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.
2019
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Andreas Treu Katrin Zimmer Christian Brischke Erik Larnøy Lone Ross Foued Aloui Simon M. Cragg Per-Otto Flæte Miha Humar Mats Westin Luisa Borges John WilliamsAbstract
Timber structures in marine applications are often exposed to severe degradation conditions caused by mechanical loads and wood-degrading organisms. This paper presents the use of timber in marine environments in Europe from a wood protection perspective. It discusses the use of wood in coastline protection and archeological marine wood, reviews the marine borer taxa in European waters, and gives an overview of potential solutions for protection of timber in marine environments. Information was compiled from the most relevant literature sources with an emphasis on new wood protection methods; the need for research and potential solutions are discussed. Traditionally, timber has been extensively utilized in a variety of marine applications. Although there is a strong need for developing new protection systems for timber in marine applications, the research in this field has been scarce for many years. New attempts to protect timber used in marine environments in Europe have mainly focused on wood modification and the use of mechanical barriers to prevent colonization of marine wood borers. The importance of understanding the mechanisms of settlement, migration, boring, and digestion of the degrading organisms is key for developing effective systems for protecting timber in marine environments.
Abstract
Global Forest Watch (GFW) provides a global map of annual forest cover loss (FCL) produced from Landsat imagery, offering a potentially powerful tool for monitoring changes in forest cover. In managed forests, FCL primarily provides information on commercial harvesting. A semi-autonomous method for providing data on the location and attributes of harvested sites at a landscape level was developed which could significantly improve the basis for catchment management, including risk mitigation. FCL in combination with aerial images was used for detecting and characterising harvested sites in a 1607 km2 mountainous boreal forest catchment in south-central Norway. Firstly, the forest cover loss map was enhanced (FCLE) by removing small isolated forest cover loss patches that had a high probability of representing commission errors. The FCLE map was then used to locate and assess sites representing annual harvesting activity over a 17-year period. Despite an overall accuracy of >98%, a kappa of 0.66 suggested only a moderate quality for detecting harvested sites. While errors of commission were negligible, errors of omission were more considerable and at least partially attributed to the presence of residual seed trees on the site after harvesting. The systematic analysis of harvested sites against aerial images showed a detection rate of 94%, but the area of the individual harvested site was underestimated by 29% on average. None of the site attributes tested, including slope, area, altitude, or site shape index, had any effect on the accuracy of the area estimate. The annual harvest estimate was 0.6% (standard error 12%) of the productive forest area. On average, 96% of the harvest was carried out on flat to moderately steep terrain (<40% slope), 3% on steep terrain (40% to 60% slope), and 1% on very steep terrain (>60% slope). The mean area of FCLE within each slope category was 1.7 ha, 0.9 ha, and 0.5 ha, respectively. The mean FCLE area increased from 1.0 ha to 3.2 ha on flat to moderate terrain over the studied period, while the frequency of harvesting increased from 249 to 495 sites per year. On the steep terrain, 35% of the harvesting was done with cable yarding, and 62% with harvester-forwarder systems. On the very steep terrain (>60% slope), 88% of the area was harvested using cable yarding technology while harvesters and forwarders were used on 12% of the area. Overall, FCL proved to be a useful dataset for the purpose of assessing harvesting activity under the given conditions.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data for modelling tree density and canopy height in young boreal forests stands. The use of UAV data for such tasks can be beneficial thanks to the high resolution and reduction of the time spent in the field. This study included 29 forest stands, within which 580 clustered plots were measured in the field. An area-based approach was adopted to which random forest models were fitted using the plot data and the corresponding UAV data and then applied and validated at plot and stand level. The results were compared to those of models based on airborne laser scanning (ALS) data and those from a traditional field-assessment. The models based on UAV data showed the smallest stand-level RMSE values for mean height (0.56 m) and tree density (1175 trees ha−1 ). The RMSE of the tree density using UAV data was 50% smaller than what was obtained using ALS data (2355 trees ha−1 ). Overall, this study highlighted that the use of UAVs for the inventory of forest stands under regeneration can be beneficial both because of the high accuracy of the derived data analytics and the time saving compared to traditional field assessments.
Authors
Rasmus Astrup Johannes Rahlf Knut Bjørkelo Misganu Debella-Gilo Arnt Kristian Gjertsen Johannes BreidenbachAbstract
This paper describes the development and utility of the Norwegian forest resources map (SR16). SR16 is developed using photogrammetric point cloud data with ground plots from the Norwegian National Forest Inventory (NFI). First, an existing forest mask was updated with object-based image analysis methods. Evaluation against the NFI forest definitions showed Cohen's kappa of 0.80 and accuracy of 0.91 in the lowlands and a kappa of 0.73 and an accuracy of 0.96 in the mountains. Within the updated forest mask, a 16×16 m raster map was developed with Lorey's height, volume, biomass, and tree species as attributes (SR16-raster). All attributes were predicted with generalized linear models that explained about 70% of the observed variation and had relative RMSEs of about 50%. SR16-raster was segmented into stand-like polygons that are relatively homogenous in respect to tree species, volume, site index, and Lorey's height (SR16-vector). When SR16 was utilized in a combination with the NFI plots and a model-assisted estimator, the precision was on average 2–3 times higher than estimates based on field data only. In conclusion, SR16 is useful for improved estimates from the Norwegian NFI at various scales. The mapped products may be useful as additional information in Forest Management Inventories.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Temperature during seed maturation can induce an epigenetic memory effect in growth phenology of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) that lasts for several years. To quantify the epigenetic modifications induced by natural climatic variation, common garden experiments with plants originating from different provenances and seed years were performed. Plants from warmer seed years showed delayed phenology with later bud flush, bud set and growth cessation. This effect was quantified by linear models of phenology traits as a function of climate indices for the origin and seed year of the plants. Significant effects of the temperature during seed production (seed year) was found for the bud set in seedlings in their first growing season and for bud flush and growth cessation in the 7th-8th growing season from seed. The models suggest that growth start and growth cessation are delayed 0.7–1.8 days per 100 additional degree days experienced by the seed during embryo development and seed maturation. Models that include factors that are known to induce epigenetic effects could be used to better predict future performance of forest reproductive material.