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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.

2011

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Sammendrag

‘Summerred" apples (Malus domestica) Borkh are highly susceptible to biennial bearing if not properly thinned. This results in erratic yields and also affects fruit quality adversely. Between 2003 and 2005 ‘Summered"/‘M9" trees were treated with ethephon at concentrations of 250, 375 and 500 mL·L-1 when most king flowers opened (ca. 20% bloom) or at concentrations of 500, 625 and 750 mL·L-1 when the average fruitlet size was 10 mm in diameter. The experimental design was a completely randomised block design with 6 whole tree plots per replication. Trees were sprayed to the point of run-off with a hand applicator only when temperatures exceeded 15ºC. Within two weeks after the second application fruit set was reduced linearly with increasing concentrations of ethephon to less than 1 fruitlet per cluster at the highest concentrations used. Most thinning treatments reduced fruit set significantly compared to unthinned trees. Fruit numbers per tree decreased significantly with increasing ethephon concentrations, and the highest concentrations of ethephon applied during bloom or when the average fruitlet size was 10 mm in diameter resulted in over-thinning. Yield results confirmed the fruit set response where yield reductions were significant at highest concentrations of ethephon (2.1 kg·tree-1) compared to hand-thinned trees (7.3 kg·tree-1) in 2005. All thinning treatments resulted in higher percentage of fruits larger than 60 mm diameter average fruit size compared to unthinned control fruit. Thinning resulted in significantly higher soluble solid contents, and this was especially so for hand-thinned trees. Other fruit quality parameters like yellow/green background color did not show a clear response to thinning. Fruit firmness, however, decreased slightly in all ethephon treated trees whereas return bloom was improved on all thinned trees. It is recommended that ethephon be applied at a rate of 375 mL·L-1 when king flowers open or at a rate of 625 mL·L-1 when the average fruitlet size is 10 mm in diameter. These treatments thin ‘Summerred" apples to a target of about 5 fruits·cm-2 per trunk cross sectional area or 50-70 fruits·100 flower clusters-1 without impacting fruit quality, yield or return bloom the following year.

Sammendrag

Based on intensive forest monitoring data, critical loads for acidification and eutrophication as well as their exceeedances were modelled for 107 Level II plots using the simple mass balance approach. Dynamic modelling using the VSD model was carried out for 77 plots using different deposition scenarios.Results show widespread soil acidification in the year 1980 with nearly 60% of the plots affected by critical load exceedances. A continued positive future development until 2020 is clearly visible, leading to full protection at least under the most ambitious deposition scenario.Critical loads for nutrient nitrogen were exceeded on 60% of the plots in 1980 and continue to be so in 2020 on between 10 and 30% of the plots depending on the scenario. Dynamic modelling shows that soil solution pH can recover to pre-industrial values but that over the all the 77 plots the C:N ratio shows a continuous decrease until 2050.A comparison with to measured solid soil pH from large scale plots confirms recovery for acidified soils until 2008 but shows increased acidification on soils with pH above 4.0. and points to the fact that full recovery from acidification will take decades. Decreasing C:N and continued exceedance of critical loads for nutrient nitrogen point to soil eutrophication as a major and continued area of concern.