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.
2024
Authors
Lampros Lamprinakis Luca Mulazzani Cyril Tisseyre Burkhard Schaer Hilde Halland Signe Kårstad Giulio Malorgio Marta Verza Cosimo Rota Diva Fernandez Francesca Marino Gabriele Miserendino Konstadinos MattasAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Pollarding in agroforestry systems was traditionally an important practice for fodder acquisition in Western Norway, as well as in many other parts of the world. The practice has long been in decline, but to maintain cultural landscapes and biodiversity enhancement from pollarding, farmers now receive a public grant for each tree they pollard. In this interdisciplinary study we investigate which ecosystem services modern pollarding practices provide, under the influence of the current pollarding policy. We have performed both in-depth interviews and a quantitative survey targeting all pollarding farmers in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. We find that bioresources obtained from the branches from pollarding are to some extent still taken into use, mainly in the form of tree fodder for farm animals and firewood, but a lot of the branches remain unused. Biodiversity benefits are obtained from preserving old trees that often are located on agricultural land as solitary trees, as these trees provide important habitats, particularly for species growing on the bark, such as lichens and mosses, or within the decaying wood, such as, for example, fungi and insects. The modern practice of letting branches rot in the field provide habitats for insects and hence additional benefits to biodiversity. For the farmers, the main motivations to pollard are the cultural, aesthetic and historical values of pollarded trees. They see few disadvantages with pollarding, and most of them plan to continue in the future. The grant provides an incentive for pollarding, but our results indicate that the practice would continue without it, although less than now, especially with the establishment of new pollards.
Abstract
Insight from new technology in rangeland grazing systems Inger Hansen, Lise Grøva, Michael Angeloff and Oddbjørn Kaasa Although digital technologies and innovations are increasingly being adopted and accepted in intensive livestock systems, they are poorly developed and implemented in extensive livestock farming systems. On-animal sensors have potential to remotely monitor and identify changes in animal behaviour, such as illness, accidents or depredation. Real time monitoring of livestock may allow farmers and ranchers to respond more rapidly when animals become ill, and by this ensure both production and welfare With the rapid increase in new data from digital technologies from livestock rangeland grazing systems, there is a need to explore the potential for new knowledge and new tools that these data may provide. The potential lies in multisource data analysis to generate new insight on sheep behaviour, interactions and possible criteria for Early Warning Systems (EWS). EWS is in high demand by farmers, authorities and all stakeholders to ensure the sustainable management of our rangeland grazing resources. In Norway we have now started a pilot work to integrate data from GPS tracking collars on free ranging sheep with individual sheep health and production data sources, as well as vegetation maps, weather conditions, human activity and predator killings. Since 2015, Meråker grazing group, consisting of 25 sheep farmers, have used GPS tracking collars on about 2000 ewes from June to September. The data set consists of more than 9 million positions, allowing analysis of the sheep's movement related to numerous environmental and production factors. Integration of these position data with production-, health-, large carnivores- and other explanatory variables, and analysis of these multisource data, has potential to be a game changer for rangeland grazing systems. This presentation will highlight the the potiential for new insight in these farming systems.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Anders Nielsen Bjørn Arild Hatteland Jo Skeie Hermansen Lawrence Richard Kirkendall Claus Rasmussen Kristin Opdal Seljetun Markus A. K. Sydenham Henning Sørum Paul Ragnar Berg Anders Bryn Kjetil Hindar Kyrre Kausrud Tor Atle Mo Erlend Birkeland Nilsen Brett Kevin Sandercock Eva Bonsak Thorstad Gaute VelleAbstract
Background Pollinators are under threat from a variety of environmental drivers, including habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, climate change, and invasive species. Despite being domesticated animals, honey bees (Apis mellifera) share many traits with invasive species and several studies have suggested that beekeeping might pose a threat to wild bees and other pollinators. In Norway, the history of beekeeping dates to at least the 18th century, yet little is known about the consequences of this agricultural practice on biodiversity, especially on wild pollinators. The Norwegian Environment Agency therefore asked VKM to provide a brief summary of the available literature on the impact of honey bee keeping on wild pollinating insects and assess whether keeping of honey bees might pose a risk to wild pollinators in Norway. VKM was also asked to specifically assess the impact of stocking rates and placement of honey bee hives in relation to important wild pollinator habitats and vulnerable populations of wild pollinators (e.g. threatened species). Finally, VKM was asked to identify and assess possible risk-reducing measures related to any risk identified. Methods To provide a brief review of the literature on how keeping of honey bees affect wild pollinators, VKM conducted a rapid review, using the "updates of systematic reviews" approach. This approach aimed to update and supplement the two existing systematic reviews on the topic. Following established search protocols, the literature review thus focused on the effects of managed honey bees (Apis mellifera) on wild pollinators, specifically addressing three key areas: (i) competition for floral and nesting resources, (ii) transmission of pathogens and parasites, and (iii) indirect effects via changes in plant communities. Based on the hazards identified in the literature review and one additional hazard identified by experts in the project group, VKM conducted a risk assessment that included hazard identification, hazard characterization, likelihood of impact, and risk characterization for each of the hazards identified, focusing on the Norwegian context. Additionally, for each identified hazard, VKM estimated the confidence levels for each step in the risk assessment. Finally, VKM identified potential risk mitigating measures and assessed their effectiveness. This was done by conducting a literature search to identify potential risk reducing measures and assessing the identified mitigating measures their effectiveness, certainty of effectiveness, and potential harms using the approach developed by Conservation Evidence (see www.conservationevidence.com). Results/Conclusions Status of knowledge The literature review performed by VKM identified 45 recent studies that were not included in the two previous systematic reviews on the topic. The new studies did not provide results that altered the conclusions of the previous reviews. A brief summary of the review is presented below. Competition for floral resources. Managed honey bees can compete with wild pollinators for shared floral resources and this competition can have clear, measurable, negative effects on wild pollinators. Spillover of pathogens and parasites. Managed honey bees can potentially spread bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens to wild pollinators. The extent to which these pathogens cause disease in wild pollinators is, however, unknown for most wild pollinators. Several parasitic mites can infest hives of managed honey bees, but none of these have been shown to infest wild pollinators found in Norway. One common honey bee pest, the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida), has been found to also infect nests of wild bees. This species is not currently found in Norway. ............................
Authors
Ari Hietala Wilson Lara Henao André Kolsgaard Simon Seljegard Nina Elisabeth Nagy Isabella Børja Tor Arne Justad Yngve Rekdal Even Bergseng Halvor SolheimAbstract
Forest grazing by free-roaming livestock is a common practice in many countries. The forestry sector sees the practice as unfortunate owing to several reasons, such as damages inflicted by grazing in young plantations. Concerning Norway spruce forests, a tree species known to develop wood decay with high frequency followed from stem bark damage, there is a strong perception among foresters that the trampling damage caused by livestock on the superficial root system of this tree leads to decay. Because of the very limited scientific documentation available on this topic, we pursued a clarification by investigating three 38- to 56-year-old Norway spruce forests used for silvopasture. Two types of injuries were observed on exposed roots: bark cracks characterized by resin exudation, and injuries involving localized bark peeling and exposure of the underlying wood. These injuries occurred up to 250 cm away from the root collar, with the sector 50–150 cm away from the root collar showing the highest incidence of injuries. In two of the forest stands, wood within the injured root areas was primarily colonized by the wound parasite Corinectria fuckeliana or species of the order Helotiales, fungi that do not cause wood decay. Wood colonization of injured roots by Heterobasidion species, the most frequent wood decay fungi of Norway spruce, was common in the third stand, but only in a few cases it was possible to deduce that the colonization had probably initiated via trampling injuries on roots. In a few cases, an injury was located at stem base at the root collar height along paths used by animals, and in such cases, it was obvious that stem colonization by Heterobasidion species had initiated via the wound. The relatively small amount of data warrants caution when drawing conclusions. Considering the high establishment frequency of decay via stem bark wounds of Norway spruce observed in previous studies, our data would suggest that roots are generally better equipped to defend themselves upon infliction of superficial wounds than stem of this tree species. The likelihood of trampling injuries leading to decay may vary considerably between different stands, this presumably depending on the level of local propagule pressure by pathogenic wood decay fungi and the frequency of damages close to root collar.
Authors
Jorunn Børve Theresa Weigl Emily Follett Ingunn Øvsthus Hanne Larsen Torbjørn Haukås Erlend Indergård Siv Fagertun Remberg Dalphy Ondine Camira Harteveld Arne StensvandAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Paul Eric Aspholm David Kniha Hans Geir Eiken Snorre Hagen Ida Marie Bardalen Fløistad Ingrid Helle Søvik Ane-Sofie Bednarczyk Hansen Simo Maduna Cornelya Klutsch Finn-Arne HaugenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
2023
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The aim of the article is to assess whether agricultural landscapes play a role in the perception of Norway held by tourists and residents. An additional aim is to analyse whether information accompanying images on social media indicate that the photographers have acknowledged the agricultural landscape. The authors used geotagged images uploaded to the image-sharing platform Flickr in their analyses. They selected photos from within the agricultural landscapes, inspected them, and categorized them according to extent and content. Additionally, they analysed the accompanying hashtags. The findings revealed that a large proportion of the photos contained agricultural landscapes, and thus confirmed the importance of the agricultural landscape for visual perception of and access to Norwegian landscapes. In addition, the lack of agricultural-related hashtags strengthened the authors’ suspicions that this might not have been widely recognized by the photographers. Thus, while agricultural landscapes commonly are considered primarily as landscapes of food production, the authors conclude that these landscapes also fulfil other functions and that their contribution to the perception of Norway is important. Additionally, many of the landscape elements seen and analysed in the sample of photos are elements that play a role in providing cultural ecosystem services.