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.
2025
Abstract
Intensification of forest management is seen as one important measure to increase carbon sequestration and contribute to balance CO2 emissions and mitigate climate change. Potential measures for forest management intensification include increasing the percentage of the area that is actively reforested after felling, planting at higher densities and with genetically improved material, nitrogen fertilization, and pre-commercial thinning. Here we assessed the mitigation potential of these practices in Norwegian forests from 2018 until the end of the 21st century. As a result, when these management practices were intensified, separately and simultaneously, carbon sequestration over the 80-year simulation period was larger than under current practices. Pre-commercial thinning gave the largest additional 80-year carbon dioxide removal increment and fertilization the smallest. The largest accumulated carbon dioxide removal potential occurred when intensifying all the proposed measures in one scenario and was estimated to be around 329.9 Tg CO2 by the end of the century, corresponding to offset more than six times Norway's total GHG emissions in 2022. If the intensification of these practices is considered separately, our results suggested that pre-commercial thinning and active reforestation after felling, in that order, should be prioritized as climate change mitigation measures, followed by genetic improvement, planting density and fertilization.
Abstract
Chocolate spot (CS), caused by Botrytis fabae, is one of the most destructive fungaldiseases affecting faba bean (Vicia faba L.) globally. This study evaluated 33 fababean cultivars across two locations and over 2 years to assess genetic resistance andthe effect of fungicide application on CS progression. The utility of unmanned aerialvehicle–mounted multispectral camera for disease monitoring was examined. Signif-icant variability was observed in cultivar susceptibility, with Bolivia exhibiting thehighest level of resistance and Louhi, Sampo, Vire, Merlin, Mistral, and GL Sunriseproving highly susceptible. Fungicide application significantly reduced CS severityand improved yield. Analysis of canopy spectral signatures revealed the near-infraredand red edge bands, along with enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and soil adjustedvegetation index, as most sensitive to CS infection, and they had a strong negativecorrelation with CS severity ranging from −0.51 to −0.71. In addition, EVI enabledearly disease detection in the field. Support vector machine accurately classified CSseverity into four classes (resistant, moderately resistant, moderately susceptible, andsusceptible) based on spectral data with higher accuracy after the onset of diseasecompared to later in the season (accuracy 0.75–0.90). This research underscores thevalue of integrating resistant germplasm, sound agronomic practices, and spectralmonitoring for effectively identification and managing CS disease in faba bean
Authors
Luiz C. Garcia Carlos H. Rocha Nátali M. de Souza Pedro H. Weirich Neto Jaime A. Gomes Thiago InagakiAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The timing of migration is fundamental for species exploiting seasonally variable environments. For ungulates, earlier spring migration is expected with earlier vegetation green-up. However, other drivers, such as access to agricultural farmland and variation in local conditions, are also known to affect migration. We investigated the timing of spring migration for 96 male and 201 female red deer (Cervus elaphus) using a long-term dataset (2005–2020). Overall, the timing of migration was mainly characterized by large individual variability between and within years (95% range 6 April to 18 June). The spring migration timing was, as expected, later with colder winter and spring conditions (North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) winter and April indices) and later peak vegetation green-up (NDVI), with a five-day delay in green-up causing a migration delay of 1.2 days. Timing was also influenced by local conditions in summer and winter home ranges. Red deer with greater access to farmland and a more variable topography (hence variable plant phenology) in winter delayed migration. Similarly, individuals with higher-elevation summer ranges (with delayed onset of plant growth) also delayed migration. Our analyses highlight that the timing of red deer migration is determined by multiple drivers affecting foraging conditions in the landscape, indicative of considerable phenotypic plasticity.
Authors
Berit Marie Blomstrand Stig Milan Thamsborg Håvard Steinshamn Heidi L Enemark Inga Marie Aasen Karl-christian Mahnert Kristin Sørheim Francesca Sheperd Jos Houdijk Spiridoula AthanasiadouAbstract
Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) may improve gastrointestinal health by exerting immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and/or antiparasitic effects. Bark extracts from coniferous tree species have previously been shown to reduce the burden of a range of parasite species in the gastrointestinal tract, with condensed tannins as the potential active compounds. In the present study, the impact of an acetone extract of pine bark (Pinus sylvestris) on the resistance, performance and tolerance of genetically diverse mice (Mus musculus) was assessed. Mice able to clear an infection quickly (fast responders, BALB/c) or slowly (slow responders, C57BL/6) were infected orally with 200 infective third-stage larvae (L3) of the parasitic nematode Heligmosomoides bakeri or remained uninfected (dosed with water only). Each infection group of mice was gavaged for 3 consecutive days from day 19 post-infection with either bark extract or dimethyl sulphoxide (5%) as vehicle control. Oral administration of pine bark extract did not have an impact on any of the measured parasitological parameter. It did, however, have a positive impact on the performance of infected, slow-responder mice, through an increase in body weight (BW) and carcase weight and reduced feed intake by BW ratio. Importantly, bark extract administration had a negative impact on the fast responders, by reducing their ability to mediate the impact of parasitism through reducing their performance and tolerance. The results indicate that the impact of PSMs on parasitized hosts is affected by host's genetic susceptibility, with susceptible hosts benefiting more from bark extract administration compared to resistant ones.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Urban agriculture is often considered a tool to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems. However, sustainability is difficult to measure, resulting in debate about how sustainable urban agriculture truly is. There is therefore a lack of incentive to promote urban agriculture or protect existing initiatives that are threatened by development pressure on urban land. Monitoring the sustainability impact of urban agriculture could provide evidence and enable politicians and decision makers to make informed decisions about whether and where to prioritise different forms of urban agriculture above competing interests. We used case examples from five European cities to identify the challenges involved in monitoring urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data, to using the results. We found large differences in approach in terms of what topics to monitor and who was responsible, who gathered the data and when, what data was recorded and how they were stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these experiences, we recommend stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring urban agriculture, and promotion of convenient tools for data collection by citizen science and for long-term data storage.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Lone RossAbstract
No abstract has been registered