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
Authors
Marthe Jordbrekk Blikra Tone Mari Rode Annelise Sabine Chapman Marit Gjerstad Dagbjørn Skipnes Danielle Gallagher Oisin Klinkenbergh Dag Einar Finne Florent Govaerts Dmitry Kechasov Dharm KapletiaAbstract
The C-FAARER CSA project was created with the overall aim of supporting marine innovators, entrepreneurs, and other pioneers in the Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin in transitioning towards the use of community-driven sustainable business models for regenerative ocean farming. The project previously defined regenerative ocean farming as “a form of marine venture that gives back more than it takes out, leaving nature in a better state that benefits future generations” (Kapletia et al., 2024). Community-driven regenerative ocean farming was defined as “concerned with creating a sustainable and mutually-beneficial balance between social, economic and environmental interests, providing renewable and systemic benefits to all who hold an interest in the future wealth of marine and coastal life.” This report provides the basis for Deliverable 4.1 within the Valorisation of the regenerative aquaculture products work package (WP4). Processing is a part of this WP, and processing technologies were included as an integral part of regenerative ocean farming since seaweed deteriorates rapidly post-harvest and needs rapid processing to maintain quality. Furthermore, the principles of community-driven regenerative ocean farming, as stated in Deliverable 1.1 (Kapletia et al., 2024), include the following (principle 3): “Farming and processing equipment is low impact, energy efficient, and suited for area/volume and environmental goals.” The objectives of WP4 are to assess the market potential of the downstream value chain and collaboratively identify and analyse potential applications, critically examine the dynamic relationship between production and processing, identify opportunities to increase value and reduce risk, and facilitate and explore the problem-opportunity space, where technological solutions may have a role to play in supporting valorisation. This deliverable presents case studies of members of the Norwegian Seaweed Association (NSA) in the context of their processing practices and product development. Within regenerative aquaculture, “products” include traditional products such as food, feed, and biostimulants. It can also be argued that other alternative revenue streams, like ecosystem services and social services, can also be considered “products”. This report takes a Case Study approach, in which ten semi-structured interviews with ten NSA seaweed businesses preceded follow-up consultations with a select few of these companies. A case study from outside the NSA was included as a comparison.
Authors
Teresa Gómez de la Bárcena Tatiana Francischinelli Rittl Eva Farkas Daniel Rasse Christophe Moni Cédric Plessis Loiuse Malot Helge Meissner Trond Henriksen Randi Berland FrøsethAbstract
Background and aims Cover crops are an important measure for carbon (C) sequestration in agriculture. However, little is known about the potential of cover crops to increase C under Nordic conditions and the efficiency of this measure over time. Here, we quantify the potential contribution of different cover crops to soil organic carbon (SOC) and organic matter fractions, and study how this is affected by the origin of the C input (aboveground or belowground residues). Methods We conducted a 13 CO 2 pulse-labelling experiment during the growing season of four cover crops adapted to Nordic conditions, representing different plant functional types. The assimilated 13 C was traced in soil during the following two years. We investigated the fate of cover crop C in two organic matter fractions, Particulate Organic Matter (POM) and Mineral-Associated Organic Matter (MAOM), known to have different persistence in soil. Results Carbon derived from aboveground residues decayed two to three times faster as compared to belowground C. Belowground C inputs were similar among cover crops despite their contrasting root traits and differences in root biomass C. Rhizodeposited-C was consistently the largest belowground C input. Cover crop species affected the quantity of POM-C and MAOM-C, but MAOM-C was preferentially formed from belowground C (ranging from 0.63 ± 0.2 to 0.25 ± 0.1 Mg MAOM-C ha −1 across different cover crops), regardless of the species. Conclusions Cover crop species that can combine large belowground biomass production with root traits that promote physical and physico-chemical protection of OM will contribute most effectively to the long-term SOC pool. These aspects need to be balanced with considerations related to agricultural management.
Authors
Katherine Mary Dunlop Antti Eloranta Karl Øystein Gjelland Sigurd Slåteng Jenny Lovisa Alexandra Jensen Rune Knudsen Mikko Kiljunen Hallvard Jensen Martin Svenning Vegar Seljestokken Rune Muladal André FrainerAbstract
Presentation at the 4th International Seminar on Pink salmon in the Barents region and in Northern Europe 2025
Authors
Kristiina Matilda Maria Visakorpi Zafar A. Reshi Oriol Grau Anne Muola Anna Orczewska Koenraad Van Meerbeek Bente Jessen GraaeAbstract
Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. However, our understanding of how these species persist and spread in novel environments remains limited. Specifically, the relative importance of species interactions versus environmental conditions and the role of rapid evolutionary adaptation are not fully understood. Here, we investigate the impact of these factors on the distribution of the invasive Himalayan balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera ). We examined whether the climatic niche of the species is pre-adapted to the environmental conditions in the introduced range through niche modeling. Field surveys were conducted to assess the importance of herbivory and competition, and greenhouse treatments were used to investigate local adaptation. We found that the species has not yet fully occupied the suitable climatic space in its introduced range in Europe. Our results suggest that the species may have experienced enemy release while also facing increased biotic pressure at the northern range edge. We identified adaptive differentiation in flowering time, which enhances reproductive success when plants grow in climates similar to their origin. Our results indicate that Himalayan balsam has rapidly adapted to differences in growing season length in its introduced range, with trait plasticity providing an adaptive advantage. Together, these findings suggest that the species may continue to spread across its introduced range in Europe.
Abstract
Fine-scale, spatially explicit forest attribute maps are essential for guiding forest management and policy decisions. Such maps, based on the combination of National Forest Inventory (NFI) and remote sensing datasets, have a long tradition in the Nordic countries. Harmonizing the pixel size among national forest attribute maps would considerably improve the utility of the maps for users. However, the maps are often aligned with the NFI plot size, and the influence of creating these maps at different spatial resolutions (i.e. pixel sizes) is little studied. We assess the stand-level uncertainty (RMSE) of biomass, volume, basal area, and Lorey’s height estimates resulting from the aggregation of maps across varying spatial resolutions. Models fit at 16 m native resolution using more than 14 000 NFI plots were applied for predictions at pixels sizes (side lengths) of 1, 5, 10, 16, and 30 m. For independent validation, we used more than 600 field plots – that cover a total area of 24 ha and were clustered within 65 stands across Norway. For all attributes, the lowest RMSEs, ranging from 6.86% for Lorey’s height to 13.86% for volume, were observed for predictions at pixel sizes of 5 m to 16 m. The RMSE changes across resolutions were generally small (< 5%) for biomass, volume, and basal area. For Lorey’s height, changing the spatial resolution resulted in large RMSEs of up to 25%. Overall, our findings suggest that the main forest attributes can be mapped at a finer resolutions without complex adjustments.
Authors
Zsofia KomaAbstract
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Authors
Laura Jaakola Katja Karppinen N. Nguyen S. Jokipii-LukkariAbstract
Fruit ripening is a highly coordinated and complex process determining a wide range of characteristics affecting the fruit quality, such as flavour, nutritional value, shelf-life, and processing properties. The fruit set occurs after fertilization, followed by first an active cell division and a later cell expansion phase leading to ripening, which coincides with seed maturation. The ripening phase is regulated by a signalling network of thousands of genes that orchestrate the softening, and the accumulation of the secondary compounds and sugars in ripe fruits. Plant hormones, especially ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) have major roles in the control of the ripening processes. Based on the burst of respiration rate and ethylene production and/or the peak in ABA production at the onset of ripening, fruits are classified as climacteric or non-climacteric fruits, respectively. We have studied the regulation of ripening in bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), traditionally classified as non-climacteric fruits, by analysing the role of the plant hormones, transcription factors, and the structural genes controlling the anthocyanin accumulation and the cell wall softening during the berry ripening. Our results have identified some upstream regulators of fruit ripening in bilberry and provided new knowledge on the R2R3 MYB and basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors, which are the key regulators of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Moreover, we have shown evidence of the role of ABA in controlling the ripening related anthocyanin accumulation in bilberry. Our recent results on metabolomic and proteomic profiling of bilberry indicate an increase in ethylene biosynthesis during bilberry fruit development coinciding with the ABA peak, raising a need for further studies and clearer determination between the classification of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits.
Abstract
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of natural disturbances. In Nordic conifer forests, damage caused by snow accumulation in the canopy is one of the most significant disturbance agents. This study investigates whether adaptive forest management can enhance resistance to snow damage, using a large forest property in southeastern Norway as a case study. To achieve this, we extended the existing scenario analysis tool, GAYA 2.0, integrating new functionality to analyze the risk of snow damage. We performed scenario simulations using a mechanistic critical snow load model to compare two alternative management strategies: standard management and an adapted management approach that reduces stand density in regeneration and tending phases. We analyzed and compared the management effects on snow damage resistance and probability, and on long-term forest production and income. The results indicate that reduced density management leads to a 2.02 % increase in critical snow load (from 74.19 Kg m-2 to 75.68 Kg m-2), and a 10.42 % reduction in yearly damage probability (from 0.345 % to 0.308 %). These findings suggest that adaptive management practices by reducing stand density can effectively enhance resistance and mitigate risks associated with snow damage in Nordic boreal forest ecosystems. The reduced stand density management does not have a significant impact on long-term production and income levels.
Authors
Stig Strandli GezeliusAbstract
How do provisions for administrative sanctioning affect the implementation of loose legal norms? To streamline regulation, governments have increased their penal capacity by authorizing administrative sanctioning, and they have decentralized regulatory responsibility by loosening legal norms. A case study of Norway's animal welfare governance shows how using administrative sanctions to enforce loose legal norms led to unpredictable sanctioning and, thereby, subverted regulatees' trust in law enforcement. Ensuing resistance from regulatees pressured inspectors to regain legitimacy by tightening loose legal norms and by backing down on administrative sanctioning. Inspectors thus reversed streamlining policies to protect the primary purpose of their profession: to motivate compliance with animal welfare law. The case highlights unintended consequences of streamlining regulation. It also illustrates how frontline workers may protect their primary purpose by disregarding policies they perceive as disruptive.