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.
2022
Authors
Håvard SteinshamnAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Årolilja Svedal JørgensrudAbstract
What's the matter? A symposium inquiring into contemporary material practices in design; how are materials designed, grown, made, reused and recycled. A set of talks, workshops and exhibitions addressing why these matter, now more than ever.
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No abstract has been registered
Authors
Trine Eggen Heidi Amlund Robert Barneveld Aksel Bernhoft Gunnar Sundstøl Eriksen Belinda Eline Flem Torsten Källqvist Line Emilie Tvedt Sverdrup Stefan Trapp Anne Falk Øgaard Christiane Kruse Fæste Erik Jan Robert Lock Einar Ringø Håvard Steinshamn Robin Ørnsrud Åshild KrogdahlAbstract
Key words: VKM, risk assessment, Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment, Norwegian Environment Agency, potential toxic elements (PTEs), fertiliser, soil improver, fertiliser products, growing media, circular economy, circulation of organic fertilisers, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium Cr(tot) (Cr(III) and Cr(VI)), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn). Background and purpose of the report The potentially toxic elements (PTE) arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium Cr(tot) (Cr(III) and Cr(VI)), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) occur as ingredients or contaminants in many fertilisers, soil improvers, engineered soil and growing media. Application of these fertiliser products might represent a risk towards the environment, farm animals and humans, particularly when applied annually over several years. The present risk assessment evaluates the application of selected fertilisers according to certain scenarios for representative Norwegian agricultural areas, from Troms in the North to Ås in Southeastern and Time in Southwestern Norway, with different soil properties, precipitation and PTE concentration in present agricultural soil. There is an increasing trend to produce locally (e.g. in urban farming) and home-grown vegetables that are cultivated in engineered soil and growth media. The maximum levels (MLs) set for PTEs in different organic fertilisers, engineered soil and growing media for use in urban farming, home growing and the cultivation of vegetables and garden fruits, and a set of MLs also for application in agricultural cultivation of crops, have been evaluated. Environmental fate processes and the transfer of PTEs have been modelled and the environmental risks for terrestrial and aquatic organisms, including from secondary poisoning have been estimated. Potential risks to humans and farmed animals by increased exposure to PTEs from, respectively, agriculturally produced crops, vegetables cultivated at home and urban farming or forage and grazing have been evaluated. The recycling of nutrients is urgently needed to achieve circular economy, but the derived sustainable products have to be safe, which requires the introduction of and adherence to science-based maximum levels of unwanted substances (e.g. pollutants). This assessment evaluates consequences of the application of different fertiliser products: mineral P fertilisers, manure from cattle, pig, poultry and horse, fish sludge, digestates and sewage sludge - in order to identify PTE sources with potential environmental, animal and human health risks, and to evaluate the appropriateness of the current MLs regarding different applications of organic-based fertilisers, engineered soil and growing media at present, and in a 100-year perspective. Approach and methods applied The approach for environmental and health risk assessments builds on previous work performed for hazardous substances in soil (e.g. VKM 2019, VKM 2014, VKM, 2009, Six and Smolders, 2014). Concentrations of PTEs in soil over time were calculated using a mass balance model, which considers the input by atmospheric deposition, use of fertilisers and soil improvers, as well as loss by leaching, run-off and plant uptake. The resulting first-order differential equation was solved analytically and implemented into Excel®. Run-off and loss by leaching were estimated from data on precipitation, infiltrating fraction and run-off fraction of the water under consideration of the distribution coefficient Kd for the concentration ratio of bulk soil-to-water. This Kd value takes aging sufficiently into account and is thus more realistic than those derived from batch tests. The Kd was estimated separately for each region using established regression equations, with soil pH, organic matter content and clay content as predictors. ...........
Abstract
Denne rapporten gir resultater fra andre år (2021) i prosjektet"ROBO-GOLF: Bedre gresskvalitet, redusert gjødselkostnad og mindre bruk av fossil energi ved bruk av robotklippere på fairway og semi-rough". Arbeidspakke (WP1) omfatter forsøk med sammenlikning av robotklipper og manuell klipper (sylinder-klipper på fairway, 15 mm klippehøyde; rotorklipper på semirough, 35 mm klippehøyde) til ulike grasarter. Resultatene viste forskjeller mellom robotklipping og manuell klipping, som for det meste ble sett på semi-rough når det gjelder sykdommer, ugress (hvitkløver) og jordpakking. En tendens til lavere sykdomsforekomst med robotklipping ble sett spesielt på semi-rough i alle arter på sensommeren/høsten, men også i Agrostis capillaris på fairway. Mer hvitkløver på de robotklippede ruter med Lolium perenne i semi-rough resulterte i et lavere helhetsinntrykk. I arbeidspakke 2 (WP2) ble nitrogen (N) gjødseleffekten av retur av klipp med robot- vs. manuell klipping studert på fairway etablert i en blanding bestående av Poa pratensis, Agrostis capillaris og Festuca rubra. Årlige N-rater på 0, 30, 60, 90 og 120 kg/ha/år, hver delt inn i 6 like tilførsler, ble brukt over sesongen. Innsamling av klipp én gang per måned viste at tilbakeføring av klipp både for manuell og robotklipping økte gressveksten sammenlignet med når klippet ble fjernet. Samtidig var N-konsentrasjonen i klippet høyere om våren og forsommeren, men ikke på sensommeren og høsten. Helhetsinntrykket av gresset viste samme høye vurdering for robot- og manuell klipp. I WP3 ble demonstrasjonsforsøk med robotklippere sammenlignet med sylinderklippere på fairway og rotorklippere på semi-rough videreført fra 2020 på fem golfbaner i Norden. Helhetsinntrykk, dekning av ugress og sykdommer og energibruk ble registrert månedlig fra mai til september. Helhetsinntrykk i robotklippede ruter var stort sett lik manuelt klippede ruter på fairway og semi-rough. På noen datoer resulterte robotklipping i signifikant høyere helhetsinntrykk enn manuell klipping.
Abstract
Since 2020, the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy (NIBIO) Turfgrass Research Group has been studying agronomic, environmental, and economic consequences of switching to light-weight robotic mowers on golf course fairways and semiroughs. Preliminary results from field trials in 2020 and 2021 at the NIBIO Turfgrass Research Center Landvik, Norway, and demonstration trials on one golf course in each of the five Nordic countries, showed that turfgrass quality with robotic mowing was similar to manual mowing. At Landvik, robotic mowing resulted in less disease in both fairway and semirough but more infestation of white clover than manual mowing in the semirough. A survey of players’ attitudes to robotic mowers conducted on the five golf courses showed that about 90% of the players were positive or neutral to the new technology. However, respondents asked for better adaptation of the local rules on the golf course and even the international rules of golf to robotic mowing.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Gry Alfredsen Christian Brischke Richard Acquah Tolgay Akkurt Per Otto Flæte Eva Frühwald Hansson Geir Wæhler Gustavsen Hasan Hosseini Targo Kalamees Jaan Kers Villu Kukk Roja Modaresi Jonas Niklewski Anna Sandak Sandak Jakub Philip van NiekerkAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Aims Root traits associated with resource foraging, including fine-root branching intensity, root hair, and mycorrhiza, may change in soils that vary in rock fragment content (RFC), while how these traits covary at the level of individual root branching order is largely unknown. Methods We subjected two xerophytic species, Artemisia vestita (subshrub) and Bauhinia brachycarpa (shrub), to increasing RFC gradients (0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%, v v− 1) in an arid environment and measured fine-root traits related to resource foraging. Results Root hair density and mycorrhizal colonization of both species decreased with increasing root order, but increased in third- or fourth-order roots at high RFCs (50% or 75%) compared to low RFCs. The two species tend to produce more root hairs than mycorrhizas under the high RFCs. For both species, root hair density and mycorrhizal colonization intensity were negatively correlated with root length and root diameter across root order and RFCs. Rockiness reduced root branching intensity in both species comparing with rock-free soil. At the same level of RFC, A. vestita had thicker roots and lower branching intensity than B. brachycarpa and tended to produce more root hairs. Conclusion Our results suggest the high RFC soil conditions stimulated greater foraging functions in higher root orders. We found evidence for a greater investment in root hairs and mycorrhizal symbioses as opposed to building an extensive root system in rocky soils. The two species studied, A. vestita and B. brachycarpa, took different approaches to foraging in the rocky soil through distinctive trait syndromes of fine-root components.