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
Ishita Ahuja Arne Steffenrem Irena Fundova Helmer Belbo Torstein Myhre Inger Sundheim FløistadAbstract
When regenerating clearcut areas in Norway and several other countries, tree seedlings are planted adjacent to stumps of harvested trees to reduce snow load and provide shading, despite limited scientific evidence supporting this practice. This study investigated the role of tree-stumps as planting microsites in the establishment of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings. We assessed the growth and survival of seedlings from two provenances: Undesløs seed orchard (60.7°, 140 m), consisting of tested parents from the lowland around 63–65°N, and seed collected from forests in the M4 provenance (64–65°N, 350–449 m), at two microsite types in Trøndelag County, Norway: beside stumps (Microsites-B) and at a distance from stumps (Microsites-D). Undesløs seedlings exhibited 100% survival at Microsites-B, whereas M4 seedlings showed higher survival at Microsites-D. Provenance had a significant effect on seedling height and diameter, while microsite type had no significant effect on these parameters. In 2022, significant differences in height and diameter were observed between provenances at Microsites-B. Phenotypic variations, including chlorotic, green, and brown needles, occurred in seedlings of both provenances across both microsite types. Overall, this single-site experiment provided no evidence that planting beside stumps improves growth/survival compared with planting at a distance away.
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
Tor MykingAbstract
Invitert foredrag UiB i forbindelse med tildeling av æresdoktorat til Paul Smith, BCGI
Authors
Tor MykingAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Jan-Peter George Colin Kelleher Aurore Desgroux Eléonore Scholzen Luis Muheim Irena Fundova Gregor Božič Michele Bozzano Anna-Maria FarsakoglouAbstract
This report on dynamic and static ex situ conservation of forest genetic resources is a product of the EUFORGEN Programme. The report serves as a reference document that provides the framework for implementing and monitoring ex situ conservation approaches across Europe, complementing existing in situ conservation efforts. It has been developed through the collective expertise of the EUFORGEN network, establishing minimum requirements and data standards for ex situ conservation, proposing indicators for monitoring, and introducing terminology for genetic conservation units at risk. The actions and strategies addressed in this report are dependent on the commitment of all involved actors, including policymakers, forest managers, researchers, and technical staff responsible for gene banks and genetic conservation units, who will guide the application of dynamic and static ex situ conservation, whenever needed, and provide the financial, human and institutional resources required to effectively conserve forest genetic resources across Europe.
Authors
Katrin Zimmer Ulf Lemke Irena Fundova Henrik Heräjärvi Mateusz Liziniewicz Marlene Cramer Stefanie Wieland Lukas Emmerich Thomas Uibel Anti Rohumaa Heikki Korpunen Grace Jones Ekaterina Nikolskaya Tom Jansen Anneli Adler Tom Mortelmans Ian Short Vincent Defays Karol TomczakAbstract
Birch is the third most abundant tree species in northern Europe and the Baltic region, but remains underutilized in several countries despite wood properties that support a broad range of applications, including pulp, veneer, plywood, furniture, flooring, joinery, and potentially structural products. Constraints on higher-value utilization include insufficient logistics for sorting and transport, the lack of standardized grading methods, and limited data infrastructure for systematic quality assessment across supply chains. The Nordic Forest Research (SNS) network VALUE:BIRCH was established to examine these constraints through transnational collaboration among researchers, industry actors, and students across northern Europe. In 2025 and 2026, the network held workshops in Borås, Sweden, and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with emphasis on strength properties, grading, and quality assessment of birch wood. The activities integrated technical presentations, laboratory and field visits, and student contributions, enabling comparison of birch value chains across countries with differing levels of industrial development. The network identified shared technical and organizational bottlenecks related to birch silviculture and management, grading, mobilization, and market formation, while also strengthening inter-institutional co-creation and collaboration. The results indicate that coordinated work on grading systems, quality data, logistics, and market development is essential to support more efficient and value-adapted utilization of birch.
Abstract
Birch has regained interest in Norwegian forestry within the last few years, partly to increase the share of broadleaves and tree-species diversity under climate change. However, timber yield and quality assortments from Norwegian birch stands remain largely unknown. We established temporary sample plots in planted and naturally regenerated birch stands on high-quality sites in Eastern Norway and carried out tree measurements to quantify stand-level production. In addition, the first 6 m of each standing tree were subjected to a detailed timber‑quality assessment and subsequently graded accordingly. Volume production in the investigated stands was frequently higher than values reported in birch yield tables from the 1970s and did not differ between planted and naturally regenerated stands. Volume production in the studied birch stands was similar to or higher than for Norway spruce on comparable high-quality sites up to a stand age of about 40 years. Despite the lack of quality-oriented management in most stands, nearly all produced sawlogs and many contained higher-quality assortments. Stand-level sawlog proportion increased with mean tree diameter. While planting and thinning showed no clear relationship with stand-level sawlog proportion, artificial pruning increased the share of higher-quality sawlogs. Overall, productive birch stands in Norway can deliver high yields and meaningful volumes of quality sawlogs.
Authors
Dalphy Ondine Camira Harteveld Abdelhameed Elameen Simo Maduna Adam Vivian-Smith Andrea Podavkova Sabine Oettl Stefanie Maria Primisser Jorunn BørveAbstract
Small, superficial rot spots occurring around lenticels postharvest on apple in Norway have not been identified but were assumed to be underdeveloped Neofabraea lesions. Fungal isolation from such spots on fruit from the 2022 season revealed both Neofabraea perennans and Ramularia spp., identified by B-tubulin and ITS sequencing, respectively. In the 2023 season, isolations were made from fruit with spots resembling dry lenticel spot caused by Ramularia mali. The aim of this study was to identify the Ramularia species associated with the postharvest fruit spots in Norway. Multiple gene regions of five Norwegian isolates (E20, E21 from 2022; 13,15 and 18 from 2023) and three reference isolates, R. mali, R. eucalypti, and R. collo-cygni, were sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. The Norwegian isolates were distinct from the included reference isolates, but clustered with other Ramularia species. Isolates 13, 18 and E21 clustered with Ramularia vizellae, while isolates 15 and E20 were most closely related to Ramularia phacae-frigidae. Isolate E20 was sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION platform. Pathogenicity was assessed in a field inoculation study using isolate E21, resulting in typical spot development on inoculated fruit. Ramularia vizellae has previously been reported from dead apple leaf litter and other woody hosts in the Netherlands and Iran, while R. phacae-frigidae was originally described from Phaca frigida in Switzerland. Neither species has previously been reported in association with apple fruit spotting. While Ramularia mali has caused outbreaks on apple in several European countries, recent studies hypothesize that the symptoms may be caused by a species complex with regional variation. The present results identify candidate species contributing to this complex in Norway and highlight the need for further studies to improve species delimitation and pathogenicity.
Abstract
Maximizing genetic response to selection while constraining inbreeding is a central challenge in breeding and conservation. Classic optimal contribution selection methods address this by managing average population coancestry. However, this often results in complex, nonlinear optimization problems that cannot be guaranteed to reach a global optimum. Furthermore, many applications require a stricter pairwise constraint to avoid immediate inbreeding in offspring. Here, we present a binary integer linear programming formulation to select an optimal subset of individuals under a strict maximum tolerable pairwise genomic relationship threshold. We construct a binary matrix indicating whether each pair exceeds this threshold. This reformulation transforms the problem from a complex nonlinear program into a binary integer linear program. While this formulation remains NP-hard, the linearity allows modern solvers to efficiently navigate the solution space and, when convergence is achieved within the imposed runtime and tolerance settings, certify global optimality, a key advantage over heuristic approaches. We demonstrate the method using two distinct datasets: a large Norway spruce breeding population and a conservation population of German Black Pied cattle. We explore the trade-offs between the selection response, the relationship threshold, and the maximum number of individuals that can be selected under the threshold. Although large, dense problem instances remain computationally demanding, our results show that typical applications can often be solved to proven global optimality in seconds, whereas denser instances may terminate with a remaining optimality gap. This method is a practical solution for breeders and conservation geneticists to select optimal subsets under a strict relationship threshold, enabling applications from maximizing gain in breeding populations to establishing genetic reserves for endangered species.
Authors
Rajiv Chaudhary Maximiliano Estravis Barcala Irena Fundova Tomáš Funda Zhi-qiang Chen Harry X. WuAbstract
Background Drought intensity and frequency are increasing under global warming in the boreal forests, and breeding for drought resistance will facilitate adaptation of new planting material to changing climate conditions. We used a tree-ring dataset of 559 individuals to study Scots pine genetic variation and the efficiency of genomic selection of drought-response traits (drought resistance, recovery and resilience), for the first time. From genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), 31,101 SNPs were generated and used for the study. Results Significant genetic variation was detected for drought-response and other growth, wood-anatomy and wood density traits. Heritability estimates for wood-anatomical traits were higher than those for drought-response and growth traits. Genetic correlations between drought-response and wood-anatomical traits were generally high but mostly nonsignificant. In contrast, drought resistance and recovery showed positive and significant correlations with basal area increment and height. We found that the predictive ability and accuracy for drought-response traits were lower than those for wood-anatomical traits, and were comparable between GBLUP and ABLUP. Greater genetic gain per year can be achieved through genomic selection relative to pedigree-based selection if the generation interval is reduced. Conclusions The positive genetic correlation between drought-response and growth traits will enable simultaneous selection for improved growth and increased drought resistant trees in Scots pine breeding through either pedigreed-based and genomic selection.