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.
2016
Authors
Aytac ErdemirAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Stein Michael Tomter Andrius Kuliesis Thomas GschwantnerAbstract
Key message In order to obtain the necessary information for decision making etc., it is of increasing importance to be able to assess increment in a reliable way. Only repeated measurements on permanent sample plots in national forest inventories can provide accurate and comprehensive information on the various components of annual increment. Such inventory systems are increasingly employed in European countries. The felling/increment ratio, characterizing wood use sustainability, should be expressed as the ratio of felled living trees (excluding dead trees) and net increment. Context Reporting of gross and net annual increment is an element of international forest resource assessments and crucial for sustainable forest management. A number of approaches exist for the estimation of increment and its various sub-components. Aims The main objectives of the study are to assess in detail what methods European countries have used and are planning to use in the future for international reporting of increment. Also, the usefulness of the various approaches for the assessment of increment is evaluated. Methods A questionnaire asking about their assessment methods was distributed among the UNECE/FAO national correspondents of all European countries and members of the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Monitoring Sustainable Forest Management. Databases of the Temperate and Boreal Forest Resource Assessment 2000 and of the State of Europe’s Forests 2011 were also used. Furthermore, the methodological background was described on the basis of relevant literature sources and some examples for country groups presented. Results Countries have indicated what methods they used for assessment of various increment components, and the percentage of countries, forest area, and growing stock corresponding to these replies has been calculated. With regard to gross annual increment, these metrics represent about one third for inventories based on permanent sample plots, but this percentage is on the increase. Conclusion The concept of the “control method” for forest management was developed more than 100 years ago but only utilized at the local level. The same methodology is now widely used at the national and regional level due to the implementation of modern national forest inventories using permanent sample plots. Care should be taken to utilize the data correctly for international forest resource assessments, in order to, e.g., avoid double counting of dead trees.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Researchers in plant pathology and entomology often study the interaction between a host plant and its pathogen or an insect pest separately. Although studying single pathogen or insect interactions with a host plant is critical to understand the basic infection processes and to model each disease or pest attack separately, this is an extreme simplification of nature’s complexity, where multiple pests and pathogens often appear in parallel and interact with each other and their host plant. Effective management of pests and diseases require understanding of the complex interaction beteween diseases and pests on the host. Under natural conditions, wheat plants are subjected to attack by several insects and pathogens simultaneously or sequentially. The Bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi) and the necrotrophic pathogen Parastagonospora nodorum (syn. Stagonospora nodorum) the causal agent of Stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB) are economically important pests of wheat in Norway. Since they colonize a common host, they may interact directly through competition for resources or indirectly by affecting the host response either positively (induced resistance) or negatively (induced susceptibility or biopredisposition). The effect of aphid infestation on P. nodorum infection and development of the disease could be an important factor in predicting SNB epidemics. However, studies on this multitrophic interactions are scarce. We conducted controlled greenhouse experiments to study the effect of aphid infestation on subsequent SNB development. The wheat cultivar ‘Bjarne’ was treated as follows:1) Aphid infested + insecticide sprayed + P. nodorum inoculated; 2) Insecticide sprayed + P. nodorum inoculated; 3) Water sprayed + P. nodorum inoculated; 4) Control plants (without aphid, insecticide or P. nodorum). When plants were at ca. BBCH 37, 18 adult female aphids (R. padi) were released per pot (treatment 1). Aphid inoculated plants were kept in an insect proof cage in a greenhouse compartment at 20°C, 70% RH, and 16 h photoperiod. Plants for the other treatments were kept in separate insect proof cages in the same greenhouse. Ten days after aphid release, plants infested with aphids (treatment 1) were sprayed with the insecticide BISCAYA (a.i. thiacloprid) at recommended concentration to remove aphids. Plants in treatment 2 and 3 were sprayed with the insecticide and water, respectively. Twenty-four hours after application of the insecticide or water, plants in treatment 1, 2, and 3 were inoculated with P. nodorum spore suspension (106 spores ml-1). The experiment included three replicates and was repeated two times. SNB incidence and severity were recorded. SNB incidence and severity were significantly higher on aphid infested plants than on non-infested plants (P < 0.05). Ten days after P. nodorum inoculation, disease severity were about 3-fold higher on aphid infested plants (treatment 1) than on non-infested plants (treatment 2 and 3). Plants in the blank control (treatment 4) were free of aphids and showed no symptoms of SNB . Infestation of wheat plants by the bird cherry-oat aphid prior to fungal inoculation enhanced the severity of SNB. P. nodorum is a necrotrophic pathogen that lives on nutrients from disintegrated plant cells. The increase in severity of SNB on aphid infested plants could be due to the increased number of dead or dying cells around the aphids feeding sites. However, whether aphids activity induced local or systemic susceptbility to plants is not yet known and needs to be studied further.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Adam O'tooleAbstract
keywords: biokull, biochar
Authors
Csilla Farkas Sigrun Hjalmarsdottir Kværnø Alexander Melvold Engebretsen Robert Barneveld Johannes DeelstraAbstract
Knowledge of hydrological processes and water balance elements are important for climate adaptive water management as well as for introducing mitigation measures aiming to improve surface water quality. Mathematical models have the potential to estimate changes in hydrological processes under changing climatic or land use conditions. These models, indeed, need careful calibration and testing before being applied in decision making. The aim of this study was to compare the capability of five different hydrological models to predict the runoff and the soil water balance elements of a small catchment in Norway. The models were harmonised and calibrated against the same data set. In overall, a good agreement between the measured and simulated runoff was obtained for the different models when integrating the results over a week or longer periods. Model simulations indicate that forest appears to be very important for the water balance in the catchment, and that there is a lack of information on land use specific water balance elements. We concluded that joint application of hydrological models serves as a good background for ensemble modelling of water transport processes within a catchment and can highlight the uncertainty of models forecast.
Authors
Arild Gjertsen Grete K. Hovelsrud Ingrid Agathe Bay-Larsen Julia Olsen Celine ReboursAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Aaron M Shew Lawton L. Nalley Diana M. Danforth Bruce L. Dixon Rudolfo M. Jr. Nayga Anne-Cécile Delwaide Barbara ValentAbstract
India has more than 215 million food-insecure people, many of whom are farmers. Genetically modified (GM) crops have the potential to alleviate this problem by increasing food supplies and strengthening farmer livelihoods. For this to occur, two factors are critical: (i) a change in the regulatory status of GM crops, and (ii) consumer acceptance of GM foods. There are generally two classifications of GM crops based on how they are bred: cisgenically bred, containing only DNA sequences from sexually compatible organisms; and transgenically bred, including DNA sequences from sexually incompatible organisms. Consumers may view cisgenic foods as more natural than those produced via transgenesis, thus influencing consumer acceptance. This premise was the catalyst for our study—would Indian consumers accept cisgenically bred rice and if so, how would they value cisgenics compared to conventionally bred rice, GM-labelled rice and ‘no fungicide’ rice? In this willingness-to-pay study, respondents did not view cisgenic and GM rice differently. However, participants were willing-to-pay a premium for any aforementioned rice with a ‘no fungicide’ attribute, which cisgenics and GM could provide. Although not significantly different (P = 0.16), 76% and 73% of respondents stated a willingness-to-consume GM and cisgenic foods, respectively.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered