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.
2019
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Authors
Katharina Strobl Christoph Moning Johannes KollmannAbstract
Drainage and afforestation of peatlands cause extensive habitat degradation and species losses. Restoration supports peatland biodiversity by creating suitable habitat conditions, including stable high water tables. However, colonization by characteristic species can take decades or even fail. Peatland recovery is often monitored shortly after restoration, but initial trends may not continue, and results might differ among taxonomic groups. This study analyzes trends in plant, dragonfly, and butterfly diversity within 18 years after rewetting of montane peatlands in central Germany. We compared diversity and species composition of 19 restored sites with three drained peatlands and one near‐natural reference site. Restoration resulted in improved habitat conditions and benefited species diversity, but there were marked differences among taxonomic groups. Dragonflies rapidly colonized small water bodies but their diversity did not further increase in older restoration sites. Characteristic peatland vegetation recovered slowly, since it depended on a high water holding capacity that was only reached after peat started accumulating. Generally, plant diversity developed toward reference conditions albeit incompletely, even 18 years after restoration. Butterflies responded less to peatland restoration; generalists increased only temporarily and specialists could not establish. In conclusion, peatland restoration improves habitat conditions and biodiversity, while trajectories of recovery are nonlinear and incomplete after two decades. This highlights the need for long‐term monitoring and a strategic selection of indicator species for evaluation of restoration success.
Abstract
Sweet cherry fruit delivered at three packinghouses over two years in southern Norway was assessed for postharvest fungal decay after being graded in a line with water containing 2 ppm chlorine, in comparison with non-graded fruit. Assessment of decay was carried out after cold storage of the fruit for ten days at 2°C, followed by two days at 20°C. In mean of all assessments, there was no difference in total decay after storage between fruit graded in a water line or non-graded fruit, however, the first year there was a higher total incidence of fruit decay on water-graded fruit after storage. The grading-water was not changed during the day, but time of grading during the day did not seem to influence the amount of decay. Mucor rot and grey mould accounted for 80 and 19%, respectively, of the decay averaged for all assessments, and there was no significant difference in decay of the two diseases if graded in water or not. For blue mould and brown rot, the incidence was lower in water graded fruit, while it was the opposite for Cladosporium rot. On average, fruit decaying fungi developed on PDA from 57 and 17% of water samples from grading lines in the two years, respectively. On pieces with filter paper wetted in different locations of the grading line, 87% contained fruit decaying fungi when placed on PDA, and Mucor sp. was the most prevalent pathogen. Fruit cooled in a hydro-cooler containing either 2, 10 or 50 ppm chlorine, all reduced decay with about 75% compared to non-chlorinated water. Although the grading water may contain spores of pathogenic fungi, the present results indicated that water containing 2 ppm chlorine does not significantly increase fruit decay. Thus, only a slight chlorination of grading water may be sufficient to reduce postharvest contamination.
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No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered