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
Abstract
Many Norwegian consumers eat more red meat than is recommended by the Government. Of the protein currently consumed, 75% is of animal origin. Natural conditions in Norway favour the production of meat, dairy and seafood but high-protein plants can also be grown in the country. This study analysed the environmental impact of growing turnip rapeseed (Brassica rapa) and rapeseed (Brassica napus) and the processing of rapeseed into dietary oil and press cake. The results were then compared with some common animal protein food sources. Impacts were calculated for 24 impact indicators. The climate impact of dried seeds was 1.19 kg CO2-eq/kg, for rape oil—3.0 kg CO2-eq/kg and for rapeseed press cake—0.72 kg CO2-eq/kg. The environmental impact of rapeseed production is higher than in most other countries, predominantly due to lower yields. Press cake from rapeseed could be a valuable source of protein in foods. In Norway, the environmental impacts of this material (climate impact—2.5 kg CO2-eq/kg protein) are at the same level as other plant protein sources, but far lower than some of the most common animal protein sources (climate impact—16–35 kg CO2-eq/kg protein). When comparing the impacts while taking nutrient content into account, these differences remained the same. Improvements in the environmental performance of oilseed and its products can be achieved both by improving yields through better agronomic practices and increasing the proportion of winter rapeseed.
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No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Questions Which environmental variables are most important in determining plant species composition in subarctic springs? Do observed patterns differ between typical wetland and general matrix‐derived species? Location Helocrenic (seepage) springs, Northern Norway. Methods We sampled 49 helocrenic spring sites, measuring environmental variables (water temperature, water pH, electrical conductivity, discharge volume, geographic position) and recording all species present. We performed a partial canonical correspondence analysis (pCCA) to determine the relative importance of water quality, spatial, and climatic variables for patterns in species composition and to compare the differences in these patterns between wetland and matrix‐derived species. Results We found that climatic and water quality variables were almost equally important in determining species composition in subarctic springs, with climatic variables explaining 26.62% of variation in species composition and water quality variables explaining 26.14%. Spatial variables explained the least variation (21.53%). When looking at the variables individually, altitude (10.93%) and mean summer temperature (9.25%) explained the most variation. The trend was the same for matrix‐derived species and wetland species, with climatic variables explaining the most variation (matrix‐derived: 27.26%; wetland: 24.42%), followed by water quality (matrix‐derived: 26.40%; wetland: 24.13%) and spatial variables (matrix‐derived: 24.87%; wetland: 16.27%). The main difference between matrix‐derived species and typical wetland species was that the spatial variables explained less variation for wetland species. Conclusions The close relationship of species composition (total vegetation as well as separated into wetland and matrix‐derived species) with climatic and water quality conditions indicates a sensitivity of subarctic springs to future climate change. In combination with altitude, which was found to be the most important individual variable, it is likely that the future distribution of spring species tracking climate change will be limited by the occurrence of suitable spring habitats, especially at high altitudes.
Authors
Andreas TreuAbstract
Research activities in the field of wood protection in the marine environment in Europe have been limited and do not yet satisfy the need for new approaches to the problem of biodegradation of Wood in seawater. Alternatives to creosote treatment were tested in the marine environment in Moss harbour. Most of the treated products showed high potential as a successful treatment in this use class in the short-term, such as acetylation of wood, treatment with sorbitol and citric acid and encapsulation of wood poles with a plastic envelope. Long-term studies need to determine the service life of these products.
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No abstract has been registered
Lecture – ESS SURVEY UPDATE AND NEXT STEPS
Cornelya Klutsch, Paul Eric Aspholm, Hallvard Jensen, ...
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No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Laser scanning data from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV-LS) offer new opportunities to estimate forest growing stock volume ( V ) exclusively based on the UAV-LS data. We propose a method to measure tree attributes and using these measurements to estimate V without the use of field data for calibration. The method consists of five steps: i) Using UAV-LS data, tree crowns are automatically identified and segmented wall-to-wall. ii) From all detected tree crowns, a sample is taken where diameter at breast height (DBH) can be recorded reliably as determined by visual assessment in the UAV-LS data. iii) Another sample of crowns is taken where tree species were identifiable from UAV image data. iv) DBH and tree species models are fit using the samples and applied to all detected tree crowns. v) Single tree volumes are predicted with existing allometric models using predicted species and DBH, and height directly obtained from UAV-LS. The method was applied to a Riegl-VUX data set with an average density of 1130 points m−2 and 3 cm orthomosaic acquired over an 8.8 ha managed boreal forest. The volumes of the identified trees were aggregated to estimate plot-, stand-, and forest-level volumes which were validated using 58 independently measured field plots. The root-mean-square deviance ( RMSD% ) decreased when increasing the spatial scale from the plot (32.2%) to stand (27.1%) and forest level (3.5%). The accuracy of the UAV-LS estimates varied given forest structure and was highest in open pine stands and lowest in dense birch or spruce stands. On the forest level, the estimates based on UAV-LS data were well within the 95% confidence interval of the intense field survey estimate, and both estimates had a similar precision. While the results are encouraging for further use of UAV-LS in the context of fully airborne forest inventories, future studies should confirm our findings in a variety of forest types and conditions.
Abstract
Immigration has changed the United States from having a predominantly white to a more ethnically diverse population. People who move to the U.S. may initially have diets unlike native-born Americans but gradually adopt eating patterns more like them. Using NHANES data and a censored gamma regression model, this study estimated the daily consumption of major food products among groups of immigrants and the corresponding groups born in the U.S. Results show that immigrants had lower consumption of meat and higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, and immigrants’ consumption converged towards a less healthy American diet after five years in the U.S.
Authors
Hyung Sik Choi Torbjörn Jansson Alan Matthews Klaus MittenzweiAbstract
The UK exited the EU on 31 January 2020, with a transition period agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement. During this transition period the UK and the EU will decide on their future trading relationship. No matter what form this relationship takes, there will be disturbances to agri‐food markets. This study analyses four different scenarios with increasing barriers to trade, ranging from a very close relationship similar to the European Economic Area to a distant relationship in which the UK and EU trade on Most Favoured Nation terms, using the EU focused global agricultural sector model CAPRI. In the UK, food prices will increase in all scenarios, making consumers in the UK the biggest losers. Only in a free trade agreement scenario does the UK show an unambiguous positive net welfare gain in just the agri‐food sector. In the case of the European Economic Area scenario, which assumes continued access to the single market, the net welfare impact would depend on the size of the UK’s continued contribution to the EU. In the EU, declining food prices would benefit consumers but the sum of the loss in farmers’ incomes and the UK’s EU CAP contribution would be much greater than the consumer’s gain. These impacts in agricultural markets under different future trade arrangements will also be influenced by the UK’s agricultural policy changes in direct payments as well as by possible further UK trade liberalisation after the end of the transition period.