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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.

2004

Abstract

A home designed diffusion chamber was used during the isolation of fluoride from plant material. The chamber contained two beakers, one for the sample (milled plant material) and the other for the trapping solution (0.1M NaOH). Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) in 3.5M perchloric acid was added into the sample beaker through a septum, after the chamber was closed.Fluoride in the sample reacts with HMDS and forms the volatile trimethylfluorosilane (TMFS), which is trapped and hydrolyzed to fluoride. The diffusion time was 2h and 20 samples were handled at the same time. The fluoride concentration was determined by a flow injection analysis (FIA) system using an ion selective electrode (about 50 samples/hour).The results by acid extraction were compared to the results obtained after an ashing/alkaline fusion. Both a certified sample of timothy grass (NIST 2695, high level) and more typical vegetation from forest were analyzed. For the timothy grass, the recovery increased from 48 to 84% when ashing/alkali fusion was used before the diffusion. However, higher recovery was not obtained by using ashing/alkaline fusion for the determination of fluoride in natural vegetation from forest. Acid extraction in combination with addition of HMDS was sufficient as pretreatment in these types of plant materials.The method was routinely used for the determination of fluoride both in research and forest monitoring.

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Abstract

The anatomical defense responses in stems of Norway spruce (Picea abies) clones of different resistance to pathogenic fungi were characterized over time and distance from small mechanical wounds or wounds inoculated with the root rot fungus Heterobasidion annosum. Common responses for both treatments included division of ray parenchyma and other cells in the cambial zone, accumulation of phenolic inclusions in ray parenchyma cells, activation of phloem parenchyma (PP) cells, and formation of traumatic resin ducts (TDs) in the xylem. TD formation occurred synchronously from a tangential layer of cells, or symplasmic domain, within the zone of xylem mother cells. TD induction is triggered by a signal, which propagates a developmental wave in the axial direction at about 2.5cm per day. TDs are formed at least 30cm above single inoculations within 16–36days after inoculation. The size and number of TDs is attenuated further away from the inoculation site, indicating a dose-dependent activity leading to TD development. Compared to sterile wounding, fungal inoculation gave rise to more and larger TDs in all clones, and multiple rows of TDs in weak clones. Fungal inoculation also induced the formation of more new PP cells, increasing the number of PP cells in the phloem in the year of inoculation up to 100%. TD and PP cell formation was greater in susceptible compared to resistant clones and after fungal versus sterile inoculation. Potential mechanisms responsible for this variable response are discussed.

Abstract

Forest roads ensure access to standing timber and their standards may restrict the opportunity set for efficient logistical solutions. Traditionally, the objective of road investments has been maximisation of returns for the landowner.Investments in forest roads in Norway are subsidised by the Norwegian government. These subsidies should preferably be allocated to projects creating the best premises for efficient log supply. The total cost approach evaluates costs using a holistic perspective. In this paper we use this approach to evaluate the profitability of investments in forest roads so that the total costs for log supply to the industry are minimised.The distribution of standing timber in the catchment area of the forest road is also taken into account. The results show that the sum of costs for road construction, harvesting and forwarding account for more than 99% of the total costs, compared to less than 1% for the sum of log hauling costs. Differentiation of forest road standards is more appropriate in situations where the volume of standing timber decreases in remote areas of the forest road network.

Abstract

Sampling the catchment outlet generally is assumed to be a convenient way to infer information about a variety of biogeochemical processes at the catchment scale as it provides a spatial and temporal integral of the predominating catchment output fluxes for a number of chemical compounds of interest.Moreover, the short-term dynamics and long-term trends of the hydrograph and of solute concentrations in the catchment runoff can provide information about the predominating processes at the catchment scale and can be used to refine conceptual and mathematical models.Additional measurements inside the catchment, e.g., of soil solution, groundwater, and stream water at different sites, are used to relate the findings to within-catchment processes and thus to further constrain hypotheses and models.

Abstract

A humus sample and a mineral soil sample were collected to investigate different sample pretreatments and their effects on the quality (mean value and uncertainty) of soil chemical data. Thirty-four humus subsamples and sixty mineral subsamples were prepared for chemical analysis. Diverse combinations of sieving, milling or grinding were utilized before the determination of Kjeldahl nitrogen (Kj-N), pH, extractable elements, and a few other chemical parameters.The humus subsamples were sieved, sieved and milled or sieved and ground. Relative to sieving, grinding improved the uncertainty in the determination by 210 times [highest for calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn), Kj-N, loss on ignition and volume weight].The mineral soil subsamples were either sieved or sieved and ground. The uncertainty was improved by 24 times for aluminum (Al), barium (Ba), Ca, hydrogen (H), potassium (K), sulphur (S), silicon (Si), zinc (Zn), and nitrogen (N) when grinding was applied.The result increased for almost all of the chemical parameters when the samples (humus and mineral) were ground in addition to sieving. The maximum increase in mean value was observed for Si (330%), iron (Fe) (200%) and carbon (C), K, magnesium (Mg), Mn, sodium (Na) (1734%).The determination of Kj-N was less influenced (016%) by different pretreatments but the uncertainty in the determination was improved up to 10 times when the sample was ground.Different sieving techniques were also utilized. It was shown that different sieving techniques altered the mean value for Ba, Fe, K, Mg, Si, Zn, pH, and loss on ignition, while the uncertainty was unaffected.All subsamples were reanalyzed after 15 months, without mixing in each sample before weighing. An increase in concentration was observed for C, Fe, phosphorus (P), S (up to 130%) and in volume weight (626%) while a decrease was observed for Ca, K, Mg, strontium (Sr), Zn (727%).