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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.

2009

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Abstract

In this paper we discuss relations between kinship, law, and property enactment. A recent revision of The Norwegian Act Relating to Concession in the Acquisition of Real Property is designed to influence the relation between subjects (property owners) and objects (properties) through ceasing the obligation of residency and cultivation on certain properties, which in turn is intended to increase sales prices of the respective properties. Drawing upon empirical research conducted in four Norwegian local authority districts, we argue that responsibility for past, present, and future generations of family or kin is highly important in property enactment. Although relations between subjects and objects are powerful and inform policy actions, relations between social subjects might be just as influential and powerful. When enacting properties, people may live in more complicated worlds than is often assumed. We assert that further research in legal geography and the emerging field of ‘geographies of relatedness’ might profit from seeing kinship and property as coconstituted.

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Abstract

The article argues that geographies of home add important perspectives for analysing property enactment on Norwegian smallholdings. Characteristics of smallholdings as homes are described, and it is demonstrated that 'home matters' in terms of how property owners' senses of home affect how properties become enacted. In conformity with recent theories in legal geography, the article demonstrates that these socio-spatial relationships conflict with the dominant ownership model which permeates public policy initiatives. The ownership model assumes a single owner motivated by self-regarding behaviour and maximising economic benefits. The article, however, reveals a deep sense of home and place attachment relating to Norwegian smallholdings, and this influences how smallholdings as properties become enacted, and thus, how legal instruments aiming at affecting people's behaviour are responded to. The article draws upon empirical research conducted among current and former owners of smallholdings in four Norwegian local authority districts.

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Abstract

Forest fires release significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere(1), but also convert a fraction of the burning vegetation to charred black carbon. Black carbon is hard to break down, and formation of this reserve therefore creates a long-term soil carbon sink(2-7). However, although soil black carbon pools are important for global carbon budgets, the spatial variation and dynamics of these pools are poorly understood(6-9). Here we examine the charcoal content of 845 soil samples collected from a broad range of boreal forest landscapes and climates in Scandinavia. We show that there is considerable variation in the distribution and carbon content of soil charcoal between forest landscapes; the landscape-level amount of soil carbon stored in charcoal ranged from 0 to 222 g Cm-2, with an average of 77 g Cm-2. The carbon concentration in the soil charcoal is significantly lower than that found in recently produced fresh charcoal, suggesting that charcoal carbon content decreases with time. Indeed, the median age of a subset of C-14-dated soil charcoal particles was 652 years, implying a rapid turnover compared with the expected median age of approximately 5,000 years if charcoal is persistent. Assuming that our measurements are representative of boreal forests worldwide, we estimate that boreal forest soils store 1 Pg of carbon in the form of charcoal, equivalent to 1% of the total plant carbon stock in boreal forests.