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.
2020
Authors
Sophia Etzold Marco Ferretti Gert Jan Reinds Svein Solberg Arthur Gessler Peter Waldner Marcus Schaub David Simpson Sue Benham Karin Hansen Morten Ingerslev Mathieu Jonard Per Erik Karlsson Antti-Jussi Lindroos Aldo Marchetto Miklos Manninger Henning Meesenburg Päivi Merilä Pekka Nöjd Pasi Rautio Tanja G.M. Sanders Walter Seidling Mitja Skudnik Anne Thimonier Arne Verstraeten Lars Vesterdal Monika Vejpustkova Wim de VriesAbstract
Changing environmental conditions may substantially interact with site quality and forest stand characteristics, and impact forest growth and carbon sequestration. Understanding the impact of the various drivers of forest growth is therefore critical to predict how forest ecosystems can respond to climate change. We conducted a continental-scale analysis of recent (1995–2010) forest volume increment data (ΔVol, m3 ha−1 yr−1), obtained from ca. 100,000 coniferous and broadleaved trees in 442 even-aged, single-species stands across 23 European countries. We used multivariate statistical approaches, such as mixed effects models and structural equation modelling to investigate how European forest growth respond to changes in 11 predictors, including stand characteristics, climate conditions, air and site quality, as well as their interactions. We found that, despite the large environmental gradients encompassed by the forests examined, stand density and age were key drivers of forest growth. We further detected a positive, in some cases non-linear effect of N deposition, most pronounced for beech forests, with a tipping point at ca. 30 kg N ha−1 yr−1. With the exception of a consistent temperature signal on Norway spruce, climate-related predictors and ground-level ozone showed much less generalized relationships with ΔVol. Our results show that, together with the driving forces exerted by stand density and age, N deposition is at least as important as climate to modulate forest growth at continental scale in Europe, with a potential negative effect at sites with high N deposition.
Abstract
Organic industrial and household waste is increasingly used in biogas plants to produce bioenergy, generating at the same time extensive amounts of organic residues, called biogas digestates. While agricultural soils can benefit from the organic matter and nutrients, in particular nitrogen and phosphorus, contained in biogas digestates, we need to assess the environmental and health risks associated to the undesirable substances that may come along. Among those, only a few are covered by actual regulations. For instance, the quantity of plastic materials below 4 mm in biogas digestate is currently not limited to any threshold, despite its likely occurrence in organic waste (waste bag remains and wrong waste sorting) and persistence in the environment. The aim of our study was identify and quantify plastic materials in digestates from Norwegian biogas plants, that are using various types of organic waste sources (e.g. sewage sludge, food waste, animal manure). In addition, a lab-scale experiment was set up to assess the physical and chemical transformations undergone during biogas processes by plastic materials commonly found in digestates. The methods used in our study included simultaneous thermal analysis coupled to Fourier transform-Infrared spectroscopy (for analysis of polymer composition), scanning electron microscopy (for assessment of physical transformations), and a range of physical and chemical extractions for recovering plastic materials from biogas digestates. While all digestates complied with current regulations, plastic particles with a size of 0.2-3 mm made up to 1% (on dry mass basis) of the samples analyzed. Analysis of the polymeric composition of the recovered plastic fragments confirmed that they originated both from the waste bags themselves (shredded during the first steps of waste handling) and from wrong waste sorting. In addition, the lab-scale biogas treatment was shown to considerably change the structure of the studied plastic materials, illustrating a pathway for the formation of secondary microplastics. Some analytical challenges linked to the size and aging of the plastic materials, as well as the complex composition of the digestates, will be discussed. From a broader perspective, a few options will be presented to address the presence of plastic materials in biogas digestates, and thereby minimize the risk associated to their use as soil amendment.
Authors
Annika M. Felton Emma Holmström Jonas Malmsten Adam Felton Joris P.G.M. Cromsigt Lars Edenius Göran Ericsson Fredrik Widemo Hilde Karine WamAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Identification of stocktype attributes that speed up field establishment has potential to reduce rotation time of Christmas tree productions. Such morphological and physiological attributes can be targeted in the nursery production. This study tested the effects of container type and nursery seedling density on stocktype attributes at planting and the effects of these on field performance over two years in Abies lasiocarpa and A. nordmanniana Christmas tree stock. Nursery conditions had a considerable impact on seedling attributes at planting. Although sets of these correlated stocktype attributes contributed to forecast field performance, the predictive power was low. No simple relationships were found between plant biomass, stem diameter or height at planting and biomass at final harvest in either of the two species under the range of stocktype variation and field conditions tested. Contrary, stem diameter and stem height at planting explained some of the responses in stem diameter and height after two years in the field. Thus, any target seedling approach would have to be based on a combined set of stocktype attributes exploring more productive stocktypes. The differences observed between stocktypes were largely due to size differences and ontogenetic drift, and stocktypes converged towards a similar field phenotype over time.
Abstract
Controlled crosses were made on clones in a seed orchard and the pollination bags were kept on the branches until the cones were harvested. Cones after open pollination were collected at the same time. Seedlings from the controlled pollinations, from open pollination of the same maternal parent and from commercial provenances were grown in growth chambers and terminal bud set was recorded after short day treatments. The seedlings from the seeds of cones that were kept in the pollination bags had a significantly later bud set then expected based on comparisons with their half-sibs from open pollination. The difference corresponds to a decrease in altitude of 100 m at provenance level. It can be caused by epigenetic effects due to temperature differences inside and outside the bags during seed maturation.
Authors
Martin Pettersson Venche Talgø Odd Ragnar Johnskås Jan-Ole Skage Torfinn Torp Inger Sundheim FløistadAbstract
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No abstract has been registered