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.
2024
Authors
Dalphy Ondine Camira HarteveldAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Faba beans and other cool climate legumes are well suited for cultivation in Vestfold and Østfold in the Norwegian south-east because of their requirement for long growing seasons and are desired due to their high protein content and beneficial biological nitrogen fixation properties. Including such crops in rotations is an advantage due to the subsequent reduction in costs and CO2 emissions from fertilizer production. Additionally, their presence in rotations could be a tool for improving integrated pest management in cereals by reducing disease pressure. A challenge specifically related to the management of faba bean crops is the disease chocolate spot (cs) caused by pathogen species in the genus Botrytis, typically Botrytis fabae Sardiña. and Botrytis cinerea Pers.: Fr. Management of chocolate spot epidemics is limited by the number of fungicides available to commercial growers, and the development of fungicide resistance is a challenge currently being investigated. A randomized factorial split-plot field trial with 3 replicates was set up in at Vollebekk research farm in Ås in the spring of 2023 and separated by early and late varieties. For each section three seed rates, two cultivars and four fungicide treatments were used. The severity of disease was scored, the developmental stages of the crops were recorded, and the resulting yield was dried and weighed. By collecting diseased leaves and making single spore isolates, the pathogens available in the field were sequenced using a NEP2 primer and tested against the active compounds in the currently utilized fungicide Signum®. Causal organisms were B. fabae and B. cinerea, there was no relationship between severity and fungal species, and no noteworthy signs of resistance to fungicide compounds were found. Results showed significant differences in chocolate spot levels between treated and untreated plots in early and late varieties, and the severity was lowest in plots treated with Elatus® Era, a fungicide currently unavailable for use in faba beans. Yield and chocolate spot correlated negatively, and the yield was highest in plots treated after the first symptoms appeared. The difference in yield between this treatment and untreated plots was significant in late varieties. Canopy density measured by sowing rate had no significant effect on disease severity in either early or late varieties, although the correlation was positive in both.
Authors
Belachew Asalf TadesseAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Belachew Asalf TadesseAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Tip rot of carrot significantly reduces root quality and contributes to the high-level rejection during sorting and packaging in Norway. The rot can be dry, or wet, and vary in colour from light brown to dark brown. Diagnosis of a plant disease involves close examination of the symptoms, detection and identification of the causal agent(s), and confirmation of pathogenicity. The objective of this study was to identify the causal agent(s) of tip rot in carrot. Fungi and bacteria were isolated from multiple carrots with tip rot symptoms and used for inoculation of healthy carrots to determine pathogenicity and also for DNA extraction, sequencing of commonly used genes for identification and barcoding genes and DNA metabarcoding. For isolation and inoculation, we developed a method allowing individual carrots to remain upright without touching each other within an incubation box. For morphological identification of causal agents, we found that a combination of methods such as isolation on potato carrot agar, disinfection of infected tissue followed by moist incubation, and inoculation followed by incubation at room temperature for 24 h, and then at 0-6°C were optimal methods for the identification of tip rot pathogens of carrot. Based on the combination of molecular and morphological identification methods, we found that tip rot of carrots is a disease complex caused by several fungi but principally Mycocentrospora acerina and Cylindrocarpon destructans. Diagnosis of postharvest diseases is often a complex problem, and this research demonstrates that a combination of methods is a useful approach. Furthermore, the study indicated that the common approach of trying to associate a disease with a single causal agent does not work for all postharvest diseases. The possibility of multiple causal agents and predisposing factors must be considered, and we should be cautious not to jump to a hasty decision.
Authors
Andrea FickeAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Marco Ferretti Arthur Gessler Nathalie Cools Stefan Fleck Rossella Guerrieri Tamara Jakovljević Manuel Nicolas Tiina M. Nieminen Diana Pitar Nenad Potočić Stephan Raspe Marcus Schaub Kai Schwärzel Volkmar Timmermann Monika Vejpustková Lars Vesterdal Petteri Vanninen Peter Waldner Lothar Zimmermann Tanja GM SandersAbstract
Forests are increasingly affected by global change. Building resilient forests requires – amongst others - leveraging the wealth of knowledge from existing ground-based, field inventory and monitoring programs as well as Earth Observation systems to better assess the status, detect changes, understand processes, predict future dynamics, and guide forest management. A proposal from the European Commission for a new forest monitoring framework at the European level aims in this direction but lacks the integration of some crucial and readily available resources and infrastructures. For this reason, the proposal risks to be a missed opportunity rather than a step forward. Here we provide suggestions to help reconciling the proposal with its objectives and a more comprehensive monitoring vision.
Abstract
Recurrent climate-driven disturbances impact on the health of European forests that reacted with increased tree dieback and mortality over the course of the last four decades. There is therefore large interest in predicting and understanding the fate and survival of forests under climate change. Forest conditions are monitored within the pan-European ICP Forests programme (UN-ECE International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests) since the 1980s, with tree crown defoliation being the most widely used parameter. Defoliation is not a cause-specific indicator of tree health and vitality, and there is a need to connect defoliation levels with the physiological functioning of trees. The physiological responses connected to tree crown defoliation are species-specific and concern, among others, water relations, photosynthesis and carbon metabolism, growth, and mineral nutrients of leaves. The indicators to measure physiological variables in forest monitoring programs must be easy to apply in the field with current state-of-the-art technologies, be replicable, inexpensive, time efficient and regulated by ad hoc protocols. The ultimate purpose is to provide data to feed process-based models to predict mortality and threats in forests due to climate change. This study reviews the problems and perspectives connected to the realization of a systematic assessment of physiological variables and proposes a set of indicators suitable for future application in forest monitoring programs.