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.
2007
Authors
Peder GjerdrumAbstract
Predicting sawn timber yield continues to be a challenging task, influenced by several stochastic processes. In this paper, a simulation model for main yield and sideboards in softwood sawing is presented. Predicting sawn timber yield usually involves either straight and notional mathematics, or empiric figures, both with inherent drawbacks. Most geometric models fail to take into consideration random variation: in log position when entering the saw, no log being perfectly straight, smooth and circular, sawing accuracy, etc., and therefore systematically overestimate the yield, in particular the sideboards...
Abstract
Host tree terpenes can influence attraction of conifer-infesting bark beetles to their aggregation pheromones, and both synergistic and inhibitory effects have been reported. We tested a gradient of ratios of (–)-α-pinene, the predominant monoterpene in Norway spruce, to the pheromone of Ips typographus, a major pest of Norway spruce. Attraction of I. typographus increased as the release rate of (–)-α-pinene increased. The two highest (–)-α-pinene : pheromone ratios (526 : 1 and 2595 : 1) attracted twice as many I. typographus as pheromone alone, whereas low to intermediate ratios (56 : 1, 274 : 1) did not differ from pheromone alone. Our results are in agreement with a proposed model, which suggests that bark beetles display unique response profiles to host terpenes depending on the physiological condition of the host trees that they typically colonize. Ips typographus, which is an aggressive species capable of colonizing and killing healthy trees, showed an increased attraction to monoterpene : pheromone ratios, and this may be high enough to inhibit attraction of less aggressive beetle species typically colonizing dead, dying or stressed trees. Attraction of associates of I. typographus was also modified by (–)-α-pinene. Ips duplicatus, a competitor of I. typographus, showed increased attraction to the pheromone of I. typographus across all concentrations of (–)-α-pinene.
Authors
Patrik Flisberg Bertil Lidén Mikael RönnqvistAbstract
In this paper, we consider an operational routing problem to decide the daily routes of logging trucks in forestry. The industrial problem is difficult and includes aspects such as pickup and delivery with split pickups, multiple products, time windows, several time periods, multiple depots, driver changes and a heterogeneous truck fleet. In addition, the problem size is large and the solution time limited. We describe a two-phase solution approach which transforms the problem into a vehicle routing problem with time windows. In the first phase, we solve an LP problem in order to find a destination of flow from supply points to demand points. Based on this solution, we create transport nodes each of which defines the origin(s) and destination for a full truckload. In phase two, we make use of a standard tabu search method to combine these transport nodes, which can be considered to be customers in vehicle routing problems, into actual routes. The standard tabu search method is extended to consider some new features. The solution approach is implemented as part of a newly developed decision support system and we report on tests made on a set of industrial cases from major forest companies in Sweden.
Abstract
River floods may cause considerable damage. Water management strategies intend tomoderate or mitigate the severe effects of extreme discharge events. In this context,techniques for the detection and attribution of changes is of crucial importance. Extremeflood events seem to occur more frequently in recent decades in central Europe.It is anticipated that climate change and weather regime shifts may contribute to this...
Authors
Svein Ole BorgenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Arnstein Staverløkk May-Guri Sæthre Eline HågvarAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Arnt Kristian GjertsenAbstract
A multi-source forest inventory (MSFI) method has been developed for use in the Norwegian National Forest Inventory (NFI). The method is based on a k-nearest neighbour rule and uses field plots from the NFI, land cover maps, and satellite image data from Landsat Thematic Mapper. The inventory method is used to produce maps of selected forest variables and to estimate the selected forest variables for large areas such as municipalities. In this study, focus has been on the qualitative variables ‘dominating species group\" and ‘development class\" because these variables are of central interest to forest managers. A mid-summer Landsat 5 TM scene was used as image data, and all NFI plots inside the scene were used as a reference dataset. The relationship between the spectral bands and the forest variables was analysed, and it was found that the levels of association were low. A leave-one-out method based on the reference dataset was used to estimate the pixel-level accuracies. They were found to be relatively low with 63% agreement for species groups. An independent control survey was available for a municipality and estimates from the MSFI were compared to it. The levels of error were quite high. It was concluded that the large area estimates were biased by the reference dataset.
Authors
Anna Arneberg Per Holm Nygaard Odd Egil Stabbetorp Bjarni D. Sigurdsson Edda Sigurdis OddsdóttirAbstract
The aim of this study was to investigate variation in decomposition and vegetation due to afforestation. The ICEWOODS sites containing stands of different tree species and age in the western (Skorradalur) and eastern (Hallormsstaður) parts of Iceland were investigated during the summer of 2004. These stands were compared with treeless pastures. The planted stands represent chronosequences, i.e., different age classes within each tree species were studied. Decomposition was studied by a cotton strip assay. Cotton strip decomposition increased with incubation time and decreased with soil depth. The tree species can be ranked according to increasing decomposition in the following series: lodgepole pine < Sitka spruce< Siberian larch < mountain birch. In general, decomposition decreased with increasing age of the stands...
Authors
Zhihui Yang Bal Ram Singh Sissel HansenAbstract
Farmyard manure (FYM) and fertilizer applications are important management practices used to improve nutrient status and organic matter in soils and thus to increase crop productivity and carbon (C) sequestration. However, the long-term effects of fertilization on C, nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) associated with aggregates, especially on S are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of more than 80 years of FYM (medium level of 40 Mg ka(-1) and high level of 60 Mg ka(-1)) and mineral fertilizer (NPKS and NK) on the concentrations and pools of C, N, and S and on their ratios in bulk soil, dry aggregates and water stable aggregates on an Aquic Eutrocryepts soil in South-eastern Norway. A high level of FYM and NPKS application increased the proportion of small dry aggregates (<0.6 mm) by 8%, compared with the control (without fertilizer). However, both medium and high level of FYM application increased the proportion of large water stable aggregates (>2 mm) compared with mineral fertilizer (NPKS and NK). The total C and N pools in bulk soils were also increased in FYM treatments but no such increase was seen with mineral fertilizer treatments. The increased total S pool was only found under high level of FYM application. Water stable macroaggregates (>2 and 1-2 mm) and microaggregates (<0. 106 mm) contained higher concentrations of C, N and S than the other aggregate sizes, but due to their abundance, medium size water stable aggregates (0.5-1 mm) contained higher total pools of all three elements. High level of FYM application increased the C concentration in water stable aggregates >2, 0.5-1 and <0. 106 mm, and increased the S concentration in most aggregates as compared with unfertilized soils. Higher ON, C/S and N/S ratios were found both in large dry aggregates (>20 and 6-20 mm) and in the smallest aggregates (<0.6 mm) than in other aggregate sizes. In water stable aggregates, the C/N ratio generally increased with decreasing aggregate size. However, macroaggregates (>2 mm) showed higher N/S ratios than microaggregates (<0. 106 mm). We can thus conclude, that long-term application of high amounts of FYM resulted in C, N and S accumulation in bulk soil, and C and S accumulation in most aggregates, but that the accumulation pattern was dependent on aggregate size and the element (C, N and S) considered.(C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Authors
Zhihui Yang Bal Ram Singh Sissel Hansen Zhengyi Hu Hugh RileyAbstract
Understanding soil sulfur pools and associated aggregates S fractions can provide a platform for monitoring S dynamics in soils. A long-term experiment established in 1922 on an Aquic Eutrocryepts in South-eastern Norway was chosen to investigate the effects of long-term fertilization on S fractions in bulk soil and those associated with aggregates. Chloroform fumigation-extraction was used to determine Microbial biomass S (MBS) and the wet chemical analysis method was used to fractionate soil S into ester S (hydriodic acid reducible S), carbon-bonded S (Raney nickel reducible S) and residual S (Raney nickel non-reducible S). High farmyard manure (FYM) application resulted in higher MBS in bulk soil than nitrogen + potassium (NK) application, but it did not differ significantly from the control. Application of FYM at 60 Mg ha(-1) resulted into accumulation of total S, total organic S and carbon-bonded Sin bulk soils, while mineral fertilizer (nitrogen+phosphorus+potassium+sulfur [NPKS] and NK) and the medium rate of FYM did not increase the accumulation of total S and organic S fractions. The macroaggregate sizes (> 2 and 1-2 mm) and the finest aggregate size (< 0.106 mm) showed significantly greater total S concentration than other aggregate sizes. Ester S and residual S were predominant organic S fractions and they accounted for 39 to 52% and 38 to 51% of the organic S, respectively. The macroaggregate sizes (> 2 and 1-2 mm) contained the highest ester S, but microaggregates (< 0.106 mm) exhibited higher carbon-bonded S and residual S than other aggregates. In conclusion, the accumulation of S was dependent on fertilizer type, the rate of FYM application and aggregate sizes.