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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.

2023

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Abstract

Climate policies may have adverse geographically unequal socio-economic impacts that, if left unaddressed, may hamper their implementation. This paper examines factors explaining rural-urban perceptions of the effects of climate policy on agriculture and rural areas. The paper adds to current knowledge by jointly analysing socio-economic factors and factors describing the distinct role geographical locations play in shaping these perceptions. We conduct a novel statistical analysis utilising a large preference survey of the Norwegian adult population spatially matched at the municipality level with indexes capturing centrality and the relative importance, and, hence, vulnerability of agriculture to effects of climate change. Our analysis does not identify a principal conflict between the goals of climate policy, rural policy, and agricultural policy across geographical locations. Conflicts along the rural-urban gradient arise around the priority given to the three policy areas, and the concrete impact of climate mitigation measures on rural areas. Centrality more than agricultural properties explains the formation of resistance to policies. The policy process should therefore acknowledge rural concerns, and climate mitigation options should be more carefully designed to avoid further rural-urban polarisation.

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Abstract

Six sweet cherry cultivars and two advanced selections of Gisela 5 rootstock were tested in 2015–2021 at the Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. Fruit trees were planted at distances of 4.5 × 2.5 m and trained as spindles. Orchard floor management included frequently mown grass in alleyways with herbicide strips along tree rows. Cultivars ‘Mindaugė’ and ‘Irema BS’ were the most vigorous at the end of the seventh leaf. Their trunk diameter achieved 11.6 cm. The ‘Merchant’ cultivar had the smallest trunk diameter—9.3 cm. The average yield in 2018–2021 ranged from 2.75 t/ha for ‘Vega’ to 8.73 t/ha for ‘Regina’. Cultivars ‘Regina’, ‘Sunburst’, ‘Irema BS’ and ‘Merchant’ had the highest cumulative yield efficiency of 0.440–0.503 kg/cm2 with respect to the trunk cross-section area (TCSA). The least productive cultivar ‘Vega’ produced fruits of the highest average weight—9.9 g. Fruits of ‘Regina’ and ‘Sunburst’ were large as well—8.8–9.1 g. ‘Irema BS’ fruits had the highest soluble solids content (SSC)—20.2%. The lowest SSC was recorded in ‘Merchant’ and ‘Sunburst’ fruits—14.7–15.8%. The yield of advanced selection, No. 102, equaled to the yield of cv. ‘Regina’. No. 102 had a high fruit weight, and fruits were distinguished by attractiveness and taste.

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Abstract

Climate change has had a significant impact on the tourism industry in many countries, leading to changes in policies and adaptations to attract more visitors. However, there are few studies on the effects of climate change on Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and income, despite its importance as a destination for tourists. A study was conducted to analyze the holiday climate index (HCI) for Sri Lanka’s urban and beach destinations to address this gap. The analysis covered historical years (2010–2018) and forecasted climatic scenarios (2021–2050 and 2071–2100), and the results were presented as colored maps to highlight the importance of HCI scores. Visual analysis showed some correlation between HCI scores and tourist arrivals, but the result of the overall correlation analysis was not significant. However, a country-specific correlation analysis revealed interesting findings, indicating that the changing climate can be considered among other factors that impact tourist arrivals. The research proposes that authorities assess the outcomes of the study and conduct further research to develop adaptive plans for Sri Lanka’s future tourism industry. The study also investigated potential scenarios for beach and urban destinations under two climate scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) for the near and far future, presenting the findings to tourism industry stakeholders for any necessary policy changes. As Sri Lanka expects more Chinese visitors in the future due to ongoing development projects, this study could be valuable for policymakers and industry stakeholders when adapting to changing climate and future tourist behavior. While more research is needed to fully understand the effects of climate change on Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, this study serves as a starting point for future investigations.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND Integrated pest management (IPM) has a long history in fruit production and has become even more important with the implementation of the EU directive 2009/128/EC making IPM mandatory. In this study, we surveyed 30 apple orchards in Norway for 3 years (2016–2018) monitoring pest- and beneficial arthropods as well as evaluating fruit damage. We obtained growers’ diaries of pest management and used these data to study positive and negative correlations of pesticides with the different arthropod groups and damage due to pests. RESULTS IPM level had no significant effects on damage of harvested apples by arthropod pests. Furthermore, damage by arthropods was mainly caused by lepidopteran larvae, tortricids being especially important. The number of insecticide applications varied between 0 and 3 per year (mean 0.8), while acaricide applications varied between 0 and 1 per year (mean 0.06). Applications were often based on forecasts of important pest species such as the apple fruit moth (Argyresthia conjugella). Narrow-spectrum insecticides were commonly used against aphids and lepidopteran larvae, although broad-spectrum neonicotinoid (thiacloprid) insecticides were also applied. Anthocorid bugs and phytoseiid mites were the most abundant natural enemies in the studied orchards. However, we found large differences in abundance of various “beneficials” (e.g., lacewings, anthocorids, parasitic wasps) between eastern and western Norway. A low level of IPM negatively affected the abundance of spiders. CONCLUSION Lepidoptera was found to be the most important pest group in apple orchards. Insecticide use was overall low, but number of spray applications and use of broad-spectrum insecticides varied between growers and regions. IPM level did not predict the level of fruit damage by insects nor the abundance of important pests or most beneficial groups in an apple orchard. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

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Abstract

Phenolic compounds constitute one of the most important groups of the bioactive molecules in food plants. These compounds have received attention for their beneficial properties for human health and they also are involved in diverse important roles in plants, including signaling and defense against biotic and abiotic stress factors. Vaccinium berries are one of the richest sources of phenolic compounds of which flavonoid classes of anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols in addition to hydroxycinnamic acids are the main phenolics in these species. Besides in berries, phenolic compounds are also present in other parts of the plant. Biosynthesis of flavonoids via the phenylpropanoid pathway is well understood and the key enzymes leading to different intermediates or different flavonoid classes have been characterized in many species including wild and cultivated Vaccinium species. At the molecular level, the biosynthesis is regulated via co-ordinated transcriptional control of the enzymes in the pathway by the interaction with transcription factors of the MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) complex. Upstream regulators of the pathway have also been identified. The biosynthesis is controlled both at the level as well as by the surrounding environmental factors. Plant hormones are the key players in the development and the ripening process of the fruits. Especially abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) have been shown to have a key role in the flavonoid metabolism of Vaccinium species. Accumulation of transcriptome, genome and metabolome data are currently increasing our understanding on the complicated regulation networks controlling the metabolism of the phenolic compounds in the Vaccinium species. This offers new tools for selection of the species and cultivars with preferred characteristics, for instance berries with higher health benefit potential or plants with better stress resistance.