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
Authors
Audun KorsæthAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Audun KorsæthAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Audun KorsæthAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The Balaton lake is the focal area of implementing the WFD in Hungary. At present, nutrient loads are primary threat to surface and subsurface water quality in the Balaton watershed. With increasing anthropogenic pressure and increased occurrence of extreme precipitation events in the future the nitrate loads might increase. The goal of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of climate, land use and soil management changes on nitrogen loads in Tetves Creek, which is the tributary of the Balaton lake. We applied the INCA-N (INtegrated CAtchment Model) water quality model to simulate the hydrological processes and nitrate transport for two periods: the current situation (baseline, 2006 to 2015) and for a future period (2046-2055). We calibrated the model against measured discharge and nitrate concentration data. The inorganic nitrogen sub-model was further validated using data of an independent period. The modelling chain was able to reproduce 59% of the variability of average nitrate concentrations in the Tetves Creek for the validation period. After validation, we examined several climate change, land use and nitrogen supply scenarios and their combined effects on runoff and nitrogen loads. Our main conclusions are summarised below.
Authors
Csilla FarkasAbstract
Soil moisture is an important but often undervalued element of the water cycle. Compared to other components, the volume of soil moisture is small; nonetheless, it is of fundamental importance to many hydrological, biological and biogeochemical processes. Through processes like evaporation and plant transpiration, soil moisture is a key variable in controlling the water and energy exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere, hence, it plays an important role in the development of weather patterns and the precipitation formation. It also strongly effects surface and subsurface runoff, soil erosion, food production, greenhouse gas emission, the buffer capacity of the soil, the soil biota and many other processes and sectors. It is deducable today that short-sighted mismanagement of soil or soil water strongly contributed to the collapse of large, powerful historic civilazations. Soil degradation is a global problem that is of strong concern for European countries as well. Yet, while much focus is given to open surface water recources - the EU Water Framework Directive is in place since 2000 - the Soil Framework Directive is still to be adopted. It is important to improve the global understanding of the importance of soil as a natural resource, and its hydraulic functioning, including its global change context. The presentation aims at taking a deeper insight into the “butterfly effect” of soil status and moisture dynamics by highlighting how small-scale management decisions and processes might influences large-scale processes and our life.
Abstract
A negative impact of multiple anthropogenic stressors on surface waters can be observed worldwide threatening fresh- and marine water ecosystem functioning, integrity and services. Water pollution may result from point or diffuse sources. An important difference between a point and a diffuse source is that a point source may be collected, treated or controlled. Agricultural activities related to crop production are considered as diffuse sources and are among the main contributors of nutrient loads to open water courses, being to a large degree responsible for the eutrophication of inland and coastal waters. Knowledge of hydrological and biogeochemical processes are needed for climate adaptive water management as well as for introducing mitigation measures aiming to improve surface water quality. Mathematical models have the potential to estimate changes in hydrological and biogeochemical processes under changing climatic or land use conditions. These models, indeed, need careful calibration and testing before being applied in decision making. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of various water protective adaptation strategies and mitigation measures in reducing the soil particle and nutrient losses towards surface water courses from agricultural dominated catchments. We applied the INCA-N and INCA-P models to a well-studied Norwegian watershed belonging to the Norwegian Agricultural Environmental Monitoring Program. Available measurements on water discharge, TN and TP concentration of stream water and local expert knowledge were used as reference data on land-use specific sediment, N and P losses. The calibration and the validation of both the models was successful; the Nash-Sutcliffe statistics indicated good agreement between the measured and simulated discharge and nutrient loads data. Further, we created a scenario matrix consisting of land use and soil management scenarios combined with different climate change scenarios. Our results indicate that land use change can lead to more significant reduction in particle and nutrient losses than changes in agricultural practices. The most favourable scenario for freshwater ecosystems would be afforestation: changing half of the agricultural areas to forest would reduce sediment, total N and total P losses by approximately 44, 35 and 40%, respectively. Changes in agricultural practices could also improve the situation, especially by reducing areas with autumn tillage to a minimum. We concluded, that the implementation of realistic land use and soil management scenarios still would not lead to satisfactory reduction in freshwater pollution. Hence, mitigation measures, enhancing water and particle retention in the landscape – as sedimentation ponds, constructed wetlands etc. – are important in facing the upcoming pressures on water quality in the future.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Christine Ribeiro-Kumara Jukka Pumpanen Jussi Heinonsalo Marek Metslaid Argo Orumaa Kalev Jogiste Frank Berninger Kajar KösterAbstract
Fire is the most important natural disturbance in boreal forests, and it has a major role regulating the carbon (C) budget of these systems. With the expected increase in fire frequency, the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget of boreal forest soils may change. In order to understand the long-term nature of the soil–atmosphere GHG exchange after fire, we established a fire chronosequence representing successional stages at 8, 19, 34, 65, 76 and 179 years following stand-replacing fires in hemiboreal Scots pine forests in Estonia. Changes in extracellular activity, litter decomposition, vegetation biomass, and soil physicochemical properties were assessed in relation to carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Soil temperature was highest 8 years after fire, whereas soil moisture varied through the fire chronosequences without a consistent pattern. Litter decomposition and CO2 efflux were still lower 8 years after fire compared with pre-fire levels (179 years after fire). Both returned to pre-fire levels before vegetation re-established, and CO2 efflux was only strongly responsive to temperature from 19 years after fire onward. Recovery of CO2 efflux in the long term was associated with a moderate effect of fire on enzyme activity, the input of above- and below-ground litter carbon, and the re-establishment of vegetation. Soil acted as a CH4 sink and N2O source similarly in all successional stages. Compared with soil moisture and time after fire, soil temperature was the most important predictor for both GHGs. The re-establishment of overstorey and vegetation cover (mosses and lichens) might have caused an increase in CH4 and N2O effluxes in the studied areas, respectively.
Authors
Ning Wang Huan Peng Shi-ming Liu Wen-kun Huang Ricardo Holgado Jihong Liu Clarke De-liang PengAbstract
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines (I.)) is one of the most important soil-borne pathogens for soybeans. In plant parasitic nematodes, including SCN, lysozyme plays important roles in the innate defense system. In this study, two new lysozyme genes (Hg-lys1 and Hg-lys2) from SCN were cloned and characterized. The in situ hybridization analyses indicated that the transcripts of both Hg-lys1 and Hg-lys2 accumulated in the intestine of SCN. The qRT-PCR analyses showed that both Hg-lys1 and Hg-lys2 were upregulated after SCN second stage juveniles (J2s) were exposed to the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus subtilis or Staphylococcus aureus. Knockdown of the identified lysozyme genes by in vitro RNA interference caused a significant decrease in the survival rate of SCN. All of the obtained results indicate that lysozyme is very important in the defense system and survival of SCN.
Authors
Juliana PerminowAbstract
No abstract has been registered