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.
2018
Abstract
It is recognised that flame retardant chemicals degrade and leach out of flame-protected wood claddings when exposed to natural weathering. However, the ability to survey the current state of a flame retardant treatment applied to a wood cladding, an arbitrary length of time after the initial application, is limited today. In this study, hyperspectral imaging in the near infrared to short-wavelength infrared region is used to quantify the amount of flame retardant present on wooden surfaces. Several sets of samples were treated with various concentrations of a flame retardant chemical and scanned with a push broom hyperspectral camera. An inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy analysis of the outermost layer of the treated samples was then carried out in order to determine each sample’s phosphorus content, the active ingredient in the flame retardant. Spectra from the hyperspectral images were pre-processed with extended multiplicative scatter correction, and the phosphorus content was modelled using a partial least squares (PLS) regression model. The PLS regression yielded robust predictions of surface phosphorus content with a coefficient of determination, R2, between 0.8 and 0.9 on validation data regardless of whether the flame retardant chemical had been applied to the surface of the wood or pressure-impregnated into it. The result from the study indicates that spectral imaging around the 2400–2531nm wavelength region is favourable for quantifying the amount of phosphorus-based flame retardant contained in the outermost layer of non-coated wooden claddings. The results also reveal that the uptake of phosphorus-based flame retardant does not occur uniformly throughout the wood surface, but is to a larger extent concentrated in the earlywood regions than in the latewood.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Trygve S. Aamlid Oiva Niemelainen Klaus Paaske David Widmark Pentti Ruuttunen Auli KedonperaAbstract
Greenkeepers are looking for alternatives to fungicides for control of turfgrass diseases. Our objective was to evaluate a petroleum- derived spray oil with a blue-green pigment for control of Microdochium patch/pink snow mold (Microdochium nivale) on golf course putting greens with various durations of snow cover. The spray oil was applied at rates 27 or 54 L ha–1 every third week from late August or September to December, either alone, in tank mixture with potassium phosphite (3 kg PO3 ha–1) or in tank mixture with half rate of fungicides approved for turf, in five 1-yr trials in the Nordic countries. The oil was as effective or more effective than fungicides and gave, on average, 94 and 98% disease control at rates 27 and 54 L ha–1, respectively. Tank mixtures with half rate of prochloraz + propioconazole and fludioxonil did not increase disease suppression in a trial with 79 d snow cover. Phosphite reduced disease severity in one trial only and did not improve disease control or turfgrass quality when tank-mixed with the oil. The pigment in the spray oil was highly persistent and improved turfgrass greenness except in a trial where the combination of oil and ice cover gave a transitory black color at ice melt. Another trial with long snow cover showed a drop in turfgrass quality in spring as the spray oil prevented normal green-up. In conclusion, this research shows that a spray oil has the potential to reduce fungicide use on Nordic golf courses.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Tatsiana EspevigAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Acetophenones are phenolic metabolites of plant species. A metabolic route for the biosynthesis and release of 2 defence‐related hydroxyacetophenones in white spruce (Picea glauca) was recently proposed to involve 3 phases: (a) biosynthesis of the acetophenone aglycons catalysed by a currently unknown set of enzymes, (b) formation and accumulation of the corresponding glycosides catalysed by a glucosyltransferase, and (c) release of the aglycons catalysed by a glucosylhydrolase (PgβGLU‐1). We tested if this biosynthetic model is conserved across Pinaceae and land plant species. We assayed and surveyed the literature and sequence databases for possible patterns of the presence of the acetophenone aglycons piceol and pungenol and their glucosides, as well as sequences and expression of Pgβglu‐1 orthologues. In the Pinaceae, the 3 phases of the biosynthetic model are present and differences in expression of Pgβglu‐1 gene orthologues explain some of the interspecific variation in hydroxyacetophenones. The phylogenetic signal in the metabolite phenotypes was low across species of 6 plant divisions. Putative orthologues of PgβGLU‐1 do not form a monophyletic group in species producing hydroxyacetophenones. The biosynthetic model for acetophenones appears to be conserved across Pinaceae, whereas convergent evolution has led to the production of acetophenone glucosides across land plants.
Abstract
Throughout history, man has strongly utilized and affected forest genetic resources in Europe. From an evolu-tionary perspective deforestation/fragmentation (→genetic drift), transfer of seeds and plants to new environ-ments (→mainly gene flow) and selective logging (→selection) are most relevant and have been particularlyaddressed in this review. In contrast to most conifers, broadleaved tree populations have been especially reducedby historic fragmentation, and consequently, the related genetic effects have been possibly more pronounced.Widespread wind-pollinated species with wind/animal dispersed seeds appear to be more resilient to frag-mentation than species with e.g. small geographic ranges and gravity dispersed seeds. In addition, naturallyfragmented populations in the range margins may be more vulnerable than central populations as conditions forgene flow are generally impaired in peripheral areas. Traits important for adaptation (e.g. bud burst, bud set) arecontrolled by many genes, and as a corollary of fragmentation such genes are lost at a low rate. Large scalecommercial translocation of seeds and plants for forestry purposes applies mostly to conifers and dates backabout two centuries. Although many translocations have been successful in a forestry perspective, exposure tonew selective regimes has sometimes challenged the adaptive limits of populations and caused setbacks or evendiebacks of populations, as well as influencing neighbouring populations with maladapted genes (e.g. Scots pine,maritime pine, larch). Many tree species have substantial plasticity in fitness-related traits, which is vital forsurvival and viability following translocations. Selective logging has been practiced in Europe over the last twocenturies and implies removal of superior trees with respect to growth and quality. Such traits are partly undergenetic control. Consequent removal of superior trees may therefore have negative effects on the remaining genepool, but this effect will also be counteracted by extensive gene flow. Although humans have strongly affectedEuropean forest trees over the last millennia, we argue that they are still resilient from an evolutionary perspective.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered