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.
2011
Authors
Geir-Harald StrandAbstract
A landscape region can be drawn on a map as a geographic feature with distinct boundaries. Reality is, however, that the change from one landscape to another usually is gradual and that landscapes therefore have uncertain or undetermined boundaries. A thematic map of landscape regions is therefore a too simple model of the landscape. An alternative approach is to consider landscape categories as purely theoretical concepts. With this perspective, a particular geographical location can be more or less affiliated with a number of different landscape categories. Such a conception of landscape does not lead to a traditional thematic map of uniform, non-overlapping regions, but to a landscape model composed of multiple overlapping probability surfaces. This article shows how such a landscape model can be established using binary logistic regression. The method is tested and the result is assessed against an existing landscape map of Norway much used in policy impact analysis in this country. The overall objective is to develop a data driven landscape model that can supplement, elucidate and for some purposes maybe even replace, the qualitative landscape description represented by the traditional landscape map.
Abstract
1. In the face of a rapidly changing environment, long-term studies provide important insights into patterns of vegetation and processes of change, but long-term studies are rare for many ecosystems.2. We studied recent vegetation changes at a fine scale in a Sphagnum-dominated bog in south Sweden by resurveying part of the bog 54 years after the original phytosociological survey. We used an indirect approach to identify changes in vegetation composition in relation to environment because of a lack of permanent sampling units. By applying a weighted averaging technique, we calculated relative changes in species optimum values for different environmental gradients as represented by indicator values for light, temperature, pH, moisture and nutrients.3. Species composition of the mire vegetation has changed significantly over the past five decades, as indicated by significant changes in species frequencies and species optima for the gradients examined. Species with lower indicator values for moisture and light and higher indicator values for nutrients have become more frequent on the mire. In particular, species of trees and dwarf shrubs increased in frequency, whereas typical mire species decreased (e.g. Trichophorum cespitosum (L.) Hartm.) or disappeared fromthe study site (e.g. Scheuchzeria palustris L.).4. Synthesis. Composition of the mire vegetation is found to be dynamic at different temporal and spatial scales. Increased air temperature and nutrient availability in south Sweden over the past few decades may have augmented productivity (e.g. tree growth), resulting in drier and shadier conditions for several species. This study successfully demonstrated the applicability of an indirect approach for detecting long-term vegetation change at a fine scale. This approach is an effective way of using historic and modern phytosociological data sets to detect vegetation and environmental change through time.
Abstract
Understanding the driving forces affecting species occurrences is a prerequisite for determining the indicator suitability of crenic plants. We analysed 18 environmental variables in a two-step approach, evaluating their ability to explain the species composition of 222 springs on five siliceous mountain ranges, in central Germany and north-west Czech Republic (49.9°–50.8°N, 10.6°–12.8°E). First, we identified the significant environmental variables in three subsets of spatial, hydrophysical and hydrochemical variables using a forward-selection procedure. We then performed a partial canonical correspondence analysis (pCCA) to estimate the influence of each subset alone, as well as in combinations. We also used a multiple response permutation procedure (MRPP) to compare the five regions with respect to the dissimilarity of their vegetation composition and environmental variables. Hydrochemical factors played a fundamental role in determining the plant community of the investigated springs. Spatial factors, in particular altitude, were correlated with the hydrochemical factors, but were less important. Hydrophysical factors played only a marginal role. More precisely, species occurrence was mainly driven by a gradient of nutrient availability, which in turn reflected the acidity status. This gradient was primarily represented by high Al, Cd, and Mn concentrations in acidic crenic waters, high Ca and Mg concentrations were encountered in circumneutral springs. By comparing the five regions we could show that there are spatial patterns in the vegetation of springs, which provide valuable ecological information on the water quality. We therefore suggest that biomonitoring approaches to vegetation are suitable for revealing the acidity status of springs and their forested catchments.
2010
Abstract
The coastal heath region along the western coast of Norway, dominated by Calluna vulgaris, is undergoing rapid change. Vegetation changes are caused by changes in management, including reduced frequency or abandonment of periodic heath burning and reduced cutting and grazing. The islands of Froan, in the outermost part of Sør-Trøndelag County in mid-western Norway, are dominated by coastal heath in a state of recession due to reduced traditional land use. The coastal heath is acknowledged as vulnerable and valuable by national environmental authorities, and local landscape management is supported by different national subsidies. The authors mapped the vegetation on Froan and used rule-based GIS-modelling to predict the relative potential for future vegetation changes. The model was based on a range of map layers, including management themes such as history of heath burning and peat removal, current practices of sheep grazing, and also themes derived from the vegetation map, such as soil nutrients, soil moisture and present management status. The resulting model output provides relative probabilities of future changes under different land-use scenarios, and highlights where management efforts should be focused in order to maintain the traditional landscape character.
Abstract
The Norwegian CORINE land cover (CLC2000) was completed autumn 2008. The CLC map was generated automatically from a number of dataset using GIS-techniques for map generalisation. The CLC map has a coarse resolution and it is also using a classification system developed in an environment very different from the Nordic. It is therefore interesting to evaluate both content and correctness of CLC. This study shows that there is a good resemblance between the CLC classes and detailed, large scale maps. The diversity in classes on the other hand, is lost due to the CLC classification system.
Abstract
CORINE Land Cover (CLC) is a seamless European land cover vector database. The Norwegian CLC2000 was completed by the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute (Skog og landskap) in 2008 and was produced from existing national land cover datasets wherever available. CLC has a standardized nomenclature with 44 classes. 31 classes are represented in the Norwegian dataset. CLC is a small scale map showing built up areas, agriculture, forest and semi-natural areas, wetlands and water bodies. CLC has a minimum mapping unit of 25 ha. CLC2000 can be used for visualization of the general land cover patterns in Norway at a scale 1:250 000 or smaller. CLC2000 is representing the land cover situation close to year 20001. This report presents the Norwegian CLC2000 project and the methods and automatic generalization processes that were used in the project. CORINE Land Cover is one of four land cover maps (AR5, AR50, AR250 and CLC) published by Skog og landskap. CLC2000 was produced with support from the European Environmental Agency (EEA) who has joint ownership to the product....
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
CORINE Land Cover (CLC) is a seamless European land cover vector database. The Norwegian CLC for the reference year 2006 (CLC2006) was completed by the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute (Skog og landskap) in 2009 and was produced according to CLC2006 technical guidelines (EEA 2007). CLC has a common nomenclature with 44 classes that is used throughout Europe. 31 of these classes are found in the Norwegian dataset. A coordinating Technical Team from the European Topic Centre on Land Use and Spatial Information (ETC-LUSI) is coordinating the mapping efforts ensuring that the classification is applied in a similar fashion in each country....
Abstract
All the Norwegian CLC2006 classes are documented through descriptive statistical “profiles” of the actual contents in each class. The CLC2006 profiles are worked through based on an overlay operation between CLC2006 and AR5 (under the timberline) and AR50 (above the timberline). Based on this dataset statistics are generated, that shows the percent distribution of AR5 and AR50 classes in each CLC2006 class. The study was carried out with funding from the Norwegian Space Centre.
Abstract
For almost 40 years the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute (Norsk institutt for skog og landskap) has mapped vegetation in Norway. In total, just over 10 % of the country’s land area has been mapped, most of which is in the mountain regions. The resultant vegetation maps are the closest Norway has to an ecological map series. Many secondary map themes can be derived from the vegetation map and the digital format allows a wealth of both spatial and temporal GIS-analyses. Accordingly, there are many user groups and topics of interest. During 2009 the aim is to make the institute’s vegetation maps available to all via the Internet in a seamless database.