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.
2015
Authors
Alemayehu Kidane Ingvild Luteberget Nesheim Hans J. Larsen Erling Thuen Søren Krogh Jensen Håvard SteinshamnAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Seaweeds have been used as supplementary feed for livestock in Norway for centuries. Research activities on the use of seaweed as feed started early last century and continued until the late 1960s. The results were elusive, partly because the design of the experiments were imperfect. However, a long term experiment in the 1960’s demonstrated 6% higher milk production by cows supplemented mineral fortified Ascophyllum nodosum meal than in cows offered standard mineral supplement. The authors suggested that seaweed compounds might have had benficial effect on the rumen microflora. Seaweeds are a rich source of Se and antioxidants such as substituted phenols, polyphenols, vitamins, and vitamin precursors. Results from research last 10-20 years suggests that dietary supplementation with A. nodosum meal has positive effects on ruminant product quality and stress tolerance. Alginates have been documented to be non-specific immunostimulants. A. nodosum is currently commersially harvested and processed and sold as a feed supplement. Winter fed sheep and cattle in Norway needs to be given extra fat soluble vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin E and Se, in order to ensure good animal health and production. Based on the aquired knowledge from international reseach on A. nodosum and its possible beneficial health effect, we tested if A. nodosum has immunestimulating effect and can be used as a substitute for synthetic vitamin E in sheep and cattle. Our hypothesis were that supplementing the diet with seaweed to sheep and lactating dairy cows would produce better adaptive immune response following immunization compared to no supplementation and similar to animals given extra vitamin E. Two feeding experiments were conducted, one continous with 40 pregnant ewes and one with 24 lactating dairy cows in a replicated Latin square design. The four supplement treatments applied were: A. Nodosum meal (SW), Natural vitamin E, Synthetic vitamin E, or Control. The average daily rate of A. Nodosum meal per ewe and cow in SW was 80 and 200 g DM, respectively. The ewes and their newborn lambs were monitored the entire indoor feeding period, from mating until pasture let out (200 d). In the ewes, supplementation with SW had no health effects compared to the other treatments, and serum IgG concentrations were reduced in the SW group.The adaptive immunity of the lambs was not affected by supplementation, and seaweed reduced the counts of different intestinal bacterial groups. However, seaweed interferred with the lambs passive immunity resulting in a mortality rate of 35 %, compared with 10% in Control. All cows responded well to immunization, but there were no significant effects of the diet on the immune response measured. The immunesupression observed in newborn lambs from ewes offered SW was likely du to impaired Ig absorption from colostrum, and we conclude that ruminants should not be supplemented with seaweed during peripartum. More research is needed on the identification of bioactive components in seaweed, their effects in animal health, the mechanisms related to their effects on the animal health and testing before seaweed should be used as a feed supplement to ruminants.
Authors
Jacopo Mori Arne Sæbø Hans Martin Hanslin Angela Teani Francesco Ferrini Alessio Fini Gianluca BurchiAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The dataset comprises detailed mappings of two communities of interacting populations of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and grass species under differing experimental treatments over 4-5 years. Information fromdigital photographs acquired two times per season has been processed into gridded data and documents the temporal and spatial dynamics of the species that followed from a wide range of spatial configurations that arose during the study period. The data contribute a unique basis for validation and further development of previously published models for the dynamics and population oscillations in grass-white clover swards. They will be well suited for estimating parameters in spatially explicit versions of these models, like neighborhood based models that incorporate both the dispersal and the local nature of plant-plant interactions.
Abstract
Embodied energy in barns is found to contribute to about 10–30% of total energy use on dairy farms. Nevertheless, research on sustainability of dairy farming has largely excluded consideration of embodied energy. The main objectives of this study were to apply an established model from the residential and commercial building sector and estimate the amount of embodied energy in the building envelopes on 20 dairy farms in Norway. Construction techniques varied across the buildings and our results showed that the variables which contributed most significantly to levels of embodied energy were the area per cow-place, use of concrete in walls and insulation in concrete walls. Our findings are in contrast to the assumption that buildings are similar and would show no significant differences. We conclude that the methodology is sufficiently flexible to accommodate different building design and use of materials, and allows for an efficient means of estimating embodied energy reducing the work compared to a mass material calculation. Choosing a design that requires less material or materials with a low amount of embodied energy, can significantly reduce the amount of embodied energy in buildings.
Authors
Arne Sæbø Hans Martin Hanslin Torfinn Torp Syverin Lierhagen Helena Gawrońska Kajetan Dzierzanowski Stanisław W, GawrońskiAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Hanne Sickel Bolette Bele Ragnar Eltun Odd-Arild Finnes Gustav Fystro Knut Hovstad Marit Jørgensen Vibeke Lind Jørgen Todnem Håvard SteinshamnAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Ingerd Skow Hofgaard Till Seehusen Heidi Udnes Aamot Jafar Razzaghian Vinh Hong Le Hugh Riley Børge Holen Elisa Gauslaa Hege Særvold Steen Anne-Grete Roer Hjelkrem S.G. Edwards Ruth Dill-Macky Guro BrodalAbstract
No abstract has been registered