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NIBIOs ansatte publiserer flere hundre vitenskapelige artikler og forskningsrapporter hvert år. Her finner du referanser og lenker til publikasjoner og andre forsknings- og formidlingsaktiviteter. Samlingen oppdateres løpende med både nytt og historisk materiale. For mer informasjon om NIBIOs publikasjoner, besøk NIBIOs bibliotek.

2021

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Sammendrag

Subtropical forests are important ecosystems globally due to their extensive role in carbon sequestration. Extreme climate events are known to introduce disturbances in the ecosystem that cause long-term changes in carbon balance and radiation reflectance. However, how these ecosystem function changes contribute to global warming in terms of radiative forcing (RF), especially in the years following a disturbance, still needs to be investigated. We studied an extreme snow event that occurred in a subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest in south-western China in 2015 and used 9 years (2011–2019) of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and surface albedo (α) data to investigate the effect of the event on the ecosystem RF changes. In the year of the disturbance, leaf area index (LAI) declined by 40% and α by 32%. The annual NEE was −718 ± 128 g C m−2 as a sink in the pre-disturbance years (2011–2014), but after the event, the sink strength dropped significantly by 76% (2015). Both the vegetation, indicated by LAI, and α recovered to pre-disturbance levels in the fourth post-disturbance year (2018). However, the NEE recovery lagged and occurred a year later in 2019, suggesting a more severe and lasting impact on the ecosystem carbon balance. Overall, the extreme event caused a positive (warming effect) net RF which was predominantly caused by changes in α (90%–93%) rather than those in NEE. This result suggests that, compared to the climate effect caused by forest carbon sequestration changes, the climate effect of α alterations can be more sensitive to vegetation damage induced by natural disturbances. Moreover, this study demonstrates the important role of vegetation recovery in driving canopy reflectance and ecosystem carbon balance during the post-disturbance period, which determines the ecosystem feedbacks to the climate change.

Sammendrag

Biochar-based fertilizer products (BCF) are receiving increasing attention as potential win-win solutions for mitigating climate change and improving agricultural production. BCFs are reported to increase yields through increased N use efficiency, an effect which is often assumed to result from the slow-release of adsorbed N forms into the soil. Here, we review the magnitude of this effect, the potential for further improvement and the need to consider other mechanisms in product development. Current high-N commercial BCFs are mostly physical blends of biochar and mineral fertilizer, with little evidence of slow-release effects supported by sorption mechanisms. For such products, the main effect potentially results from root-growth promoting factors and from increases in soil pH and Eh and stimulation of beneficial micro-organisms in the rhizosphere, which all result in an increase in uptake of specific nutrients. Our reanalysis of literature data indicates that the median sorption capacity of untreated biochar for mineral N forms requires applying 200 times more biochar than N fertilizer. This ratio needs reducing by at least an order of magnitude for producing efficient sorption-based BCFs. Activation of biochar with acids and oxidizing agents, as reported in many studies, appears to only marginally increase sorption capacity in absolute values. Fixation of clay and organics within the porous structure of biochar appears a more promising technology, suggesting that macro- and mesoporosity is a key biochar property that deserves greater scrutiny and research towards making efficient sorption-based BCFs. Mechanisms of action and dose responses need to be more systematically studied in order to devise products that combine positive effects and can be used within realistic agronomic management practices. Long-term effects resulting from accumulated annual inputs of BCF also need to be better evaluated in terms of nutrient cycling and the progressive improvement of soil health.

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Loss of Arctic sea ice owing to climate change is predicted to reduce both genetic diversity and gene flow in ice-dependent species, with potentially negative consequences for their long-term viability. Here, we tested for the population-genetic impacts of reduced sea ice cover on the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) sampled across two decades (1995–2016) from the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, an area that is affected by rapid sea ice loss in the Arctic Barents Sea. We analysed genetic variation at 22 microsatellite loci for 626 polar bears from four sampling areas within the archipelago. Our results revealed a 3–10% loss of genetic diversity across the study period, accompanied by a near 200% increase in genetic differentiation across regions. These effects may best be explained by a decrease in gene flow caused by habitat fragmentation owing to the loss of sea ice coverage, resulting in increased inbreeding of local polar bears within the focal sampling areas in the Svalbard Archipelago. This study illustrates the importance of genetic monitoring for developing adaptive management strategies for polar bears and other ice-dependent species.

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Plastic pollution is a widespread environmental problem that is currently one of the most discussed issues by scientists, policymakers and society at large. The potential ecotoxicological effects of plastic particles in a wide range of organisms have been investigated in a growing number of exposure studies over the past years. Nonetheless, many questions still remain regarding the overall effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on organisms from different ecosystem compartments, as well as the underlying mechanisms behind the observed toxicity. This chapter provides a comprehensive literature review on the ecotoxicological impacts of microplastics and nanoplastics in terrestrial and aquatic organisms in the context of particle characteristics, interactive toxicological effects, taxonomic gradients and with a focus on synergies with associated chemicals. Overall, a total of 220 references were reviewed for their fulfilment of specific quality criteria (e.g. experimental design, particle characteristics, ecotoxicological endpoints and findings), after which 175 were included in our assessment. The analysis of the reviewed studies revealed that organisms’ responses were overall influenced by the physicochemical heterogeneity of the plastic particles used, for which distinct differences were attributed to polymer type, size, morphology and surface alterations. On the other hand, little attention has been paid to the role of additive chemicals in the overall toxicity. There is still little consistency regarding the biological impacts posed by plastic particles, with observed ecotoxicological effects being highly dependent on the environmental compartment assessed and specific morphological, physiological and behavioural traits of the species used. Nonetheless, evidence exists of impacts across successive levels of biological organization, covering effects from the subcellular level up to the ecosystem level. This review presents the important research gaps concerning the ecotoxicological impacts of plastic particles in different taxonomical groups, as well as recommendations on future research priorities needed to better understand the ecological risks of plastic particles in terrestrial and aquatic environments.