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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.

2017

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Abstract

Biomass from forestry sector provides an important contribution to meet the government's targets for increasing bioenergy production and utilization. Characterization of forest residues is critical for exploiting and utilizing them for energy production purpose. In present work, stem wood, stem bark, branches, top of trees from downy birch forest were sampled from different sites in South Norway and subjected to heating value and ash content measurement. Properties of different parts of trees vertically along the tree trunk and radially along the branch and crown level were assessed via the statistical model. The heating value of stem wood was in range 18.14-18.57 MJ/kg, of stem bark 18.50-18.72 MJ/kg and of branch wood 18.21-18.50 MJ/kg. The vertical dependence of heating value of downy birch stem wood was similar to that of stem bark. Regular decreasing of heating value towards the tree top was observed. Significantly higher heating value at level p<0.05* of stem bark than the one of stem wood was observed. The ash content of downy birch branch wood did vary axially along the branch whereas there are only slight differences of ash content of branch within the crown. The stem bark has the highest ash content in range 2.0-2.5%, followed by branch wood in range of 1.0-1.6% and the lowest for stem wood in range of 0.3-0.5%.

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Abstract

We present data on the species composition of helminths in brown bears (Ursus arctos) from the Murmansk Region, Russia. The absence of any information about helminths of brown bear in the region necessitated the conduct of these studies. Samples were collected in 2014 and 2015 in the southern part of the Kola Peninsula from the White Sea coastal habitats. Annually, in the study area, 1–3 bears are legally hunted and biological samples for examination are very difficult to obtain. Therefore, we used fecal samples. We studied 93 feces and identified parasite eggs identified in 43 of them by morphometric criteria. The surveys revealed eggs of the following helminths: Dicrocoelium sp., Diphyllobothrium sp., Anoplocephalidae, Capillariidae, Baylisascaris sp., Strongylida 1, and Strongylida 2. These results represent the first reconnaissance stage, which allowed characterizing the taxonomic diversity and prevalence of parasites of brown bears of the Kola Peninsula.

Abstract

The moisture status of the upper 10cm of the soil profile is a key variable for the prediction of a catchment's hydrological response to precipitation, and of pivotal importance to the estimation of trafficability. Prediction, and even mapping, of topsoil water content is complicated, not in the least because of its large spatial heterogeneity. In IRIDA, an EU/JPI project, measurements, models and weather predictions will be applied to estimate the soil moisture status at the sub-field scale in near-real time. The project is in its early stages, during which the relevant parameters will be selected that will allow for soil moisture mapping on agricultural fields at a 10 m resolution.

Abstract

Intensive sweet cherry production in tunnel covered orchard systems offer an advantage of reducing rain-induced fruit cracking. In May 2005 four Haygrove multibay tunnel systems were installed on a gentle slope at the experimental farm at Bioforsk Ullensvang, western Norway. In these tunnels, feathered 1-year-old sweet cherry ‘Sweetheart’/Colt trees were planted with two rows at a spacing of 2×4 m in each tunnel. Each tunnel was split into two halves and covered from the end of April to beginning of September with one of two different plastic covers, having different light spectral transmittance; Luminance THB film (absorbing infrared light) and traditional Visqueen clear UV polythene film. Climatic parameters were monitored inside and outside the tunnels from the beginning of May to the beginning of September each year and yield data and fruit quality parameters were recorded. In 2009, from May 7 to September 16 the average temperature measured outside the tunnels was 14.3°C. Temperatures exceed 25°C only on two days. Temperatures inside the tunnels were 0.3°C higher on average during the entire season but exceeded 30°C on the same two hot days. Temperatures under the Luminance film were slightly lower compared to the clear film and especially reduced the temperature build up on sunny days. The harvest period was the second half of August. Average yield tree-1 was 8.8 kg (11 t ha-1) in the fourth leaf and 18.8 kg (23.5 t ha-1) fifth leaf. There were no yield differences between the two different films. Fruit size measurements found that 80% of the fruits were larger than 30 mm in diameter in the fourth leaf and 51% in the fifth leaf. Total soluble solid content was generally high (17-18%) and no significant differences were found between the different films.

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Abstract

Human activity has more than doubled the amount of nitrogen entering the global nitrogen cycle, and the boreal forest biome is a nitrogen-limited ecosystem sensitive to nitrogen load perturbation. Although bryophyte-associated microbes contribute significantly to boreal forest ecosystem function, particularly in carbon and nitrogen cycling, little is known about their responses to anthropogenic global change. Amplicon pyrosequencing of the ITS2 region of rDNA was used to investigate how fungal communities associated with three bryophyte species responded to increased nitrogen loads in a long-term fertilization experiment in a boreal Picea abies forest in southern Norway. Overall, OTU richness, community composition and the relative abundance of specific ecological guilds were primarily influenced by host species identity and tissue type. Although not the primary factor affecting fungal communities, nitrogen addition did impact the abundance of specific guilds of fungi and the resulting overall community composition. Increased nitrogen loads decreased ectomycorrhizal abundance, with Amphinema, Cortinarius, Russula and Tylospora OTUs responding negatively to fertilization. Pathogen abundance increased with fertilization, particularly in the moss pathogen Eocronartium. Saprophytic fungi were both positively and negatively impacted by the nitrogen addition, indicating a complex community level response. The overshadowing of the effects of increased nitrogen loads by variation related to host and tissue type highlights the complexity of bryophyte-associated microbial communities and the intricate nature of their responses to anthropogenic global change.

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Abstract

Climate change and its effects on grassland productivity vary across Europe. The Mediterranean and Nordic regions represent the opposite ends of a gradient of changes in temperature and precipitation patterns, with increasingly warmer and wetter winters in the north and increasingly warmer and drier summers in the south. Warming and elevated concentration of atmospheric CO2 may boost forage production in the Nordic region. Production in many Mediterranean areas is likely to become even more challenged by drought in the future, but elevated CO2 can to some extent alleviate drought limitation on photosynthesis and growth. In both regions, climate change will affect forage quality and lead to modifications of the annual productivity cycles, with an extended growing season in the Nordic region and a shift towards winter in the Mediterranean region. This will require adaptations in defoliation and fertilization strategies. The identity of species and mixtures with optimal performance is likely to shift somewhat in response to altered climate and management systems. It is argued that breeding of grassland species should aim to (i) improve plant strategies to cope with relevant abiotic stresses and (ii) optimize growth and phenology to new seasonal variation, and that plant diversity at all levels is a good adaptation strategy.