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.
2020
Authors
Constantin M. Zohner Lidong Mo Susanne S. Renner Jens-Christian Svenning Yann Vitasse Blas Manuel Benito De Pando Alejandro Ordonez Frederik Baumgarten Jean-François Bastin Veronica Sebald Peter B. Reich Jingjing Liang Gert-Jan Nabuurs Sergio de-Miguel Giorgio Alberti Clara Antón Fernández Radomir Balazy Urs-Beat Brändli Han Y. H. Chen Chelsea Chisholm Emil Cienciala Selvadurai Dayanandan Tom M. Fayle Lorenzo Frizzera Damiano Gianelle Andrzej M. Jagodzinski Bogdan Jaroszewicz Tommaso Jucker Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas Mohammed Latif Khan Hyun Seok Kim Henn Korjus Vivian Kvist Johannsen Diana Laarmann Mait Lang Tomasz Zawila-Niedzwiecki Pascal A. Niklaus Alain Paquette Hans Pretzsch Purabi Saikia Peter Schall Vladimír Šebeň Miroslav Svoboda Elena Tikhonova Helder Viana Chunyu Zhang Xiuhai Zhao Thomas W. CrowtherAbstract
Late-spring frosts (LSFs) affect the performance of plants and animals across the world’s temperate and boreal zones, but despite their ecological and economic impact on agriculture and forestry, the geographic distribution and evolutionary impact of these frost events are poorly understood. Here, we analyze LSFs between 1959 and 2017 and the resistance strategies of Northern Hemisphere woody species to infer trees’ adaptations for minimizing frost damage to their leaves and to forecast forest vulnerability under the ongoing changes in frost frequencies. Trait values on leaf-out and leaf-freezing resistance come from up to 1,500 temperate and boreal woody species cultivated in common gardens. We find that areas in which LSFs are common, such as eastern North America, harbor tree species with cautious (late-leafing) leaf-out strategies. Areas in which LSFs used to be unlikely, such as broad-leaved forests and shrublands in Europe and Asia, instead harbor opportunistic tree species (quickly reacting to warming air temperatures). LSFs in the latter regions are currently increasing, and given species’ innate resistance strategies, we estimate that ∼35% of the European and ∼26% of the Asian temperate forest area, but only ∼10% of the North American, will experience increasing late-frost damage in the future. Our findings reveal region-specific changes in the spring-frost risk that can inform decision-making in land management, forestry, agriculture, and insurance policy.
Authors
Greeley BeckAbstract
Research Highlights: Polyesterification of wood with sorbitol and citric acid (SCA) increases decay resistance against brown-rot and white-rot fungi without reducing cell wall moisture content but the SCA polymer is susceptible to hydrolysis. Background and Objectives: SCA polyesterification is a low-cost, bio-based chemical wood modification system with potential for commercialisation. Materials and Methods: This study investigates moisture-related properties and decay resistance in SCA-modified wood. Scots pine sapwood was polyesterified at 140 ◦C with various SCA solution concentrations ranging from 14–56% w/w. Dimensional stability was assessed and leachates were analysed with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Chemical changes were characterized with attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and spectra were quantitatively compared with peak ratios. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LFNMR) relaxometry was used to assess water saturated samples and decay resistance was determined with a modified EN113 test. Results: Anti-swelling efficiency (ASE) ranged from 23–43% and decreased at higher weight percentage gains (WPG). Reduced ASE at higher WPG resulted from increased water saturated volumes for higher treatment levels. HPLC analysis of leachates showed detectable citric acid levels even after an EN84 leaching procedure. ATR-FTIR analysis indicated increased ester content in the SCA-modified samples and decreased hydroxyl content compared to controls. Cell wall water assessed by non-freezing moisture content determined with LFNMR was found to increase because of the modification. SCA-modified samples resisted brown-rot and white-rot decay, with a potential decay threshold of 50% WPG. Sterile reference samples incubated without fungi revealed substantial mass loss due to leaching of the samples in a high humidity environment. The susceptibility of the SCA polymer to hydrolysis was confirmed by analysing the sorption behaviour of the pure polymer in a dynamic vapour sorption apparatus. Conclusions: SCA wood modification is an effective means for imparting decay resistance but, using the curing parameters in the current study, prolonged low-level leaching due to hydrolysis of the SCA polymer remains a problem.
Authors
Taru Sandén Heide Spiegel Hannah Tabea Wenng Michael Schwarz Judith M. SarneelAbstract
The decay of organic material—litter decomposition—is a critical process for life on Earth and an essential part of the global carbon cycle. Yet, this basic process remains unknown to many citizens. The Tea Bag Index (TBI) measures decomposition in a standardized, measurable, achievable, climate-relevant, and time-relevant way by burying commercial tea bags in soil for three months and calculating proxies to characterize the decomposition process (expressed as decomposition rate (k) and stabilization factor (S)). We measured TBI at 8 cm soil depth with the help of school and farm citizen scientists in 2015 in Sweden and in 2016 in Austria. Questionnaires to the participating schools and farms enabled us to capture lessons learned from this participatory data collection. In total >5500 citizen scientists participated in the mass experiments, and approximately 50% of the tea bags sent out yielded successful results that fell well within previously reported ranges. The average decomposition rates (k) ranged from 0.008 to 0.012 g d−1 in Sweden and from 0.012 to 0.015 g d−1 in Austria. Stabilization factors (S) were up to four times higher in Sweden than Austria. Taking part in a global experiment was a great incentive for participants, and in future experiments the citizen scientists and TBI would benefit from having enhanced communication between the researchers and participants about the results gained.
Authors
Cornelya KlutschAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Leonardo H. Teixeira Brunno F. Oliveira Franz-Sebastian Krah Johannes Kollmann Gislene GanadeAbstract
Understanding the role plant species play on ecosystems is fundamental for restoration programs, particularly in semi-arid areas because land-use intensification combined with critical droughts has resulted in widespread desertification. Here, we evaluate 15 species of native trees for restoring degraded areas in the Brazilian semi-arid region on the basis of the suitability of their functional traits to ecosystem multifunctionality. To do so, we performed a short-term greenhouse experiment using saplings to estimate the importance of above- and below-ground traits in modulating soil and water quality. Above-ground traits yielded stronger effects on soil and water quality than below-ground traits. Above-ground biomass held the strongest positive effect on ecosystem multifunctionality, being the most beneficial attribute for the soil functions assessed. Thus, plants holding high biomass production should be preferentially selected for restoration in semi-arid regions.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
This article focus is on the perceived impact that aquaculture industry has on coastal communities in Northern Norway. Here, aquaculture is key industry with natural, social and economic impacts. In natural resource management in general, identifying and monitoring the perceived social impacts can be a useful tool for local planning. In order to ensure the blue growth goals of the Norwegian government and avoid conflict and mistrust in the future, it is important to understand how both the general public and stakeholders perceive the aquaculture industry, how it affects them and its use of space in the coastal zone. Hence, we ask a) how do coastal communities perceive the aquaculture industry and b) is there a legitimacy gap between the blue growth strategies of the Norwegian Government and the public? In order to answer these questions, we lean on theories related to legitimacy and stakeholder's participation. Original data were collected from structured (N = 150) and semi-structured interviews (N = 10) in two coastal communities in Northern Norway (Alstahaug and Brønnøy). Our findings suggest that a legitimacy gap does exist between blue growth goals and fishers in the communities studied, while the general citizen holds a positive attitude towards aquaculture. Insights from this study are useful for local, regional and national decision makers with responsibility for natural resource policies and development efforts.
Abstract
Microbes are central drivers of soil processes and in-depth knowledge on how agricultural management practices effects the soil microbiome is essential in the development of sustainable food production systems. Our objective was therefore to explore the long-term effects of organic and conventional cropping systems on soil bacterial and fungal quantity, their community structures and their combined function. To do so, we sampled soil from a long-term experiment in Southeast Norway in 2014, 25 years after the experiment was established, and performed a range of microbial analyses on the samples. The experiment consists of six cropping systems with differences in crop rotations, soil tillage, and with nutrient application regimes covering inorganic fertilizers, cattle slurry (both separately and combined with inorganic fertilizers) and biogas residues from digested household biowaste. The quantity of soil microbes was assessed by extraction of microbial C and N and by analysis of soil DNA (bacterial 16S rRNA, and fungal rRNA internal transcribed spacer region). The structures of the microbial communities were determined and assessment of relatedness of bacterial and fungal communities was done by the unweighted pair group method. Estimates of richness and diversity were based on numbers of unique operational taxonomic units from DNA sequencing and the function of the microbial assembly was measured by means of enzyme assays. Our results showed that production systems including leys had higher microbial biomass and higher numbers of bacterial and fungal gene copies than did systems with cash crops only. A cropping system which appeared to be particularly unfavourable was a reference-system where stubble, roots and exudates were the single source of organic material. Production system significantly affected both bacterial and fungal community structures in the soil. Systems including leys and organic fertilization had higher enzyme activities than did systems with cash crops only. An inclusion of ley in the rotation did not, however, increase either microbial richness or microbial diversity. In fact, the otherwise suboptimal reference-system appeared to have a richness and diversity of both bacteria and fungi at levels similar to those of the other cropping systems, indicating that the microbial function is largely maintained under less favourable agricultural treatments because of the general resilience of soil microorganisms to various stresses. Neither disturbance through tillage nor the use of chemical fertilizer or chemical plant protection measures seemed as such to influence soil microbial communities. Thus, no differences between conventional and organic farming practices as such were found. We conclude that the choice of agricultural management determines the actual microbial community structure, but that biodiversity in general is almost unaffected by cropping system over many years. Adequate addition of organic material is essential to ensure a properly functioning microbial ensemble and, thus, to secure soil structure and fertility over time.
Abstract
The study aimed to explore whether an increase in bunker silage density obtained by turning to a heavier packing machine than a farm size tractor would reduce losses and improve grass silage quality and aerobic stability. At each of three harvests, two bunkers were packed with either a 14.5 t wheel loader (WL) or an 8.3 t tractor (T). For comparison with the bunker silages, silage was produced simultaneously in round bales with high and low chamber pressure and wrapped immediately or after delay, and in laboratory silos. Compaction with WL increased silage dry matter (DM) density by 9 % compared with T, from 204 to 222 kg DM/m3. On average for three harvests, DM recovered as silage, or lost, was almost identical for the two packing treatments, with 870 g/kg of harvested DM recovered as feed offered to animals, 55 g/kg as wasted silage, and 75 g/kg as invisible losses due to respiration, effluent, fermentation and aerobic deterioration. However, in the harvest with lowest crop DM content, 266 g/kg, invisible DM losses with WL exceeded losses with T by 46 g/kg, of which the main portion was assumed to be caused by more effluent squeezed out by the WL. In the harvest with highest crop DM, 332 g/kg, invisible DM losses with T exceeded losses with WL by 43 g/kg, of which the main portion was assumed to be caused by poorer compaction with T, and therefore higher respiration and aerobic deterioration losses. Wasted silage DM was lower in bales than in bunkers (P = 0.004). The proportion of offered silage DM from poorly compacted bales sealed after delay (867 g/kg) was similar to that of bunkers, whereas the proportion of offered silage DM from well compacted and immediately sealed bales (963 g/kg) was similar to that of laboratory silos. Significant increases in protein bound in the neutral detergent and acid detergent fiber fractions were found in bales sealed after delay where temperatures had rised to 47 °C at wrapping. Similar levels of fiber bound protein were found in bunker silage, suggesting that they were also heated during filling. Spot samples from bunker silo shoulders were more infected by yeasts, moulds and Clostridium tyrobutyricum than samples from mid in bunkers and from bales. No differences in losses, silage composition or aerobic stability were observed between bunker silo packing with WL or T on average over three harvests.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered