear flux estimates. Previous studies have shown that the closure of non-steady-state chambers induces a non-linear concentration development inside the chamber, even across short chamber closure periods, and that both linear and non-linear flux estimates are impacted by the chamber closure period itself. Based on 3,159 individual soil CO2 and CH4 flux measurements, we analyzed how linear regression and Hutchinson and Mosier (1981) modeled flux estimates are affected by the length of the chamber closure period by increasing it in increments of 30 sec, with a minimum and maximum chamber closure period of 60 and 300 sec, respectively. Across all detected flux measurements, the effect of chamber closure period length varied between 1.4–8.0 % for linear regression estimates and between 0.4–17.8 % for Hutchinson–Mosier estimates, and the largest effect sizes were observed in high flux regions. While both linear regression and Hutchinson–Mosier based estimates decreased as the chamber closure period increased, we observed a clear convergence of flux estimates as shorter and longer chamber closure periods were used for linear regression and Hutchinson–Mosier based estimation, respectively. This suggests using closure periods as short as possible for linear regression flux estimation or ensuring long-enough closure periods to observe a stabilization of Hutchinson–Mosier flux estimates over time. This analysis was based on soil flux measurements, but because the perturbation of the concentration gradient is related to the non-steady-state chamber technique rather than the measured ecosystem component, our results have implications for all flux measurements conducted with non-steady-state chambers. Non-steady-state Static chamber Closure period Concentration gradient Hutchinson–Mosier Minimum detectable flux

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Abstract

Mapping and quantification of forest biomass change are key for forest management and for forests’ contribution to the global carbon budget. We explored the potential of covering this with repeated acquisitions with TanDEM-X. We used an eight-year period in a Tanzanian miombo woodland as a test case, having repeated TanDEM-X elevation data for this period and repeated field inventory data. We also investigated the use of GEDI space–LiDAR footprint AGB estimates as an alternative to field inventory. The map of TanDEM-X elevation change appeared to be an accurate representation of the geography of forest biomass change. The relationship between TanDEM-X phase height and above-ground biomass (AGB) could be represented as a straight line passing through the origin, and this relationship was the same at both the beginning and end of the period. We obtained a similar relationship when we replaced field plot data with the GEDI data. In conclusion, temporal change in miombo woodland biomass is closely related to change in InSAR elevation, and this enabled both an accurate mapping and quantification wall to wall within 5–10% error margins. The combination of TanDEM-X and GEDI may have a near-global potential for estimation of temporal change in forest biomass.

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Abstract

Grazing by wildlife on agricultural land is widespread across geographical regions, and can cause human–wildlife conflicts due to reduced crop yield when the grazing pressure is high. Growing red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations in Europe call for an increased understanding of their grazing patterns to mitigate damages. We quantified how red deer grazing pressure (grazing presence and grazing level) on agricultural grass meadows (n = 60) in Norway varied across multiple spatial scales. We used a nested, hierarchical study design transcending from a broad scale (meadows across the landscape) to intermediate (between nearby meadows) and local (within-meadow) scales, allowing us to identify at which scale the variation in grazing pressure was strongest. We estimated how grazing was determined by broad-scale factors influencing forage availability and quality through population density, distance to coastline, and differences between the first versus second harvest, by intermediate-scale factors in terms of meadow management causing differences in botanical composition and quality, and by local-scale factors in terms of perceived predation risk and disturbance. At a broad scale, higher population densities were associated with higher grazing pressure, and more grazing occurred before the first compared to the second harvest. Intermediate-scale factors explained the most variation of grazing pressure from red deer, with higher grazing pressure on newly renewed meadows compared to other nearby meadows. On a local scale, more grazing occurred closer to the forest edge, providing cover, and further away from infrastructure, with increased risk and disturbance. Overall, our study highlights how drivers of grazing pressure on agricultural land vary across spatial scales. Population reductions on a broader scale may have some effect in reducing the grazing pressure, but renewed meadows will nevertheless attract red deer, causing higher grazing pressure compared to neighbouring meadows. This insight is crucial for determining effective mitigation strategies facing rising red deer populations across Europe.

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Abstract

1. Sap flow measurements are fundamental to understanding water use in trees and could aid in predicting climate change effects on forest function. Deriving knowledge from such measurements requires empirical calibrations and upscaling methods to translate thermometric recordings to tree water use. Here, we developed a user-friendly open-source application, the Sap Flow Analyzer (SFA), which estimates sap flow rates and tree water use from the heat field deformation (HFD) instruments. 2. The SFA incorporates four key features to ensure maximum accuracy and reproducibility of sap flow estimates: diagnosis diagrams to assess data patterns visually, regression models implemented to increase accuracy when estimating K (the main HFD parameter), three approaches to upscale sap flow rates to whole-tree water use and visualization of the input parameters' uncertainty. Thirteen participants were given three raw datasets and assigned data processing tasks using the SFA user guide, from estimating sapwood depth to scaling sap flow rates to whole-tree water use to assess the reproducibility and applicability of the SFA. 3. Participants' results were reasonably consistent and independent of their background in using the SFA, R, or HFD method. The results showed lower variability for high flow rates (SD: mean 1% vs. 10%). K estimates and sapwood depth differentiation were the primary sources of variability, which in turn was mainly caused by the user's chosen scaling method. 4. The SFA provides an easy way to visualize and process sap flow and tree water use data from HFD measurements. It is the first free and open software tool for HFD users. The ability to trace analysis steps ensures reproducibility, increasing transparency and consistency in data processing. Developing tools such as the SFA and masked trials are essential for more precise workflows and improved quality and comparability of HFD sap flow datasets.