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
Sammendrag
Knowing the historical variation in fire regimes is instrumental in managing forests today and in predicting what may happen in the future. By cross-dating 745 fire scars in 378 samples of remnant Scots pines, we delineated 254 individual forest fires during the past 700 years in a 74-km2 section of Trillemarka-Rollagsfjell Nature Reserve in south-central Norway. Fire sizes, numbers, burn rates, and frequencies were compared with historical climate proxies, vegetation maps, and written sources. The results revealed patterns consistent with a predominantly climate-driven fire regime up to 1625, followed by periods of strong anthropogenic influence that increased fire frequency during 1600–1700s and diminished fires during 1800–1900s. This was documented by an abrupt increase in number of small fires from the early 1600s that markedly shortened fire intervals from a median of 73 to 37 yr. This shift in fire frequency coincided with a sudden appearance of early-season fires from 1625 and onward. Whereas late-season burn rate increased with summer temperature, no such relationship was found for early-season fires. These results were corroborated by written sources that describe anthropogenic forest fires and slash-and-burn cultivation expanding with the increasing population from the late 1500s and subsequently diminishing due to increasing timber values during 1700–1800s. Whereas human activity strongly influenced the fire regime at multidecadal to centennial scales, it was the interannual variability in climate that triggered large fire events, especially during the pre-1625 period. Prior to 1625, the percentage of years with fire tripled from 7% during cold summers (10–12°C) to 21% during warm summers (14–16°C). Burn rate increased even more, from 0.01% to 1.3% for the same temperature intervals. Ecologically, the post-1625 period is remarkable in such a way that human activity, first by greatly increasing fire frequency and subsequently almost eradicating fires, possibly influenced the fire regime to such an extent that it may be unprecedented for millennia.
Forfattere
Geir-Harald StrandSammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Forfattere
Nick Hutchings Isabelle Weindl C. F. E. Topp V. O. Snow A. Rotz H Raynal Şeyda Özkan Gülzari R Martin D. P. Holzworth A.-I. Graux P. Faverdin Agustin del Prado Richard Eckard André BanninkSammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Forfattere
C. F. E. Topp Vera Eory André Bannink Dave J. Bartley Isabel Blanco-Penedo R Cortignani Agustin del Prado G Dono P. Faverdin A.-I. Graux Nick Hutchings L. Lauwers Şeyda Özkan Gülzari S. Rolinski M Ruiz Ramos Daniel Sandars R Sándor M Schoenhart G. Seddaiu Jantine van Middelkoop Isabelle Weindl Richard P. KiplingSammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Forfattere
Gregory Taff Sophie MeierSammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Sammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Sammendrag
No abstract has been registered
Forfattere
Ivan Dragicevic Susanne Eich-Greatorex Trine Aulstad Sogn Roar Linjordet Tore KrogstadSammendrag
Soil application of organic residues from anaerobic digestion of municipal food waste and/or sewage sludge may introduce considerable amounts of heavy metals into the environment. In a column leaching experiment, mobility and release of Cu, Ni and Zn were investigated in three contrasting soils (sand, silt, loam) fertilized with biogas digestates of different origin. The effect of commercial digestates, based on food waste and sewage sludge, was compared to that of experimental digestates based on animal manure and whey permeate with or without fish ensilage, as well as untreated manure, mineral fertilizer and an untreated control. Manure and digestates were added to the columns as fresh material at equal amounts of available nitrogen. The experiment simulated high-intensity rainfall over a period of 7 days. In general, soil treated with the commercial digestates with higher original metal content showed less environmental impact in terms of Ni, Cu and Zn leaching than that treated with experimental digestates with lower original metal content and less than when animal manure or mineral fertilizer was applied. Although effects of digestate application on metal mobility in soils were seen in conditions of extreme precipitation, the leached concentrations of metals were below limitations published by the WHO but still significantly higher than that measured for control soils.
Sammendrag
Extensive green roofs have become a frequently used option for stormwater retention across manydifferent climates including cold and wet regions. Despite the extensive documentation of green rooftechnology for stormwater management, the knowledge about their function and potential use in wetand cold regions is deficient. Using historic data on daily temperature and precipitation in a green roofwater balance model coupled with the Oudin model of evapotranspiration (ET), we evaluated the effects ofmaximum green roof storage capacities (Smax) and ET on stormwater retention along climatic gradientsin Northern Europe. Large differences in potential annual stormwater retention were found betweenlocations, driven by differences in temperature and precipitation amounts. Highest retention in abso-lute values was found for the wettest locations, while the warmest and driest locations showed highestretention in percentage of annual precipitation (up to 58% compared to 17% for the lower range). Alllocations showed a considerable retention of stormwater during summer, ranging from 52% to 91%. Stor-age capacities accepting drought conditions once every 3.3–3.9 year were found to be about 25 mm inthe cold and wet locations increasing to 40–50 mm in the warmer and drier locations. Correspondingstorage capacities to prevent wilting of non-succulent vegetation was on average a factor of 1.5 larger(not including Sheffield and Malmö). Annual retention increased both with an increase in plant wateruse (specific crop factors, Kc) and with an increase in Smax, but was found to be more sensitive to changesin Kcthan to changes in Smax. Hence, ET was the limiting factor for green roof retention capacity in thecold and wet locations, but relatively large changes in evapotranspiration would be needed to have animpact on retention. The potential to use vegetation with higher water use to better restore the storagecapacity between storm-events in these regions was however limited by the risk of permanent wilting ofnon-succulent vegetation, even on the wettest locations. A considerable increase in roof storage capacityand substrate thickness would be required to reduce this risk; still the increase in stormwater retentionwould be marginal.
Forfattere
Felix Herzog Gisela Lüscher Michaela Arndorfer Marion Bogers Katalin Balázs Robert Gerald Henry Bunce Peter Dennis Eszter Falusi Jürgen K. Friedel Ilse R. Geijzendorffer Tiziano Gomiero Philippe Jeanneret Gerardo Moreno Marie-Louise Oschatz Maurizio Guido Paoletti Jean-Pierre Sarthou Siyka Stoyanova Erich Szerencsits Sebastian Wolfrum Wendy Fjellstad Debra BaileySammendrag
Habitat descriptors are cost effective biodiversity indicators demanded by stakeholders and required for regional and global biodiversity monitoring. We mapped 195 farms of different types in twelve case study regions across Europe and tested 18 habitat descriptors for scientific validity, information content and ease of interpretation. We propose a core set consisting of (i) four descriptors to measure structural composition and configuration of farms (Habitat Richness, Habitat Diversity, Patch Size, and Linear Habitats), (ii) three descriptors addressing specific habitat types (Crop Richness, Shrub Habitats, and Tree Habitats) and (iii) one interpreted descriptor (Semi-Natural Habitats). As a set, the descriptors make it possible to evaluate the habitat status of a farm and to track changes occurring due to modified land use and/or management, including agri-environmental measures. The farm habitat maps can provide ground truth information for regional and global biodiversity monitoring.