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
Authors
Kim Viggo Paulsen Weiby Sophie Julie Krizsan Ingjerd Dønnem Liv Østrem Margrete Eknæs Håvard SteinshamnAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Local food is increasing in popularity. The more local, the better. However, selling local food is much more demanding than many may be aware of. Fortunately, new digital solutions are on the way.
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No abstract has been registered
Abstract
submittedVersion
Abstract
Landscape ecology is repeatedly described as an applied science that can help reduce the negative effects of land-use and land-use changes on biodiversity. However, the extent to which landscape ecology is in fact contributing to planning and design processes is questioned. The aim of this paper is to investigate if and how landscape ecology can be integrated in a planning and design process, and to uncover possible problems that, e.g., landscape architects and planners, may face in such processes. Our conclusion, based on a case study from Asker municipality, Norway, is that such a landscape ecological approach has a lot to offer. However, it is difficult to exploit the potential fully for different reasons, e.g., biodiversity information tends to be specialized, and not easily used by planners and designers, and landscape ecological principles need an adaptation process to be applicable in a real-world situation. We conclude that for the situation to improve, landscape ecologists need to ease this process. In addition, we recommend collaboration across disciplinary boundaries, preferably with a common design concept as a foundation.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Eva Skarbøvik Sofie Gyritia Madsen van't Veen Emma E. Lannergård Hannah Tabea Wenng Marc Stutter Magdalena Bieroza Kevin Atcheson Philip Jordan Jens Fölster Per-Erik Mellander Brian Kronvang Hannu Marttila Øyvind Kaste Ahti Lepistö Maria KämäriAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Demmelash MengistuAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Supplemental feeding of cervids during winter is a widespread management practice, but feeding may increase the risk of disease transmission. Therefore, legal regulations to limit supplemental feeding are often implemented when dealing with severe infectious diseases, such as chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids. However, it is currently unclear whether these regulations result in decreased spatial clustering and aggregation as intended. Supplemental feeding is expected to restrict the movement of cervids. Therefore, a ban on feeding may also result in wider space use and a risk of geographic spread of disease. The space use of 63 GPS-marked red deer (Cervus elaphus) was investigated before (n = 34) and after (n = 29) the implementation of a legal regulation aimed at limiting the supplemental feeding of cervids during winter in a CWD-affected region of Nordfjella, Norway. Snow depth was the main determinant of the space use for red deer. A moderate reduction in the number of GPS positions in spatial clusters was evident during periods of deep snow once the ban was in place. Sizes of core areas (Kernel 50%), home ranges (Kernel 95%), and dispersion (MCP 100%, number of 1 km2 pixels visited per deer) declined from January to March and with increasing snow depth. Dispersion (number of 1 km2 pixels visited per deer) did not depend on snow depth after the ban, and red deer used larger areas when snow depth was high after the ban compared to before. The ban on supplementary feeding had no effect on size of core areas or home ranges. Several potential factors can explain the overall weak effect of the ban on space use, including the use of agricultural fields by red deer, other anthropogenic feeding, and landscape topography. This study highlights that snow depth is the main factor determining space use during winter, and it remains to be determined whether the moderate reduction in spatial clustering during deep snow after the ban was sufficient to lower the risk of disease transmission.
Authors
Ana-Maria Madalina Pantazica Andre van Eerde Mihaela-Olivia Dobrica Iuliana Caras Irina Ionescu Adriana Costache Catalin Tucureanu Hege Særvold Steen Catalin Lazar Inger Heldal Sissel Haugslien Adrian Onu Crina Stavaru Norica Branza-Nichita Jihong Liu ClarkeAbstract
The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has taught the world a costly lesson about the devastating consequences of viral disease outbreaks but also, the remarkable impact of vaccination in limiting life and economic losses. Vaccination against human Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), a major human pathogen affecting 290 million people worldwide, remains a key action towards viral hepatitis elimination by 2030. To meet this goal, the development of improved HBV antigens is critical to overcome non-responsiveness to standard vaccines based on the yeast-produced, small (S) envelope protein. We have recently shown that combining relevant immunogenic determinants of S and large (L) HBV proteins in chimeric antigens markedly enhances the anti-HBV immune response. However, the demand for cost-efficient, high-quality antigens remains challenging. This issue could be addressed by using plants as versatile and rapidly scalable protein production platforms. Moreover, the recent generation of plants lacking β-1,2-xylosyltransferase and α-1,3-fucosyltransferase activities (FX-KO), by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, enables production of proteins with “humanized” N-glycosylation. In this study, we investigated the impact of plant N-glycosylation on the immunogenic properties of a chimeric HBV S/L vaccine candidate produced in wild-type and FX-KO Nicotiana benthamiana. Prevention of β-1,2-xylose and α-1,3-fucose attachment to the HBV antigen significantly increased the immune response in mice, as compared with the wild-type plant-produced counterpart. Notably, the antibodies triggered by the FX-KO-made antigen neutralized more efficiently both wild-type HBV and a clinically relevant vaccine escape mutant. Our study validates in premiere the glyco-engineered Nicotiana benthamiana as a substantially improved host for plant production of glycoprotein vaccines.