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.
2013
Authors
Arne SteffenremAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Emma Brunberg Rose Bergslid Kristin SørheimAbstract
NoFence is a GPS-based virtual fencing system to be used for grazing animals. Each animal wears a collar and if crossing a predefined border, the animal will get a sound warning followed by an electric shock. The aims with the two experiments reported in this report were to: 1. To test Nofence on sheep with young lambs focusing on animal welfare and learning. 2. To develop and test a learning protocol for Nofence. 3. To compare the function of Nofence when using it with and without a simple physical fence. In experiment 1, three groups with three ewes and their lambs in each group, were placed on a pasture for four days. At one side of the pasture, there was a Nofence border. The first two days, it was a physical fence outside the border. This fence was removed day 3. On day 4, the Nofence border was moved to the other end of the pasture. On day 3, when the physical fence was absent, the sheep received more shocks and spent almost 50% of the time outside allowed area. There were also many technical problems with Nofence during this trial. In experiment 2, the sheep were divided into four groups with eight ewes in each group. On day 1, the sheep were on a pasture with one Nofence border and on day 2 with two Nofence borders. In the morning both days, there were physical fences outside the virtual border. These were removed in the afternoon. After two days of trials, this trial was ended due to technical problems and learning difficulties. Many of the sheep received the maximum allowed number of shocks both day 1 and 2 and most of the sheep spent a majority of the time on the wrong side of the border in the afternoon on day 2. There were technical problems also during this experiment. There were several problems with the trials this year that made it difficult to perform the intended research. The technical problems must be completely solved before anyone aim at possibly perform any more experiments with animals. Moreover, the results this year show that there are challenges regarding learning due to the herd instinct and individual differences in how sensitive the animals are regarding the shocks. The conclusion is therefore that as it is working now, Nofence was not functioning in an acceptable way and there is a risk for reduced animal welfare.
Authors
Callum Aidan Stephen HillAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Lydia Lawless Andreas C. Drichoutis Rodolfo M. Jr. NaygaAbstract
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Authors
Isabella BørjaAbstract
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Authors
Alina Danielewska Elena Paoletti Nicholas Clarke Janusz Olejnik Marek Urbaniak Marcin Baran Pawel Siedlecki Karin Hansen Lars Lundin Wim de Vries Teis Nørgaard Mikkelsen Sophie Dillen Richard FischerAbstract
Aim of study: The main aim of the work was to summarize availability, quality and comparability of on-going European Research and Monitoring Networks (ERMN), based on the results of a COST FP0903 Action questionnaire carried out in September 2010 and May 2012. Area of study: The COST Action FP0903 involves 29 European countries and 4 non-COST institutions from USA, Morocco and Tunisia. In this study, the total of 22 replies to the questionnaire from 18 countries were included. Materials and methods: Based on the feedback from the Action FP0903 countries, the most popular European Networks were identified. Thereafter, the access to the network database, available quality assurance/quality control procedures and publication were described. Finally, the so-called “Supersites” concept, defined as a “highly instrumented research infrastructure, for both research and monitoring of soil-plant-atmosphere interactions” was discussed. Main results: The result of the survey indicate that the vast majority of the Action FP0903 countries participate in the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forest (ICP Forest). The multi-disciplinary International Cooperative Programme on Integrated Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems (ICPIM) is the second most widespread forest programme. Research highlights: To fully understand biochemical cycles in forest ecosystems, long-term monitoring is needed. Hence, a network of “Supersites”, is proposed. The application of the above infrastructure can be an effective way to attain a better integration of research and monitoring networks at forest sites in Europe. Key words: supersites; European Research Monitoring Networks; harmonization; forest.