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.
2026
Authors
Mandeep PoudelAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are widely used as an efficient alternative for estimating soil hydraulic properties. However, insufficient understanding of how specific input data characteristics drive PTF prediction performance, coupled with challenges in assessing PTF transferability beyond their development datasets, limit their robustness and broad application. Here, we employed the hierarchical Rosetta3 as the development dataset and evaluated its PTF performance using two independent application datasets (National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) and HYBRAS-V2), comprising over 51,900 samples. To further investigate the effect of the input similarity on PTF performance, the Chamfer Distance (CD) was used to quantify the similarity between the development and application datasets. The extensive NCSS database allowed us to stratify the application dataset by soil temperature regimes, texture classes, and depths for a detailed performance evaluation. Results showed that incorporating additional inputs (e.g., bulk density, field capacity, and wilting point) moderately reduces the correlations between these newly added inputs and the estimation residuals, and that higher residual-input correlations are associated with inferior PTF performance. Furthermore, a lower CD (better resemblance of development and application dataset) leads to better PTF performance. However, increasing input complexity using the hierarchical Rosetta3 models mitigates this effect of resemblance, enhancing robustness across diverse soil and environmental conditions. These findings highlight the importance of analyzing residual-input correlations and suggest that quantifying input-data similarity between PTF development and application datasets can serve as a practical approach to assess the transferability of PTFs.
Authors
Abdullah Bugra Senol Linn Solli John Morken Wietske Annechien Stel Nazli Pelin Kocatürk SchumacherAbstract
Aquaculture sludge from recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) represents a growing waste stream with potential for biogas recovery; however, elevated salinity can inhibit anaerobic digestion (AD). This study evaluated the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of RAS sludge under freshwater (0%), brackish (1.2%), and marine (3.3%) conditions and assessed the effectiveness of biochar and zeolite. Batch BMP assays were conducted under mesophilic conditions at an inoculum-to-substrate ratio of 2:1, with additives applied at 0.8 g/g VS. Increasing salinity significantly reduced methane yields (p < 0.05), from 533.6 ± 3.4 NmL CH4/g VS in freshwater to 478.1 ± 10.2 and 341.3 ± 0.6 NmL CH4/g VS in brackish and marine conditions, respectively. Biochar enhanced methane production by 5.9–11.3% across all salinities, while zeolite increased yields by 7.7% and 15.7% under brackish and marine conditions, respectively, but had no effect in freshwater. Methane production kinetics were well described by the modified Gompertz model (R2 = 0.983–0.999). Overall, biochar was more effective at low salinity levels, whereas zeolite mitigated salinity-induced inhibition, indicating that targeted additive application can enhance methane recovery from saline aquaculture sludge and support sustainable RAS waste management.
Abstract
Norway spruce Picea abies is an economically important tree species in Europe, actively managed for forestry. Among the most negative biotic factors for growth and hence forest production is damage caused by wildlife, such as damage through bark stripping by red deer Cervus elaphus. We quantified bark stripping damage on Norway spruce trees in across 450 stands (aged 20–72 years) spanning a 400 km latitudinal range along Norway's west coast and analysed the underlying mechanisms driving increased probability of bark stripping by red deer. A total of 74% of tree stands had bark stripping damage. The mean percentage of damaged trees was 16.0%, but 50 stands (11.1% of the stands) had more than 50.0% damaged trees. The most important factor determining probability for bark stripping was broad-scale red deer density, where the probability increased markedly when density reached approximately two harvested red deer per km2. In addition, proximity to agricultural farmland, distance from roads, site productivity, distance between twig whorls and terrain ruggedness index increased the probability of bark stripping. Our study on bark stripping on Norway spruce highlights the importance of red deer population control, but also the importance of evaluating environmental factors as well as site factors and tree characteristics in forestry planning to mitigate damage from red deer.
Authors
Kai Yue Pieter Vangansbeke Isla H. Myers-Smith Donald M. Waller Kris Verheyen Markus Bernhardt-Römermann Lander Baeten Ingmar R. Staude Anne D. Bjorkman Radim Hédl Christopher Andrews Elena Barni Thomas Becker Antoine Becker-Scarpitta José Luis Benito-Alonso Jonathan Bennie Imre Berki Volker Blüml Jörg Brunet James M. Bullock Hans Van Calster Michele Carbognani Markéta Chudomelová Déborah Closset-Kopp Pavel Dan Turtureanu Gergana N. Daskalova Guillaume Decocq Jan Dick Martin Diekmann Thomas Dirnböck Tomasz Durak Ove Eriksson Brigitta Erschbamer Bente Jessen Graae Thilo Heinken Martin Hermy Peter Horchler Ute Jandt Bogdan Jaroszewicz Róbert Kanka Jozef Kollár Martin Kopecký Thomas Kudernatsch Andrea Lamprecht Jonathan Lenoir Martin Macek Marek Malicki František Máliš Ottar Michelsen Fraser Mitchell Tobias Naaf Thomas A. Nagel Miles Newman Adrian C. Newton Lena Nicklas Ludovica Oddi Anna Orczewska Simone Orsenigo Adrienne Ortmann-Ajkai Jan den Ouden Harald Pauli George Peterken Petr Petřík Remigiusz Pielech Mihai Puşcaş Christophe Randin Kamila Reczyńska Christian Rixen Fride Høistad Schei Wolfgang Schmidt Jan Šebesta Alina Stachurska-Swakon Tibor Standovár Krzysztof Świerkosz Balázs Teleki Jean-Paul Theurillat Tudor-Mihai Ursu Thomas Vanneste Mark Vellend Philippine Vergeer Ondřej Vild Luis Villar Pascal Vittoz Manuela Winkler Sonja Wipf Fuzhong Wu Shengmin Zhang Pieter De FrenneAbstract
Climate warming is shifting biological communities, with warmth-demanding species being favoured at the expense of cold-adapted species in a process referred to as thermophilization1,2,3,4. Because biodiversity responses often lag behind climate warming, climatic debts are accumulating in many ecosystems across the world5,6,7. Although we might expect that thermophilization and climatic debts will vary among habitats, standardized quantification across ecosystems is lacking. Here we analysed multidecadal data from 6,067 resurveyed vegetation plots over 12–78 years in forests, grasslands and on alpine summits across Europe. We demonstrate that forest understory and grassland plant communities experienced positive thermophilization, although not significantly different from zero. By contrast, alpine summit vegetation showed much stronger (up to five times) and significant thermophilization. Thermophilization was driven largely by increases in warmth-demanding species in grasslands, by declines in cold-adapted species on alpine summits and by both processes in forests. Significant climatic debts have accumulated in forests and alpine summits, but less so in grasslands, with debts positively correlated with macroclimate temperature changes. Our findings uncover divergent thermophilization trajectories and increasing climatic debts across ecosystems. Moreover, we highlight the mechanisms that enable some communities to track climate change more closely than others and provide a basis for projecting future shifts in plant communities under accelerating climate warming.
Authors
James Weldon Wenche Aas Barbara Albiniak Algirdas Augustaitis Ieva Baužienė Camilla Capelli Nicholas Clarke Thomas Cummins Heleen de Wit Thomas Dirnböck Ika Djukic Karin Eklöf Martin Forsius Martyn Futter Ulf Grandin Sergei Gromov Adéla Holubová Šmejkalová Ricardo Ibañez Iveta Indriksone Sara Jutterström Johannes Kobler Heidi Koger Angelika Kölbl Andrzej Kostrzewski Anna Koukhta Pavel Krám Robert Kruszyk Esther Lasheras Kairi Lõhmus Mikołaj Majewski Ulla Makkonen Hampus Markensten Rafael Miranda Michael Mirtl Filip Moldan Giancarlo Papitto Johannes Peterseil Ainis Pivoras Thomas Plha Gisela Pröll Pernilla Rönnback Carolina Santamaría Jesús Miguel Santamaría Krzysztof Skotak David Elustondo Mercedes Valerio Sarah Venier Lieke E. Vlaar Liisa Ukonmaanaho Jussi Vuorenmaa Nicole WellbrockAbstract
Abstract The International Cooperative Programme on Integrated Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems (ICP IM) presents a comprehensive long-term dataset of ongoing integrated ecosystem monitoring from European forested catchments. The dataset encompasses measurements from 46 monitoring stations across 14 European countries, with temporal coverage mostly extending from the early 1990s to 2020 (48 sites are currently active). The integrated monitoring approach applies over 20 monitoring subprogrammes to simultaneously measure physical, chemical, and biological properties across multiple ecosystem compartments including atmosphere, precipitation, throughfall, soil water, groundwater, runoff water, soil, vegetation, and biota. All measurements follow standardised protocols detailed in the ICP IM Manual, ensuring data quality and comparability across sites and time periods. The dataset supports research on ecosystem responses to air pollution, climate change impacts, and biogeochemical cycling. Data are available under a Creative Commons By Attribution (CC BY) licence, providing valuable long-term environmental monitoring data for the scientific community.
Authors
Jiajun Wu Bin Zhou Zhehao Huang Zichuan Li Jingyuan Pan Kaihao Zhang Cheng Liu Yanjun Chai Yan Li Muhammad Azeem Nicholas Clarke Shengdao ShanAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The Global Biodiversity Framework calls for participatory, biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning to address accelerating losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services driven by land-use change. Yet spatial planning systems continue to enable nature degradation despite the increasing availability of ecological data. Ecological data is produced under a knowledge-deficit model—assuming that more data leads to better decisions. However, in spatial planning practice, data must be activated through participation: the less the participation, the less ecological knowledge enters decision-making. Participation is shaped by three dimensions: demos (who participates), chronos (when participation occurs), and kairos (the knowledge environment that enables effective participation). To examine how ecological data becomes integrated into planning decisions, we apply the Stakeholders, Problem, Alternatives, Decision, and Evaluation (SPADE) systems engineering framework. Using triangulation of interviews and gray literature, analyzed through thematic analysis, we interpret findings through a complexity lens, focusing on multi-stakeholder interactions, path dependency, and unpredictable behaviors. We find multiple orientations for activating ecological data, but the regulated pathway addresses the most system requirements. We identify the need for an interpretation function within planning system architectures to create the appropriate kairos in which planners accept ecological data as decision-relevant knowledge. We identified a number of examples of positive feedback which are limiting the ability to integrate ecological data in planning decisions. Finally, we argue that aligning future ecological data production with stakeholder objectives may enhance its uptake. This study offers a qualitative systems approach to better understand why biodiversity continues to decline despite enhanced data availability and regulated planning processes.
Authors
Lei Han Alexander Scharf Mohammad Derikvand Matthew Schwarzkopf Bogdan Mitkovski Dick Sandberg Andreja KutnarAbstract
Conventional wooden dowel connections in timber structures rely on tight press-fit installation, which requires high insertion forces and often loosens over time due to stress relaxation. This study investigates an alternative approach that exploits the moisture-activated set-recovery of thermo-hydro-mechanically (THM) densified hardwood dowels to enable slip-fit assembly followed by self-tightening in service. To this end, European beech and black poplar were densified radially and tangentially at different compression ratios. They were then evaluated for swelling kinetics, swelling pressure, bending performance, and moisture-activated expansion using in-situ X-ray CT in water at 20 °C and 100 °C. Results show that activation kinetics can be controlled by temperature. Expansion was rapid within minutes in hot water and slower but equivalent in magnitude at room temperature. Beech outperformed poplar, with radial densification at 35 % compression ratio producing a peak swelling pressure of 5.7 MPa and a modulus of rupture of 268 MPa after activation. Poplar generated higher free expansion but significantly lower pressure due to its lower stiffness. Radial densification was consistently more effective than tangential, enhancing both expansion magnitude and pressure generation. Capillary uptake triggered expansion along the dowel length (∼30 mm in 1 h) and produced an elliptical expansion profile. Importantly, mechanical strength was retained post-activation, which confirms structural suitability. These results demonstrate that THM-densified beech dowels can offer a robust self-tightening mechanism, combining low-force installation with durable pressure generation and stable mechanical performance. This provides a viable path toward adhesive-free, metal-free, high-tolerance timber connections.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered