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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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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) losses from agricultural areas, especially into drinking water and marine environments, attract substantial attention from governments and scientists. This study analysed nitrogen loss from runoff water using long-term monitoring data (1994–2016) from the Skuterud catchment in southeastern Norway and the Naurstad catchment in northern Norway. Precipitation and runoff were lower in the Skuterud catchment than in the Naurstad catchment. However, in the Skuterud catchment, the annual total N (TN) losses ranged from 27 to 68 kg hm−2. High precipitation (1247 mm) in the Naurstad catchment resulted in substantial runoff water (1108 mm) but relatively low total TN losses ranged from 17 to 35 kg hm−2. The proportion of nitrate losses to TN loss was 51–86% and 28–50% in the Skuterud and Naurstad catchments, respectively. Furthermore, the monthly average TN concentrations and nitrate losses had two peaks, in April–May and October, in the Skuterud catchment; however, no significant fluctuations were found in the Naurstad catchment. The contributions of N and runoff water to TN and nitrate losses were calculated using multiple linear regression, and runoff water was the major contributor to TN loss in both catchments. Runoff water was the main factor in the Skuterud catchment, and the nitrate-N concentration was the main factor in the Naurstad catchment.

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Abstract

The blacktip shark Carcharhinus limbatus is a cosmopolitan species found in warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical waters around the world. The research here aimed to assess whether multiple paternity exists in South African C. limbatus and to confirm phylogeographic patterns previously observed within the species. A minimum and maximum frequency of 50% and 71% multiple paternity, respectively, were observed in 14 litters genotyped with five microsatellite markers. Based on the mitochondrial control region, relatively high nucleotide and haplotype diversity characterised the South African sampling population, and pairwise φST values indicated that it significantly differed from the populations of the Pacific and the western Atlantic oceans. The haplotype network showed that the South African samples were grouped closely with the Australian, Indo-Pacific and West African C. limbatus samples, which is suggestive of an Indo-Pacific origin for this population. This study is the first to report multiple paternity in this species. Furthermore, the results reveal that C. limbatus from South Africa is genetically diverse and phylogeographically distinct from most other C. limbatus populations.

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Abstract

The insect order Hymenoptera originated during the Permian nearly 300 Mya. Ancestrally herbivorous hymenopteran lineages today make up the paraphyletic suborder ‘Symphyta’, which encompasses c. 8200 species with very diverse host-plant associations. We use phylogeny-based statistical analyses to explore the drivers of diversity dynamics within the ‘Symphyta’, with a particular focus on the hypothesis that diversification of herbivorous insects has been driven by the explosive radiation of angiosperms during and after the Cretaceous. Our ancestral-state estimates reveal that the first symphytans fed on gymnosperms, and that shifts onto angiosperms and pteridophytes – and back – have occurred at different time intervals in different groups. Trait-dependent analyses indicate that average net diversification rates do not differ between symphytan lineages feeding on angiosperms, gymnosperms or pteridophytes, but trait-independent models show that the highest diversification rates are found in a few angiosperm-feeding lineages that may have been favoured by the radiations of their host taxa during the Cenozoic. Intriguingly, lineages-through-time plots show signs of an early Cretaceous mass extinction, with a recovery starting first in angiosperm-associated clades. Hence, the oft-invoked assumption of herbivore diversification driven by the rise of flowering plants may overlook a Cretaceous global turnover in insect herbivore communities during the rapid displacement of gymnosperm- and pteridophyte-dominated floras by angiosperms.