Hopp til hovedinnholdet

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.

2022

To document

Abstract

Many wild animals perceive humans as predators, and human disturbance,especially in the form of hunting, triggers antipredatory behavior among prey.Yet, knowledge of how game species react to different types of human distur-bance and adapt to repeated disturbances is limited. We investigated howdisturbance in the form of a solitary human approacher (stalker) impactedbehavior (flight response and short-term habitat use) of 28 GPS-collared reddeer (Cervus elaphus) in two populations with contrasting population densitiesin Norway. We studied how the behavioral response differed: (1) with season(pre-hunting vs. hunting); (2) by consecutive approaches within a day;(3) among replicated experiments within the same season; and (4) betweentwo regions with contrasting densities of red deer. The average flight initiationdistance (FID) increased by 15% during the hunting season, and consecutiveapproaches within the same day caused the red deer to move 49% longerdistances. Flight initiation distance was longer in the high-density population,while escape distance was longer in the low-density population. Red deermoved out of their weekly home range after 52% approaches, and after theonset of hunting season, time spent outside the home range increased by 89%.Red deer preferred denser resting sites after the disturbance and animal siteshad shorter sighting distance and higher canopy cover than control plots.Tree density and canopy cover at animal sites increased at the onset of huntingseason, from first to second approach within day, and after replicated experi-ments within season. Our results suggest that red deer preferred dense restingsites, especially in the hunting season. However, these animal sites had thesame amount of the favorable forage plant bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), indi-cating no clear food–cover trade-off in selection of habitat. Our study showedthat onset of hunting initiates stronger fear responses in red deer, which mayin turn affect red deer distribution and harvesting efficiency

Abstract

Acrylamide has become an important measure when looking at profitability and sustainability in the potato processing industry. Acrylamide is a possible carcinogenic which is formed in starchy foods during high-temperature cooking processes. Crisps and French fries made from processing potatoes are consumed by people of all ages and therefore the pressure on the industry has been large to reduce the acrylamide levels. In the ongoing project POTETFRIT (2019-2022), the aim is to reduce acrylamide content and improve product quality, profitability and sustainability in the production of Norwegian crisps and French fries. The aim will be reached through new knowledge about the interaction between potato quality and storage conditions. The effect of different temperature strategies including cold storage (5 ⁰C) and reconditioning at 15 ⁰C was tested in eight different varieties (Lady Claire, Kiebitz, Pirol, Lady Britta, Peik, Innovator, Zorba and Gullflaks). The importance of elevated CO2 levels in the potato store on product quality and acrylamide content, was studied in the same potato varieties and in tubers with different maturity levels. Storage conditions in 29 commercial potato stores was also studied, with attention to temperature conditions and CO2 levels in different stages of the storage season. The effect of different ventilation strategies was also studied. So far results show that the varieties L. Claire, Kiebitz and Gullflaks can be stored at low temperature levels without developing high sugar and acrylamide levels and dark fry colour and at the same time keeping sprouting at a low level. In the CO2 trials, none of the varieties tested showed elevated sugar and acrylamide levels when exposed to high CO2 levels (15000 ppm) and also in the commercial stores there was no correlation between high CO2 and high sugar levels.