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.
2012
Authors
Daniela Sauer Peter Finke Rolf Sørensen Ragnhild Sperstad Isabelle Schülli-Maurer Helge I. Høeg Karl StahrAbstract
The first results of modeling soil development in marine sediments in S Norway using the model SoilGen are compared to measured properties of two soil chronosequences, on the western and eastern side of Oslofjord, respectively. The aim of this work is to test how well soil development under well-defined environmental conditions can be modeled. Such testing reveals to what degree soil-forming processes are understood, allowing formulation of adequate calculations reflecting these processes. The model predicts particle size distribution reasonably well, although clay depletion in the upper parts of the soils as a result of clay migration is overestimated. The model tends to underestimate contents of organic carbon and CEC in the A horizons: below, modeled CEC matches well with measured CEC. Base saturation is overestimated in the upper 40 cm and underestimated below. Apparently, leaching of bases proceeds less rapidly in reality than is predicted by the model, due to strong soil structure of the B horizons, causing preferential flow and base leaching around the aggregates, whereas bases inside the aggregates are only slightly affected by leaching. Difficulties and possibilities for improvements are identified, some related to model input data and some to the model itself. Input data could be improved by determining the amounts of organic carbon in organic surface horizons and by quantifying effects of bioturbation. A big challenge is the implementation of soil structure formation in the model. Quantitative data on the development of soil structure with time that can be included in a model are required. Amounts, distribution and connectivity of macro pores need to be defined for each stage of soil development, and zones of low and high base leaching need to be distinguished in the model for each time step. The long-term aim of this work is to model soil development with different sets of soil-forming factors, e.g. different climatic conditions in order to reliably predict soil development under different climate scenarios and related sets of soil-forming factors. The results of the first model runs and the identified possible improvements suggest that this aim is generally achievable.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Per Engelseth Aksel DøvingAbstract
The case provides an overview of a complete fresh strawberry supply network from the perspective of Valldal Grønt AS, a small grower-owned cooperative situated in the picturesque fjords region of North-Western Norway. This case is predominately related to supply chain management (SCM), but may also be used in marketing to illustrate how logistics creates value for end-users; illustrating how logistics processes may be developed to secure market orientation. Furthermore issues regarding food safety, quality, information transparency and ethics are in a subtle manner embedded in the case narrative. The case provides an end-to-end picture; natural given the short time-frame of this product from harvest to consumption. Furthermore the reader is suggested to notice the particularities of this product supply case. Fresh seasonal distribution of Norwegian produced strawberries is as one informant expressed: "Like a completely different planet". These products are heavily embedded in Norwegians’ perception of summer and represent the most important produce when in season measured both in volume and value.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Simon WeldonAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Hrefna Sigurjonsdottir Anna Thorhallsdottir Helga M. Hafthorsdottir Sandra M. GranquistAbstract
A permanent herd of Icelandic horses with four stallions and their harems was studied for a total of 316 hours in a large pasture (215 ha) in May 2007 in Iceland. Interactions between stallions of different harems and other aspects of the horses' behaviour were studied. One stallion and nine horses were introduced into the pasture prior to the study to examine the reactions of the resident stallions to a newcomer. The stallions spent significantly less time grazing than other horses and were more vigilant. Home ranges overlapped, but harems never mixed. The stallions prevented interactions between members of different harems indirectly by herding. Generally, interactions between resident stallions were nonviolent. However, encounters with the introduced stallion were more aggressive and more frequent than between the other stallions. Here, we show that four harems can share the same enclosure peacefully. The social network seems to keep aggression at a low level both within the harems and the herd as a whole. We encourage horse owners to consider the feasibility of keeping their horses in large groups because of low aggression and because such a strategy gives the young horses good opportunities to develop normally, both physically and socially.
Authors
Ingeborg KlingenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Richard MeadowAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Our aim is to investigate the temporal dynamics of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR) on a global scale and its relation to the main meteorological variables across space. We focus on complex patterns in time, which are neither regular (trend and seasonality) nor random (noise), but somewhere in between. We quantify complexity and information content or entropy using methods from order statistics and complexity sciences.Time series with high entropy are difficult to predict, whereas time series with high complexity are difficult to describe. This leads to a spatially explicit characterization of complex patterns in a very sensitive way. We use FAPAR observations (SeaWiFS and MERIS, 1998 to 2012) along with gridded global surface air temperature, precipitation and shortwave radiation.All these time series are explored on a pixelbypixel basis and clustered according to a very recent classification system of the land surface. In addition, we quantify the time reversal asymmetry of these data. We compare environmental time series with data from a stochastic candidate process temporally symmetric and long range correlated artificial knoise.Results were plotted in the ComplexityversusEntropy plane (CH plane), showing the particular footprint of each variable in a very sensitive way. Visualized in world maps, results revealed unexpected complex pattern in some dry regions, in particular on pixels surrounding deserts and in eastern Sahara. In this respect, the results provide a new classification of the climate and the biosphere. http://dames.pik-potsdam.de/Abstracts.pdf