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.
2011
Abstract
Fungal hyphae in soil, although crucial in the C-dynamics, are difficult to quantify. Here we present a simple method for fungal biomass assessment and possibility for up-scaling. Originally we used root nets to quantify fine roots in drought-stressed Picea abies stand as described by Lukac and Godbold (2010).Root nets (7 cm wide, mesh size 1 mm) were inserted vertically to 20 cm depth, twice during the course of one year. When root nets were extracted from the soil, large amounts of hyphae were growing on and through the nets in the control plot, whereas little or no hyphae were growing in nets from the drought-stressed plot.This observation led us to consider root nets as a promising tool to quantify hyphae as well. The inert net material together with its regular geometric pattern is well suited for obtaining fungal biomass estimates and provide a material for further molecular analysis of fungal species. We will describe a proposal how to scan the hyphae, calculate the biomass and upscale to the soil volume unit.
Authors
Bernt-Håvard ØyenAbstract
Bruken av furuskogressursene og trender knyttet til ressursbruken i Vest-Norge er beskrevet. Artikkelen gir råd om skjøtsel av furuskog vestafjells og angir data og noen økonomisk tallsstørrelser knyttet til gårdsskogbruk basert på furuskogressurser i dag.
Abstract
Wood protection in the last century has mainly been based on chemical treatments. Additionally, the type of construction of wooden buildings and the choice of wood species play an important role. Degradation of wood is not only caused by fungi or bacteria but also by insects. Termites have been a potential risk to wooden structures not only in the warmer regions of our continents but also beyond the regions of their natural habitat due to transport of wood. A new treatment, Electro osmotic pulsing technology (PLEOT), has been tested in lab termite tests and fungi tests. The two choice and non-choice termite tests were carried out using different duration of exposure and different initial wood moisture content. The results show growth of mould fungi on untreated wood samples with high initial wood moisture content after 4 weeks of termite testing whereas PLEOT treatment strongly reduced the development of moulds. Termite mortality was high on untreated wood samples with high initial moisture content but not on wood samples with low initial moisture content. This is explained by mould growth on the wetter samples, which termites don\"t tolerate in large amounts. The loss of wood mass due to termite attack could be reduced by using PLEOT. The mortality of termites was higher in test systems with protected wood samples than untreated samples. PLEOT could be used successfully against fungal attack. The treatment reduced on the one hand mould growth in a termite test and on the other hand reduced strongly the attack of brown rot fungi in a lab test.
Abstract
A changing climate will likely influence the selection of tree species in the future, and this may in turn affect the size of the pools and fluxes of carbon. Tree species differ in growth rate, fine-root turnover and quality of litter and tend to produce different types of understory vegetation. In Sweden three tree species (Norway spruce [Picea abies] 43%, Scots pine [Pinus sylvestris] 39% and birch [Betula spp.] 11%) dominate. In the present study we used field experiments in southern Sweden to test if these tree species differed in root distribution and turnover.
Abstract
Biodiversity is assumed to have high value for many people, but the necessary preservation also incurs a cost for the forest owner. Typically, studies of this cost are at the stand level, and hence, not very accurate as the cost may vary even within the stand. In this work, we use a 1m×1m grid, generated from LIDAR data, to estimate the cost for harvesting and forwarding. The method could be utilized to calculate compensation, and to select between key woodland habitats to minimise the cost. In three of four test cases, the main cost was reduced harvested volume, but in one case the key woodland habitat also made the harvesting operations more expensive.
Authors
Daniele Castagneri Ken Olaf StoraunetAbstract
A long-term increase in radial tree growth has been reported in tropical (Lloyd & Farquhar 2008), temperate (Spiecker 1996, Voelker et al. 2006), alpine (Rolland et al. 1998) and boreal forests (Hofgaard et al. 1999) over the last decades. Variations in forest growth patterns have been ascribed to different causes, such as longer growing seasons due to climate warming (Hu et al. 2010), changes in land management practices (Hunter & Shuck, 2002), nitrogen deposition (Magnani et al. 2007), and atmospheric CO2 enhancement (Voelker et al. 2006). Tree-ring analyses provide detailed information on the past growth of forests. In order to assess the effect of climate change on forest growth, non-climatic variation should be removed from treering series. The effect of endogenous (inter-tree competition) and exogenous (insects attacks, fires, storms, human influence, etc.) disturbances on tree-ring series can be detected and reduced by considering trees from different sites. Furthermore, as tree-ring width generally decreases as trees grow older and larger, age-related growth trend should be removed, to preserve climatic lowfrequency variability of chronologies. Different detrending methods used to remove non-climatic variations need to be adapted to the objectives of a particular study....
Authors
Kjell Andreassen Bernt-Håvard ØyenAbstract
Fourteen Nordic increment functions have been validated by use of with a test data set from long-term research plots in Norway of even-aged, pure stands of Scots pine, Birch and Norway spruce. In selected functions from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden measures of site productivity, mean tree size and various stand characteristics are represented. Different models display both strengths and weaknesses in their predicting ability. Some measures of precision and bias have been calculated and the functions are ranked due to their performance. Basal area increment models for spruce and pine from Sweden, and a Finish volume increment model for birch has the best fit to the Norwegian test data. Some of the growth models developed outside Norway estimate the growth with about the same accuracy as the models frequently used and developed in Norway. The results indicate that forest conditions and traditional even-aged forest management practice in the Nordic countries seem to have small influence on the relative growth of even-aged stands. By careful recalibration of existing functions from other Nordic countries with data from Norway, a reasonable accuracy could be achieved in Norwegian forest with a reduction of the bias.
Authors
Bruce Talbot Morten NittebergAbstract
In the coastal region of Norway, large volumes of relatively inaccessible plantation timber are maturing for harvest. The economic feasibility of accessing much of this timber has limited the level of harvesting activity considerably. Harvesting planners are faced with the classic dilemma of finding the appropriate level of investment in infrastructure, as against inoptimal transportation. In this paper, we present results from a simple deterministic simulation carried out to illustrate the efficiency frontiers of three transport methods, one of which requires a substantial investment in road upgrading. Results depend on assumptions made, but clearly show that in these conditions, upgrading roads for truck+trailer transport should be evaluated on a cases by case basis. Forest road length and condition, public road distance to conversion site, and investment level all play important roles in the decision structure. In the coastal regions, road upgrades would generally need to be justified by benefits other than timber harvesting alone.
Authors
Bernt-Håvard ØyenAbstract
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr) is native to the Pacific North West of America and was introduced to Western Europe in the early 19th century. It is now an important commercial species along the extreme western seaboard of Europe – namely Ireland and Great Britain – and this is where most progress has been made in the area of selection and breeding. Sitka spruce has been the subject of more limited selection and breeding work in some other European countries where it is of secondary or minor significance - Denmark, France, Germany, and Norway. These programmes have now effectively come to a close due to perceived lack of importance. In Sweden Sitka spruce is being planted at an increasing rate and is seen as a species of great potential in the light of climate change. This monograph presents details and statistics relating to Sitka spruce breeding across Europe. It summarises the work carried out to date (plus trees, field testing, orchards), the gains achieved, knowledge of genetic relationships between selection traits, and acts as a conduit to further references for the interested reader.
Authors
Felix Herzog Katalin Balázs Peter Dennis Tetyana Dyman Wendy Fjellstad Jürgen Friedel Salah Garchi Philippe Jeanneret Rob Jongman Maximilian Kainz Gerardo Moreno Charles Nkwiine Maurizio Paoletti Philippe Pointereau Jean-Pierre Sarthou Siyka Stoyanova Davide ViaggiAbstract
Farmland biodiversity is an important component of Europe’s biodiversity. More than half the continent is occupied by agricultural lands. They host specific habitats and species, which - in addition to their conservation values they provide - perform vital ecological functions. Indicators are needed to enable the monitoring of biodiversity at the farm level for the purpose of assessing the impacts of farming practices and of agricultural policies. Our research aims at identifying farmland biodiversity indicators which are scientifically sound, operational and relevant for stakeholders. We screened the literature for farmland biodiversity indicators and, in an iterative process with stakeholders, we identified 28 candidate indicators for genetic, species and habitat diversity. Those selected biodiversity indicators, as well as 14 management indicators that are known to relate to biodiversity, were assessed in 12 case study regions across Europe. Each case study region represents a typical production system (i.e. specialist field crops, horticulture and permanent crops; specialist grazing with cattle and other livestock types; mixed crop and livestock farming). In each region, 8-20 farms were randomly selected, mostly within the two groups of organic and non-organic farms, to obtain a gradient of farming intensity. Indicators were measured applying standardized sampling procedures and farm interviews. Sampling effort was recorded in order to assess the cost of indicator measurement. For each case study region, biodiversity indicators are presently being evaluated in conjunction with management indicators. Surrogate indicators will be proposed when possible and indicators will be prioritized taking into account their validity, practicality, cost and priority for stakeholders. Based on preliminary results, the presentation will focus on the specific challenges of farm level monitoring, addressing issues of sampling design within the farms and up-scaling from plot to farm to region. Part of this research was funded by the EU FP7 contract KBBE-2B-227161. For more information consult www.biobio-indicator.org