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.
2022
Authors
Linn Borgen NilsenAbstract
Plant genetic resources form the biological basis for all plant-based agricultural production. In the genetic diversity lie opportunities to adjust, improve and adapt the crop production to current or future needs. In addition, the diversity of species and varieties in Norwegian agriculture represents an important part of our cultural heritage. Conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources is a global concern and FAO has established a global action plan that highlights priorities for conservation and use of plant genetic diversity at national level. This report points to results, trends and challenges within this field in Norway and is the Norwegian contribution to the FAO report "Third State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources" (expected 2023).
Abstract
Sustainable water resources management roots in monitoring data reliability and a full engagement of all institutions involved in the water sector. When competences and interests are overlapping, however, coordination may be difficult, thus hampering cooperative actions. This is the case of Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos, Ecuador). A comprehensive assessment on water quality data (physico-chemical parameters, major elements, trace elements and coliforms) collected since 1985 revealed the need of optimizing monitoring efforts to fill knowledge gaps and to better target decision-making processes. A Water Committee (Comité de la gestión del Agua) was established to foster the coordinated action among stakeholders and to pave the way for joint monitoring in the island that can optimize the efforts for water quality assessment and protection. Shared procedures for data collection, sample analysis, evaluation and data assessment by an open-access geodatabase were proposed and implemented for the first time as a prototype in order to improve accountability and outreach towards civil society and water users. The overall results reveal the high potential of a well-structured and effective joint monitoring approach within a complex, multi-stakeholder framework.
Abstract
Commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency, this report presents methodologies for estimating annual numbers of animals and enteric methane emissions for pigs. The methodologies are designed for the Norwegian national inventory of GHG emissions (NIR) and are dynamic, reflecting the effects of progress in genetics and management of the pork production. The data sources for the proposed methodologies are the register for deliveries of carcasses to Norwegian slaughterhouses available from Statistics Norway, and the Norwegian litter recording system (Ingris) of the Norwegian meat and poultry research centre (Animalia).
Authors
Stine Samsonstuen Helge Bonesmo Bente Aspeholen Åby Eli Gjerlaug-Enger Erland Kjesbu Magne Bergfjord Rune Okstad Svein Skøien Tony BarmanAbstract
Through the joint project Climate Smart Agriculture, the agricultural sector in Norway have successfully implemented the whole-farm models HolosNor models as farm advisory tools for milk, beef, pig, sheep, poultry, and crop production. The HolosNor modes are empirical models based on the methodology of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with modifications to Norwegian conditions. The models estimate direct emissions of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2) from on-farm livestock production and includes indirect emissions of N2O and CO2 associated with inputs used on the farm in addition to including soil carbon balance through the ICBM model. The digital GHG Calculator automatically collects data from sources the farmer already uses for farm management, such as herd recording systems, manure planning systems, farm accounts, concentrate invoice, dairy, slaughterhouse, in addition to site-specific soil and weather data. Based on the collected data, both total emissions from the production and emission intensities for the different products are estimated. The emission intensities are shown by source relative to a reference group consisting of farms with the same type of production and production volume. Using the GHG Calculator, the farmers have the unique opportunity to have tailor-made mitigation plans to reduce emissions from the farm trough certified climate advisors. Participation and results from the GHG Calculator will be presented in addition to experiences from implementation of a GHG model as a farm advisory tool for commercial farms.
Authors
Ulrike BayrAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Dette er en rapport som beskriver det norske jordkartleggingsprogrammet. Kjennskap til det norske programmet og de erfaringer som er gjort for bruk av WRB (2014) vil sannsynligvis være nyttig for det latviske arbeidet i prosjektet “E2SOILAGRI”. Arbeidet er definert som underaktivitet 4.1.1 i Terms of Reference for NIBIOs rolle i prosjektet. Summary This is a report which describes the Norwegian Soil Information System. Knowledge on the use and adjustments of the WRB (2014) in Norway, and the experiences which have been encountered, is considered useful for the Latvian work in the project “E2SOILAGRI”. This task is defined as sub-activity 4.1.1 in the Terms of Reference for the NIBIO assignment.
Authors
Hanne SickelAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Christian PedersenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Ecological rarity, characterized by low abundance or limited distribution, is typical of most species, yet our understanding of what factors contribute to the persistence of rare species remains limited. Consequently, little is also known about whether rare species might respond differently than common species to direct (e.g., abiotic) and indirect (e.g., biotic) effects of climate change. We investigated the effects of warming and exclusion of large herbivores on 14 tundra taxa, three of which were common and 11 of which were rare, at an inland, low-arctic study site near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Across all taxa, pooled commonness was reduced by experimental warming, and more strongly under herbivore exclusion than under herbivory. However, taxon-specific analyses revealed that although warming elicited variable effects on commonness, herbivore exclusion disproportionately reduced the commonness of rare taxa. Over the 15-year duration of the experiment, we also observed trends in commonness and rarity under all treatments through time. Sitewide commonness increased for two common taxa, the deciduous shrubs Betula nana and Salix glauca, and declined in six other taxa, all of which were rare. Rates of increase or decline in commonness (i.e., temporal trends over the duration of the experiment) were strongly related to baseline commonness of taxa early in the experiment under all treatments except warming with grazing. Hence, commonness itself may be a strong predictor of species’ responses to climate change in the arctic tundra biome, but large herbivores may mediate such responses in rare taxa, perhaps facilitating their persistence.
Abstract
The alpine treeline ecotone is expected to move upwards in elevation with global warming. Thus, mapping treeline ecotones is crucial in monitoring potential changes. Previous remote sensing studies have focused on the usage of satellites and aircrafts for mapping the treeline ecotone. However, treeline ecotones can be highly heterogenous, and thus the use of imagery with higher spatial resolution should be investigated. We evaluate the potential of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the collection of ultra-high spatial resolution imagery for mapping treeline ecotone land covers. We acquired imagery and field reference data from 32 treeline ecotone sites along a 1100 km latitudinal gradient in Norway (60–69°N). Before classification, we performed a superpixel segmentation of the UAV-derived orthomosaics and assigned land cover classes to segments: rock, water, snow, shadow, wetland, tree-covered area and five classes within the ridge-snowbed gradient. We calculated features providing spectral, textural, three-dimensional vegetation structure, topographical and shape information for the classification. To evaluate the influence of acquisition time during the growing season and geographical variations, we performed four sets of classifications: global, seasonal-based, geographical regional-based and seasonal-regional-based. We found no differences in overall accuracy (OA) between the different classifications, and the global model with observations irrespective of data acquisition timing and geographical region had an OA of 73%. When accounting for similarities between closely related classes along the ridge-snowbed gradient, the accuracy increased to 92.6%. We found spectral features related to visible, red-edge and near-infrared bands to be the most important to predict treeline ecotone land cover classes. Our results show that the use of UAVs is efficient in mapping treeline ecotones, and that data can be acquired irrespective of timing within a growing season and geographical region to get accurate land cover maps. This can overcome constraints of a short field-season or low-resolution remote sensing data.