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.
2010
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Trond Rafoss Knut Sælid Arild Sletten Lars Fredrik Gyland Liv EngravsliaAbstract
The threat posed by invasive alien species to global crop production and biodiversity is recognized as one of the major drivers of global change today. Here we report on a successful implementation and operational use of new technology to support risk- and crisis management in the case of fighting an invasive plant disease. The open geospatial standards Web Feature Service Transaction (WFS-T) was implemented in software for GPS-enabled mobile phones communicating with a GeoServer backend in order to track down and eradicate disease outbreaks and susceptible host plants. This new technology offering georeferenced events online from field provides new possibilities for real time action in risk and crisis management.
Authors
Gilbert Kamgan Nkuekam Halvor Solheim Z. Wilhelm De Beer Joha W. Grobbelaar Karin Jacobs Michael J. Wingfield Jolanda RouxAbstract
Ophiostoma spp. include important pathogens of trees and causal agents of sapstain. These fungi infect wounds on trees and are typically carried by insects, especially bark beetles. Ophiostoma spp. on coniferous hosts in the Northern Hemisphere are well-known. However, other than for the serious pathogens O. ulmi and O. novo-ulmi, very little research has been done on the occurrence of this group of fungi on native broad-leaved trees, especially in the Nordic countries. In this study, surveys were conducted in several areas of Norway to isolate Ophiostoma spp. associated with wounds on native broad-leaved trees belonging to the genera Betula, Fagus, Quercus, Sorbus and Tilia. Morphological studies and comparisons of DNA sequences for the ITS, 5.8S and part of the beta-tubulin gene regions were used to confirm the identity of the fungi collected. Ophiostoma spp., and especially their Pesotum anamorphs, were common on wounds on the trees sampled. In most cases, they were associated with wood stain. Ophiostoma spp. collected included predominantly O. quercus, O. borealis sp. nov., and O. denticiliatum. The results of this study emphasize that the diversity of Ophiostoma spp. on broad-leaved trees is still incompletely understood in Norway and other European countries.
Authors
Klaus MittenzweiAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
In Nordic countries organic farming started as bio-dynamic farms in the 1930s, and still in the 1970s only a small number of farms were organic. Since then the acreage of organic farming has increased and in 2007 Sweden had 222 268 ha (7.9%), Finland 147 557 ha (6.4 %), Denmark 147 482 ha (5.4%), Norway 43 033 ha (4.7%) and Iceland 4 684 ha (0.27%). In northern areas the short vegetation period combined with low temperatures reducing mineralisation causing nutritional deficit may restrict yields. As mineral fertilizers are prohibited in organic farming, plant nutrition and yield depend on proper microbial activity for nutrient cycling. Plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) reduce plant growth, while microbivorous nematodes (MBN) increase nutrient accessibility. Nitrogen fixating legumes, used to improve soil nitrogen levels, may increase densities of PPN to levels causing crop damage. Management of PPN in organic farming relies on knowledge of population dynamics, damaging thresholds and cultural methods like weed control, sanitation, mulching, crop rotation and resistant cultivars. Keeping PPN below damaging levels and supporting beneficial MBN to improve mineralisation would increase yields and improve quality of organics crops in northern areas. Management of MBN is less well understood, but may be of crucial importance for organic farming in northern areas.
Authors
Anne-Kristin LøesAbstract
Young consumers are an important target group, because habits are established at young age. Hence, introducing children to organic food in public settings such as schools may be an efficient way to increase the consumption of organic food. In Norway, public procurement of food to youth is not well developed in comparison to many other European and Scandinavian countries. Many kindergartens provide some simple dishes for the children, and upper secondary schools usually have canteens where food items, sometimes also warm dishes, may be purchased. Canteens are becoming more common in other schools, especially on the lower secondary level. However, the usual lunch for most children in Norway in 2010 is a packed lunch (sandwiches) brought from home, consumed in the class room. School subscription schemes for milk were introduced around 1970, and for fruit around 1995. By June 2010, organic milk in 0.25 litre containers (“school milk”) is offered only in Mid-Norway, and organic fruit is hardly offered at all. Since 2007, fruit is served without payment in all schools with a lower secondary level (class 8-10 or 1-10). This effort was introduced as a first step to develop a free school meal in all public schools, but has not been further developed so far. [...]
Authors
Mari Greta Bårdsen Anne-Kristin LøesAbstract
In October 2007, the municipality of Trondheim, Norway decided to increase the public consumption of organic food. The share of public schools and kindergartens offering organic food should be increased by 20 % within 2011, as compared to 2007. Trondheim has for several years had an ambitious aim to increase the consciousness among children and youth about environmental issues, and the project “Children‟s Green City” had been an important tool in this work. The decision made it relevant for the research project “innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth” (iPOPY) to use Trondheim as a research case. This report describes the background for the municipal decision about organic food, and what has been done to implement it. Several employees in the municipality and other stakeholders have been interviewed. Even if the decision puts up a quite modest goal, there are several challenges to achieve it. The point of departure (how much organic food was served by kindergartens and schools in 2007) is unknown, and hence the progress is difficult to measure. In the public purchasing agreement, the municipality has obliged its appointed wholesaler to offer organic products. The intention was that the units (e.g. schools) would get easier access to organic food, and that the demand would increase, making it possible for more local farmers to convert to organic. Purchasing agreements are an important tool, but they have to be carefully designed and developed with time. The largest challenge to achieve the organic goal in Trondheim is to motivate actors who may influence the purchase of food, and to anchor the intentions in the decision in such a large organisation as the municipality is. A committed and continuous effort is required. Education and training of staff in charge of food serving in schools and kindergartens is a fruitful strategy, which has been used successfully by Children‟s Green City for several years.
Authors
Wallace E. Huffman Sonya Huffman Kyrre Rickertsen Abebayehu TegeneAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Mari Mette Tollefsrud Christian Brochmann Christoph SperisenAbstract
Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) and Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Lebed.) are closely related and occupy a large parapatric area across the entire northern Eurasia. They have been suggested to be connected by a wide zone of hybridization along the Ural Mountains, separating the European Norway spruce from the Siberian spruce. This introgressive zone is believed to be formed by secondary contact after the last glaciation. Based on macrofossils, P. obovata has been suggested to have survived the LGM in refugia both on the eastern and the western side of the Urals. Previous genetic isozyme studies have indicated that the two spruce taxa are genetically poorly differentiated.
Abstract
The blue-stain fungus Ceratocystis resinifera colonizes wounds on living Picea spp. and other conifers in Europe and North America. Little is known regarding the pathogenicity of this fungus and consequently, four Norwegian C. resinifera isolates were inoculated on to Norway spruce (Picea abies) using two different techniques. These included single-point inoculations on young trees (two inoculations per tree on 14-year-old trees) and mass-inoculations on older trees (∼200 inoculations per tree on 34-year-old trees). In both experiments, C. resinifera induced minor symptoms that in most cases did not differ significantly from inoculation with sterile agar. The virulent blue-stain fungus C. polonica, which was inoculated for comparative purposes, induced extensive symptoms, causing 83% dead cambium circumference and 82% blue-stained sapwood, and long necrotic lesions in the phloem. The results suggest that C. resinifera is non-pathogenic or only mildly pathogenic to Norway spruce and does not present a threat to these trees.