Hopp til hovedinnholdet

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.

2012

To document

Abstract

Interspecific interaction among sympatric ungulates is important in management and conservation. We investigated behavioral interference between sympatric wild or semidomestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and sheep (Ovis aries) in two field studies and one enclosure experiment. For free-ranging wild and semidomestic reindeer, interference between the two species increased with decreasing distances, occurring only at less than 200 m and 30 m, for wild and semidomestic reindeer, respectively, and neither species consistently dominated the other. In a controlled, duplicated experiment we tested interference and confrontations at the feeding patch level among semidomestic reindeer and sheep within 40 × 50 m enclosures. When new reindeer or sheep were introduced into enclosures already occupied by reindeer, new reindeer resulted in significantly more interference and confrontations among individuals compared to new sheep; i.e., intraspecific interference was more prevalent than interspecific interference at equal densities. For all study areas, confrontations decreased with time after “first encounter,” indicating cohabituation. A sympatric use of pastures was not visually disruptive for recorded grazing behavior for either species.

To document

Abstract

Residues of pharmaceuticals present in wastewater and sewage sludge are of concern due to their transfer to aquatic- and terrestrial food chains and possible adverse effects on non-targeted organisms. In the present work, uptake and translocation of metformin, an anti-diabetic II medicine, by edible plant species cultivated in agricultural soil has been investigated in greenhouse experiment. Metformin demonstrated a high uptake and translocation to oily seeds of rape (Brassica napus cv. Sheik and Brassica rapa cv. Valo). Expressed as an average bioconcentration factor, (BCF, plant concentration over initial concentration in soil, both in dry weight), BCF as high as 21.72 was measured. In comparison, BCFs for grains of the cereals wheat, barley and oat were in the range of 0.29 - 1.35. Uptake and translocation to fruits and vegetables of tomato (BCFs 0.02-0.06), squash (BCFs 0.12-0.18) and bean (BCF 0.88) were also low compared to rape. BCFs for carrot, potato and leaf forage Brassica napus cv. Sola were similar (BCF 1-4). Guanylurea, a known degradation product of metformin by microorganisms in activated sludge, was found in seeds from barley, beans and potatoes. The mechanisms for transport of metformin and guanidine in plants are still unknown, whereas organic cation transporters (OCTs) in mammals are known to actively transport such compounds and may guide the way for further understanding of mechanisms also in plants.