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
Toril Drabløs Eldhuset Berit Swensen Torild Wickstrøm Gro WollebækAbstract
We conclude that the oxalate exuded constitutively by Picea abies / Laccaria bicolor may lead to rhizosphere oxalate concentrations that are relevant for Al resistance.
Authors
Tore SkrøppaAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Ståle Størdal Gudbrand Lien J. Brian HardakerAbstract
This paper presents empirical insight into part-time and full-time property owners’ perceptions of risk and risk management strategies. In addition, the relationships between forest owners with varying degree of off-property work and property and forest owner characteristics, risk perceptions, risk management strategies and harvesting behaviour are examined. The data originate from a questionnaire responded to by forest owners in eastern Norway which were merged with 9 years of logging data. Timber price variability and institutional risks were perceived as primary sources of risk. Use of advisers from the forest owners’ association, buying personal insurance and off-property work were perceived as the most important ways to handle risk. The results show that off-property work affects to a lesser degree what forest owners perceived as important risk sources, but that risk perceptions affect to a stronger degree the ways in which risk was dealt with. The chosen risk management strategies influenced the forest owner's harvesting behaviour to some extent, but more research on the issue is needed to clarify the relationship. There was a positive relationship between owners with off-property activities and their performance as timber suppliers. Several measures, such as improved rural education, revision of some of the arrangements that regulate property mergers and support measures for increased on-property diversification may increase annual timber harvesting and reduce variability in harvesting level.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Kinga Adam Anne Kristine Søvik Tore Krogstad Arve HeistadAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Kinga Adam Tore Krogstad Lasse Vråle Anne Kristine Søvik Petter D. JenssenAbstract
Filtralite P (R) and shellsand as ideal constructed wetland substrates have been tested for their P sorption capacity, both with batch and column experiments. Two columns were filled with Filtralite PI and one column with shellsand. The shellsand (SSPS) and one of the Filtralite P (R) columns (FLSP) were loaded with a synthetic P solution, while the second Filtralite P (R) column (FLWW) was loaded with secondary wastewater. Ca, Mg, pH, and the P concentrations were measured in the inlet and the seven outlets along the height of the three vertical upflow columns for up to 303 days. An overall P removal rate of 92, 91, and 54% was measured in the columns SSPS, FLWW, and FLPS, respectively, for the entire experimental period. The comparison of FLWW and FLPS showed that FLWW kept its high P removal efficiency (91%) throughout the experimental period while the removal efficiency of FLPS decreased fast after reaching the 1 ppm effluent P concentration. The competition of other negative ions and the development of biofilm did not have a negative effect on P removal from wastewater. The batch experiments showed a better sorption capacity of Filtralite P (R) at low initial concentrations, while for high initial concentrations the shellsand sorbed more. Shellsand had, however, a higher sorption capacity in batch experiments with used column material and high initial P concentrations. The results from both the batch and the column experiment suggest that the shellsand has a more durable P sorption capacity than the Filtralite P (R) material, possibly due to the persistent high concentrations of Ca in the shellsand. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Abstract
The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of soil organic matter content and pH on plant availability of both inorganic and organic selenium (Se) fertilisers. Further, the risk of Se leaching after application of inorganic Se fertiliser was evaluated. A new interpretation of an older field study at different sites in Southern Norway showed that organic C was correlated with grain Se concentration in wheat, barley and oats, explaining up to 60% of the variation in Se concentration. Pot experiments with a peat soil, a loam soil and a peat/loam soil mixture were conducted for the present study at a range of pH values between pH 5 and 7. Below pH 6, Se uptake from added Se fertiliser was higher in the soil types with high organic matter content than in the loam. The opposite occurred at a soil pH above 6, where Se uptake was higher in the loam than in the peat soil. A simple leaching experiment after one growing season confirmed the findings of the pot experiments that Se availability in the loam soil with a relatively low organic matter content increased with increasing pH, whereas it decreased in the peat soil. Neither Se yeast, nor pure Se methionine, used as organic Se fertiliser, resulted in any significant uptake of Se when added at concentrations similar to the inorganic Se applications.
Abstract
In parts of the world, Se availability in the soil is so low that Se contents in the crops produced there are well below recommended values. Since the difference between Se essentiality and toxicity is very small, the addition of Se via fertiliser is controversial. Therefore, it is important to utilise the Se added in the best possible way. The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of soil organic matter on the one hand, and addition of organic material (slurry) on the other hand on plant availability of selenium (Se) in soil. Pot experiments with the Se addition in the form of selenate were conducted with a peat, a loam and a peat/loam mixture at a range of pH values between 5 and 6.8. Se uptake from added Se fertiliser was higher in the soil types with high organic matter content than in the loam at pH 6 and below. The opposite occurred at a soil pH above 6.4, where Se uptake was higher in the loam than in the peat. In a pot experiment using only peat and loam at two pH levels, cattle slurry added together with selenate was found to increase the Se concentration in grain at the higher pH. At the lower pH there was no significant effect of slurry on Se concentration in grain. Application of slurry also increased the residual effect of Se that had been applied to the loam in the preceding growing season. In the peat, no residual effect of Se was found either with or without the addition of slurry.
Abstract
The application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and insecticides, either alone or in tank mixture, was tested in nine on-farm trials laid out according to three different experimental plans in SE Norway (59-61ºN) from 2002 to 2006. The first plan compared the PGRs trinexapac-ethyl (125 or 250 g a.i. ha-1), chlormequat chloride (2000 g a.i. ha-1) and ethephon (240 g a.i. ha-1) applied on two dates and compared with an untreated check. On average for three trials, seed yield of the diploid cv. Nordi (origin 61ºN) increased 15 % by application of trinexapac-ethyl (250 g a.i. ha-1) at stem elongation, decreased 18 % by application of ethephone at flower bud emergence, and was not significantly affected by any of the other treatments. The diploid cv. Bjursele (two trials) and the tetraploid cv. Betty (one trial) showed no response to any of the PGRs. In the second experimental plan, laid out in two seed crops of the diploid cv. Lea in 2005, trinexapac-ethyl (125 or 250 g a.i. ha- 1) was applied alone or in tank mixture with the insecticides alpha-cypermethrin (20 g a.i. ha-1) or dimethoate (500 g a.i. ha-1) on two dates. These trials verified the positive effect of trinexapacethyl, but the insecticides had no significant effect, which is not surprising as no harmful insects were detected. The third experimental plan compared insecticides at two developmental stages in a seed crop of cv. Lea with a high occurrence of Apion seed weevil and the lesser clover leaf weevil Hypera nigrirostris. In this trial, alpha-cypermethrin increased seed yield by 14 % when applied at flower bud emergence. Effective from 2004, Moddus 250 EC (trinexapac-ethyl) was approved in Norwegian seed production of selected cultivars of red clover. Research is still underway to evaluate the need for control of various weevils.
Academic – Policies Affecting Forestry Entrepreneurship
Anssi Niskanen, Anders Lunnan, Ikuo Ota, ...
Authors
Anssi Niskanen Anders Lunnan Ikuo Ota Keith Blatner John Herbohn Lyndall Bull Ian Ferguson Gordon M HickeyAbstract
Many demand and supply-side policies impede or foster forestry entrepreneurship. A study was conducted to consolidate existing knowledge on policies influencing forestry entrepreneurship in Finland, Norway, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and the USA, and to draw conclusions on these impeding and fostering factors. From the country studies it was difficult to find common structures on policies affecting forestry entrepreneurship. This is understandable because most policies in forestry are aimed at supporting sustainable forest management, wood production and ecological services of the forests rather than entrepreneurship as such. Despite the high variety of policies applied in the study countries, it can be concluded that strict public control on forests? use and management potentially impedes forestry entrepreneurship. While these policies assist to correct market failure and to promote sustainability of forest management, they may also result into unnecessary and ineffective regulations that limit the opportunities for forestry entrepreneurship. A common feature promoting the demand for forestry entrepreneurship in some of the countries studied is the strong emphasis on forestry cooperatives, which were important institutions to support small-scale forestry entrepreneurship. In many study countries, different ad hoc programs are implemented to find new economic and entrepreneurial opportunities aside from the current use of wood and forests. Subsidies and tax incentives are commonly applied to reduce risks from making forestry investments or otherwise increase the economic return from timber production.