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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.

2003

Abstract

The three organic cropping systems Landvik (in Grimstad), Voll (at Ås) and Kvithamar (in Stjørdal) were established in 1993 on previously conventionally farmed soils of marine origin. The six-year crop rotation at Landvik was designed for an organic stockless farm producing cash crops. These crops were fertilized with composted organic household waste from the nearby community (maximum 100 kg N ha-1) and composted waste from the system itself. The rotation at Voll was designed for an arable farm withbeef production from suckling cows (0.9 animal units ha-1), and the rotation at Kvithamar was designed for a dairy cattle farm (1.0 animal unit ha-1). During the first six years of organic farming, the soil reserves of K were slightly depleted. The nutrient balance was –250 kg K ha-1 at Voll and –420 kg K ha-1 at Landvik, and the content of easily soluble K in the plough layer decreased at these sites. At Kvithamar, however, where the K balance for six years was –380 kg ha-1, no changes in soil content of K were recorded. For P, the six-year balance was positive at Landvik, where altogether 120 kg P ha-1 was supplied from composted household waste. The P balance was negative (-40 kg ha-1) at Voll and Kvithamar, and at Voll the content of easily soluble P in the plough layer was lower in 1999 than in 1993. In the study period, the yields were variable both within and between the systems. We have not identified any trends or variations in yields that might have been directly caused by changesin soil nutrient status or other soil quality components. At Voll and Kvithamar, however, the number of earthworm and the soil macroporosity increased from 1993 to 1999, with a concurrent slight increase in the yields of leys (Voll) and grain crops and swedes (Kvithamar). In the system at Landvik the yields of potatos and carrots were higher the first two than the last four years. At this site the soil structure was good, and the porosity and earthworm activity high, during the whole study period.

Abstract

We fogged trees in two pine dominated forests in Norway with a synthetic pyrethroid in order to compare the canopy-dwelling fauna of arthropods between costal (Kvam) and boreal (Sigdal) sites and between old (250-330 years) and mature (60-120 years) trees at Sigdal. Almost 30,000 specimens were assigned to 510 species; only 93 species were present at both sites. Species diversity, as established by rarefaction, was similar in old and mature trees. However, the number of species new to Norway (including nine species new to science) was significantly higher in the old trees. We suggest that the scarcity of old trees, habitat heterogeneity and structural differences between old and mature trees may explain these patterns. Productivity and topographic position at the site of growth explained the between-tree variation in species occurrence for the more abundant species, which were mainly Collembola and Oribatida. Species diversity was similar at the boreal and coastal sites, but there were clear differences in species composition