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.
2026
Authors
Dafni Foti Stephen Amiandamhen Eleni Voulgaridou Elias Voulgaridis Costas Passialis Stergios AdamopoulosAbstract
Abstract This study investigated the incorporation of various waste materials including wastepaper, Tetra Pak, wood chips and scrap tire fluff into flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum and cement mortar matrices to produce sustainable composite materials. Four distinct composite types based on the waste materials were developed and evaluated for selected properties including thermal and acoustic insulation. The proportion of the waste materials was varied between 10 and 40 vol% of the base matrix. The compressive strength of the filled gypsum composites was in the range of 4.17–10.39 N/mm² while the pure gypsum was 11.38 N/mm². The addition of the wastes in gypsum composites reduced compressive strength by about 10% for the best recipe and as large as 60% for the worst combination. However, the measured strength still exceeds the strength of typical gypsum wallboard with a compressive strength of about 3–4 N/mm² for whole-board crushing tests and it is much lower for point loads. The normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient indicated that the waste-filled samples absorbed around 80% of the incident sound energy between 2000 and 3000 Hz, comparable to some commercial acoustic foams. The results highlight the potential of utilising these waste-based composites in environmentally friendly construction applications. Depending on the waste type and matrix used, the results revealed trade-offs between multi-functional performance and sustainability benefits.
Abstract
Potato field management in Europe is already optimized for high production and tuber quality; however, numerous environmental challenges remain if the industry is to achieve “green economy” targets, such as less resources utilized, and less nitrate leached to the environment. Strategic co-scheduling irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilization might increase resource use efficiency while minimizing reactive losses such as nitrate leaching. This study aimed to quantify the combined effect of irrigation and N fertilization on potato production, growth, and resource use efficiencies. A field experiment was conducted from 2017 to 2019 on a coarse sandy soil in Denmark, with a drought event occurring in 2018. Full (Ifull, maximized), deficit (Idef, 70–80 % of Ifull) and low irrigation treatments (Ilow, minimized amount to keep crop survival), each under full (Nfull, maximized) and variable (Nvar, variable amount according to the crops’ needs) N fertilization were applied. The analyses results show that Ilow limited potato growth under a drought-heat event; otherwise, potato growth was comparable between Ifull and Idef treatments, with 31–32 % higher irrigation efficiency (IE) under Idef than under Ifull. Nitrate leaching was variable and not significantly different among the treatments, being in general 9–13 % lower under Idef in absolute terms than under Ifull. Unexpectedly, outcomes from Nvar were statistically lower compared to those from Nfull. Radiation use efficiencies (RUEs) from Ilow and Nvar were significantly lower than from Ifull and Idef (14–19 %), and from Nfull (9–11 %). N use efficiencies (NUE) were comparable between N fertilization treatments but significantly different among different irrigation treatments. Overall, this study confirms that Idef is the best irrigation strategy. Future efforts should focus on developing improved approaches for detecting in-season crop N status and further quantifying N requirements, as well as promoting the co-scheduled management of irrigation and N fertilization. Remote sensing approaches have great potential to assist with this.
2025
Authors
Kristiina Matilda Maria Visakorpi Zafar A. Reshi Oriol Grau Anne Muola Anna Orczewska Koenraad Van Meerbeek Bente Jessen GraaeAbstract
Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. However, our understanding of how these species persist and spread in novel environments remains limited. Specifically, the relative importance of species interactions versus environmental conditions and the role of rapid evolutionary adaptation are not fully understood. Here, we investigate the impact of these factors on the distribution of the invasive Himalayan balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera ). We examined whether the climatic niche of the species is pre-adapted to the environmental conditions in the introduced range through niche modeling. Field surveys were conducted to assess the importance of herbivory and competition, and greenhouse treatments were used to investigate local adaptation. We found that the species has not yet fully occupied the suitable climatic space in its introduced range in Europe. Our results suggest that the species may have experienced enemy release while also facing increased biotic pressure at the northern range edge. We identified adaptive differentiation in flowering time, which enhances reproductive success when plants grow in climates similar to their origin. Our results indicate that Himalayan balsam has rapidly adapted to differences in growing season length in its introduced range, with trait plasticity providing an adaptive advantage. Together, these findings suggest that the species may continue to spread across its introduced range in Europe.
Abstract
Fine-scale, spatially explicit forest attribute maps are essential for guiding forest management and policy decisions. Such maps, based on the combination of National Forest Inventory (NFI) and remote sensing datasets, have a long tradition in the Nordic countries. Harmonizing the pixel size among national forest attribute maps would considerably improve the utility of the maps for users. However, the maps are often aligned with the NFI plot size, and the influence of creating these maps at different spatial resolutions (i.e. pixel sizes) is little studied. We assess the stand-level uncertainty (RMSE) of biomass, volume, basal area, and Lorey’s height estimates resulting from the aggregation of maps across varying spatial resolutions. Models fit at 16 m native resolution using more than 14 000 NFI plots were applied for predictions at pixels sizes (side lengths) of 1, 5, 10, 16, and 30 m. For independent validation, we used more than 600 field plots – that cover a total area of 24 ha and were clustered within 65 stands across Norway. For all attributes, the lowest RMSEs, ranging from 6.86% for Lorey’s height to 13.86% for volume, were observed for predictions at pixel sizes of 5 m to 16 m. The RMSE changes across resolutions were generally small (< 5%) for biomass, volume, and basal area. For Lorey’s height, changing the spatial resolution resulted in large RMSEs of up to 25%. Overall, our findings suggest that the main forest attributes can be mapped at a finer resolutions without complex adjustments.
Authors
Zsofia KomaAbstract
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Authors
Laura Jaakola Katja Karppinen N. Nguyen S. Jokipii-LukkariAbstract
Fruit ripening is a highly coordinated and complex process determining a wide range of characteristics affecting the fruit quality, such as flavour, nutritional value, shelf-life, and processing properties. The fruit set occurs after fertilization, followed by first an active cell division and a later cell expansion phase leading to ripening, which coincides with seed maturation. The ripening phase is regulated by a signalling network of thousands of genes that orchestrate the softening, and the accumulation of the secondary compounds and sugars in ripe fruits. Plant hormones, especially ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) have major roles in the control of the ripening processes. Based on the burst of respiration rate and ethylene production and/or the peak in ABA production at the onset of ripening, fruits are classified as climacteric or non-climacteric fruits, respectively. We have studied the regulation of ripening in bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), traditionally classified as non-climacteric fruits, by analysing the role of the plant hormones, transcription factors, and the structural genes controlling the anthocyanin accumulation and the cell wall softening during the berry ripening. Our results have identified some upstream regulators of fruit ripening in bilberry and provided new knowledge on the R2R3 MYB and basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors, which are the key regulators of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Moreover, we have shown evidence of the role of ABA in controlling the ripening related anthocyanin accumulation in bilberry. Our recent results on metabolomic and proteomic profiling of bilberry indicate an increase in ethylene biosynthesis during bilberry fruit development coinciding with the ABA peak, raising a need for further studies and clearer determination between the classification of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits.
Abstract
limate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of natural disturbances. In Nordic conifer forests, damage caused by snow accumulation in the canopy is one of the most significant disturbance agents. This study investigates whether adaptive forest management can enhance resistance to snow damage, using a large forest property in southeastern Norway as a case study. To achieve this, we extended the existing scenario analysis tool, GAYA 2.0, integrating new functionality to analyze the risk of snow damage. We performed scenario simulations using a mechanistic critical snow load model to compare two alternative management strategies: standard management and an adapted management approach that reduces stand density in regeneration and tending phases. We analyzed and compared the management effects on snow damage resistance and probability, and on long-term forest production and income. The results indicate that reduced density management leads to a 2.02 % increase in critical snow load (from 74.19 Kg m-2 to 75.68 Kg m-2), and a 10.42 % reduction in yearly damage probability (from 0.345 % to 0.308 %). These findings suggest that adaptive management practices by reducing stand density can effectively enhance resistance and mitigate risks associated with snow damage in Nordic boreal forest ecosystems. The reduced stand density management does not have a significant impact on long-term production and income levels.
Authors
Stig Strandli GezeliusAbstract
How do provisions for administrative sanctioning affect the implementation of loose legal norms? To streamline regulation, governments have increased their penal capacity by authorizing administrative sanctioning, and they have decentralized regulatory responsibility by loosening legal norms. A case study of Norway's animal welfare governance shows how using administrative sanctions to enforce loose legal norms led to unpredictable sanctioning and, thereby, subverted regulatees' trust in law enforcement. Ensuing resistance from regulatees pressured inspectors to regain legitimacy by tightening loose legal norms and by backing down on administrative sanctioning. Inspectors thus reversed streamlining policies to protect the primary purpose of their profession: to motivate compliance with animal welfare law. The case highlights unintended consequences of streamlining regulation. It also illustrates how frontline workers may protect their primary purpose by disregarding policies they perceive as disruptive.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to demonstrate how height growth recalculated to periodic site index could be used to monitor and identify climatic drivers for growth variations. We used data from Norway’s National Forest Inventory (NFI), with attention to Norway spruce in the lowlands (<500 m a.s.l.) of southeastern Norway. We recalculated height growth to periodic site index and extracted a time series with annual values. We supplemented this with climatic data, i.e. monthly mean temperature, precipitation and deMartonne aridity index. The results showed that a characteristic two-peaked time series in volume growth in Norway 1994–2020 corresponded well to a time series of periodic site index for Norway spruce in the specific region mentioned above. Statistical analyses showed that for spruce, the periodic site index was higher in cold and moist summers than in warm and dry. Spruce mortality in this region tripled during 2012–22 when June temperature increased considerably, while periodic site index decreased. This corroborates warm and dry weather in June to be a main stress factor for spruce. In conclusion, periodic site index has a potential for being implemented for monitoring site productivity and for identification of climatic drivers.