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
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Bumblebees are keystone pollinators which facilitate the reproduction of a wide range of wild and agricultural plants. Their abundance and diversity have been severely reduced by anthropogenic stressors such as widespread land-use change and habitat fragmentation. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of population structure and local adaptation in bumblebees inhabiting human-altered landscapes. Here, we discover significant fine-scale (e.g. ~300 km) population structure within two common bumblebee species, Bombus lapidarius and Bombus pascuorum, by analysing whole genome data of 106 specimens from 7 sites in northern Europe. While the observed population structure is largely associated with natural oceanic barriers, we also detect significant divergence between populations sampled from anthropogenic landscapes which are not separated by such barriers. Furthermore, whereas genetic divergence in B. lapidarius is spread relatively evenly across the genome, divergence in B. pascuorum is concentrated within several megabase-sized genomic regions—including a putative chromosomal inversion – which may underlie well-known colour polymorphisms across its range. Our observations reveal a distinct genomic architecture underlying population structure within these bumblebee species, and highlight the necessity of increasing our understanding of bumblebee connectivity to design optimal bumblebee conservation strategies.
Abstract
There is an increasing interest in using forests as a natural solution for enhancing terrestrial carbon dioxide removal, as part of climate smart forestry strategy to have a significant role in climate mitigation efforts. Harvest deferral is seen as one carbon farming practice to increase carbon sequestration in forests. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of harvest deferral on carbon forest sink potential of Norwegian forests in the short, medium and long-term. Here, we carried out scenario analysis for the whole Norway during the 21st century to assess the effect on carbon sequestration of delaying harvest in a certain number of forests. The scenarios represented different levels of harvest deferral through Norwegian forests. Delaying harvest would increase CO2 removals in the medium (2050) and long-term (2100), resulting in an additional uptake of approximately 6 and 34 Tg CO2, respectively, when extending rotation for 20 years in those plots with high growth increment in the last 5 years. Scenarios where harvest was delayed for a longer period showed slightly higher CO2 removals by the end of the century. While harvest deferral scenarios showed positive effects in terms of climate change mitigation potential, there are several other aspects that need to be considered, such as trade-offs and synergies with other sustainability goals, leakage, market behaviour and willingness of forest owners to get involved in these carbon farming practices.
Abstract
Key implications for ash regeneration Natural regeneration of ash is still extensive in Fjugstad. Transition into the tree layer is a critical bottleneck under high disease pressure. Local moisture, light environment, growth rate and infection pressure may influence seedling performance. Dense shrub-layer ash with apparently healthy individuals may be useful targets for monitoring and conservation-oriented management. Continued spatial monitoring can identify microsites and individual trees with potential for future ash persistence. Integrate GNSS-based spatial data with moisture and light variables and follow effects of windthrow and canopy opening on new ash regeneration.
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 Merja Högnäsbacka 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
Climate change will substantially impact 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. This paper presents a pan-Nordic multi-environment dataset that consolidates national trial data and data from VCU (Value for Cultivation and Use) trials for spring barley, red clover, and potato, during 1970–2024. The dataset 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.
Abstract
This paper explores imaginaries of food futures in Norway within a broader European context, combining sociological perspectives on consumption with a near-historical approach to the future. We argue that ideas about future food are never only forward-looking, but deeply shaped by past visions, cultural memories, and recurring narratives that continue to “haunt” contemporary food cultures. Drawing on the concept of imaginaries, and inspired by polytemporal perspectives on anticipation, the paper analyses how understandings of future food simultaneously mobilise past experiences, present concerns, and projected futures. The paper first reviews key strands of European literature on food futures, identifying dominant imaginaries ranging from techno-optimistic promises of innovation to dystopian fears of ecological collapse and industrialised eating. These are discussed in relation to historical imaginaries of future food, from early twentieth-century futurism to post-war and late-modern narratives. Against this backdrop, Norway is analysed as an empirical case that both reflects and reworks European food imaginaries. Empirically, the paper draws on diverse material including public policy documents, business strategies, advertisements, science fiction narratives, and consumer stories collected over time. Through a comparative analysis, we identify recurring tensions between technological control and ecological care, convenience and closeness, global systems and local self-sufficiency. We show how Norwegian food futures are shaped by a dynamic interplay between utopian, dystopian and more myopic imaginaries, oriented towards social closeness and everyday practices. The paper concludes by discussing how food futures imaginaries actively shape consumption cultures and sustainability debates in Europe, and how a polytemporal approach helps bridge the divide between static future visions and lived food practices.
Authors
Muhammad Awais Michael Altgen Kristian Hovde Liland Isak Vartdal-Gjerde Lone Ross Ingunn BurudAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Mats Carlehög Stine Therese Alm Hersleth Marianne Hotle Benedikt Tobias Grein Ingunn ØvsthusAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Anupam GogoiAbstract
No abstract has been registered