2021
Abstract
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Authors
Ricardo Ruiz-Peinardo Hans Pretzsch Magnus Löf Michael Heym Kamil Bielak Jorge Aldea Ignacio Barbeito Gediminas Brazaitis Lars Drössler Kšištof Godvod Aksel Granhus Stig-Olof Holm Aris Jansons Ekaterina Mackrickienė Marek Metslaid Sandra Metslaid Arne Northdurft Ditlev Otto Juel Reventlow Roman Sitko Gintarė Stankevičienė Miren del RíoAbstract
Mixed-species stands have been found to be more productive than would be expected from the performance of their component species in monocultures due to facilitation and complementarity between species, although these interactions depend on the combination of species present. Our study focuses on monospecific and mixed-species stands of Scots pine and Norway spruce using 20 triplets established in nine countries along a climatic gradient across Europe. Differences in mean tree and stand characteristics, productivity and stand structure were assessed. Basal area increment in mixed stands was 8% higher than expected while volume increment was only 2% greater. Scots pine trees growing in mixed-species stands showed 11% larger quadratic mean diameter, 7% larger dominant diameter, 17% higher basal area and 25% higher stand volume than trees growing in monospecific stands. Norway spruce showed only a non-significant tendency to lower mean values of diameters, heights, basal area, as well standing volume in mixtures than monocultures. Stand structure indices differed between mixed stands and monocultures of Scots pine showing a greater stratification in mixed-species stands. Furthermore, the studied morphological traits showed little variability for trees growing in monospecific stands, except for diameter at breast height, crown length and crown length ratio. For trees growing in mixed stands, all the morphological traits of the trees were identified as different. Some of these morphological traits were associated with relative productivity. Nevertheless, relative productivity in mixed-species stands was not related to site conditions.
Authors
Xiao HuangAbstract
Cultivated peatlands under drainage practices contribute significant carbon losses from agricultural sector in the Nordic countries. In this research, we developed the BASGRA-BGC model coupled with hydrological, soil carbon decomposition and methane modules to simulate the dynamic of water table level (WTL), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions for cultivated peatlands. The field measurements from four experimental sites in Finland, Denmark and Norway were used to validate the predictive skills of this novel model under different WTL management practices, climatic conditions and soil properties. Compared with daily observations, the model performed well in terms of RMSE (Root Mean Square Error; 0.06–0.11 m, 1.22–2.43 gC/m2/day, and 0.002–0.330 kgC/ha/day for WTL, CO2 and CH4, respectively), NRMSE (Normalized Root Mean Square Error; 10.3–18.3%, 13.0–18.6%, 15.3–21.9%) and Pearson's r (Pearson correlation coefficient; 0.60–0.91, 0.76–0.88, 0.33–0.80). The daily/seasonal variabilities were therefore captured and the aggregated results corresponded well with annual estimations. We further provided an example on the model's potential use in improving the WTL management to mitigate CO2 and CH4 emissions while maintaining grass production. At all study sites, the simulated WTLs and carbon decomposition rates showed a significant negative correlation. Therefore, controlling WTL could effectively reduce carbon
Abstract
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Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Albert Imsland Patrick Reynolds Thor Arne Hangstad Lauri Teemu Kapari Simo Maduna Snorre Hagen Ólöf Dóra Bartels Jónsdóttir Frank Spetland Ken Ståle LindbergAbstract
To investigate the possible family influence on sea lice grazing of lumpfish on Atlantic salmon, ten families of lumpfish (N = 480) with a mean (± SD) weight of 54.8 ± 9.2 g were distributed among ten sea cages (5 × 5 × 5 m) each stocked with 400 Atlantic salmon with a mean (± SD) weight of 621.4 ± 9.2 g. All the ten cages were stocked with 48 lumpfish (12% stocking density). The stocking of cages was such that each cage consisted of two random families where full- and paternal half-sib families were randomly allocated to the different cages. There were clear differences in sea lice grazing efficacy, growth and cataract prevalence between the ten families assessed in this study. Lumpfish from families 2, 6 and 10 had the lowest mean weights but showed comparable growth rates compared to the other families throughout the study and this may be as a direct result of genetic influence. In addition, fish from these families had a significantly higher incidence of lice grazing of both L. salmonis and C. elongatus compared to the other families. Using mixed linear model to analyse the data revealed significant family and paternal effect on sea lice grazing. There was a trend for a reduction in sea lice grazing with increased size within each family. The results indicated that it was the smallest size classes of lumpfish (40–140 g) which exhibited higher sea lice grazing potential compared to the larger size classes within families. There were no clear differences in the lice grazing potential between male and female lumpfish within and between families. Overall, present findings showed that sea lice grazing of both L. salmonis and C. elongatus can be enhanced using targeted family production and if this behaviour has a genetic basis it may further enhanced through selection and targeted breeding programs.
Authors
Ulrike BayrAbstract
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Authors
Alexander Kopatz Oddmund Kleven Ilpo Kojola Jouni Aspi Anita J. Norman Göran Spong Niclas Gyllenstrand Love Dalén Ida Marie Bardalen Fløystad Snorre Hagen Jonas Kindberg Øystein FlagstadAbstract
Knowledge about the connectivity among natural populations is essential to identify management units for effective conservation actions. Conservation-minded management has led to the recovery of large carnivore populations in northern Europe, possibly restoring connectivity between the two separated, but expanding brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations on the Scandinavian peninsula to the west and Karelia, a part of the large Eurasian population, to the east. The degree of connectivity between these populations has been poorly understood, therefore we investigated the extent of connectivity between the two populations using autosomal microsatellites and Y chromosome haplotypes in 924 male bears (the dispersing sex), sampled during a period of 12 years (2005–2017) across the transborder area where these two populations meet. Our results showed that the two populations are not genetically isolated as reported in earlier studies. We detected recent asymmetrical gene flow at a rate (individuals per generation) of 4.6–5.5 (1%) from Karelia into Scandinavia, whereas the rate was approximately 27.1–34.5 (8%) in the opposite direction. We estimated historical gene flow of effective number of migrants to be between 1.7 and 2.5 between the populations. Analyses of Y chromosome markers supported these results. Successful recovery and expansion of both populations led to the restoration of connectivity, however, it is asymmetric, possibly due to different recovery histories and population densities. By aligning monitoring between neighboring countries, we were able to better understand the biological processes across the relevant spatial scale. Brown bear Genetic structure Male gene flow Microsatellites Migration Recovery Ursus arctos Wildlife monitoring Y chromosome
Authors
Jan Pisek Angela Erb Lauri Korhonen Tobias Biermann Arnaud Carrara Edoardo Cremonese Matthias Cuntz Silvano Fares Giacomo Gerosa Thomas Grünwald Niklas Hase Michal Heliasz Andreas Ibrom Alexander Knohl Johannes Kobler Bart Kruijt Holger Lange Jean-Marc Limousin Francisco Ramon Lopez Serrano Denis Loustau Petr Lukes Lars Lundin Riccardo Marzuoli Meelis Mölder Leonardo Montagnani Johan Neirynck Matthias Peichl Corinna Rebmann Margarida Santos-Reis Crystal B. Schaaf Marius Schmidt Guillaume Simioni Kamel Soudani Caroline VinckeAbstract
Information about forest background reflectance is needed for accurate biophysical parameter retrieval from forest canopies (overstory) with remote sensing. Separating under- and overstory signals would enable more accurate modeling of forest carbon and energy fluxes. We retrieved values of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the forest understory with the multi-angular Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF)/albedo data (gridded 500 m daily Collection 6 product), using a method originally developed for boreal forests. The forest floor background reflectance estimates from the MODIS data were compared with in situ understory reflectance measurements carried out at an extensive set of forest ecosystem experimental sites across Europe. The reflectance estimates from MODIS data were, hence, tested across diverse forest conditions and phenological phases during the growing season to examine their applicability for ecosystems other than boreal forests. Here we report that the method can deliver good retrievals, especially over different forest types with open canopies (low foliage cover). The performance of the method was found to be limited over forests with closed canopies (high foliage cover), where the signal from understory becomes too attenuated. The spatial heterogeneity of individual field sites and the limitations and documented quality of the MODIS BRDF product are shown to be important for the correct assessment and validation of the retrievals obtained with remote sensing.