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.
2010
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Elspeth Macdonald Ben Davies Peder GjerdrumAbstract
In September 2009, a group of forest managers and researchers from Scotland, Sweden and Norway took part in a five day study tour in Norway. The tour focused on Scots pine forest management, timber processing and utilisation. It included visits to Scots pine forests, timber processing and manufacturing plants and the Norwegian Forest Extension Institute, which provides training to woodland owners and the wider forestry sector. The management and utilisation of Scots pine in the Northern Periphery area part of Norway was strongly influenced by a long tradition of family-owned farm forests (integrated with other land uses), local processing and widespread use of timber in construction. A key focus was the need to add value locally through secondary processing such as off-site construction methods for houses, preservative treatment of material for outdoor uses, and defect cutting and profiling for joinery.
Authors
Lars Olav Brandsæter H Fogelfors Haldor Fykse E Graglia RK Jensen Bo Melander J Salonen P VanhalaAbstract
The success of weed management aimed at depleting the regenerative structures of perennial weeds depends largely on the sprouting activity of rhizome and root buds. Seasonal variation in sprouting of these buds on Cirsium arvense, Sonchus arvensis and Elymus repens was studied for plants collected from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. At 2-week intervals from July to October, 5-cm fragments of roots or rhizomes were cut from plants grown in buckets and planted into soil in pots, half of which were placed immediately into growth chambers at 18 degrees C for 4 weeks. The other half of the pots were initially placed in a dark room at 2 degrees C for 4 weeks before being transferred to the same growth chamber, also for 4 weeks. During the growth chamber period, the numbers of emerged shoots in each pot were counted weekly. The sprouting activity of C. arvense and E. repens was relatively uniform during this period and bud dormancy was not apparent. In all ecotypes of S. arvensis, innate bud dormancy developed during the latter part of the growing season. For all three species, differences in sprouting readiness were found among ecotypes. The results imply that C. arvense and E. repens are more likely to be controlled by mechanical measures in autumn than S. arvensis.
Authors
Amy Marie Patrin Oen Magnus Sparrevik David Nicholas Barton Sekhar Udaya Nagothu Gerald Jan Ellen Gijs D. Breedveld Jens Skei Adriaan SlobAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
In Norway, Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana) and subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa) are the dominant Christmas tree species, and noble fir (A. procera) the dominant bough plant species. To determine if fungi found to cause diseases on fir in Norway might be seed borne, samples from twelve seed lots, including Nordmann fir from Austria, Georgia and Russia, subalpine fir from Canada and Norway and noble fir from Norway were tested using agar plate methods (PDA and WA). The most important finding was that Sydowia polyspora was present on seed from all firs from all countries (nine samples infected, 0.5 - 85 % infected seeds). Recently, it has been demonstrated in Norway that this fungus is the cause of current season needle necrosis (CSNN), which is considered a major disease in the Christmas tree and bough production both in Europe and USA. Sirococcus coniguenus was found in a Norwegian A. procera seed lot (31% infected seeds), which to our knowledge is the first report of this pathogen on fir seeds. Caloscypha fulgens was detected on subalpine fir seed from Canada. In addition the following fungal genera were detected: Acremoniella, Acremonium, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Botrytis, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Diaphorte, Dictyopolyschema, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Genicularia, Mucor, Neonectria, Penicillium, Phoma, Rhizopus, Sordaria, Trichoderma, Trichothecium, and an unidentified fungus.
Authors
Inge M. Hanssen Rick Mumford Dag-Ragnar Blystad Isabel Cortez Beata Hasiów-Jaroszewska Dimitrinka Hristova Israel Pagán Ana-Maria Pereira Jeff Peters Henryk Pospieszny Maja Ravnikar Ineke Stijger Laura Tomassoli Christina Varveri René van der Vlugt Steen Lykke NielsenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Kjell Andreassen Birger Solberg Øyvind JacobsenAbstract
Four forest management systems, clear cutting, mountain forest selective cutting (50-90 % of volume removed), group system and single tree selection system (20-50 % of volume removed) were compared in two Norway spruce mountain forest stands. The sites are located 650 m.a.s.l., which is about 100 meter below the alpine tree line in this region. The background for this experiment was that the forest owner wanted to examine alternatives to clear cutting with silvicultural methods where some trees were left in the stand to protect regenerating against frost, to maintain biodiversity, and for recreational reasons in such areas close to the tree line. In twenty 400 m2 systematically sampled plots we assessed or measured vegetation type, regeneration, diameter of all trees > 2.5 dbh, tree heights, annual growth from increment cores, tree quality, old stumps and windthrows. In addition, time studies of the four harvesting methods were performed close to each other in the area. The following mean values were estimated in the two stands before cutting: Area 7 hectares, volume 170 m3/ha, mean diameter 23 cm, mean height 18 m, stems 550/ha, seedlings 150/ha, productivity 3 m3/ha/yr. The diameter distribution of the two stands was almost similar to a reverse J-shaped curve, but a larger amount of trees in some medium and large diameter classes were observed. However, most of the 230 m3 harvested trees were medium and large sized. Annual increment indicated growth reactions 3 years after harvesting. The operational costs were estimated according to time studies of the harvesting and extraction of 580 trees. Analyses of net present value, where bare land value and all future revenues and expenses were estimated and discounted backwards to the harvesting year, indicates less profitability for group selection and selection system than clear cutting and mountain forest selective cutting.
Abstract
Side effects related to liming have been studied in four dimictic lakes (553-642 ma.s.l.; 59 degrees 57'N) in Finnemarka, a forested area in Southern Norway with poor catchment buffer capacity. Data series from lake profiles have been sampled two decades apart; 10 years prior to liming and after 10 years of liming. Water samples were collected during spring after ice breakup and during summer after the development of thermal stratification. Before liming, there were very low concentrations of bicarbonate (HCO3-; or alkalinity) in the lakes. After 10 years of liming, up to 90% of the ions in hypolimnion originate from lime products. Hence, liming strengthened the chemical stratification and increased the vertical stability. Differences in chemocline developments between lakes were explained by differences in physical properties, i.e. their depth/surface area ratio. The chemocline developments lead to increased concentrations of organic matter in the hypolimnion with a subsequent reduction in oxygen concentrations. Lime additions during late spring, as an alternative to early autumn, lead to pronounced anoxic conditions in the hypolimnion.
Abstract
In terrestrial ecotoxicology there is a serious lack of data for potential hazards posed by engineered nanoparticles (ENPs). This is partly due to complex interactions between ENPs and the soil matrix, but also to the lack of suitable toxicological end points in organisms that are exposed to ENPs in a relevant manner. Earthworms are key organisms in terrestrial ecosystems, but so far only physiological end points of low sensitivity have been used in ecotoxicity studies with ENPs. We exposed the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris to silver nanoparticles and measured their impact on apoptosis in different tissues. Increased apoptotic activity was detected in a range of tissues both at acute and sublethal concentrations (down to 4 mg/kg soil). Comparing exposure in water and soil showed reduced bioavailability in soil reflected in the apoptotic response. Apoptosis appears to be a sensitive end point and potentially a powerful tool for quantifying environmental hazards of ENPs.
Abstract
The aim of this study is to use airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to simulate synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) elevation data [digital elevation model (DEM)] from the spatial distribution of scatterers. A Shuttle Radar Topography Mission X-band DEM data set and an ALS data set from a spruce-dominated forest area are used. A 3-D grid of voxels is made from the spatial distribution of ALS first echoes. The slant angle penetration rate of the SAR microwaves (P-SAR) is simulated to be a function of the vertical ALS penetration rate (P-ALS), i.e., P-SAR = P-ALS(4). The InSAR DEM and heights above the ground are fairly well reproduced by the simulator. A total least squares regression model between the simulated and measured InSAR DEMs has an R-2 value of 0.99 and a slope of 1 : 1. By subtracting the ALS-based terrain heights (digital terrain model), we obtained InSAR heights, which were reproduced with an R-2 value of 0.78, a slope of 0.96, and a root-mean-square error of 2.3 m. With the simulator, it was demonstrated how a disturbance event would affect the InSAR height. Unfortunately, the relationship was curvilinear and concave, which means that the method is not very sensitive to weak disturbances. This might be partly overcome by using a more vertical incidence angle of the SAR microwaves. The simulator might be used for validation or ground truthing of the InSAR data, as well as gaining understanding of how vegetation changes affect the InSAR data.