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.
2013
Authors
Ole Tobias Rannestad Amon P. Maerere Torfinn Torp May SæthreAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Joahnne E. Schjøth Leif SundheimAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Steffen Adler Søren K. Jensen Erling Thuen Anne-Maj Gustavsson Odd Magne Harstad Håvard SteinshamnAbstract
Ruminal biohydrogenation and transfer of fatty acids (FA) to milk were determined for 4 silages with different botanical compositions using 4 multiparous Norwegian Red dairy cows [(mean ± SD) 118±40.9d in milk, 22.5±2.72kg of milk/d, 631±3.3kg of body weight, 3.3±0.40 points on body condition score at the start of the experiment] fitted with rumen cannulas. Treatments consisted of 4 experimental silages: a mix of the first and third cut of organically managed short-term grassland with timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.; 2 yr old; ORG-SG); organically managed long-term grassland with a high proportion of unsown species (6 yr old; ORG-LG); conventionally managed ley with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; CON-PR); and conventionally managed ley with timothy (CON-TI). The herbages were cut, wilted, and preserved with additive in round bales and fed at 0.90 of ad libitum intake. A barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) concentrate constituted 300g/kg of dry matter of the total feed offered. A Latin square design (4×4) with 3-wk periods and the last week in each period used for sampling was implemented. Omasal flows of FA were measured using Yb acetate, Cr-EDTA, and the indigestible neutral detergent fiber fraction as indigestible markers. The composition of FA was analyzed in feed, omasal digesta, and milk. Compared with ORG-LG, ORG-SG had a higher herbage proportion of red clover (0.36 vs. 0.01) and lower proportions of timothy (0.42 vs. 0.18), smooth meadowgrass (Poa pratensis L.), meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), dandelion (Taraxacum spp.), and creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens L.). The silages were well preserved. The concentration of neutral detergent fiber was higher and the concentration of Kjeldahl-N was lower for CON-TI than for the other silages. Silage type had no effect on dry matter intake, but milk yield was lower for CON-TI than for the other silages. Apparent biohydrogenation of C18:3n-3 was lower for ORG-SG (932g/kg) than for ORG-LG (956g/kg), CON-PR (959g/kg), and CON-TI (958g/kg). Compared with the grass-based silages, ORG-SG and ORG-LG resulted in higher omasal flows of C18:1 trans FA and higher milk fat proportions of C18:1 trans FA and C18:2 cis-9,trans-11. Apparent recovery of C18:3n-3 in milk was higher for ORG-SG (61g/kg) than for ORG-LG (33g/kg), CON-PR (34g/kg), and CON-TI (38g/kg), and milk fat proportion of C18:3n-3 was higher for ORG-SG than for CON-TI. Milk fat proportions of C16:0 were lower for ORG-SG and ORG-LG compared with those for CON-PR and CON-TI. It was concluded that high proportions of red clover and other dicotyledons in the silages affected ruminal biohydrogenation and increased milk fat proportions of beneficial FA.
Abstract
The outcome of a compatible mycorrhizal interaction is different from that in a compatible plant–pathogen interaction; however, it is not clear what mechanisms are used to evade or suppress the host defence. The aim of this work is to reveal differences between the interaction of Norway spruce roots to the pathogen Ceratocystis polonica and the ectomycorrhizal Laccaria bicolor, examine if L. bicolor is able to evade inducing host defence responses typically induced by pathogens, and test if prior inoculation with the ectomycorrhizal fungus affects the outcome of a later challenge with the pathogen. The pathogen was able to invade the roots and caused extensive necrosis, leading to seedling death, with or without prior inoculation with L. bicolor. The ectomycorrhizal L. bicolor colonised primary roots of the Norway spruce seedlings by partly covering, displacing and convoluting the cells of the outer root cortex, leaving the seedlings healthy. We detected increased total peroxidase activity, and staining indicating increased lignification in roots as a response to C. polonica. In L. bicolor inoculated roots there was no increase in total peroxidase activity, but an additional highly acidic peroxidase isoform appeared that was not present in healthy roots, or in roots invaded by the pathogen. Increased protease activity was detected in roots colonised by C. polonica, but little protease activity was detected in L. bicolor inoculated roots. These results suggest that the pathogen efficiently invades the roots despite the induced host defence responses, while L. bicolor suppresses or evades inducing such host responses in this experimental system.
Authors
William White Anders Lunnan Erlend Nybakk Biljana KulisicAbstract
The renewable energy sector (RES) often receives financial, institutional or educational support from the government. A significant challenge for the actors in the RES field is policy consistency. When investments are carried out, a prognosis for future policies must be made. If the future is uncertain, larger risk margins should be included in the investment appraisals. Sudden, unexpected policy changes are one type of uncertainty that makes it more difficult to attract capital. In this article, we discuss the consequences of discontinuities in policy support using a case study approach. In Ontario, feed-in tariffs were introduced in 2009 and resulted in a large uptake in the programme. In 2010, the subsidies were drastically cut, resulting in the RES community losing confidence that the government would offer consistent support to the sector. In Norway, a large new biodiesel plant was opened by the Minister of the Environment only a few weeks before the government announced a major change in the bioenergy policy. As a result, the new plant was closed and restructured, and the investors lost nearly all of their investments. The government lost political credibility, making it difficult to raise private capital for new investments in this sector in Norway. We do not argue that policies should not be changed, but the manner in which policies are changed plays an important role. Our study shows that large, unexpected changes in policies increase uncertainty and may have a negative impact on investments. This topic should be further researched.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Alina Danielewska Nicholas Clarke Janusz Olejnik Karin Hansen Wim de Vries Lars Lundin Juha Pekka Tuovinen Richard Fischer Marek Urbaniak Elena PaolettiAbstract
Of a wide variety of international forest research and monitoring networks, several networks are dedicated to the effects of climate change on forests, while the effects of anthropogenic pollutants on forests have been a major area for both monitoring and research for decades. The large amounts of data already obtained within existing monitoring programmes and large-scale international projects can be used to increase understanding of the state and potential of forest mitigation and adaptation to climate change in a polluted environment, and a major challenge now is to evaluate and integrate the presently available databases. We present a meta-database with the main goal to highlight available data and integrate the information about research and monitoring of selected European Research and Monitoring Networks (ERMNs). Depending on the selected ERMNs, the list of variables and the measurement units differ widely in the databases. As a result, activities related to the identification, evaluation and integration of the presently available databases are important for the scientific community. Furthermore, and equally important, the recognition of current knowledge gaps and future needed research is made easier. This analysis suggests that: ground-level ozone is under-investigated, although it is one of the pollutants of greatest concern to forests; in addition to CO2, long-term other greenhouse gasses (GHG) flux measurements should be carried out; there is still a need of improving links between monitoring of atmospheric changes and impacts on forests; research-oriented manipulative experiments in the forests are missing.
Abstract
The ingrowth core method is widely used to assess fine root (diameter < 2 mm) production but has many inherent deficiencies. In this study, we modified this method by adopting mini ingrowth cores (diameter 1.2 cm), extending sample intervals to a growing season, and developing new models to quantify the concurrent production, mortality and decomposition, and applied them to a secondary Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica Fischer ex Ledebour) forest. Annual fine root production, mortality and decomposition estimated by our method were 2.10 ± 0.23, 1.78 ± 0.20 and 0.85 ± 0.13 t ha−1, respectively, and 33.3% of the production was decomposed in the growing season. The production estimate using our method was significantly higher than those using two long-term ingrowth core (sample interval >2 months) methods. However, it was significantly lower than that using the short-term ingrowth core (sample interval <2 months) method, presumably due to the lower root competition and less decomposition occurring in the short-term cores. The fine root estimates using our method in the growing season were generally higher than those using the forward and continuous inflow methods but lower than those using the backward method. Our method reduces the disturbances in roots and soil, minimizes the sampling frequency and improves the quantification of fine root decomposition during the sample intervals. These modifications overcome the limitations associated with the previous ingrowth core methods. Our method provides an improved alternative for estimating fine root production, mortality and decomposition.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered