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.
2018
Authors
Bjørn Egil FløAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Rene Schils Jørgen E. Olesen Kurt-Christian Kersebaum Bert Rijk Michael Oberforster Valery Kalyada Maksim Khitrykau Anne Gobin Hristofor Kirchev Vanya Manolova Ivan Manolov Mirek Trnka Petr Hlavinka Taru Palosuo Pirjo Peltonen-Sainio Lauri Jauhiainen Josiane Lorgeou Helene Marrou Nikos Danalatos Sotirios Archontoulis Nandor Fodor John Spink Pier Paolo Roggero Simona Bassu Antonio Pulina Till Seehusen Anne Kjersti Uhlen Katarzyna Zylowska Anna Nierobca Jerzy Kozyra Joao Vasco Silva Benvindo Martins Macas José Coutinho Viorel Ion Jozef Takác M. Ines Minguez Henrik Eckersten Lilia Levy Juan Manuel Herrera Jürg Hiltbrunner Oleksii Kryvobok Oleksandr Kryvoshein Roger Sylvester-Bradley Daniel Kindred Cairistiona F.E. Topp Hendrik Boogaard Hugo de Groot Jan Peter Lesschen Lenny van Bussel Joost Wolf Mink Zijlstra Marloes P. van Loon Martin K. van IttersumAbstract
Europe accounts for around 20% of the global cereal production and is a net exporter of ca. 15% of that production. Increasing global demand for cereals justifies questions as to where and by how much Europe’s production can be increased to meet future global market demands, and how much additional nitrogen (N) crops would require. The latter is important as environmental concern and legislation are equally important as production aims in Europe. Here, we used a country-by-country, bottom-up approach to establish statistical estimates of actual grain yield, and compare these to modelled estimates of potential yields for either irrigated or rainfed conditions. In this way, we identified the yield gaps and the opportunities for increased cereal production for wheat, barley and maize, which represent 90% of the cereals grown in Europe. The combined mean annual yield gap of wheat, barley, maize was 239 Mt, or 42% of the yield potential. The national yield gaps ranged between 10 and 70%, with small gaps in many north-western European countries, and large gaps in eastern and south-western Europe. Yield gaps for rainfed and irrigated maize were consistently lower than those of wheat and barley. If the yield gaps of maize, wheat and barley would be reduced from 42% to 20% of potential yields, this would increase annual cereal production by 128 Mt (39%). Potential for higher cereal production exists predominantly in Eastern Europe, and half of Europe’s potential increase is located in Ukraine, Romania and Poland. Unlocking the identified potential for production growth requires a substantial increase of the crop N uptake of 4.8 Mt. Across Europe, the average N uptake gaps, to achieve 80% of the yield potential, were 87, 77 and 43 kg N ha−1 for wheat, barley and maize, respectively. Emphasis on increasing the N use efficiency is necessary to minimize the need for additional N inputs. Whether yield gap reduction is desirable and feasible is a matter of balancing Europe’s role in global food security, farm economic objectives and environmental targets.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Worldwide semi-natural habitats of high biological value are in decline. Consequently, numerous AgriEnvironment Schemes (AESs) intended to halt biodiversity loss within these habitats have been implemented. One approach has been the application of “adaptive management”, where scientific knowledge is applied alongside the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of stakeholders in order to establish an integrated approach that is adjusted as outcomes are assessed. In this paper we examine the effectiveness of the adaptive management approach of Norway’s Action Plan for Hay Meadows (APHM). Twenty-nine hay meadows from fourteen farms in the county of Møre og Romsdal were ecologically surveyed over a 2 year period. Interviews were also conducted with owners and land managers to explore TEK and management issues. The interdisciplinary study found that the disembedding of hay meadow management from its initial commercial purpose (in particular the loss of much of the livestock from the region) has contributed to a significant loss of TEK – which is now largely limited to knowledge of how the fields were managed recently. While, the APHM is limiting biodiversity decline by promoting traditional practices there were indications that the standardisation of management actions might negatively affect species composition in the long term. More critically, continued farm abandonment within the region means that without alternatives to management by farmers many of these meadows are likely to disappear in the next couple of decades. We conclude that adaptive management provides an effective short-term means of preserving hay meadows, but long term conservation will require a means of addressing the continued decline of local farming communities.
Authors
Line JohansenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Line JohansenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Land use change can affect biodiversity, and this has an impact on ecosystem services (ESs), but the relationships between biodiversity and ESs are complex and poorly understood. Biodiversity is declining due to the abandonment of extensively grazed semi-natural grasslands. We therefore aim to explore relationships between biodiversity and ESs provided by extensively managed semi-natural grasslands. Focusing on vascular plant species richness, as well as the ESs fodder quantity, quality, and stability, allergy control, climate regulation, nutrient cycling, pollination, and aesthetic appreciation, we carried out botanical field surveys of 28 paired extensively grazed and abandoned semi-natural grassland plots, with four subplots of 4m2 in each plot. The management of the semi-natural grasslands is and has been at low intensity. We calculated the influence of abandonment on the ES indicators, measured the correlation between the biodiversity measure of vascular plant species richness and ES indicators, and finally determined how the relationships between plant species richness and the ES indicators were affected by the cessation of the extensive management. ES indicators are often, but not always, positively correlated with species richness. Cessation of extensive grazing has both negative and positive effects on ES indicators but the relationships between species richness and ES indicators are often different in extensively managed and abandoned semi-natural grasslands. The relationships between species richness and ES indicators are less pronounced in the extensively managed semi-natural grassland than for the abandoned. One possible reason for this outcome is high functional redundancy in the extensively managed semi-natural grasslands.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Mette ThomsenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Haakon Helland A Leufvén Gunnar Bengtsson Hanne Larsen Elin Merete Nicolaisen Mette Thomsen Arne Hermansen Anne-Berit Wold Liv BergeAbstract
Preliminary results on aroma profiles (GC-MS) related to storage conditions (temperature, time and packaging atmosphere) are presented. The vegetables used in the experiments were rutabaga, carrot and turnip, which were peeled and cut before packaging, and stored at two different temperatures. O2 and CO2 concentrations in the packaging atmosphere were measured during the storage period to calculate the respiration rates of the produce. Cubed carrot showed a higher respiration rate than cubed turnip and rutabaga. Samples for analysis of volatiles were taken after 0 and 7 or 10 days. This type of analysis could be used as a complement to sensory analysis.