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.
2024
Authors
Virve Ravolainen Ingrid Marie Garfelt Paulsen Isabell Eischeid Jennifer Sorensen Forbey Eva Fuglei Tomás Hájek Brage Bremset Hansen Leif Egil Loe Petr Macek Jesper Madsen Eeva M Soininen James David Mervyn Speed Audun Stien Hans Tømmervik Åshild Ønvik PedersenAbstract
Herbivores play a crucial role in shaping tundra ecosystems through their effects on vegetation, nutrient cycling, and soil abiotic factors. Understanding their habitat use, co-occurrence, and overlap is therefore essential for informing ecosystem-based management and conservation. In the High Arctic, only a marginal proportion of the land area is vegetated, and climate change is impacting herbivore population sizes and their habitats. In this study, we assessed the spatial habitat overlap of a vertebrate herbivore community based on: 1) regional predictive summer habitat suitability models for the resident Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), resident Svalbard rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea), and the migratory pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus), and 2) presence of fecal pellets, reflecting the annual habitat use of reindeer, ptarmigan, and geese, including the pink-footed goose and barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis). Our findings revealed that only small proportions of the available land cover (~ 12516 km2; all land area excluding glaciers and freshwater) are suitable for each of the species (habitat suitability [HS] > 0.5): reindeer (22%), ptarmigan (11%), and pink-footed goose (4%). Overlapping suitable habitat [HS > 0.5] for reindeer and goose accounted for only 3% of the total vegetated area (~ 8848 km2) and was primarily found in heath and moist habitats dominated by mosses, graminoids, and herbaceous plants. The overlapping suitable habitat for reindeer and ptarmigan covered 8% of the vegetated area, predominantly in higher elevation ridges with vegetation on drier substrates. The shared habitat for ptarmigan and goose, and all three species of herbivores, was less than 1% of the vegetated area. Additionally, an assessment of fecal pellets suggested that the highest overlap in habitat use among reindeer and goose occurred in bird cliff moss tundra, followed by moss tundra and heath habitats. The small proportion of the vegetated area suitable for all three herbivores indicates a high degree of habitat differentiation. Therefore, different habitats need to be considered for the management and conservation of resident and migratory herbivore species in this High Arctic Archipelago. Moreover, our results underscore the importance of the small but productive parts of the landscape that were used by all herbivores. Goose, habitat suitability, management, ptarmigan, reindeer
Authors
Pia Heltoft Thomsen Kristian Sæther Mari Henrikke Vandsemb Anne-Helen Kalhovd Leif Skjønsby Halvor AlmAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Astrid Solvåg Nesse Agnieszka Jasinska Ketil Stoknes Stine Göransson Aanrud Kristin Meland Risinggård Roland Kallenborn Trine Aulstad Sogn Tomasgaard Aasim Musa Mohamed AliAbstract
The uptake dynamics of two sulfonamide antibiotics, two fluoroquinolone antibiotics, and the anticonvulsant carbamazepine during the cultivation of two species of edible mushrooms (Agaricus subrufescens and A. bisporus) was investigated. None of the antibiotics were accumulated by the mushrooms, while carbamazepine and its transformation product carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide were taken up by A. bisporus fruiting body but only in small amounts (up to 0.76 and 1.85 μg kg−1 dry weight, respectively). The sulfonamides were quickly removed from the mushroom growth substrate, while the recalcitrant fluoroquinolones and carbamazepine were only partially removed. Dissipation half-lives were generally lower for A. subrufescens than A. bisporus, but A. subrufescens was also grown at a slightly higher culture temperature. A. subrufescens also showed a lower uptake of contaminants. Comparison of maximum dietary intake with other common exposure sources showed that these mushrooms can safely be eaten although produced on a polluted substrate, with respect to the investigated compounds.
Authors
Behailu Etana Disasa Anagaw Meshesha Atickem Peter Fashing Diress Tsegaye Alemu Matthias De Beenhouwer Luc Lens Afework Bekele Nils Christian StensethAbstract
Understanding the effects of variation in resource availability and habitat disturbance on the ecology of mammals is vital for successful conservation management. In this study, we examined how human disturbances, resource availability and elevation gradients influence mammal assemblages in both managed coffee forest and natural forest of the Belete-Gera National Forest Priority Area, southwestern Ethiopia. We surveyed mammals using motion-detecting infrared camera traps in 90 locations for a total of 4142 camera days. We measured distance from main roads and settlements as disturbance factors, and distance from water sources, key grazing sites, and forest edges and woody plant diversity as resource variables. We assessed the mammal assemblages in coffee forest and natural forests using generalized linear models. Further, we used linear modelling to compare the relationships of mammal detection rates by feeding guilds and body size to resource variables. In total, we recorded 8815 videos identifying 23 different mammal species. The mammal assemblages in coffee forests were negatively associated with increasing distances from key grazing sites, water sources, and elevation. In contrast, the association with increasing distance from the road and woody plant diversity was positive. In addition, herbivores and large (25–200 kg) and very large (≥200 kg) mammals, were all negatively associated with increasing distance from the natural forest edges. With the conversion of natural forest to coffee forest and the intensification of coffee forest management, sustainable management of key grazing sites, water sources, and diverse woody plant species will be essential to the conservation of mammals. In addition, to ensure mammal conservation, adjacent natural forests around coffee forests should also be protected.
Abstract
Faba beans and other cool climate legumes are well suited for cultivation in Vestfold and Østfold in the Norwegian south-east because of their requirement for long growing seasons and are desired due to their high protein content and beneficial biological nitrogen fixation properties. Including such crops in rotations is an advantage due to the subsequent reduction in costs and CO2 emissions from fertilizer production. Additionally, their presence in rotations could be a tool for improving integrated pest management in cereals by reducing disease pressure. A challenge specifically related to the management of faba bean crops is the disease chocolate spot (cs) caused by pathogen species in the genus Botrytis, typically Botrytis fabae Sardiña. and Botrytis cinerea Pers.: Fr. Management of chocolate spot epidemics is limited by the number of fungicides available to commercial growers, and the development of fungicide resistance is a challenge currently being investigated. A randomized factorial split-plot field trial with 3 replicates was set up in at Vollebekk research farm in Ås in the spring of 2023 and separated by early and late varieties. For each section three seed rates, two cultivars and four fungicide treatments were used. The severity of disease was scored, the developmental stages of the crops were recorded, and the resulting yield was dried and weighed. By collecting diseased leaves and making single spore isolates, the pathogens available in the field were sequenced using a NEP2 primer and tested against the active compounds in the currently utilized fungicide Signum®. Causal organisms were B. fabae and B. cinerea, there was no relationship between severity and fungal species, and no noteworthy signs of resistance to fungicide compounds were found. Results showed significant differences in chocolate spot levels between treated and untreated plots in early and late varieties, and the severity was lowest in plots treated with Elatus® Era, a fungicide currently unavailable for use in faba beans. Yield and chocolate spot correlated negatively, and the yield was highest in plots treated after the first symptoms appeared. The difference in yield between this treatment and untreated plots was significant in late varieties. Canopy density measured by sowing rate had no significant effect on disease severity in either early or late varieties, although the correlation was positive in both.
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Authors
Thiago InagakiAbstract
No abstract has been registered