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
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Injeong Kim Lone Ross Gry Alfredsen Olov Karlsson Elif Kaynak Oisik Das Dennis Jones George I. Mantanis Dick SandbergAbstract
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sapwood was modified using maleic anhydride (MA) and sodium hypophosphite (SHP) to improve its durability against wood-deteriorating fungi, mechanical strength, and fire retardancy (thermal stability). The modification significantly reduced mass loss caused by wood-decaying fungi (Trametes versicolor, Rhodonia placenta, and soft rot fungi) due to the formation of cross-links between wood, MA, and SHP, which limited the moisture uptake and altered the chemical structure of wood. On the other hand, the modification did not provide improved resistance to fungi growth on the wood surface, which indicated that the modification had little impact on the accessibility of nutrients on the surface. A bending test showed that the modulus of elasticity (MOE) was not affected by the treatment, whilst the modulus of rupture (MOR) decreased to half the value of untreated wood. Thermal resistance was improved, as demonstrated by micro-scale combustion calorimeter testing, where the total heat release was halved, and the residue percentage nearly doubled. These results indicate that phosphonate protects the modified wood via the formation of a protective char layer on the surface and the formation of radical moieties. Based on the results, wood modified with MA and SHP shows potential for possible use in outdoor, non-loadbearing structures.
Abstract
Since the 1950s, the use of plastics in agriculture has helped solving many challenges related to food production, while its persistence and mismanagement has led to the plastic pollution we face today. A variety of biodegradable plastic products have thus been marketed, with the aim to solve plastic pollution through complete degradation after use. But the environmental conditions for rapid and complete degradation are not necessarily fulfilled, and the possibility that biodegradable plastics may also contribute to plastic pollution must be evaluated. A two-year field experiment with biodegradable mulches (BDMs) based on polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT/starch and PBAT/polylactic acid) buried in several agricultural soils in mesh bags showed that also under colder climatic conditions does degradation occur, involving fragmentation after two months and depolymerization by hydrolysis, as shown by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The phytopathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani was found to be associated with BDM degradation, and the formation of biodegradable microplastics was observed throughout the experimental period. Between 52 and 93 % of the original BDM mass was recovered after two years, suggesting that accumulation is likely to happen in cold climatic regions when BDM is repeatedly used every year. Mass loss followed negative quadratic functions, implying increasing mass loss rates over time. Despite the range of climatic and edaphic factors, with various agricultural practices and vegetable productions at the study locations, the parameters that significantly favored in situ BDM degradation were higher soil organic matter content and temperatures.
Authors
Payel Bhattacharjee Mari Talgø Syvertsen Igor A. Yakovlev Marcos Viejo Somoano Torgeir Rhoden Hvidsten Jorunn Elisabeth Olsen Carl Gunnar FossdalAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Payel Bhattacharjee Mari Talgø Syvertsen Igor A. Yakovlev Marcos Viejo Torgeir Rhoden Hvidsten Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi Carl Gunnar Fossdal Jorunn Elisabeth OlsenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Payel Bhattacharjee Mari Talgø Syvertsen Igor A. Yakovlev Torgeir Rhoden Hvidsten Torstein Tengs Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi Marcos Viejo Carl Gunnar Fossdal Jorunn Elisabeth OlsenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Urban agriculture (UA) is increasingly recognized as a key component of sustainable cities. Commercial farmers in urban areas benefit from a large customer base, short transport distances, and access to diverse sales channels. However, high pressure on land resources makes it difficult for farmers and decision makers to find suitable areas for UA. This study ranks urban and peri-urban farmland areas based on their suitability for urban agriculture (UA) and identifies opportunities for extending the area for UA to currently unused farmland. Through collaboration with urban farmers, we identified four key themes and eleven criteria, which were weighted for two sales scenarios: on-farm and off-farm. We performed a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and assessed suitability using the technique of order preference similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) on 1 × 1 km grid cells. By overlaying the suitability maps with presumably unused farmland (PUF), we identified areas with high potential for extending UA. In the City of Bergen, 15.3 % (on-farm; off-farm=14 %) of the total farmland is both unused and highly suitable for UA, compared to only 2.8 % (on-farm; off-farm=2.4 %) in Oslo. Assessing the suitability of agricultural land for UA can support spatial planning, protect agricultural topsoil from urban expansion, and help achieve global, national, and local goals for urban farming and sustainable land use.
Authors
Jonas Schmidinger Sebastian Vogel Viacheslav Barkov Anh-Duy Pham Robin Gebbers Hamed Tavakoli Jose Correa Tiago R. Tavares Patrick Filippi Edward J. Jones Vojtech Lukas Eric Boenecke Joerg Ruehlmann Ingmar Schroeter Eckart Kramer Stefan Paetzold Masakazu Kodaira Alexandre M.J.-C. Wadoux Luca Bragazza Konrad Metzger Jingyi Huang Domingos S.M. Valente Jose L. Safanelli Eduardo L. Bottega Ricardo S.D. Dalmolin Csilla Farkas Alexander Steiger Taciara Z. Horst Leonardo Ramirez-Lopez Thomas Scholten Felix Stumpf Pablo Rosso Marcelo M. Costa Rodrigo S. Zandonadi Johanna Wetterlind Martin AtzmuellerAbstract
No abstract has been registered