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.
2021
Abstract
Plant diseases may survive and be spread by infected seeds. In this study we monitored the longevity of 14 seed-borne pathogens in 9 crop species commonly grown in the Nordic countries, in addition to a sample of sclerotia of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The data from the first 30 years of a 100-year seed storage experiment located in a natural −3.5 °C environment (permafrost) in Svalbard, Norway, are presented. To date, the pathogens, tested by traditional seed health testing methods (freezing blotter, agar plates, growing on tests), have survived. Linear regression analyses showed that the seed infection percentages of Drechslera dictyoides in meadow fescue, Drechslera phlei in timothy, and Septoria nodorum in wheat were significantly reduced compared to the percentages at the start of the experiment (from 63% to 34%, from 70% to 65%, and from 15% to 1%, respectively), and that Phoma betae in beet had increased significantly (from 43% to 56%). No trends in the infection percentage were observed over the years in Drechslera spp. in barley (fluctuating between 30% and 64%) or in Alternaria brassicicola in cabbage (fluctuating between 82% and 99%), nor in pathogens with low seed infection percentages at the start of the experiment. A major part of the stored sclerotia was viable after 30 years. To avoid the spread of seed-borne diseases, it is recommended that gene banks implement routines that avoid the use of infected seeds.
Authors
Marion Lang Harald Albrecht Marlene Rudolph Johannes KollmannAbstract
A better understanding of regional differentiation and local adaptation of rare arable plants is essential for the development of suitable methods for the reintroduction of these species. We set up F1 and F2 greenhouse experiments with 4–12 source populations of five rare arable plant species to test for genetically based differentiation in biomass production and phenology in South Germany. For three species, i.e. Arnoseris minima, Consolida regalis and Teesdalia nudicaulis, reciprocal transplant experiments were performed in arable fields to investigate local adaptation in plant establishment as well as biomass production to the northern or southern regions of three seed transfer zones. We found low regional differentiation, but provenance-specific responses to drought stress in Legousia speculum-veneris biomass and A. minima phenology. Moreover, little evidence was identified for local adaptation, while significant differences were seen in the performance between the transplant sites and study years, indicating a high phenotypic variability. Our results suggest that the current seed zones are suitable for the seed transfer of rare arable plants in the study region. Thus, there is a low risk of maladaptation when using autochthonous seed sources within the seed zones, but a high extinction risk of these species and their respective ecosystem functions if no active restoration is done, including transplant measures.
Authors
Xinbing Wang Yuxin Miao Rui Dong Hainie Zha Tingting Xia Zhichao Chen Krzysztof Kusnierek Guohua Mi Hong Sun Minzan LiAbstract
Reliable and efficient in-season nitrogen (N) status diagnosis and recommendation methods are crucially important for the success of crop precision N management (PNM). The accuracy of these methods has been found to be influenced by soil properties, weather conditions, and crop management practices. It is important to effectively incorporate these variables to improve in-season N management. Machine learning (ML) methods are promising due to their capability of processing different types of data and modeling both linear and non-linear relationships. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the potential improvement of in-season prediction of corn N nutrition index (NNI) and grain yield by combining soil, weather and management data with active sensor data using random forest regression (RFR) as compared with Lasso linear regression (LR) using similar data and simple regression (SR) models only using crop sensor data; and (2) to develop a new in-season side-dress N fertilizer recommendation strategy at eighth to ninth leaf stage (V8-V9) of corn developement using the RFR model. Twelve site-year experiments examining corn N rates and planting densities were conducted in Northeast China. The GreenSeeker sensor data and corn NNI were collected at V8-V9 stage, and grain yield was determined at the harvest stage (R6). The soil information was obtained at planting and the weather data was measured throughout the growing season. The results indicated that corn NNI and grain yield were better predicted by combining soil, weather and management information with GreenSeeker sensor data using RFR model (R2 = 0.86 and 0.79) and LR model (R2 = 0.85 and 0.76) as compared with only using GreenSeeker sensor data (R2 = 0.66 and 0.62–63) based on the test dataset. An innovative in-season side-dress N recommendation strategy was developed using the RFR grain yield prediction model to simulate corn grain yield responses to a series of side-dress N rates at V8-V9 stage. Based on these response curves, site-, and year-specific optimum side-dress N rates can be determined. The scenario analysis results indicated that this RFR model-based in-season N recommendation strategy could recommend side-dress N rates similar to those based on measured agronomic optimum N rate (AONR) or economic optimum N rate (EONR), with root mean square error (RMSE) of 17 kg ha−1 and relative error (RE) of 14–15 %. It is concluded that combining soil, weather and management information with crop sensor data using RFR can significantly improve both in-season corn NNI and grain yield prediction and N management, compared with the approach based only on crop sensor data. More studies are needed to further improve and evaluate this approach under diverse on-farm conditions.
Authors
Annika M. Felton Hilde Karine Wam Adam Felton Stephen J. Simpson Caroline Stolter Per-Ola Hedwall Jonas Malmsten Torsten Eriksson Mulualem Tigabo David RaubenheimerAbstract
At northern latitudes, large spatial and temporal variation in the nutritional composition of available foods poses challenges to wild herbivores trying to satisfy their nutrient requirements. Studies conducted in mostly captive settings have shown that animals from a variety of taxonomic groups deal with this challenge by adjusting the amounts and proportions of available food combinations to achieve a target nutrient balance. In this study, we used proportions-based nutritional geometry to analyze the nutritional composition of rumen samples collected in winter from 481 moose (Alces alces) in southern Sweden and examine whether free-ranging moose show comparable patterns of nutrient balancing. Our main hypothesis was that wild moose actively regulate their rumen nutrient composition to offset ecologically imposed variation in the nutritional composition of available foods. To test this, we assessed the macronutritional composition (protein, carbohydrates, and lipids) of rumen contents and commonly eaten foods, including supplementary feed, across populations with contrasting winter diets, spanning an area of approximately 10,000 km2. Our results suggest that moose balanced the macronutrient composition of their rumen, with the rumen contents having consistently similar proportional relationship between protein and nonstructural carbohydrates, despite differences in available (and eaten) foods. Furthermore, we found that rumen macronutrient balance was tightly related to ingested levels of dietary fiber (cellulose and hemicellulose), such that the greater the fiber content, the less protein was present in the rumen compared with nonstructural carbohydrates. Our results also suggest that moose benefit from access to a greater variety of trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses, which provides them with a larger nutritional space to maneuver within. Our findings provide novel theoretical insights into a model species for ungulate nutritional ecology, while also generating data of direct relevance to wildlife and forest management, such as silvicultural or supplementary feeding practices.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Volkmar TimmermannAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Divina Gracia P. RodriguezAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
A key issue in food governance and public administration is achieving coordinated implementation of policies. This study addressed this issue by systematically comparing the governance of animal welfare in Norway and Sweden, using published papers, reports, and legal and other public information, combined with survey and interview data generated in a larger research project (ANIWEL). Governing animal welfare includes a number of issues that are relevant across different sectors and policy areas, such as ethical aspects, choice of legal tools, compliance mechanisms and achieving uniform control. Based on the challenges identified in coordinating animal welfare in Norway and Sweden, relevant organisational preconditions for achieving uniform and consistent compliance were assessed. The results showed that Sweden’s organisation may need more horizontal coordination, since its animal welfare management is divided between multiple organisational units (Swedish Board of Agriculture, National Food Agency and 21 regional County Administration Boards). Coordination in Norway is managed solely by the governmental agency Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), which has the full responsibility for inspection and control of food safety, animal health, plant health, as well as animal welfare. Thus, Norway has better preconditions than Sweden for achieving uniformity in animal welfare administration. However, in Norway, the safeguards for the rule of law might be an issue, due to NFSA acting as de facto “inspector”, “prosecutor” and “judge”.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Background Bioenergy plays a key role in the transition to a sustainable economy in Europe, but its own sustainability is being questioned. We study the experiences of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, to find out whether the forest-based bioenergy chains developed in the four countries have led to unsustainable outcomes and how the countries manage the sustainability risks. Data were collected from a diversity of sources including interviews, statistical databases, the scientific literature, government planning documents and legislation. Results Sustainability risks of deforestation, degradation of forests, reduced carbon pools in forests, expensive biopower and heat, resource competition, and lack of acceptance at the local level are considered. The experience of the four countries shows that the sustainability risks can to a high degree be managed with voluntary measures without resorting to prescriptive measures. It is possible to add to the carbon pools of forests along with higher harvest volumes if the risks are well managed. There is, however, a marginal trade-off between harvest volume and carbon pools. Economic sustainability risks may be more challenging than ecological risks because the competitiveness order of renewable energy technologies has been reversed in the last decade. The risk of resource competition harming other sectors in the economy was found to be small and manageable but requires continuous monitoring. Local communities acting as bioenergy communities have been agents of change behind the most expansive bioenergy chains. A fear of non-local actors reaping the economic gains involved in bioenergy chains was found to be one of the risks to the trust and acceptance necessary for local communities to act as bioenergy communities. Conclusions The Nordic experience shows that it has been possible to manage the sustainability risks examined in this paper to an extent avoiding unsustainable outcomes. Sustainability risks have been managed by developing an institutional framework involving laws, regulations, standards and community commitments. Particularly on the local level, bioenergy chains should be developed with stakeholder involvement in development and use, in order to safeguard the legitimacy of bioenergy development and reconcile tensions between the global quest for a climate neutral economy and the local quest for an economically viable community. Keywords: Bioenergy, Sustainability, Risk assessment, Risk management, Nordic countries