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.
2008
Authors
Anders BrynAbstract
The forest limits of south-east Norway have expanded to higher altitudes. Two main processes are believed to cause these changes; re-growth after abandonment of human utilisation and recent climate changes. This article aim at separating the effects of these two processes on the upper forest limits and recent forest expansion. The results show that raised forest limits and forest range expansion often attributed to recent climate change is rather the product of re-growth, a process that was climatically retarded from 1959 to 1995. From 1995 to 2006, the data indicate a preliminary effect of climate change escalating the re-growth and probably pushing the future forest limits to higher altitudes.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Sebastian EiterAbstract
Anmeldt bok: Price, Martin F. editor, 2007. Mountain area research and management: integrated approaches. Earthscan, Sterling, Virginia. xiv + 302 p. $95.00, ISBN: 978-1-84407-427-3.
Lecture – Farming in protected landscapes
Wendy Fjellstad, Klaus Mittenzwei, Wenche E. Dramstad, ...
Abstract
Achieving multifunctionality on a parcel of land, or in a landscape as a whole, requires a delicate balance between the different functions. This is particularly so when one of the desired functions is agricultural production. This paper examines the special challenges involved when cultural landscapes are protected by law. Norwegian `Landscape Protection Areas` are intended to preserve the landscape character of special landscapes. Ideally these landscapes should preserve ecological functions, whilst at the same time allowing for recreation and tourism, and the economic returns to ensure continued use of the landscape in the future. Balancing these functions is fraught with difficulties. The former agricultural systems that shaped these cultural landscapes may no longer be viable from the perspective of food production, and biodiversity is notoriously bad at paying for itself. Are the farmers that own the land willing to take on new roles as landscape managers rather than food producers? And who will pay for this? We present results of a questionnaire to farmers that own or manage farmland in Landscape Protection Areas. Of the 893 respondents, almost a quarter claimed that their farm business had been negatively affected by landscape protection. Niche products or alternative income possibilities had not been realised. We found a generally negative attitude towards municipal authorities and 24 % of respondents were strongly against the establishment of new Landscape Protection Areas, even if the State paid compensation for their economic loss. Based on results of the study we suggest that major improvements to the protection system could be made simply by improving communication between management authorities and farmers and involving farmers in making management plans.
Abstract
A Canadian model that simulates the course of frost tolerance in winter wheat under continental climatic conditions was adopted and further developed for use in an oceanic climate. Experiments with two cultivars were conducted during two winters in Central Norway. All plants were hardened at the same location. After hardening, in mid November, they were distributed to three locations with contrasting winter climates. Plants were sampled several times during autumn and winter and tested for frost tolerance, expressed as LT50 (the temperature at which 50% of the plants were killed). Results from the experiment were used in parameterization and cross validation of the new model, called FROSTOL, which simulates LT50 on a daily basis from sowing onwards. Frost tolerance increases by hardening and decreases by dehardening and stress, the latter caused by either low temperatures, or by conditions where the soil is largely unfrozen and simultaneously covered with snow. The functional relationships of the model are all driven by soil temperature at 2 cut depth. One of them is in addition affected by snow cover depth, and two of them are conditioned by stage of vernalization. Altogether five coefficients allotted to four of the functional relationships produced a good agreement (R-2 = 0.84) between measured and modelled values of LT50. A cross validation of the model indicated that the parameters were satisfactorily insensitive to variation in winter weather. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
2007
Authors
Klaus Mittenzwei Wendy Fjellstad Wenche Dramstad Ola Flaten Arnt Kristian Gjertsen Maria L. Loureiro Sjur Spildo PrestegardAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Podzol development was investigated in a chronosequence on sandy beach sediments, the ages of the soils ranging from 2,400 to 8,500 years. All soil properties investigated-the organic matter content of the B horizons, clay content, Fe-o, Al-o, Si-o, Fe-o/Fe-d and Fe-d/Fe-t - tend to increase with advancing podzolization, and are strongly correlated with soil age. Topsoil pH values decrease with age. The characteristic Bh and Bs horizons had developed after approximately 4,000 years.
Abstract
Urbanization and an increasingly globalized food system cause growing physical and psychological distances between producers and customers. Alternative distribution initiatives with direct sale to local customers are emerging. This paper reports results of two surveys, one from producers and one from customers, in the newly introduced Norwegian farmers market system. The main aim of the research was to examine attitudes toward local foods and evaluate the potential of this new marketing channel to reduce the distances between farmers and consumers. Results show that producers were more concerned than customers regarding knowledge on how food was produced, and locally marketed, although customers were also interested in these issues. Both groups regarded as to how food was produced to be more important than where it was produced. Producers were more interested in giving customers information on agriculture than customers were in receiving this information. The attitudes toward food differed between respondents of larger urban cities and smaller cities in Norway. Producers traveled a longer distance (average 79 km) than customers (average 14 km) to come to the markets, but traveling distance differed substantially among the sites owing to market location, number of local farmers and small-scale local processors, and product diversity. Results suggest that the farmers markets have potential to reduce both physical and social distances between producers and consumers, and thereby contribute to the sustainability of local food production. Understanding farmer and consumer attitudes can contribute to organization and promotion of farmers markets in Norway and elsewhere. doi:10.1300/J064v30n04_06.
Authors
Einar Heegaard Rune Halvorsen Økland Harald Bratli Wenche Dramstad Gunnar Engan Oddvar Pedersen Heidi SolstadAbstract
No abstract has been registered