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
Aslaug Helgadottir Petter Marum Sigridur Dalmannsdottir Kristin Daugstad Thordis Anna Kristjansdottir Tor LunnanAbstract
Background and aims: White clover (Trifolium repens) is an important component of sustainable livestock systems around the world. Its exploitation for agriculture in the northern, marginal areas, is, however, currently limited by the lack of cultivars that combine persistence and high production potential. The aims are to investigate whether it is feasible to create breeding material of white clover for these areas by combining winter hardiness of northerly populations with good yielding ability of more southerly cultivars. Methods: A total of 166 crosses of 14 different parental combinations between winter-hardy, low-yielding populations of northern origin and high-yielding commercial cultivars of more southerly origin were tested under field conditions in Iceland and Norway and the parental combinations were compared in Norway. Spaced plants were transplanted into a smooth meadow grass (Poa pratensis) sward. Dry matter yield was estimated for 2 years after planting in Norway and morphological characters associated with yielding capacity were measured at both sites. Key results: The results showed that southerly cultivars had larger leaves and higher yielding potential than northern types but suffered more winter damage. Significant variation was found between full-sib families within the different parental combinations for all morphological characteristics measured in all three trials. However, it was difficult to detect any consistens morphological patterns between progeny groups across trial sites. No significant correlations were found between leaflet area and survival. Conclusions: The present study has confirmed that it should be possible to simultaneously select for good winter survival and larger leaves and, hence, higher yielding ability under marginal conditions.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Audun KorsæthAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Christian Guido Bruckner Rahul Bahulikar Monali Rahalkar Bernhard Schink Peter, G. KrothAbstract
No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
Authors
Marianne Stenrød J Perceval P Benoit Marit Almvik Randi Bolli Ole Martin Eklo Tore E. Sveistrup Jens KværnerAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The frequency with which ewe lambs lay on wooden surfaces at two levels, called ``double bunks,"" was documented by video recording at 6, 11 and 18 months of age: the number in each of 4 pens (n = 4) lying either on double bunks (DBs) or on the expanded metal floor (EMF) was recorded. At 6 months, lambs were sheared half way through the research period and DBs of two different heights (50/60 cm) and depths (60/75 cm) were tested. At other ages the lambs were sheared before testing and all DBs were the 60 cm 60 cm design. Fully fleeced lambs aged 6 months preferred to lie on EMF rather than DB (P < 0.001). After shearing, the use of EMF for resting declined (P < 0.05) and no significant preference between EMF and DB was found. The lambs tended to lie less when newly sheared (P = 0.06). At 11 months, sheared lambs used DB just as much as EMF, whereas 18 month old sheared ewe lambs tended to choose DB to lie on (P = 0.09). At 6 months, there was a tendency for more lambs to rest at ground level in the DB when headroom was higher at 60 cm (P = 0.1). No other preferences between DB designs were found. The results are discussed according to the regulations for organic sheep farming in Norway. The lambs showed little preference for resting on a DB compared to EMF, so there is insufficient evidence to recommend a two-level, wooden lying area for sheep.
Abstract
Tannin-enriched extracts from raspberry, cloudberry and strawberry were analysed by liquid chromatography"mass spectrometric (LC"MS) techniques. The raspberry and cloudberry extracts contained a similar mixture of identifiable ellagitannin components and ellagic acid. However, the strawberry extract contained a complex mixture of ellagitannin and proanthocyanidin components that could not be adequately resolved to allow identification of individual peaks. Nevertheless, the negative ESI-MS spectra obtained by direct infusion mass spectrometric (DIMS) analysis described the diversity of these samples. For example, the predominance of signals associated with Lambertianin C in cloudberry and Sanguiin H6 in raspberry tannin extracts could be discerned and the diversity of signals from procyanidin and propelargonidin oligomers could be identified in the strawberry extract. The dose response for the main ellagitannin-derived signals in the raspberry tannin sample revealed a saturation effect probably due to ion suppression effects in the ion trap spectrometer. Nevertheless, DIMS spectra of whole berry extracts described qualitative differences in ellagitannin-derived peaks in raspberry, cloudberry and strawberry samples. In addition, positive mode DIMS spectra illustrated qualitative differences in the anthocyanin composition of berries of progeny from a raspberry breeding population that had been previously analysed by LC"MS. This suggests that DIMS could be applied to rapidly assess differences in polyphenol content, especially in large sample sets such as the progeny from breeding programmes.
Authors
Gert Andersson Patrik Flisberg Bertil Lidén Mikael RönnqvistAbstract
We describe the decision support system RuttOpt, which is developed for scheduling logging trucks in the forest industry. The system is made up of a number of modules. One module is the Swedish road database NVDB, which consists of detailed information of all of the roads in Sweden. This also includes a tool to compute distances between locations. A second module is an optimization routine that finds a schedule, i.e., set of routes for all trucks. This is based on a two-phase algorithm where linear programming and a standard tabu search method are used. A third module is a database storing all relevant information. At the center of the system is a user interface where information and results can be viewed on maps, Gantt schedules, and result reports. The RuttOpt system has been used in a number of case studies and we describe four of these. The case studies have been made in both forest companies and hauling companies. The cases range from 10 to 110 trucks and with a planning horizon ranging between 1 and 5 days. The results show that the system can be used to solve large case studies and that the potential savings are in the range 5%¿30%. Nous décrivons le système d¿aide à la décision RuttOpt, qui a été développé pour planifier le déplacement des grumiers dans l¿industrie forestière. Le système est composé de plusieurs modules. La base de données des routes suédoises (NVDB), qui contient des informations détaillées sur toutes les routes de la Suède, est l¿un de ces modules. Ce module contient également un outil qui permet de calculer la distance entre deux endroits. Un deuxième module est constitué d¿un sous-programme d¿optimisation qui permet de générer un calendrier de transport, c.-à-d. un ensemble de trajets pour tous les camions. Cette opération est réalisée à l¿aide d¿un algorithme à deux phases dans lequel la programmation linéaire et une méthode de recherche tabou standard sont utilisées. Le troisième module est une base de données qui permet d¿emmagasiner toutes les informations pertinentes. Au c@our du système se trouve u interface utilisateur qui permet de visualiser les informations et les résultats par le biais de cartes, de graphiques de Gantt et de rapports des résultats. Le système RuttOpt a été utilisé dans le cadre de plusieurs études de cas et nous décrivons quatre de ces études. Les études de cas ont été réalisées chez des compagnies forestières et des entreprises de transport. Selon le cas, le nombre de camions varie de 10 à 110 et l¿horizon de planification d¿un à 5 jours. Les résultats montrent que le système peut être utilisé pour résoudre des études de cas de grande taille et que les économies potentielles sont de l¿ordre de 5 % à 30 %.
Authors
Anne Kristine Søvik Nina SyversenAbstract
No abstract has been registered