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.
2023
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Eva Farkas Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Tatiana Francischinelli Rittl Trond Henriksen Peter Dörsch Sigrid Trier Kjær Randi Berland FrøsethAbstract
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O. Janne Kjønaas Ryan Bright Gro Hylen Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Jørn-Frode Nordbakken Tonje Økland Sunil Mundra Håvard Kauserud Mette Hansen Morten Simonsen Carlo Leandro AallAbstract
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Anders Nielsen Lawrence Richard Kirkendall Johan A. Stenberg Per Hans Micael Wendell Paul Ragnar Berg Anders Bryn Sonya Rita Geange Kjetil Hindar Lars Robert Hole Erlend Birkeland Nilsen Brett Kevin Sandercock Eva Bonsak Thorstad Gaute VelleAbstract
Key words: apiculture, biological control, Norwegian Environment Agency, Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment, predatory mites, risk assessment, varroa Introduction The Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) have asked the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment for an assessment of adverse impacts on biodiversity concerning import and release of the predatory mite Stratiolaelaps scimitus as measure against varroa mites (Varroa destructor) in apiaries. The predatory mite is already in use in Norwegian greenhouses and polytunnels as a biological control agent against dark-winged fungus gnats in a various of plant cultures. The NEA has received an application for a new type of use: to combat varroa mites in apiaries. Background Varroa destructor (the varroa mite) is a species of parasitic mite that feeds externally on honeybees; it is considered one of the major threats to beekeeping world-wide due to its parasitic behaviour and because it acts as a vector for several viral and bacterial bee pathogens. Beekeepers in North America have begun experimenting with introducing Stratiolaelaps scimitus, a commercially available predaceous mite originally used for biocontrol in greenhouses and polytunnels, to control varroa mites, and several studies on the use of the mite in this context have been published recently. The Norwegian Environment Agency has asked VKM to assess the risk to biological diversity in Norway associated with this new use of S. scimitus, and to assess the effects of climate change on any risks that are proposed. Stratiolaelaps scimitus is a tiny (0.5 mm), soil-dwelling predaceous mite that in nature feeds on a wide variety of soil invertebrates, including fly larvae, nematodes, nymphs of thrips, potworms (oligochaetes), springtails, and other mites. For over three decades, Stratiolaelaps scimitus has been produced commercially and the species is now used globally for biological control. The mite is applied to control a wide variety of organisms harmful to food production or to the production of ornamental plants, but especially to combat infestations of fungus gnat larvae, spider mites, flower thrips, and certain plant-feeding nematodes. The species is already used as a biocontrol agent in Norway in greenhouses, open plastic polytunnels used for protecting crops, and in various indoor plantings and fungiculture. Methods VKM established a project group with expertise in entomology, invasion ecology, honeybee behaviour and ecology, and risk analysis of biological control agents. The group conducted systematic literature searches and scrutinized the relevant literature that was found. In the absence of Norwegian studies, VKM relied on literature from other countries. Results and conclusions This VKM assessment concludes with medium confidence that introducing S. scimitus for use in beehives would not significantly increase the probability of establishment and spread of S. scimitus above that of its current use. We point out that there is no evidence that continuous use of S. scimitus in Norway, over decades, has led to its establishment outside of enclosures, including open polytunnels. The optimal temperature for development and reproduction is far higher than what is normally observed in Norway (~28 °C). Although lethal temperature has been reported to be as low as –5.2 °C, we still conclude that S. scimitus would not be able to establish permanent populations in Norway, not even in the southern part of the country as such temperatures are expected to occur in some years throughout the country. Future climate change is not believed to alter this conclusion, since periods with lethally cold temperatures are expected to still occur in the future.
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Alice Budai Daniel Rasse Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Hugh Riley Vegard Martinsen Ievina Sturite Adam Thomas O'Toole Samson Øpstad Thomas CottisAbstract
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2022
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The visual impacts of landscape change are important for how people perceive landscapes and whether they consider changes to be positive or negative. Landscape photographs and photographs of landscape elements may capture information about the visual qualities of landscapes and can also be used to illustrate, and even to quantify, how these visual qualities change over time. We developed a methodology for a monitoring scheme, based on taking photographs from exactly the same locations at different points in time. We tested two methods: one where fieldworkers chose freely the location and direction of photographs, and one where photo locations and four out of five directions were predefined. We found that the method using predefined locations provided a representative sample of the visual qualities present in the landscape and was relatively person-independent but missed rare landscape components. The method using free selection of photo locations and directions captured rarities, but the content of the photos varied from photographer to photographer. Considering the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches, we recommend a method that combines aspects of both when establishing a monitoring scheme based on repeat photography, with predefined locations to ensure that the entire area is covered, and additional freely chosen photo locations to capture special subject matter that would otherwise be missed.
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Authors
Svein Olav Krøgli Wendy Fjellstad Linda Aune-Lundberg Milena Chmielewska Agata Hościło Aneta LewandowskaAbstract
No abstract has been registered