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.
2025
Abstract
The timing of migration is fundamental for species exploiting seasonally variable environments. For ungulates, earlier spring migration is expected with earlier vegetation green-up. However, other drivers, such as access to agricultural farmland and variation in local conditions, are also known to affect migration. We investigated the timing of spring migration for 96 male and 201 female red deer (Cervus elaphus) using a long-term dataset (2005–2020). Overall, the timing of migration was mainly characterized by large individual variability between and within years (95% range 6 April to 18 June). The spring migration timing was, as expected, later with colder winter and spring conditions (North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) winter and April indices) and later peak vegetation green-up (NDVI), with a five-day delay in green-up causing a migration delay of 1.2 days. Timing was also influenced by local conditions in summer and winter home ranges. Red deer with greater access to farmland and a more variable topography (hence variable plant phenology) in winter delayed migration. Similarly, individuals with higher-elevation summer ranges (with delayed onset of plant growth) also delayed migration. Our analyses highlight that the timing of red deer migration is determined by multiple drivers affecting foraging conditions in the landscape, indicative of considerable phenotypic plasticity.
Authors
Berit Marie Blomstrand Stig Milan Thamsborg Håvard Steinshamn Heidi L Enemark Inga Marie Aasen Karl-christian Mahnert Kristin Sørheim Francesca Sheperd Jos Houdijk Spiridoula AthanasiadouAbstract
Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) may improve gastrointestinal health by exerting immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and/or antiparasitic effects. Bark extracts from coniferous tree species have previously been shown to reduce the burden of a range of parasite species in the gastrointestinal tract, with condensed tannins as the potential active compounds. In the present study, the impact of an acetone extract of pine bark (Pinus sylvestris) on the resistance, performance and tolerance of genetically diverse mice (Mus musculus) was assessed. Mice able to clear an infection quickly (fast responders, BALB/c) or slowly (slow responders, C57BL/6) were infected orally with 200 infective third-stage larvae (L3) of the parasitic nematode Heligmosomoides bakeri or remained uninfected (dosed with water only). Each infection group of mice was gavaged for 3 consecutive days from day 19 post-infection with either bark extract or dimethyl sulphoxide (5%) as vehicle control. Oral administration of pine bark extract did not have an impact on any of the measured parasitological parameter. It did, however, have a positive impact on the performance of infected, slow-responder mice, through an increase in body weight (BW) and carcase weight and reduced feed intake by BW ratio. Importantly, bark extract administration had a negative impact on the fast responders, by reducing their ability to mediate the impact of parasitism through reducing their performance and tolerance. The results indicate that the impact of PSMs on parasitized hosts is affected by host's genetic susceptibility, with susceptible hosts benefiting more from bark extract administration compared to resistant ones.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Urban agriculture is often considered a tool to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems. However, sustainability is difficult to measure, resulting in debate about how sustainable urban agriculture truly is. There is therefore a lack of incentive to promote urban agriculture or protect existing initiatives that are threatened by development pressure on urban land. Monitoring the sustainability impact of urban agriculture could provide evidence and enable politicians and decision makers to make informed decisions about whether and where to prioritise different forms of urban agriculture above competing interests. We used case examples from five European cities to identify the challenges involved in monitoring urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data, to using the results. We found large differences in approach in terms of what topics to monitor and who was responsible, who gathered the data and when, what data was recorded and how they were stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these experiences, we recommend stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring urban agriculture, and promotion of convenient tools for data collection by citizen science and for long-term data storage.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Lone RossAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Wendy Wuyts Nhat Strøm-Andersen Shumaila Khatri Arild Eriksen Per F. Jørgensen Arild Øvergaard Emil Rygh Angelica Kveen Alexander Mertens Jannicke Stadaas Inger Gamme Veronique Vasseur Anders Q. Nyrud Kristine NoreAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Lisa Fagerli Lunde Tone Birkemoe Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson Johan Asplund Rune Halvorsen O. Janne Kjønaas Jenni Nordén Sundy Maurice Inger Skrede Line Nybakken Håvard KauserudAbstract
Boreal forests are important carbon sinks and host a diverse array of species that provide important ecosystem functions.Boreal forests have a long history of intensive forestry, in which even-aged management with clear-cutting has been thedominant harvesting practice for the past 50–80 years. As a second cycle of clear-cutting is emerging, there is an urgentneed to examine the effects of repeated clear-cutting events on biodiversity. Clear-cutting has led to reduced numbers ofold and large trees, decreased volumes of dead wood of varied decay stages and diameters, and altered physical andchemical compositions of soils. The old-growth boreal forest has been fragmented and considerably reduced. Here,we review short- and long-term (≥50 years) effects of clear-cutting on boreal forest biodiversity in four key substrates:living trees, dead wood, ground and soil. We then assess landscape-level changes (habitat fragmentation and edge effects)on this biodiversity. There is evidence for long-term community changes af
Abstract
No abstract has been registered