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.
2026
Authors
Jorunn BørveAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Jorunn BørveAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Jorunn BørveAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Jorunn BørveAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Vibeke LindAbstract
This report reviews the potential use of seaweed as a feed ingredient for ruminants under Northern-Norwegian conditions. Seaweed has a long history in coastal livestock farming, especially where conventional forage was scarce, but its use declined as farms became larger, more specialised and dependent on high-quality feeds. Renewed interest is driven by the need to increase national feed self-sufficiency, reduce reliance on imported protein sources, and explore strategies to lower enteric methane emissions. Seaweed species differ greatly in nutritional value, digestibility, mineral composition and effects on rumen fermentation. Red species such as Porphyra and Palmaria palmata appear most promising as protein sources, whereas several brown species show lower protein digestibility and may contain high iodine levels or potentially harmful elements. Preservation is a major barrier because fresh seaweed decomposes rapidly; ensiling, drying and multi-nutrient blocks require further development to improve dry matter content, palatability, shelf-life and nutrient quality. Seaweed has also been studied as a methane inhibitor. Asparagopsis can strongly reduce methane emissions, but concerns about bromoform content, animal health, productivity and suitability for Norwegian systems limit its relevance. Norwegian studies with locally available seaweeds have not shown consistent in vivo methane mitigation. Overall, seaweed may support more circular and locally based feed systems, but practical use requires species-specific evaluation, safe inclusion levels, improved preservation methods and stronger in vivo documentation.
Authors
M.R. Eini M. Piniewski P. Braun E.A. Chiaradia Csilla Farkas L. Honzak P. Kassai R. Kolcsár S. Plunge L. Sanguanini C. Schürz Moritz Shore B. Szabó M. Volk C.I.H. Wittekind M. StrauchAbstract
Climate change is intensifying floods, droughts, and nutrient export from agricultural landscapes, threatening water security under increasingly non-stationary hydroclimatic conditions. Although landscape-scale water-retention measures are widely promoted as nature-based solutions, their combined effectiveness under future climates remains poorly constrained, particularly across contrasting hydroclimatic settings. Here, we evaluate the capacity of distributed retention portfolios to buffer climate-driven hydrologic and water-quality change using a harmonized, field-explicit Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus (SWAT+) framework applied to five European agricultural catchments spanning a pronounced hydroclimatic gradient. Portfolios, co-designed with local stakeholders, were simulated under historical and late-century climates drawn from bias-corrected Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment over Europe (EURO-CORDEX) simulations. Impacts were assessed for flood peaks, low flows, soil-moisture drought duration, and nutrient or sediment export. Climate change consistently amplifies hydrologic extremes and pollutant loads, particularly under wetter future conditions. Retention portfolios reduce flood peaks and pollutant export across all catchments but provide only limited improvements in low flows and drought duration. However, portfolio effects rarely offset climate-driven changes, indicating that retention primarily functions as a risk-reduction strategy rather than a means of restoring baseline conditions. Portfolio effectiveness showed weak associations with the catchment dryness index and varied among catchment-specific portfolios. Because hydroclimate, catchment properties, measure composition, and spatial placement covary in this comparative design, their independent effects cannot be separated. The results nevertheless identify measure-pathway alignment and hydrologic connectivity as plausible design considerations. Responses were predominantly co-beneficial across indicators, indicating that portfolios can deliver multiple co-benefits with limited trade-offs. These findings position distributed retention portfolios as a useful but inherently limited component of climate adaptation, underscoring the need to combine retention with complementary strategies to manage residual risks.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
SUMMARY: This report presents the outcomes of a technical assignment carried out under the Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Project in Amhara, Ethiopia (2019–2024). The assignment aimed to develop a practical, remote sensing-based methodology for monitoring vegetation cover change in exclosure areas—sites designated for natural regeneration by excluding human and livestock activity. The assignment also included capacity building to strengthen local expertise in applying these monitoring methods. NORWEGIAN SUMMARY: Denne rapporten presenterer resultatene av et teknisk oppdrag utført under Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) prosjektet i Amhara, Etiopia (2019–2024). Målet med oppdraget var å utvikle en praktisk, fjernmålingsbasert metodikk for å overvåke endringer i vegetasjonsdekke i eksklusjonsområder—områder som er utpekt for naturlig regenerering ved å ekskludere menneskelig og husdyraktivitet. Oppdraget inkluderte også kapasitetsbygging for å styrke lokal ekspertise i anvendelsen av disse overvåkingsmetodene.
Authors
Habtamu Alem Diress Tsegaye Alemu Ibrahim Issifu Daniel D.N. Nortey Linda Bana Denis W. Aheto Belachew Gizachew ZelekeAbstract
Mangrove condition reflects interactions among ecological pressures, livelihood dependence, institutional arrangements, and biophysical constraints on regeneration. This study compares seven purposively selected rapid-appraisal sites in Ghana's Greater Amanzule Wetlands in the Western Region and the Lower Volta Delta. Evidence combines May 2025 site appraisals, 14 semi-structured interviews, three group discussions, spatial and secondary ecological information, and historical livelihood context from GLSS7 (2016–2017). Institutional functioning was assessed descriptively through rule recognition and participation, monitoring and responses to violations, and collective action, without assigning unsupported site-level scores. Visible disturbance was lower in the Western sites, with a median score of 2 (range 2–3), than in the Lower Volta sites, where the median was 4. Stakeholder accounts also indicated more consistently recognised rules and participation in the Western system, while implementation was described as less consistent in the Lower Volta. Monitoring responsibilities, frequency, and responses to violations were insufficiently documented in both systems, preventing comparison of monitoring effectiveness. Because governance evidence was primarily regional and sites were purposively selected, these findings represent a descriptive association between two coastal systems, not seven independent institutional observations or a causal institutional effect. Hydrology, hydroperiod, sediment supply, salinity, geomorphology, and the scale of pressure also condition disturbance and regeneration opportunities. Effective responses should therefore combine participatory rule implementation, collective action, transparent monitoring arrangements, livelihood measures, and restoration strategies matched to local biophysical conditions and the geographical scale of dominant stressors.
Authors
Diress Tsegaye Alemu Jonathan Rizzi Ulrike Bayr Misganu Debella-Gilo Richard Adade Denis W. Aheto Belachew Gizachew ZelekeAbstract
Extensive ecosystem degradation along the coastal areas of Ghana highlights the need for targeted landscape restoration. This study identified areas with high restoration potential by evaluating environmental, climatic, and anthropogenic determinants of mangrove distribution. We tested multiple habitat suitability models, including Random Forest (RF), Generalized Additive Model (GAM), Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), and an ensemble approach. Mangrove occurrence records were compiled from field observations, drone-derived data, and publicly available biodiversity and mapped datasets. The ensemble GAM-RF model emerged as the most robust model, with the highest predictive performance. Hydrological and topographic factors were the strongest predictors of mangrove habitat suitability, particularly proximity to rivers and the coastline, low-elevation terrain (<5 m asl), and temperature-related bioclimatic variables, while precipitation metrics and anthropogenic proxies played secondary roles. Using the ensemble approach, the estimated potentially suitable habitat ranged from 417 to 1313 km2, indicating that substantial areas remain available for mangrove restoration. These findings align with ongoing national and international restoration initiatives, including the coastal restoration plan, and have important implications for coastal protection, carbon sequestration, fisheries habitat, and local livelihoods. Our findings demonstrate that multi-model habitat suitability analyses can guide spatially targeted, and evidence-based restoration planning.