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
Lawrence R. Kirkendall Kyrre Kausrud Martin Malmstrøm Paul Ragnar Berg Anders Bryn Kjetil Hindar Johanna Järnegren Anders Nielsen Erlend Birkeland Nilsen Brett Kevin Sandercock Eva Bonsak Thorstad Gaute VelleAbstract
The Norwegian Environment Agency has asked VKM to evaluate the risks to biodiversity associated with the import of two species of leeches to Norway, Hirudo medicinalis and H. verbana (so-called medicinal leeches). In addition, they ask that the project group suggest mitigating measures that could reduce any potential risks, should import of the two species be granted.
Authors
Lawrence Richard Kirkendall Kyrre Linné Kausrud Martin Malmstrøm Paul Ragnar Berg Anders Bryn Kjetil Hindar Johanna Järnegren Anders Nielsen Erlend Birkeland Nilsen Brett Kevin Sandercock Eva Bonsak Thorstad Gaute VelleAbstract
Import of leeches for medical use and hobby keeping poses a low risk of negative effects on Norwegian biodiversity. This is the key message in a risk assessment of two species of blood-sucking leeches conducted by VKM for the Norwegian Environment Agency. Background The two species of leeches (Hirudo medicinalis and H. verbana) have in recent years become more commonly used in Western medicine for various procedures where maintaining good blood flow is important. Hirudo medicinalis is considered native to Norway and is found in scattered populations in southern Norway. There is uncertainty about the genetic impact on these populations if imported leeches were to be released into the wild. Hirudo verbana is not registered in Norway but may have been imported as H. medicinalis in the past. Both species are listed under Appendix I, List B of the Norwegian CITES regulations. Methods VKM reviewed scientific literature to uncover potential negative effects in light of the leeches’ ecology under Norwegian conditions. VKM also investigated how the trade in live leeches is conducted, where they originate from, and outlined possible risk-reducing measures. VKM assessed four factors of potential relevance for negative impacts on biodiversity and conducted risk assessments for each: Hybridisation or other negative genetic impacts on local populations Competition with other leech species Parasitism or predation on amphibian populations Transmission of diseases Additionally, VKM assessed the extent of such imports and the likelihood of imported leeches ending up in Norwegian nature. Results VKM concluded that it is moderately likely that H. medicinalis will genetically affect Norwegian populations, but this will have minimal negative effects. Hybridisation between H. verbana and H. medicinalis is considered unlikely and would have little effect if it occurs. ”The leeches already present in Norway mainly originate from leeches imported from Europe in the 1800s. The introduction of new genes from the same areas now will therefore have minimal impact. The risk is therefore low,” says Lawrence Kirkendall, the scientific leader of the work. For parasitism or predation, amphibians are the main species that could theoretically be negatively affected by the leeches. VKM concludes that such negative effects are very unlikely and would have little or minimal impact. This implies low risk. Regarding competition and disease transmission, VKM assesses that these factors have little or minimal effect on biodiversity and are very unlikely. "We assess that the effects on biodiversity in Norway, if imported leeches were to end up in an environment where they thrive, are very small. At the same time, it is very unlikely that leeches used for medical procedures will end up in nature. The overall assessment is therefore that both species are associated with low risk of negative impact on biodiversity," says Kirkendall. The risk assessment is approved by the VKM Panel for Biodiversity.
Authors
Gaute Velle Martin Malmstrøm Johanna Järngren Paul Ragnar Berg Brett Kevin Sandercock Anders Bryn Kjetil Hindar Lawrence R. Kirkendall Kyrre Linné Kausrud Erlend Birkeland Nilsen Eva Bonsak Thorstad Anders NielsenAbstract
Import av fremmede krabber til bruk i mat- og restaurantbransjen kan medføre en høy risiko for negative effekter på norsk biologisk mangfold. Det er hovedbudskapet i en risikovurdering av åtte arter krabber, som VKM har gjort for Miljødirektoratet. Tre av disse artene er tidligere blitt beslaglagt av Tollvesenet, og disse var med høy sannsynlighet ment for mat-, og restaurantbransjen. Krabbene var levende da de ble forsøkt innført til Norge fra Sverige. På bakgrunn av beslagene besluttet Miljødirektoratet å få gjennomført en vurdering av hvilken risiko slik import kan medføre for biologisk mangfold i Norge. Ytterligere fem arter, identifisert av Havforskningsinstituttet som aktuelle for import som mat, inngikk i VKMs oppdrag. Dette har VKM gjort: VKM har gått gjennom tilgjengelig vitenskapelig litteratur om de aktuelle artene, og vurdert hvilke negative effekter disse kan føre til dersom de kommer ut i norsk natur. VKM har også gjort en vurdering av hvor sannsynlig det er at artene vil kunne etablere seg i Norge. Risikoen som krabbene utgjør bestemmes dermed av effekter og sannsynlighet. I tillegg har VKM foreslått mulige risikoreduserende tiltak. Effekter og sannsynlighet utgjør til sammen risikoen hver art medfører. VKM identifiserte tre faktorer som kan påvirke det biologiske mangfoldet negativt. Vi har gjennomførte risikovurderinger for hver av disse faktorene: konkurranse med hjemmehørende arter predasjon og beiting på hjemmehørende arter overføring av sykdommer I tillegg kan etablering av enkelte av artene, spesielt kinesisk- og japansk ullhåndskrabbe, og deres adferd med å grave ganger i elvebredden, føre til strukturelle endringer i økosystemene. Resultater_ VKMs risikovurderingen indikerer varierende risikonivåer for de ulike faktorene og artene. Vi konkludere med at det er høy risiko for negative effekter som følge av konkurranse og predasjon for to av artene, og middels risiko for ytterligere fem. Når det gjelder sykdomsspredning, er det høy risiko knyttet til de to ullhåndskrabbe-artene, og mulig høy risiko knyttet til amerikansk steinkrabbe. Sykdommene som utgjør den største trusselen, er krepsepest og gaffkemi, som rammer ferskvannslevende edelkreps og hummer hardest. VKM vurderer også at tre av artene utgjør en moderat risiko knyttet til gravende adferd. ‑ Fremmede krabber som importeres levende som mat har et betydelig potensial for å etablere seg i sjø og ferskvann. Sannsynligheten for etablering er høy fordi artene er tilpasningsdyktige, fordi enkelte arter kan tolerere miljøforhold lik det som finnes i store deler av Norge i dag, og fordi artene har høy reproduksjonsrate, sier Gaute Velle som har vært faglig ansvarlig for vurderingen. VKM har også gjort en totalvurdering av hvilken risiko de åtte artene utgjør dersom de importeres levende som mat. ‑ Spesielt sykdommer, som også kan spres av døde eller døende krabber, er en bekymring sier Velle. Potensialet for spredning av sykdommer har derfor veid tung når de åtte artene er rangert. Totalt sett er det lav risiko for kun to av de åtte artene, mens det er høy-, eller muligens høy risiko for tre arter og moderat risiko for tre arter, dersom artene importeres levende til bruk i mat-, og restaurantbransjen. Risikovurderingen er godkjent av VKMs faggruppe for biologisk mangfold.
Authors
Debojyoti Chakraborty Albert Ciceu Dalibor Ballian Marta Benito Garzón Andreas Bolte Gregor Bozic Rafael Buchacher Jaroslav Čepl Eva Cremer Alexis Ducousso Julian Gaviria Jan Peter George André Hardtke Mladen Ivankovic Marcin Klisz Jan Kowalczyk Antoine Kremer Milan Lstibůrek Roman Longauer Georgeta Mihai László Nagy Krasimira Petkova Emil Popov Randolf Schirmer Tore Skrøppa Thomas Solvin Arne Steffenrem Jan Stejskal Srdjan Stojnic Katharina Volmer Silvio SchuelerAbstract
Climate change threatens the role of European forests as a long-term carbon sink. Assisted migration aims to increase the resilience of forest tree populations to climate change, using species-specific climatic limits and local adaptations through transferring seed provenances. We modelled assisted migration scenarios for seven main European tree species and analysed the effects of species and seed provenance selection, accounting for environmental and genetic variations, on the annual above-ground carbon sink of regrowing juvenile forests. To increase forest resilience, coniferous trees need to be replaced by deciduous species over large parts of their distribution. If local seed provenances are used, this would result in a decrease of the current carbon sink (40 TgC yr−1) by 34–41% by 2061–2080. However, if seed provenances adapted to future climates are used, current sinks could be maintained or even increased to 48–60 TgC yr−1.
Authors
Rylee Isitt Andrew M. Liebhold Rebecca M. Turner Andrea Battisti Cleo Bertelsmeier Rachael Blake Eckehard G. Brockerhoff Stephen B. Heard Paal Krokene Bjørn Økland Helen F. Nahrung Davide Rassati Alain Roques Takehiko Yamanaka Deepa S. PureswaranAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Palingamoorthy Gnanamoorthy Junbin Zhao Abhishek Chakraborty Pramit Kumar Deb Burman Yaoliang Chen Linjie Jiao Jing Zhang Yaqi Liu Sigamani Sivaraj Yiping Zhang Qinghai SongAbstract
Study region: The Ailaoshan National Nature Reserve forest is a mountainous water catchment area for the Lancang River basin and a subtropical ecological conservation area in southwest China. Study focus: The study aimed to understand how water fluxes in a subtropical forest responds to extreme weather disturbances and their recoveries in the post-damage years. We used eddy covariance data (2010–2019) to investigate the evapotranspiration (ET), transpiration (T), evaporation (E), and canopy conductance (Gc) before and after an extreme snow event in 2015. New Hydrological Insights: In the snow damage year, the leaf area index (LAI) decreased by 49 % compared to the pre-damage levels. The severe vegetation damage caused a significant decrease in ET, T, E, and Gc by 35 %, 36 %, 23 %, and 33 %, respectively, compared to the pre-damage levels. T returned to its pre-damage level in 2016, one year after the snow damage. In contrast, LAI, ET, E and Gc recovered to their pre-damage levels in 2018, four years after the initial damage. Reduced ET caused a strong positive RFET, which diminished forest evaporative cooling and resilience. Our results suggest that the delayed E recovery enables water reserves in the ecosystems to be used through T to support rapid understory vegetation growth. This mechanism plays critical in bolstering ecosystem resilience as it facilitates swift recovery following disturbances in subtropical forests.
Authors
Binbin Xiang Maciej Wielgosz Theodora Kontogianni Torben Peters Stefano Puliti Rasmus Astrup Konrad SchindlerAbstract
Detailed forest inventories are critical for sustainable and flexible management of forest resources, to conserve various ecosystem services. Modern airborne laser scanners deliver high-density point clouds with great potential for fine-scale forest inventory and analysis, but automatically partitioning those point clouds into meaningful entities like individual trees or tree components remains a challenge. The present study aims to fill this gap and introduces a deep learning framework, termed ForAINet, that is able to perform such a segmentation across diverse forest types and geographic regions. From the segmented data, we then derive relevant biophysical parameters of individual trees as well as stands. The system has been tested on FOR-Instance, a dataset of point clouds that have been acquired in five different countries using surveying drones. The segmentation back-end achieves over 85% F-score for individual trees, respectively over 73% mean IoU across five semantic categories: ground, low vegetation, stems, live branches and dead branches. Building on the segmentation results our pipeline then densely calculates biophysical features of each individual tree (height, crown diameter, crown volume, DBH, and location) and properties per stand (digital terrain model and stand density). Especially crown-related features are in most cases retrieved with high accuracy, whereas the estimates for DBH and location are less reliable, due to the airborne scanning setup.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Winter storage of seedlings in freezers reduces the amount of heat sum available for growth in the following growing season compared to seedlings stored outdoors. To test the effects of a reduced growing period on the autumn frost hardiness of the six species most used in Icelandic afforestation, seedlings were stored outdoors or in a freezer during winter. In spring, the seedlings were planted on 24 May, 7 June, 21 June, and 5 July, and the frost hardiness of all treatments was tested on 12 and 26 September. In general, the probability of freezing damage increased with a later planting date, with outdoor-stored seedlings having the lowest probability of damage. The timing of frost events was of great importance; the later the freezing date, the less damage was observed. Growth cessation occurred at different times for each species, and they responded differently to the reduced heat sum. Lodgepole pine and birch accumulated the most frost hardiness in September. Sitka spruce had less autumn frost hardiness than Lutz spruce. Hybrid larch accumulated less frost hardiness than Russian larch and was most sensitive to the reduced heat sum. The results can be used to determine which species should be prioritised in frozen storage with regard to Iceland‘s short growing season.
Abstract
Increasing levels of global environmental change may have negative impacts on fertility and embryo viability in animals that could explain a recently reported increase in hatching failure in bird eggs across the globe. Here we test this relationship again by analyzing a dataset containing almost twice as many species and covering a longer time period than earlier works (n = 431 species during the period 1906–2022). We also tested for effects of Red List status and global population size. We found that hatching failure rates in a combined group of bird species currently classified as threatened (IUCN Red List categories Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable) or Near Threatened, peaked in the late 1970s to early 1980s and thereafter declined. A similar trend also existed in species with relatively small global populations. In contrast, no temporal trends were found in species in the Least Concern category, or in species with large global populations. Moreover, hatching failure rates declined significantly with increasing global population sizes. The temporal peak of hatching failure rates in threatened and Near Threatened species corresponds with the peak in environmental levels of the insecticide DDT. While this could suggest that environmental pollution caused the temporal trends in hatching failure rates, effects of inbreeding in small and threatened populations sampled more frequently during this period could not be excluded. Although we found no evidence suggesting that the rates of hatching failure in bird eggs are increasing, the current study supports previous works showing that species of high conservation concern appear to be more susceptible to factors leading to reproductive failure than other species.