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
Johannes Kollmann Larissa Uhe Marcello D’Amico Jan C. Habel Tina Heger Svenja B. Kroeger Tommy Lennartsson Hans Martin HanslinAbstract
Roadside habitats have abiotic and biotic conditions that deviate from natural habitats and thus constitute “novel ecosystems” with insufficient adaptation of native biota. In roadsides, the net effect of positive and negative impacts determines population viability. This situation constitutes an “ecological trap,” when attractive habitats become demographic sinks due to locally reduced reproduction or increased mortality. The impact could be exacerbated by novel ecological factors. To investigate to what extent, for which species, and under which conditions ecological traps are actually occurring, we reviewed the effects of roadsides on plant and animal performance and population dynamics. We identified 390 relevant publications with 470 different effect cases based on a standardized literature review (2008–2018). Overall, 30% of these cases reported positive effects of roadsides on plant and animal populations, 31% of cases reported negative effects, and 39% showed no effects at all. In only 18 cases, negative effects were combined with positive ones, most often due to attractive but unsuitable habitats that constituted ecological traps. Ecological novelty was not used to interpret these effects. We conclude that there is abundant literature on ecological effects of roadsides, while specific research is needed on ecological traps, including potential effects of ecological novelty.
Authors
Tommy Lennartsson Marcello D’Amico Weronika Axelsson Linkowski Hans Martin Hanslin Johannes Kollmann Svenja B. Kroeger Larissa Uhe Anna Westin Jörgen WissmanAbstract
Roads impose several types of negative impact on landscapes and biodiversity, but may also favor some organisms by providing habitats and dispersal corridors. To prioritize, plan, design, and perform activities for promoting biodiversity in road verges, it is essential to understand which key environmental factors contribute to forming different types of roadside habitats. In this chapter, we explore relationships between biodiversity and environmental factors in road verges based on a literature review with a primary focus of vascular plants and arthropods. Roadside literature indicates a number of interacting ecological factors, which together form the roadside habitat and determine community composition. These key factors can be assigned to three groups: (1) ecological conditions such as soil, topography, and microclimate, (2) ecological processes such as vegetation succession and disturbance or management of ground and vegetation, and (3) the surrounding landscape. Based on the identified key factors, we suggest an ecological classification of roadside habitats into four major groups, namely successional roadsides, dry roadsides, tallgrass roadsides, and meadow roadsides. Trees and shrubs can occur in all groups, for example as tree avenues or hedgerows, resulting in a cross-cutting subgroup: successional/dry/tallgrass/meadow roadsides with trees and shrubs.
Authors
Ascensão, Fernando Barrientos, Rafael Araya-Gamboa, Daniela Bannock, Carol Baxter-Gilbert, James Bhardwaj, Manisha Biasotto, Larissa D. Boyle, Sean P. Camacho, Carlos Carmona, Guillermo Celi, Jorge E. Chiles, Sarah Clevenger, Anthony P. Colino Rabanal, Victor J. Collinson-Jonker, Wendy J. Corlett, Richard T. Darryl, Jones N. Deacon, Charl Engert, Jayden E. Ford, Adam Goldfarb, Benjamin Grilo, Clara Haider, Sylvia Hans Martin Hanslin Hernandez-Hernandez, Javier Hughes, Alice C. Huijser, Marcel P. Jaeger, Jochen A. G. Jakes, Andrew F. Januchowski-Hartley, Stephanie R. Jones, Paul F. Kindel, Andreas Kollmann, Johannes Svenja B. Kroeger Lamb, Clayton Langen, Tom A. Laurance, William F. Leal, Cecilia G. Lennartsson, Tommy Lourenço, Rui Mahmoud, Mahmoud Ibrahim Malo, Juan E. Maslo, Brooke McClure, Christopher J. W. Medrano-Vizcaíno, Pablo Megía-Palma, Rodrigo Mestre, Frederico Millán, Javier Milton, Suzanne J. Moreira, Francisco Morelli, Federico Mulero-Pázmány, Margarita Navarro, Laetitia M. Paige, L. Christine Petrovan, Silviu Phillips, Benjamin B. Popp, Jesse N. Quiles, Pablo Raiter, Keren Gila Rodriguez, Airam Román, Jacinto Rytwinski, Trina Samways, Michael J. Santoro, Simone Santos, Sara M. Schlacher, Thomas A. Seidler, Renee G. Selva, Nuria Shilling, Fraser M. Soanes, Kylie Stokes, Josie Sánchez de Miguel, Alejandro Teixeira, Fernanda Zimmermann Thompson, Cassie J. Varela, Diego Wang, Yun Weston, Michael A. van der Grift, Edgar A. van der Ree, Rodney D’Amico, MarcelloAbstract
Road Ecology has experienced rapid growth as a field, yet significant knowledge and research gaps remain, particularly regarding underexplored impacts of roads on fauna and flora, ecosystems and landscapes, as mitigation methods and management solutions to avoid or reduce negative impacts. Here, we synthesize the key research needs identified throughout the book and emphasize topics that have received limited attention, highlighting the growing need for interdisciplinary and technologically advanced studies, and innovative statistical methodologies to assess infrastructure impacts and the combined effects of different types of infrastructures (such as roads and powerlines) on biodiversity. We highlight the need for more comprehensive studies on ecosystem functioning, evolutionary effects, and the role of roadside habitats, while calling for improvements in the cost-effectiveness of mitigation measures and large-scale assessments of road impacts. Emerging research priorities for Road Ecology include a growing emphasis on interdisciplinary and technologically advanced studies, and innovative statistical methodologies to assess infrastructure impacts and the combined effects of multiple infrastructures (such as roads and powerlines) on biodiversity. The impact of new infrastructure in areas supporting multiple migratory species is also becoming a priority issue, especially in regions where there is significant growth in infrastructure projects. Interdisciplinary efforts should prioritize strategies that balance infrastructure development with biodiversity conservation, especially in rapidly developing regions.
Authors
Siv Mari Aurdal Alexander T. Sentinella Gerald Schmilewski James Altland Jean Caron Paul Alexander Martine Holtkamp Bart Vandecasteele Beatrix W. AlsaniusAbstract
The term “sustainable growing media” is widely used in horticultural research, policy, and industry, yet its meaning remains ambiguous, inconsistently applied, and often unsupported by evidence, undermining the very decisions it is meant to guide. Materials are frequently characterised as sustainable based on single attributes, such as being peat-free, recycled, renewable or aligned with policy priorities, without demonstrating reliable horticultural performance, economic viability, social responsibility or reduced environmental impact within real production systems. This paper examines why defining sustainable growing media has proven persistently challenging and why a single, universal definition may be neither achievable nor even useful. Drawing on existing literature and policy initiatives, we analyse sustainability through its environmental, economic and social pillars, highlighting how narrow or assumption-based assessments obscure trade-offs and shift, rather than reduce, environmental and social burdens. We argue that sustainability in growing media is not an inherent material property but a context-dependent outcome that must be demonstrated within a defined production system. Rather than proposing a new definition, we outline eight minimum conditions for responsible use of the term, emphasising measurable impacts, functional performance, economic feasibility, and explicit treatment of trade-offs. Where such evidence is lacking, precise, verifiable descriptors should replace broad sustainability claims.
Abstract
Abstract Timothy ( Phleum pratense L.) is a perennial grass widely grown for livestock feed in temperate regions of the world. It is one of the primary forage grasses grown for seed in Scandinavia due to good cold tolerance and high‐quality feed characteristics. Changes to European Union requirements for use of organic seed in organic forage and livestock production are expected and will soon increase demand for organic timothy seed in the region. An inadequate nitrogen (N) supply is a key yield‐limiting challenge on many arable farms in Norway's main seed‐growing region. In this study, we investigated methods to produce organic timothy seed with limited access to manure, by intercropping seven legume species sown with timothy in the same row or in alternate rows. Timothy seed was harvested for two seed production years in three field experiments in southeastern Norway. Sowing annual legumes with timothy increased seed yield by 10%–25% in first‐year stands. Berseem clover ( Trifolium alexandrinum L.) and subterranean clover ( Trifolium subterraneum L.) sown in the same row with timothy provided the most consistent seed yield increases. Perennial legume intercrops decreased seed yield by 10%–36% in first‐year stands, but black medic ( Medicago lupulina L.) provided 21%–64% seed yield increases in second‐year stands. Seed yield increases in response to legume intercrops were attributable to panicle number and seed number but not seed weight. Timothy seed purity standards can be met if the legume has a seed size and shape that can be removed during seed cleaning.
2025
Abstract
Abstract Turfgrass winter kill due to freeze/thaw cycles and ice encasement (IE) is a problem on putting greens the Nordic countries. Our objectives were (1) to investigate how green coverage with impermeable plastic before IE affects soil temperature, O 2 and CO 2 concentrations, winter survival and spring recovery of creeping bentgrass (CRB), red fescue (RF), and annual bluegrass (AB) and (2) to explore how these turfgrasses are affected by snow and ice removal during the entire winter or parts of it. Six treatments were imposed on 5‐month‐old turf of the three species during the winters 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 at NIBIO Apelsvoll, Norway (60°42′ N). With an average soil temperature at 2‐cm depth of −0.9°C and the lowest O 2 concentrations around 5%, conditions under IE or plastic + IE treatments never became anoxic. On average for six treatments and 2 years, CRB and RF had significantly better winter survival (both 52%) than AB (25%). Turfgrass winter survival, spring color, and spring growth were significantly better (62% survival on average for species) with plastic between the grass and 10‐cm IE than with 10‐cm IE directly on the grass (23% survival). Snow and ice removal throughout the winter or before IE in early January improved turfgrass freezing tolerance in January but did not improve winter survival, green color, or spring growth compared with the control treatment with natural winter conditions. We conclude that putting greens in areas with unstable winters and risk for prolonged IE ought to be protected by impermeable plastic. Ventilation under the plastic may be necessary on old greens with more organic matter than in this experiment. On frozen uncovered greens, it is better to avoid prolonged IE by snow removal before rain or warm spell in December/early January than by mechanical ice removal in March.
Abstract
Plants in raingardens are important for evapotranspiration and maintaining infiltration properties. Hydrological conditions, however, fluctuate between dry and saturated, strongly affecting plant performance and limiting plant selection in design. This study experimentally assessed whether fluctuating hydrology impacts growth, flowering, and root morphology in the drought-tolerant Knautia arvensis and the wet-tolerant Lythrum salicaria. The hydrological regimes included repeated cycles of dry and wet conditions: Drought regime with cycles of a drought period followed by a single watering; Flooding regime with cycles of 72-hour flooding and a 48-hour drained period; and a subsequent Drought+Flooding regime with cycles of 72-hour flooding followed by a drought period. Knautia reduced growth under flooding cycles, while Lythrum reduced growth and flowering under drought cycles. Repeated consecutive drought and flooding cycles negatively influenced the growth of both species in the same way, with flooding affecting Knautia and drought affecting Lythrum. Lythrum showed more plasticity than Knautia, allocating more biomass to roots during drought cycles. Flooding cycles reduced root length in Knautia, while the drought cycles and consecutive Drought+Flooding cycles increased root diameter and decreased root length in Lythrum. Both species had coarse roots (> 2 mm) to support infiltration through biopores. If we assume that raingardens have free drainage and only rarely flood, drought-tolerant traits are more important. However, wet-tolerant species can benefit the system, especially through higher water use. This research contributes to the ecological understanding of plant responses to fluctuating hydrology, enabling a better plant selection for effective raingardens.
Authors
Karin Juul HesselsøeAbstract
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