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
Tomasz Leszek WoznickiAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Fruit quality is a major determinant of commercial success in raspberry cultivars. Yet the established ways of measuring quality: chromatography and trained sensory panels, are slow, costly and, for sensory work, variable. Raman spectroscopy is a rapid, reagent-free alternative based directly on molecular vibrations, and is now available in handheld form. Nine raspberry cultivars and two breeding selections were grown in an open polytunnel at NIBIO Apelsvoll, Norway, in 2023, and berries were sampled early and a late in the harvest season. Spectra were recorded with an 830 nm handheld instrument from intact berries and from pressed, centrifuged juice and related to HPLC analyses and sensory panel taste scores. Empirical multivariate models based on partial least squares regression, applied to pre-processed spectra of raspberry juice samples, showed promising potential for estimating total sugars (R2cv = 0.96, RMSECV = 3.4 g L-1), the sugar/acid ratio (R2cv = 0.96) and citric acid (R2cv = 0.94), and moderate potential for the sensory taste score (R2cv = 0.55 on a 1-9 scale). Regression coefficients and VIP scores placed the models on sugar bands near 1065, 1085 and 1128 cm-1 and on citrate bands near 940 and 1720 cm-1, matching published assignments. A calibration-free two-band ratio, I(1115-1145)/I(925-960), tracked the sugar/acid ratio almost as well as the full model (r = 0.945). Measurements of intact berries could not be used for estimating any property (R2cv <= 0.36); the relative standard error of the sugar band was 7.0-9.3% per scan against 1.9% for juice, identifying drupelet heterogeneity rather than absent signal as the obstacle. Handheld Raman spectroscopy shows promising potential as a rapid screening tool for extracted raspberry juice, however for measurement of the intact fruit further method development is needed.
Abstract
Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) is widely used to characterize subsurface structures and to monitor dynamic processes through time-lapse measurements. Its multiscale applicability has enabled laboratory investigations of solute and gas transport in rocks and sediments, as well as field-scale imaging of landfill interiors based on contrasts in moisture content and waste composition. Landfill gas production, primarily CO₂ and CH₄ generated by organic waste degradation, remains difficult to monitor using ERT due to the highly heterogeneous and dynamic nature of waste bodies. To address this challenge, we built a small-scale cylindrical laboratory column, equipped with 64 electrodes to systematically investigate the sensitivity of ERT to gas presence and migration in waste. The experimental setup allows independent control of key parameters including waste grain size, chemistry, saturation, gas volume, flow velocity, and gas composition. This contribution presents the first stage of the project, focusing on the design, optimization, and validation of the ERT column. Using a combination of forward modeling and preliminary laboratory measurements, we assess the system’s spatial resolution, sensitivity distribution, and error sources related to both data acquisition and inversion. The results highlight the importance of pre-optimizing laboratory ERT configurations and provide practical guidelines for the design of similar experimental systems, a step that is often only briefly documented in previous studies.
Authors
Marjana Westergren Kathrin Streit Marcela van Loo Ricardo Alía Santiago C. González-Martínez Marta Benito-Garzón Francisco J. Lario Leza José M. Climent Maldonado Georgeta Mihai Tor MykingAbstract
Abstract Key message Maintaining forest resilience under climate change depends on understanding genetic adaptation and preserving diversity. Long-term common garden networks are essential for revealing how species and populations perform across life stages and environments. When strategically designed and deployed across diverse sites, including suboptimal ones, these networks provide critical empirical insights into adaptive capacity of forest tree species under future climate conditions.
Abstract
Slugs represent one of the main pests for vegetable farmers. In Norway, the invasive Spanish slug, Arion vulgaris, is especially damaging and is listed as a severe threat on the Norwegian list of alien species. In small-scale, diversified horticultural systems, like market gardens and allotment gardens, pest problems may be exacerbated because of organic cultivation methods with limited use of conventional pest management. On the other hand, small-scale horticultural systems may foster greater local biodiversity through their diversified growing practices and limited pest management, and are often situated in areas more favourable to biodiversity compared to intensive, monocultural farmlands. Greater local biodiversity, in turn, might provide improved pest control by natural enemies. Carabid beetles are natural enemies of slugs, and earlier studies have shown that some species feed on eggs and juveniles of the Spanish slug. However, for many carabid beetles, it is unclear if, and to what extent, the Spanish slug, and other common slug pests, are preyed upon. In this project, we aim to: 1) quantify the abundance and species richness of carabid beetles in Norwegian market gardens and allotment gardens, 2) correlate carabid abundance and richness with slug abundance in market gardens, and 3) use molecular methods to establish whether common carabid species found in Norwegian smallscale horticultural systems contain slug DNA in their gut.
Abstract
With an approximate production of 1.5 million tons annually, Norway remains as the world’s biggest producer of Atlantic salmon. Marine aquaculture sludge constitutes a major side stream from the aquaculture sector, which represents nutrients loss as well as a contributing factor to eutrophication of the ocean. Despite its elevated salt and sulphur concentrations, the high energy density of marine aquaculture sludge indicates its suitability as a substrate for biogas production. The microbial community driving anaerobic digestion represents a complex mixture of symbiotic relationships between bacteria and methanogenic archaea. Here, we investigate the microbial dynamics as well as reactor performance of two lab-scale reactors running solely on marine aquaculture sludge, from which we achieved continuous biogas production from reactors running on 100% marine aquaculture sludge. Hydraulic retention time was decreased from 20 to 4 days to determine the reactor’s maximum tolerable organic loading rate. Performance measurements, such as gas production and acid composition, pH and buffer capacity was observed. Initial microbial community analysis through 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed a low diversity, yet specialized halotolerant microbial community during anaerobic digestion of marine aquaculture sludge. To broaden this knowledge, we employed a metagenome-centric metaproteomic approach, aiming to further elucidate the relationship between reactor performance measurements and changes in microbial community structure and activity in biogas reactors running on marine aquaculture sludge when subjected to reduced hydraulic retention time. Overall, our study aims to assess both the opportunities and limitations of using marine aquaculture sludge as a substrate for biogas production.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Erlend Hustad Honningdalsnes Erik Stensrud Marstein Helge Bonesmo Dag Lindholm Jonathan Rizzi Heine Nygard RiiseAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Tsegay Teame Einar Ringø Hongwei Yang Ran Zhang Yalin Yang Chao Ran Yuanyuan Yao Qianwen Ding Meiling Zhang Guoxing Nie Demin Zhang Xiangli Tian Lidong Wu Huiying Luo Wei Zhang Rolf-Erik Olsen Jihong Liu Clake Yuling Tao Zhen Zhang Zhigang ZhouAbstract
The composition of fish gut microbiota has direct implications for aquaculture productivity as alterations in these microbes profoundly affect several physiological functions of the fish. Nowadays, aquaculture feeding strategies increasingly shift from animal-derived diets toward more sustainable plant-based diets; understanding how the influence of a specific dietary component on fish gut microbiota has become increasingly important. Furthermore, the advancement of microbial genome sequencing technologies provides more comprehensive information on the effects of various dietary components on the gut microbiota of fish. Changes in these macronutrients and micronutrients can disrupt the eubiosis, gradually leading to dysbiosis by selectively enriching microbial guilds with distinct metabolic capacities, ultimately affecting the host-microbial interaction, gut homeostasis, and overall fish health. Mostly, animal-derived proteins and marine oils often favour the growth of bacteria that can metabolize proteins and lipids, whereas plant-based proteins support the growth of bacteria that can ferment complex carbohydrates to produce beneficial metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids. Feed additives are important to modulate the gut microbiota of fish via enhancing the abundance of beneficial bacterial species. Therefore, formulating aquafeeds by targeting on promoting the growth of beneficial gut microbiota and assessing the value of feed ingredients via considering the gut homeostasis indices seems useful. This review upgrades our knowledge on how dietary components interact and regulate the gut microbiota, ultimately influencing overall fish performance. Designing next-generation aquafeeds and developing precision nutrition for the fish and their microbiota using advanced omics and artificial intelligence technologies to develop climate-resilient fish farming is crucial.
Authors
Nora Røhnebæk Aasen Sybil A. Herrera-Foessel Silius Mortensønn Vandeskog Therése Bengtsson Mulatu G. Dida Isak Drozdik Sigridur Dalmannsdottir Egill Gautason Jaroslaw S. Grodek Hrannar S. Hilmarsson Ortrud Jäck Janne Kaseva Antti Laine Alex Lenkoski Morten Lillemo Min Lin Anne Marthe Lundby Shirin Mohammadi Per Jarle Møllerhagen Markku Niskanen Rodomiro Ortiz Maxie Skalshøi Anna G. Þórðardóttir Maria ThorkildsenAbstract
We present a harmonized database of national variety trials and official Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) trials from the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland, focusing on three key crops for that region: spring barley (Hordeum vulgare), red clover (Trifolium pratense), and potato (Solanum tuberosum). Yield is the primary phenotypic trait reported. The location of each trial is also reported, which enables analysis of how weather variability impacts crop performance. Climate change will have a substantial impact on agriculture, requiring the development of new crop cultivars adapted for resilience to future stresses. Developing a new crop cultivar is a decades-long process, therefore climate change considerations must already be incorporated into breeding programs. National breeding programs have typically involved field trials in a single country, which has functioned satisfactorily during periods of stable climate variability. However, it is widely acknowledged that when field trial information across borders is made available, it can significantly aid plant breeding programs. Here, we present a pan-Nordic multi-environment database that consolidates national trial data and data from VCU trials for spring barley, red clover, and potato. The database harmonizes information on yield across diverse environments, enabling comparative analyses and cross-regional assessments. By providing a unified resource for the Nordic region, this dataset supports the development of more resilient crop varieties and facilitates data-driven breeding strategies under changing climatic conditions.