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.
2017
Authors
Eldrid Lein MoltebergAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Air pollution has become a global problem and affects nearly all of us. Most of the pollution is of anthropogenic origin and therefore we are obliged to improve this situation. In solving this problem basically our only partners are plants with their enormous biologically active surface area. Plants themselves are also victims of air pollution but because they are sedentary they developed very efficient defence mechanisms, which can also be exploited to improve the humanosphere. For their life processes plants require intensive gas exchange, during which air contaminants are accumulated on leaf surfaces or absorbed into the tissues. Some of the pollutants are included by plants in their own metabolism while others are sequestered. In some plant species, the processes of removing pollutants from the air is conducted in a very efficient way and therefore they are used in the environmental friendly biotechnology called phytoremediation. For urban areas, outdoor phytoremediation is recommended while indoor phytoremediation can be applied in our homes and workplaces. Because in near future purifying outdoor air to protect human health and well-being does not look the most promising, an important and increasing role will be played by indoor phytoremediation.
Abstract
Air pollution has become a global problem and affects nearly all of us. Most of the pollution is of anthropogenic origin and therefore we are obliged to improve this situation. In solving this problem basically our only partners are plants with their enormous biologically active surface area. Plants themselves are also victims of air pollution but because they are sedentary they developed very efficient defence mechanisms, which can also be exploited to improve the humanosphere. For their life processes plants require intensive gas exchange, during which air contaminants are accumulated on leaf surfaces or absorbed into the tissues. Some of the pollutants are included by plants in their own metabolism while others are sequestered. In some plant species, the processes of removing pollutants from the air is conducted in a very efficient way and therefore they are used in the environmental friendly biotechnology called phytoremediation. For urban areas, outdoor phytoremediation is recommended while indoor phytoremediation can be applied in our homes and workplaces. Because in near future purifying outdoor air to protect human health and well-being does not look the most promising, an important and increasing role will be played by indoor phytoremediation.
Authors
Martin Köchy Jacob Bishop Heikki Lehtonen Nigel D. Scollan Heidi A. Webber Andrea Zimmermann Gianni Bellocchi André Bannink Anne Biewald Roberto Ferrise Katharina Helming Richard P. Kipling Anna Birgitte Milford Şeyda Özkan Gülzari Margarita Ruiz-Ramos Jantine Curth-van MiddelkoopAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Anna Birgitte MilfordAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Bjørn Egil FløAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Bjørn Egil FløAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Till SeehusenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Questions What are the effects of abandonment on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands? Do the effects of abandonment on taxonomic and functional diversity vary along environmental gradients of climate and soil? Location West and mid-Norway. Methods Plant composition was surveyed in 110 subplots of 4 m2 in 14 sites across grazed and abandoned semi-natural grasslands. Climate data were extracted and soil composition analysed. To reduce the number of explanatory variables and deal with collinearity, we performed PCA. Data on the plant species vegetative height (H), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific leaf area (SLA), seed mass (SM) and number of seeds per plant (SNP) for 175 species were extracted from the LEDA database. Measures of plant diversity (species richness, CWM of functional traits and functional diversity (evenness and range)) were calculated for each subplot. To estimate the effects of abandonment on plant diversity and examine how these effects are moderated by gradients in soil and climate, we fitted mixed models to the data including site as a random effect. Results Species richness in the subplots was lower in abandoned semi-natural grasslands, especially on more calcareous soils. CWM H, LDMC and SM were higher in abandoned semi-natural grasslands. CWM LDMC was only higher in the driest subplots. The ranges in H, SLA and SM, as well as evenness in LDMC were also higher in abandoned semi-natural grasslands,but the range in LDMC was lower. Conclusions It is important to assess both taxonomic and functional diversity to understand ecosystem processes. The species pool in ecosystems influenced by a long history of intermediate grazing includes a high proportion of low stature, grazing-tolerant plant species. Abandonment of extensive land-use practices will cause a decline in taxonomic diversity (plant species richness) in such systems due to increased abundance of plants with high stature that outcompete the lower, grazing-tolerant plants. This process is predominant especially if moisture, soil fertility and pH are at intermediate levels. Changes in species communities due to abandonment will also influence ecosystem functioning, such as nutrient turnover and fodder production resilience.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered