Hopp til hovedinnholdet

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.

2018

To document

Abstract

Virus diseases have been a great threat to production of economically important crops. In practice, the use of virus-free planting material is an effective strategy to control viral diseases. Cryotherapy, developed based on cryopreservation, is a novel plant biotechnology tool for virus eradication. Comparing to the traditional meristem culture for virus elimination, cryotherapy resulted in high efficiency of pathogen eradication. In general, cryotherapy includes seven major steps: (1) introduction of infected plant materials into in vitro cultures, (2) shoot tip excision, (3) tolerance induction of explants to dehydration and subsequent freezing in liquid nitrogen (LN), (4) a short-time treatment of explants in LN, (5) warming and post-culture for regeneration, (6) re-establishment of regenerated plants in greenhouse conditions, and (7) virus indexing.

To document

Abstract

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) pollution is considered responsible for a substantial decline in plant species richness and for altered community structures in terrestrial habitats worldwide. Nitrogen affects habitats through direct toxicity, soil acidification, and in particular by favoring fast-growing species. Pressure from N pollution is decreasing in some areas. In Europe (EU28), overall emissions of NO x declined by more than 50% while NH3 declined by less than 30% between the years 1990 and 2015, and further decreases may be achieved. The timescale over which these improvements will affect ecosystems is uncertain. Here we use 23 European forest research sites with high quality long-term data on deposition, climate, soil recovery, and understory vegetation to assess benefits of currently legislated N deposition reductions in forest understory vegetation. A dynamic soil model coupled to a statistical plant species niche model was applied with site-based climate and deposition. We use indicators of N deposition and climate warming effects such as the change in the occurrence of oligophilic, acidophilic, and cold-tolerant plant species to compare the present with projections for 2030 and 2050. The decrease in N deposition under current legislation emission (CLE) reduction targets until 2030 is not expected to result in a release from eutrophication. Albeit the model predictions show considerable uncertainty when compared with observations, they indicate that oligophilic forest understory plant species will further decrease. This result is partially due to confounding processes related to climate effects and to major decreases in sulphur deposition and consequent recovery from soil acidification, but shows that decreases in N deposition under CLE will most likely be insufficient to allow recovery from eutrophication.

To document

Abstract

Small mammals, especially microtine rodents, play an important role in the dynamics of boreal forest ecosystems. Even-aged forest management, in which old, semi-natural forests are converted to clear-cuts and culturally regenerated stands, is expected to have pronounced impact on the abundance and composition of this group of animals due to changes in the understory vegetation. During a 39 year-period we sampled autumn numbers of small mammals in uncut, semi-natural old forest and in recent clearcuts, supplemented by a 7-year sample from middle-aged plantations. Field voles Microtus agrestis were almost exclusively trapped in clearcuts. Bank voles Myodes glareolus dominated in the old forest, but reached equal or higher densities than field voles in clearcuts. Here, their combined abundance exceeded that of bank voles in old forest. Some years, wood lemmings Myopus schisticolor contributed significantly to vole abundance in old forest. Other rodents Apodemus spp. were rarely captured, mainly in clearcuts, and shrews Sorex spp. numbered < 15 percent of the total number of captured animals. Throughout the whole period we discerned 11 vole cycles, with highest peaks in bank voles in old forest. After high numbers during the 1980s, abundances of all species fell markedly during the 1990s, most distinctively in clearcuts, where the field vole almost totally disappeared. From the late 2000s, abundances of all species returned to pre-1990 levels and beyond. In the early and late periods, combined vole numbers were 26% higher in clearcuts compared to old forest, whereas the opposite was true in the middle period. In middle-aged plantations, bank voles numbered only one third of what it was in clearcuts and old forest, and other voles were rarely trapped. The results support the general notion that bank voles thrive in bilberry-rich, older forest and field voles in grass-dominated habitat. Contrary to general assertions, bank vole was abundant also in clearcuts, possibly due to invasion from surrounding old forest, but peak densities were lower than in old forest, possibly due to suppression by field voles. The variation of small mammals in forest age classes concurred closely with recent results reported from Finland. On a landscape scale, the results from these two and other studies predict that the total biomass of small rodents will be reduced by even-aged forest management, not because of conversion of older, semi-natural forest to clearcuts, but because of a decline in numbers in middle-aged and older, secondary forests.

To document

Abstract

Clumping index (CI) is a measure of foliage aggregation relative to a random distribution of leaves in space. The CI can help with estimating fractions of sunlit and shaded leaves for a given leaf area index (LAI) value. Both the CI and LAI can be obtained from global Earth Observation data from sensors such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). Here, the synergy between a MODIS-based CI and a MODIS LAI product is examined using the theory of spectral invariants, also referred to as photon recollision probability (‘p-theory’), along with raw LAI-2000/2200 Plant Canopy Analyzer data from 75 sites distributed across a range of plant functional types. The p-theory describes the probability (p-value) that a photon, having intercepted an element in the canopy, will recollide with another canopy element rather than escape the canopy. We show that empirically-based CI maps can be integrated with the MODIS LAI product. Our results indicate that it is feasible to derive approximate p-values for any location solely from Earth Observation data. This approximation is relevant for future applications of the photon recollision probability concept for global and local monitoring of vegetation using Earth Observation data.

To document

Abstract

Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hooker) Nuttall), which is native to western North America, is of considerable interest for Christmas tree production in northern Europe. Seedlings are usually grown from seeds under combined nursery greenhouse/outdoors conditions, but commonly show early growth cessation in the nursery, resulting in small plants for field transplanting. This increases the production time and makes the seedlings vulnerable to stressors at the planting site. Day extension with far-red (FR) light was shown to enhance elongation and delay bud set in seedlings of some woody species, but such information is limited for Abies. Here, we investigated the effects of day extension with FR, red (R), different R:FR-ratios or blue (B) light from light emitting diodes on subalpine fir seedlings grown at different temperatures. Day extension with FR or combined R-FR light, in contrast to R or B light, increased shoot elongation significantly as compared to short days without day extension, often with more growth at 18 ◦C than 24 ◦C. The FR treatments delayed terminal bud development, although bud set was not completely prevented. These results demonstrate that larger seedlings of subalpine fir seedlings for Christmas tree production can be obtained by employing day extension with FR or combined R:FR light, preferably under cool temperature.