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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.

2002

Abstract

The root collar diameter and the height:diameter ratio are of particular importance in container-grown seedlings where a high density in the containers may produce spindly seedlings. Temperature regimes and light quality are known to affect plant growth.The aim of this study was to identify responses in Picea abies (L.) Karst. seedlings grown with light providing different red:far-red ratios and under temperature regimes with alternating day (DT) and night temperature (NT) from negative (DT NT) difference (DIF) between DT and NT. Experiments were conducted in controlled environment chambers and in a daylight phytotron.Only limited thermoperiodic responses appeared in P . abies seedlings with respect to seedling height and dry weight accumulation. The formation of terminal buds, however, was clearly delayed in seedlings grown at negative DIF.The results indicate a requirement for day extension light that is high in far-red, to prevent terminal bud formation under natural short-day conditions. An extended study should be conducted to clarify the minimum level of light intensity and the optimal light quality needed to prevent terminal bud formation under natural short-day conditions.

Abstract

Growth effects in a sub-alpine, low-yield Norway spruce forest in southeast Norway are reported. Sixteen sample plots of 400 m2, established 8-9 years after a mountain forest selective (MFS) cutting in the mid-1970s, were re-investigated in 2000. The selective cutting was heavy, with a mean felling volume of 72 per cent of the standing volume. Most trees in the remaining stands responded positively with increased growth after the cutting, and this was most pronounced in small and medium sized trees. A weak relationship between standing volume before and after felling, and the actual stand volume increment in the 25-year period was revealed. The felling has stimulated natural regeneration and increased the proportion of birch. The results indicate that not more than ~65 per cent of the standing volume should be cut in a single intervention if cutting cycle is less than 50 years.

Abstract

We investigated the effects of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, and Zn) on the enzyme activity of soil denitrifying community, and tolerance to the same heavy metals as indicated by denitrification rates. We focused on the rates of nitrate reduction to N2O and the N20 reductase activity, because the ratio between these two process rates is an indicator of the community's intrinsic capacity to release N20 to the atmosphere. A sandy loam was given a single and double dose of a heavy metal mixture (single dose = 0.32, 80, 120 mg kg 1 dry soil of Cd, Cu, and Zn, respectively). Ground straw was added together with the metals to enhance microbial growth, and the soil was incubated aerobically at 15 °C for 2 months. Kinetics of production and reduction of N20 by the denitrifying community of this soil was investigated by anaerobic incubation of soil slurries or extracted bacterial cells, using glutamate as a C source. Time courses of the N20 production and reduction curves (with and without acetylene) were used to estimate kinetic parameters to characterize the community. Heavy metal tolerance was tested by exposing extracted cells to heavy metals during such anaerobic incubations. The immediate effect (after 1 day) of heavy metals was a general reduction of the denitrification rate but also to decrease the N20 reduction more than N20 production rate. N20 production was partly recovered 8 days after heavy metal introduction, and completely restored (equal to the control soil) after 2 months. In contrast, the N20 reductase activity was still not completely restored after 2 months. Exposure of extracted cells to the different heavy metals showed that soil exposure of heavy metals had induced an increased Cd-, Cu-, and Zn-tolerance of N20 reductase activity. Simulation of the NO production and reduction curves during the anaerobic incubation allowed an estimation of the apparent specific growth rate by fitting the simulated to the measured curves. Estimated growth rates were significantly lowered as the community heavy metal tolerance developed (heavy metal exposed soil after 2 months versus control soil), possibly reflecting a metabolic burden of the metal resistance mechanisms.