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
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Sunil Mundra Dinesh Sanka Loganathachetti Håvard Kauserud Anna Maria Fiore-Donno Tonje Økland Jørn-Frode Nordbakken O. Janne KjønaasAbstract
Large-scale replacements of native birch with spruce have been carried out in Western Norway for economic reasons. This tree species shift potentially affects biotic components such as the eucaryome, consisting of microscopic animals (Metazoa), protists and fungi, which are key players in the functioning of forest ecosystem. The impact on the belowground eukaryome and its interactions with vegetation and soil properties is not well assessed. We examined the impact of replacing native birch with Norway spruce plantations on the eukaryome of the boreal forest floor in Western Norway using 18S rDNA metabarcoding. The tree species shift from birch to spruce had significant impacts on the eukaryome at both taxonomic (Metazoa) and functional categories (phagotrophs, phototrophs, parasites and osmotrophs). The distinct differences in eukaryome communities were related to changes in understorey vegetation biomass and soil chemistry following the tree species shift. This had a negative effect on eukaryome richness, particularly affecting phagotrophs and parasites, while the opposite was observed for osmotroph richness. Our results indicated that the spruce plantations altered the eukaryome communities and their food-web patterns compared to what was found in the native birch forest soil. This information should be taken into consideration in forest management planning.
Authors
Alice Budai Daniel Rasse Thomas Cottis Erik J. Joner Vegard Martinsen Adam O'Toole Hugh Riley Synnøve Rivedal Ievina Sturite Gunnhild Søgaard Simon Weldon Samson ØpstadAbstract
Carbon content is a key property of soils with importance for all ecosystem functions. Measures to increase soil carbon storage are suggested with the aim to compensate for agricultural emissions. In Norway, where soils have relatively high carbon content because of the cold climate, adapting management practices that prevent the loss of carbon to the atmosphere in response to climate change is also important. This work presents an overview of the potential for carbon sequestration in Norway from a wide range of agricultural management practices and provides recommendations based on certainty in the reported potential, availability of the technology, and likelihood for implementation by farmers. In light of the high priority assigned to increased food production and degree of self-sufficiency in Norway, the following measures were considered: (1) utilization of organic resources, (2) use of biochar, (3) crop diversification and the use of cover crops, (4) use of plants with larger and deeper root systems, (5) improved management of meadows, (6) adaptive grazing of productive grasslands (7) managing grazing in extensive grasslands, (8) altered tillage practices, and (9) inversion of cultivated peat with mineral soil. From the options assessed, the use of cover crops scored well on all criteria evaluated, with a higher sequestration potential than previously estimated (0.2 Mt CO2-equivalents annually). Biochar has the largest potential in Norway (0.9 Mt CO2-equivalents annually, corresponding to 20% of Norwegian agricultural emissions and 2% of total national emissions), but its readiness level is not yet achieved despite interest from industry to apply this technology at large scale. Extensive grazing and the use of deep-rooted plants also have the potential for increasing carbon storage, but there is uncertainty regarding their implementation and the quantification of effects from adapting these measures. Based on the complexities of implementation and the expected impacts within a Norwegian context, promising options with substantial payoff are few. This work sheds light on the knowledge gaps remaining before the presented measures can be implemented.
2023
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An expert workshop on C and N interactions was held online 6 – 7/11 2023, within project Kvävebegränsningar för kolbindning i skandinaviska skogar/Nitrogen constraints to carbon sequestration in Scandinavian forests, financed by the Nordic Working Group for Climate and Air (NKL). The workshop was organized in two half-day sessions. Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark were represented by experts involved in national reporting to the UNECE Air Convention (CLRTAP) and to the UN Climate convention (UNFCCC). This workshop report was prepared by the workshop organizers at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, with contributions from all workshop participants.
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Belachew Gizachew ZelekeAbstract
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Mireia Pecurul-Botines Laura Secco Laura Bouriaud Alex Giurca Maria Brockhaus Vilis Brukas Marjanke Hoogstra-Klein Agata Konczal Lenka Marcinekova Krzysztof Niedzialkowski Knut Øistad Špela Pezdevšek Malovrh Niina Pietarinen Jeanne-Lazya Roux Bernhard Wolfslehner Georg WinkelAbstract
What is at stake? The new Forest Strategy for 2030 for the European Union (EU) was adopted in July 2021, creating a new drive for forest policymaking on an EU level. Its main reference is the European Green Deal that puts forests in the light of a decarbonised society until 2050, and emphasises carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection, and forest restoration. The strategy aims to improve the quality and quantity of EU forests, enhance their multifunctionality and resilience, and address challenges linked to the increasing strain on forests through human activities and natural processes, including climate change. The Strategy’s priorities include: 1. supporting the socio-economic forest functions and boosting bioeconomy within its sustainability boundaries; 2. protecting, restoring and enlarging forests in the EU; 3. ensuring a strategic forest monitoring, reporting and data collection and 4. encouraging dialogue and stakeholder engagement. Compared to earlier versions, the new EU Forest Strategy has become more concrete and comprehensive in its vision and tries to tie in different objectives of the plethora of EU forest-related policies (such as e.g., bioeconomy enhancement, biodiversity protection, climate mitigation and adaptation etc.). The implementation of the new EU Forest Strategy and meeting its goals has therefore potentially larger implications for national authorities than earlier ones, through its stronger embedding in the overall political framework of the EU, although the Strategy as such is not legally binding. What are the study’s aims? This study assesses whether and to what extent national and regional policy developments meet the EU Forest Strategy goals. It analyses those policies in 15 countries in and outside the EU, as well as in three regions in Spain. The countries are: Austria (AT), Czech Republic (CZ), Finland (FI), Germany (DE), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Lithuania (LT), the Netherlands (NL), Norway (NO), Poland (PL), Romania (RO), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES), and Sweden (SE). Although not a member of the EU, Norway was included into this study as it is closely related through the EEA agreement and a bilateral agreement on cooperation with the EU to fulfil the 2030 climate target. What patterns emerge? There is a striking diversity of socio-economic, environmental and political settings for forests and forestry in Europe and even within countries, which affect the impact of the Forest Strategy. Differences related to both ecological site conditions (determining the type of forest), basic socioeconomic factors (such as ownership), societal demands and needs as well as private sector interests, and urban or rural forest settings determine past and current forest governance and management practices in European countries. At the same time, there are common issues for forest governance and management across Europe, relating to: • a considerable divide of forestry and conservation interests found in all studied countries; • the increasing impact of climate change and related forest disturbances (with regionally different consequences for forests and forestry); and • the embeddedness of European forest governance and markets within larger structures, for example related to (global) energy and resource trade and investment patterns. Other patterns relate to ‘silences’ in member states’ policies, e.g., missing references to forest-sector specific internal threats to biodiversity, as well as to the risk (and reality) of conversion of old growth forests, or missing action and strategies to collect data that is not (yet) part of ‘traditional’ monitoring and reporting activities and systems. ...........................