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
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
This animated short film shows how beneficial insects such as ladybirds and hoverflies can help control pests like aphids. By providing flower strips and suitable habitats in and around fields, farmers can support pollinators and natural enemies of pests — contributing to more resilient crop production over time.
Abstract
The decline of soil organic carbon (SOC) content is a major concern in agricultural soils, and reduction of tillage frequency is proposed as a measure to counteract this tendency. Here, we assessed the effect of tillage and renewal frequency on grassland SOC content based on a long–term experiment at Fureneset, Western Norway. The objective was to compare permanent and unrenewed grassland treatments with treatments ploughed and renewed 6 to 15 times from 1974 to 2016. Mean SOC content of the permanent grassland was 64 ± 9 g kg−1 (one standard deviation) at 0 to 40 cm depth and soil contained 210 Mg C ha−1, compared to 60 ± 6 g kg−1 and 190 Mg C ha−1 for grassland renewed with ploughing. Higher SOC contents were associated with reduced forage dry matter yields (DMY) of the permanent grassland, but not in frequently renewed grasslands. High SOC contents correlate with high porosity and water content, as soil properties approach those of organic soils. This may cause a wetter soil and reduced plant growth and increase soil compaction. In areas with generally high SOC contents in agricultural soils, increased carbon content due to no tillage may thus make the soils more agronomically challenging to manage
Authors
Johannes Kollmann Larissa Uhe Marcello D’Amico Jan C. Habel Tina Heger Svenja B. Kroeger Tommy Lennartsson Hans Martin HanslinAbstract
Roadside habitats have abiotic and biotic conditions that deviate from natural habitats and thus constitute “novel ecosystems” with insufficient adaptation of native biota. In roadsides, the net effect of positive and negative impacts determines population viability. This situation constitutes an “ecological trap,” when attractive habitats become demographic sinks due to locally reduced reproduction or increased mortality. The impact could be exacerbated by novel ecological factors. To investigate to what extent, for which species, and under which conditions ecological traps are actually occurring, we reviewed the effects of roadsides on plant and animal performance and population dynamics. We identified 390 relevant publications with 470 different effect cases based on a standardized literature review (2008–2018). Overall, 30% of these cases reported positive effects of roadsides on plant and animal populations, 31% of cases reported negative effects, and 39% showed no effects at all. In only 18 cases, negative effects were combined with positive ones, most often due to attractive but unsuitable habitats that constituted ecological traps. Ecological novelty was not used to interpret these effects. We conclude that there is abundant literature on ecological effects of roadsides, while specific research is needed on ecological traps, including potential effects of ecological novelty.
Authors
Tommy Lennartsson Marcello D’Amico Weronika Axelsson Linkowski Hans Martin Hanslin Johannes Kollmann Svenja B. Kroeger Larissa Uhe Anna Westin Jörgen WissmanAbstract
Roads impose several types of negative impact on landscapes and biodiversity, but may also favor some organisms by providing habitats and dispersal corridors. To prioritize, plan, design, and perform activities for promoting biodiversity in road verges, it is essential to understand which key environmental factors contribute to forming different types of roadside habitats. In this chapter, we explore relationships between biodiversity and environmental factors in road verges based on a literature review with a primary focus of vascular plants and arthropods. Roadside literature indicates a number of interacting ecological factors, which together form the roadside habitat and determine community composition. These key factors can be assigned to three groups: (1) ecological conditions such as soil, topography, and microclimate, (2) ecological processes such as vegetation succession and disturbance or management of ground and vegetation, and (3) the surrounding landscape. Based on the identified key factors, we suggest an ecological classification of roadside habitats into four major groups, namely successional roadsides, dry roadsides, tallgrass roadsides, and meadow roadsides. Trees and shrubs can occur in all groups, for example as tree avenues or hedgerows, resulting in a cross-cutting subgroup: successional/dry/tallgrass/meadow roadsides with trees and shrubs.
Authors
Ascensão, Fernando Barrientos, Rafael Araya-Gamboa, Daniela Bannock, Carol Baxter-Gilbert, James Bhardwaj, Manisha Biasotto, Larissa D. Boyle, Sean P. Camacho, Carlos Carmona, Guillermo Celi, Jorge E. Chiles, Sarah Clevenger, Anthony P. Colino Rabanal, Victor J. Collinson-Jonker, Wendy J. Corlett, Richard T. Darryl, Jones N. Deacon, Charl Engert, Jayden E. Ford, Adam Goldfarb, Benjamin Grilo, Clara Haider, Sylvia Hans Martin Hanslin Hernandez-Hernandez, Javier Hughes, Alice C. Huijser, Marcel P. Jaeger, Jochen A. G. Jakes, Andrew F. Januchowski-Hartley, Stephanie R. Jones, Paul F. Kindel, Andreas Kollmann, Johannes Svenja B. Kroeger Lamb, Clayton Langen, Tom A. Laurance, William F. Leal, Cecilia G. Lennartsson, Tommy Lourenço, Rui Mahmoud, Mahmoud Ibrahim Malo, Juan E. Maslo, Brooke McClure, Christopher J. W. Medrano-Vizcaíno, Pablo Megía-Palma, Rodrigo Mestre, Frederico Millán, Javier Milton, Suzanne J. Moreira, Francisco Morelli, Federico Mulero-Pázmány, Margarita Navarro, Laetitia M. Paige, L. Christine Petrovan, Silviu Phillips, Benjamin B. Popp, Jesse N. Quiles, Pablo Raiter, Keren Gila Rodriguez, Airam Román, Jacinto Rytwinski, Trina Samways, Michael J. Santoro, Simone Santos, Sara M. Schlacher, Thomas A. Seidler, Renee G. Selva, Nuria Shilling, Fraser M. Soanes, Kylie Stokes, Josie Sánchez de Miguel, Alejandro Teixeira, Fernanda Zimmermann Thompson, Cassie J. Varela, Diego Wang, Yun Weston, Michael A. van der Grift, Edgar A. van der Ree, Rodney D’Amico, MarcelloAbstract
Road Ecology has experienced rapid growth as a field, yet significant knowledge and research gaps remain, particularly regarding underexplored impacts of roads on fauna and flora, ecosystems and landscapes, as mitigation methods and management solutions to avoid or reduce negative impacts. Here, we synthesize the key research needs identified throughout the book and emphasize topics that have received limited attention, highlighting the growing need for interdisciplinary and technologically advanced studies, and innovative statistical methodologies to assess infrastructure impacts and the combined effects of different types of infrastructures (such as roads and powerlines) on biodiversity. We highlight the need for more comprehensive studies on ecosystem functioning, evolutionary effects, and the role of roadside habitats, while calling for improvements in the cost-effectiveness of mitigation measures and large-scale assessments of road impacts. Emerging research priorities for Road Ecology include a growing emphasis on interdisciplinary and technologically advanced studies, and innovative statistical methodologies to assess infrastructure impacts and the combined effects of multiple infrastructures (such as roads and powerlines) on biodiversity. The impact of new infrastructure in areas supporting multiple migratory species is also becoming a priority issue, especially in regions where there is significant growth in infrastructure projects. Interdisciplinary efforts should prioritize strategies that balance infrastructure development with biodiversity conservation, especially in rapidly developing regions.
Authors
Sylvain Poque Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson Muhammad Omer Anna Palmé Ingunn M. Vågen Gert Poulsen Matti W. Leino Kristiina Himanen Hamid KhazaeiAbstract
Faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) has great potential to contribute to sustainable agriculture and protein security globally but is known to be very sensitive to drought stress. Uncovering drought-adapted germplasm is critical for developing resilient cultivars and advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying stress adaptation. However, high-throughput plant phenotyping under stress conditions remain a major bottleneck in crop genetics and breeding programs. In this study, a multi-sensor indoor phenotyping platform was used to assess 44 faba bean genotypes under water deficit conditions. Standardized, monitored stress conditions were achieved by watering-by-weighing for drought onset, duration, and intensities allowing genotype-level comparisons. The genotypes showed a range of stress responses in growth and physiology, including traits such as plant height, biomass, water use efficiency (WUE), and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters. Digital biomass, derived from combined top- and side-view plant imaging, was strongly correlated with biological biomass at the experimental endpoint, validating its use as a non-destructive proxy for growth assessment in faba bean. Time-resolved generalized additive modelling further revealed genotype-specific differences in the timing and magnitude of water deficit response. Genotypes that maintained growth and WUE under water deficit conditions may serve as valuable pre-breeding materials for development of drought-adapted faba bean.
Abstract
While the potential of road verges as habitats with conservation value is increasingly recognised, a better understanding of the drivers of differences in species diversity and richness is needed to devise appropriate management strategies. We quantified the effects of a set of key environmental variables on plant species richness along four roads in Sweden, all showing variation in vegetation along their stretches. We identified variables of particular importance but found that their effects differed depending on location, highlighting strong context dependence. We concluded that species richness was generally higher in road verges with low vegetation (e.g. low-productive habitats) and with less dense vegetation cover (e.g. habitats characterised by ground disturbance resulting in exposed or sparsely vegetated soil), and increased further with higher sun exposure. Our study contributes to the understanding of which environmental conditions and mechanisms should be considered when constructing and maintaining road verges and represents a step towards a unifying framework for road verge habitat ecology.
Authors
Nusrat Sharmin Ulrike Böcker Rune SlimestadAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Aarstad, Thea AmalieAbstract
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