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.
2010
Authors
Grete StokstadAbstract
The use of rented land has increased steadily over time in Northern Norway. At the same time there is a common perception that there is an increased regrowth of agricultural land. In this paper we investigate if the use of rented land also is a factor that leads to increased re-growth. We utilize land use data from the 3Q project in Northern Norway. These data are combined with data from the applications for acreage support to divide areas on tree types of properties. The area of abandoned land is explained as a function of property types. Our results show that there is a significant difference between owner used and rented land with respect to the amount of abandoned land on the property. This suggests that when previous farmers have rented out their land, one third of the previously farmed land may have been taken out of productions, and is now identified as abandoned land.
Authors
Anders BrynAbstract
Extensive landscape and vegetation changes are apparent within southern Norway, specifically the expansion of forests into new areas and to higher altitudes. Two main processes are believed to cause these changes: regrowth after abandoned human utilisation and recent climate changes. The purpose of this article is to elucidate ways of separating the effects of these two processes on spatiotemporal changes in the upper forest limits using examples from southern Norway. Examples from two spatial scales are implemented, a vegetation map study of a mountain region in south-east Norway and a national map-based study of south Norway. The findings show that multiple methods are necessary to understand the forest limit changes and that the research focus should be on the separation of potential drivers, specifically climate improvements and land-use changes.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Sebastian EiterAbstract
This article uses an activity-based understanding of landscape to explore values related to perceived land cover diversity. Perceptions within two user groups, members of landowner families and hiking tourists in a mountain area in western Norway, were related to a simultaneous land cover survey, and compared to experts' evaluations of land cover and to the aims of landscape protection in the area. Users perceived the area as being significantly more diverse and valuable than experts did, which stresses the importance of taking user perception into account in landscape protection and management. Some central landscape values were dependent upon land use outside the boundaries of the protected area. This illustrates that measures within structurally defined land units are not necessarily sufficient for maintenance of landscape values experienced by users. Land use in both respects, as an upholder of values and as a way of experiencing or perceiving them, should receive an increased role in the determination of management units.
Abstract
Norwegian agriculture has, as in most western-European countries, gone through several periods of change during the last 100 years. Pronounced changes have occurred in production systems and the spatial organisation of farm land, as well as agricultural policy. During the last 50 years, official statistics document a marked decline in the number of active farms. This decline has caused concern, as Norway traditionally has had an agricultural policy that emphasises self-sufficiency and rural settlement. Yet statistics also show that the amount of agricultural land in use has remained the same. This is usually explained through a larger proportion of tenanted land, as technological progress has allowed production levels to be maintained with a smaller workforce. Studies elsewhere in Europe show, however, that tenancy may not promote the same levels of investment and landscape management as owner occupation. To assess the potential impact of this change on Norway's landscape (and its value as both a cultural and tourism resource) we analyse tenancy patterns in Norwegian agriculture between 1999 and 2003. In particular we note that, even if owner occupation remains strong nationally, when the statistics are broken down by municipality, tenancy has increased significantly in some areas. This has left large areas of land managed as tenancies by a relatively small number of farmers, including parts of the iconic west coast fjords. We conclude therefore that further work is urgently required to establish whether the effects of tenancy seen elsewhere apply to Norway, whether this exposes key landscapes to increased risk of abandonment and if so what appropriate political responses there could be.
Authors
Geir-Harald StrandAbstract
The change from one landscape to another is gradual. Landscape classes can therefore be considered as theoretical concepts and a particular location or area can be affiliated with a number of different landscape classes. Landscape classification thus becomes a statistical and probabilistic exercise. Such a probabilistic approach to landscape regions can be made operational using a grid model combined with binary logistic regression. This approach was tested on a landscape region in Norway.
Abstract
The conference «Mapping and Monitoring of Nordic Vegetation and Landscapes» took place in Hveragerði, Iceland from the 16th to the 18th of September 2009. The 105 participants from 15 countries contributed with 50 oral presentations and 19 posters. This special edition of «Viten», published by the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, presents the conference proceedings, containing 32 articles and 13 posters. We wish to thank the participants for their contributions to both the conference and this report! .....
Scientific book – Soil atlas of the northern circumpolar region
Arnold Arnoldussen, Eivind Solbakken
Authors
Arnold Arnoldussen Eivind SolbakkenAbstract
Soil, composed of minerals, organic material, air and water, performs a number of key environmental, social and economic services that are vital to life. Supplying water and nutrients to plants while at the same time protecting water supplies by storing, bufferingand transforming pollutants. Soil is also an incredible habitat that provides raw materials, preserves our history and limits floods. Without soil, the planet as we know it would not function. However, the importance of soil and the multitude of environmental services that depend on soil properties are not widely understood by society at large. Soil scientists are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity to produce material to raise awareness and educate the general public, policy makers and other scientists of the importance and global significance of soil. This is particularly true of soils in northern latitudes where the impacts of global climate change would be dramatic on both a local and global perspective.
Authors
Hanne Gro Wallin Tom Joar KristiansenAbstract
Our primary mission is to create an office in Juba with the necessary knowledge, computer equipment, GIS-software and the necessary satellite images. The office and its employees are going to be the independent land cover mapping authority in Southern Sudan. 4 persons from Norwegian Forest and Landscape institute had totally 11 stays in Juba in 2008. Our main task this year was to establish the office with equipment and expertise. The competence of the employees proved to vary a lot and in many cases to be inadequate. We started the transfer of knowledge on a very basic and simple level. The first year was celebrated by making a simple map showing the location of the known Forest Reserves in Southern Sudan at that time. The office had produced their first official map.
Authors
Hanne Gro Wallin Tom Joar KristiansenAbstract
The primary mission of the project is to create a Land Resource Survey and Information Centre in Juba with the necessary knowledge, computer equipment, GIS-software and the satellite images to map and monitor land resources. The office and its employees will be the independent land cover mapping authority in Southern Sudan. The Norwegian role is to support capacity building in the institution. The actual survey, mapping and monitoring activities should be carried out by the institution itself. The project was a continuation of work started in 2008. In 2009, more advanced training in GPS, digital mapping, remote sensing and production was carried out and a forest inventory was started. The office was upgraded with an installation of a battery backup system witch provide power enough to run the office for 3-5 hours in case of no electricity. A network of contacts with other relevant activities in South-Sudan was also established. The first land cover map produced by the office, covering the area between Yei and Juba, was produced based on interpretation in satellite images and verification in the field. The map “Forest reserves in Sothern Sudan” was upgraded to show the known forest reserves included as polygons with their actual shape and size.