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.
2025
Abstract
Soil pH is one of the properties that determines the levels of bioavailability of macro- and micronutrients for plant roots. Apple rootstocks are the interface by which these nutrients are absorbed and shuttled to grafted scions. Our experiment was aimed at understanding the phenotypic and underlying genotypic variation of apple roots interacting with the same soil amended to five pH levels (4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5 and 8.5) by monitoring growth and leaf nutrient concentrations (Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Zn, and Ni) of one-year-old ‘Golden Delicious’ trees grafted on 28 different apple rootstocks. Data were analyzed as a full factorial of pH and rootstock type. Soil pH amendment was successful as least squares means for the pH main effect displayed expected nutrient content curves for Mo (increasing with higher pH) and for Mn (decreasing with higher pH). ANOVA showed significance for main effects (pH and rootstock type) while the interaction (pH × rootstock type) was significant only for Mo. Both main effects were significant for Mn, P, and Ca whereas pH was significant for Fe and rootstock type was significant for Cu, Zn, and S. No significant effects were observed for Na, Ni and K. Multivariate analyses using rootstock genotype LS means revealed diverse correlation (pairwise Pearson) patterns when the data were analyzed as a whole or split by pH treatment levels. For example, the genotypic similarity (Pearson pairwise) between K and Mo was not significant at pH level 4.5 (r=-0.342 and p=0.109) whereas at pH 8.5 such relationship was highly correlated (r=-0.547 and p=0.006). Similar results were observed among other nutrients. Dual hierarchical clustering (Ward) displayed different number and composition of clusters according to pH where two main clusters were observed for pH 4.5 and three main clusters for the other pH levels. Rootstocks G.41, G.890, MM.111 and G.935 were tightly clustered at pH 7.5 whereas at pH 5.5 they all fell into different clusters. These results suggest the individuality of the interaction of each rootstock with pH levels with implications on fertilizer management practices and optimum pH and planting amendments specific for rootstock type.
Abstract
This article presents SkyPlanter, the first drone-based system for aerial reforestation with tree seedlings. Traditional tree planting is labor-intensive, physically demanding, and expensive—making it ideal for automation. Current mechanized solutions depend on large, heavy, ground-based excavator-based solutions best suited for extensive clear-cuts, but which struggle on steep or uneven terrain, and carry prohibitive relocation costs for smaller operations. SkyPlanter is a drone-mounted seedling-planting system that enables it to easily traverse rugged or steep terrain while remaining inexpensive, easily transported, and highly scalable. It uses an ultra-lightweight compressed air planting mechanism that inserts seedlings and compacts the surrounding soil. Its innovative double-telescoping design reduces vehicle weight to 15.2 kg (without batteries) or 16.4–20.8 kg (with batteries, depending on flight duration). This article details the system’s novel planting and ground compression mechanisms, its unique high-pressure pneumatic power systems, and its custom quadrotor carrier drone. We demonstrate its feasibility in the first-ever aerial seedling-planting tests in a forest environment. The system is proposed as a cost-effective, scalable reforestation solution with high automation potential.
Abstract
Abstract Reusing and recycling post-consumer wood can help mitigate GHG emissions and reduce the risks of biodiversity loss by saving primary resources. A robust understanding of the post-consumer wood composition and its cascading potential is critical to enable this. However, there is currently limited research on the topic. This study contributes to filling the knowledge gap by sorting 54 tons of post-consumer wood at two industrial recycling stations and one household recycling station in Norway and further developing a classification system with quantified cascading potentials for post-consumer wood. The results showed that 49–64 percent of the wood at the industrial recycling stations and 32 percent at the household recycling station was load-bearing and untreated solid wood. We argue that these categories have a good potential for reuse and recycling. The high percentages indicate an opportunity for increasing the recycling and reuse of post-consumer wood. However, we also discovered some misplaced preservative-treated materials and a percentage of fiberboards that exceed particleboard manufacturer limits, meaning that sorting before recycling is required. Furthermore, we investigated how the wood composition was influenced by the type of customer delivering wood to the recycling stations and found that households generally deliver lower quality post-consumer wood than industrial customers.
Abstract
The background for this study is the limitations of the conventional approach of using deforestation area multiplied by biomass densities or emission factors. We demonstrated how TanDEM-X and GEDI data can be combined to estimate forest Above Ground Biomass (AGB) change at the national scale for Tanzania. The results can be further recalculated to estimate CO2 emissions and removals from the forest. We used repeated short wavelength, InSAR DEMs from TanDEM-X to derive changes in forest canopy height and combined this with GEDI data to convert such height changes to AGB changes. We estimated AGB change during 2012–2019 to be −2.96 ± 2.44 MT per year. This result cannot be validated, because the true value is unknown. However, we corroborated the results by comparing with other approaches, other datasets, and the results of other studies. In conclusion, TanDEM-X and GEDI can be combined to derive reliable temporal change in AGB at large scales such as a country. An important advantage of the method is that it is not required to have a representative field inventory plot network nor a full coverage DTM. A limitation for applying this method now is the lack of frequent and systematic InSAR elevation data.
Abstract
European livestock sectors rely heavily on imported protein feeds, presenting challenges regarding sustainability and supply security. Green biorefineries (GBR) represent a local alternative where protein concentrates are extracted from grassland crops, but the environmental performance of these systems depends on feedstock cultivation practices. This study combined field trials and life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify how nitrogen (N) fertilization rates, clover inclusion rates, and feedstock management (fresh vs. ensiled) affect dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) biomass yields, as well as subsequent climate impact, and agricultural land use of GBR products. The results reveal that N fertilization during cultivation of feedstock biomass plays a critical role in the climate impact of green biorefining, and that including legumes enhances GBR sustainability. Increasing N fertilization from 0 to 240 kg N ha−1 in red clover–grass swards increased DM and CP biomass yields but also increased soil N₂O emissions and upstream fertilizer burdens. Under no N fertilizer treatment, biological N fixation supported high yields, resulting in the lowest net climate footprint in the ensuing LCA of the GBR process. However, this treatment also required around 60 % more land than the high N treatment. Processing ensiled feedstock further reduced the climate impact compared to fresh biomass by retaining more CP in the liquid fraction and eliminating several biorefinery steps. However, this benefit in this case was linked to the use of the liquid phase rather than ensiling itself, and similar outcomes could be achieved with fresh biomass if processed accordingly and used immediately after production. Future work must expand system boundaries to include transport, storage, and animal-feeding stages, and develop farm-level strategies that align GBR practices with regional conditions.
Authors
Marco Canicattì Junxiang Peng Ignacio Ciampitti Mariangela Vallone Davide CammaranoAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
EMF significantly enhance conifer growth under diverse experimental conditions. EMF effects on conifer stress resistance were not statistically significant. Field studies on EMF-conifer interactions remain scarce and needed.
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No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
Authors
Tomáš Hlásny Michaela Perunová Roman Modlinger Max Blake Gediminas Brazaitis György Csóka Maarten de Groot Mihai-Leonard Duduman Massimo Faccoli Margarita Georgieva Georgi Georgiev Wojciech Grodzki Henrik Hartmann Anikó Hirka Gernot Hoch Hervé Jactel Mats Jonsell Marija Kolšek Paal Krokene Markus Melin Slobodan Milanović Bjørn Økland Milan Pernek Gilles San Martin Martin Schroeder Rupert Seidl Jozef Vakula Tiina YliojaAbstract
No abstract has been registered