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
Bumblebees are keystone pollinators which facilitate the reproduction of a wide range of wild and agricultural plants. Their abundance and diversity have been severely reduced by anthropogenic stressors such as widespread land-use change and habitat fragmentation. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of population structure and local adaptation in bumblebees inhabiting human-altered landscapes. Here, we discover significant fine-scale (e.g. ~300 km) population structure within two common bumblebee species, Bombus lapidarius and Bombus pascuorum, by analysing whole genome data of 106 specimens from 7 sites in northern Europe. While the observed population structure is largely associated with natural oceanic barriers, we also detect significant divergence between populations sampled from anthropogenic landscapes which are not separated by such barriers. Furthermore, whereas genetic divergence in B. lapidarius is spread relatively evenly across the genome, divergence in B. pascuorum is concentrated within several megabase-sized genomic regions—including a putative chromosomal inversion – which may underlie well-known colour polymorphisms across its range. Our observations reveal a distinct genomic architecture underlying population structure within these bumblebee species, and highlight the necessity of increasing our understanding of bumblebee connectivity to design optimal bumblebee conservation strategies.
Abstract
There is an increasing interest in using forests as a natural solution for enhancing terrestrial carbon dioxide removal, as part of climate smart forestry strategy to have a significant role in climate mitigation efforts. Harvest deferral is seen as one carbon farming practice to increase carbon sequestration in forests. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of harvest deferral on carbon forest sink potential of Norwegian forests in the short, medium and long-term. Here, we carried out scenario analysis for the whole Norway during the 21st century to assess the effect on carbon sequestration of delaying harvest in a certain number of forests. The scenarios represented different levels of harvest deferral through Norwegian forests. Delaying harvest would increase CO2 removals in the medium (2050) and long-term (2100), resulting in an additional uptake of approximately 6 and 34 Tg CO2, respectively, when extending rotation for 20 years in those plots with high growth increment in the last 5 years. Scenarios where harvest was delayed for a longer period showed slightly higher CO2 removals by the end of the century. While harvest deferral scenarios showed positive effects in terms of climate change mitigation potential, there are several other aspects that need to be considered, such as trade-offs and synergies with other sustainability goals, leakage, market behaviour and willingness of forest owners to get involved in these carbon farming practices.
Abstract
Key implications for ash regeneration Natural regeneration of ash is still extensive in Fjugstad. Transition into the tree layer is a critical bottleneck under high disease pressure. Local moisture, light environment, growth rate and infection pressure may influence seedling performance. Dense shrub-layer ash with apparently healthy individuals may be useful targets for monitoring and conservation-oriented management. Continued spatial monitoring can identify microsites and individual trees with potential for future ash persistence. Integrate GNSS-based spatial data with moisture and light variables and follow effects of windthrow and canopy opening on new ash regeneration.
Authors
Nora Røhnebæk Aasen Sybil A. Herrera-Foessel Silius Mortensønn Vandeskog Therése Bengtsson Mulatu G. Dida Isak Drozdik Sigridur Dalmannsdottir Egill Gautason Jaroslaw S. Grodek Hrannar S. Hilmarsson Merja Högnäsbacka Ortrud Jäck Janne Kaseva Antti Laine Alex Lenkoski Morten Lillemo Min Lin Anne Marthe Lundby Shirin Mohammadi Per Jarle Møllerhagen Markku Niskanen Rodomiro Ortiz Maxie Skalshøi Anna G. Þórðardóttir Maria ThorkildsenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
This paper explores imaginaries of food futures in Norway within a broader European context, combining sociological perspectives on consumption with a near-historical approach to the future. We argue that ideas about future food are never only forward-looking, but deeply shaped by past visions, cultural memories, and recurring narratives that continue to “haunt” contemporary food cultures. Drawing on the concept of imaginaries, and inspired by polytemporal perspectives on anticipation, the paper analyses how understandings of future food simultaneously mobilise past experiences, present concerns, and projected futures. The paper first reviews key strands of European literature on food futures, identifying dominant imaginaries ranging from techno-optimistic promises of innovation to dystopian fears of ecological collapse and industrialised eating. These are discussed in relation to historical imaginaries of future food, from early twentieth-century futurism to post-war and late-modern narratives. Against this backdrop, Norway is analysed as an empirical case that both reflects and reworks European food imaginaries. Empirically, the paper draws on diverse material including public policy documents, business strategies, advertisements, science fiction narratives, and consumer stories collected over time. Through a comparative analysis, we identify recurring tensions between technological control and ecological care, convenience and closeness, global systems and local self-sufficiency. We show how Norwegian food futures are shaped by a dynamic interplay between utopian, dystopian and more myopic imaginaries, oriented towards social closeness and everyday practices. The paper concludes by discussing how food futures imaginaries actively shape consumption cultures and sustainability debates in Europe, and how a polytemporal approach helps bridge the divide between static future visions and lived food practices.
Authors
Muhammad Awais Michael Altgen Kristian Hovde Liland Isak Vartdal-Gjerde Lone Ross Ingunn BurudAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Mats Carlehög Stine Therese Alm Hersleth Marianne Hotle Benedikt Tobias Grein Ingunn ØvsthusAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Anupam GogoiAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Johanna Eva Bodin Paul Ragnar Berg Knut Tomas Dalen Nur Duale Erik Georg Granquist Anne-Marthe Ganes Jevnaker Tor Atle Mo Truls Nesbakken Kaare Magne Nielsen Kristian Prydz Espen Rimstad Eli Knispel Rueness Monica Sanden Sjur Sandgrind Guro Katrine Sandvik Line Elisabeth Breivik Sundt-Hansen Amin Sayyari Ville Erling Sipinen Eva Bonsak ThorstadAbstract
The Norwegian Environment Agency has tasked The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) with developing generic guidance documents for environmental risk assessment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to be used in field trials. GMOs used in limited field trials may have effect on the environment, and human and animal health. All experiments involving the use of GMOs in field trails for research require approval under the Norwegian Gene Technology Act. The Norwegian Environment Agency is the decision-making authority for deliberate release of GM plants in field trials. VKM performs health and environmental risk assessments (ERAs) of GMOs for the Norwegian Environment Agency. This guidance document is intended as a support for applicants seeking approval for field trials under the Gene Technology Act and identifies the scientific documentation and data necessary to facilitate an ERA of a genetically modified animal (GM animal) conducted by VKM. The risk assessments conducted by VKM generally follow the step-by-step approach outlined in EU Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment, starting with hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure characterization and risk characterization. The Gene Technology Act and the Regulations on impact assessment under the Gene Technology Act implements Directive 2001/18/EC into Norwegian legislation. Appendix 2 of the Regulation contain the principles for environmental risk assessment, which corresponds to the principles of Annex II in the Directive. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has developed further guidance on the risk assessment of genetically modified organisms based on Annex II. ERAs of GM animals involve the collection, assessment and, where appropriate, generation of information on a GM animal to determine its potential impacts on the environment and on human and animal health, compared with non-GM animals or appropriate comparators. VKM performs risk assessments that include the following six steps: hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure characterisation, risk characterisation, risk reducing measures, and overall risk evaluation of the use of the GM animal in a field trial. Applicants should identify the scientific documentation and data necessary for VKM to perform an ERA based on these steps. Applicants should also consider general risk reducing measures in relation to the identified risks, taking into consideration the type of GM animal, the intended management regime (confinement), the scale of the field trial, the characteristics of the genetic modification, the characteristics of the identified hazard(s), and the potential consequences for the environment and for human and animal health. This document provides guidance for the assessment of the potential environmental effects of GM animals, based on data from the required molecular characterisation, consideration of the potential impacts of the modified characteristics of the GM animal, and any risk mitigating measures implemented in the event of escape of GM animals into the environment during field trials. The guidance is intended as a dynamic document to be amended in accordance with future scientific and regulatory developments.
Authors
Sally A. Power Manjunatha H. Chandregowda Kirk Barnett Juan Pineiro Shun Hasegawa Coline Deveautour Eleanor Gibson‐Forty Jeff Chieppa Scott N. Johnson Sarah Facey Raul Ochoa‐HuesoAbstract
Warming‐driven intensification of the hydrological cycle is altering global rainfall patterns. However, the relative importance of changes in the amount versus timing of rainfall and the role of atmospheric drivers of moisture demand in modifying relationships between rainfall, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are currently unresolved. To address this, we undertook a 10‐year rainfall manipulation experiment in a mesic grassland in New South Wales, Australia. We used rain shelters to achieve five rainfall treatments: (i) ambient, (ii) ambient +50% (IA), (iii) ambient −50% (RA), (iv) reduced frequency (RF, cumulative ambient rainfall applied once every 3 weeks) and (v) summer drought (SD, no rain during the Austral summer). We found that inter‐annual variation in ANPP was best explained by the amount of growing season rainfall relative to potential evapotranspiration (i.e., P/PET, or aridity) (R 2 adj 0.52). Reductions in the amount of rainfall, particularly during summer, were associated with productivity decline, shifts in community composition and a loss of diversity. However, reducing the frequency of rain events had no overall effect on productivity, despite a loss of species diversity. Notably, treatment‐related declines in diversity and/or richness were associated with both increases (IA) and decreases (SD) in temporal stability of ANPP and the stabilising role of species asynchrony, thereby highlighting the importance of species identity and associated functional traits for community stability. Our study uniquely emphasises the importance of accounting for seasonal drivers of moisture demand when predicting functional responses to changes in rainfall regimes and highlights how the ecological mechanisms underpinning community stability are influenced by changes in both the amount and timing of rainfall. These mechanistic insights can enhance the predictive capacity of Earth system models and inform targeted management strategies to offset the negative effects of future, more extreme rainfall on the ecosystem services provided by global grasslands.