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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.

2018

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Abstract

Exposure to sunshine is known to play a role in litter decomposition in some semi-arid areas. The aim of this study was to find out if it also plays a role in higher latitude environments in peat litter decomposition and could contribute to an explanation to the patchy nature of peat litter decomposition. Peat litter from 5 microenvironments (top of slope, bottom of slope, ridge, ryam and hollow) and put out and exposed to the sun or shaded over a summer in Western Siberia, 26 km west of the town of Khanty-Mansiysk. Afterwards the peat litter was incubated in the laboratory - at field capacity or submerged in peat water - and CO2 and methane emission measured. Chemical composition of exposed and control peat litter was also investigated using stepwise extraction. The results indicate that exposure to sunlight does increase subsequent decomposition rate in most peat litters when incubated at field capacity, but the difference between the treatments levelled off at the end of the 2 weeks incubation in most peat litter types. The total extra carbon loss was calculated to be up to about 2 mg C m− 2 over a season. When incubated submerged previous photo-exposure had less effect on CO2 evolution then when incubated at field capacity. No methane emission was recorded in any treatment. Some differences in chemical composition between exposed and shaded peat litters were found that could help explain the differences in subsequent decomposition rate. The results indicate that photodegradation could play a role in peat litter decomposition at higher latitudes when peat is disturbed and exposed to sunshine. However, the effect of photo-exposure in these areas is much smaller than observed in semi-arid areas at lower latitudes.

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Abstract

Herbage yield responses to K fertilizer application are variable in Norwegian grassland. Excessive K application may increase the risk of grass tetany (hypomagnesaemia) and milk fever (hypocalcaemia). We analysed a series of K fertilizer experiments on grassland with respect to their herbage yields and mineral composition. Our results show the importance of native soil K reserves when considering the need for K application. Soils with a high content of acid-soluble K showed no response to K fertilizer application. The critical K content in grass with respect to yield was estimated to be 17.7 g K/kg DM in the first cut and 20.3 kg K/DM in the second cut, while the critical K/N relationship was found to be 0.83 when a maximum yield reduction of 2.5% was used as a criterion. In these trials, soils with a high content of acid-soluble K had the greatest risk of grass tetany and the highest values of cation–anion balance. Application of potassium chloride had little effect on the cation–anion balance, and thereby the risk of milking fever, because there was a corresponding uptake of K and Cl ions.

Abstract

Removal of logging residues causes significant nutrient losses from the harvesting site. Furthermore,collection of residues into piles could lead to small-scale differences in establishment conditions for seedlings. We studied the effects of stem-only (SOH) and aboveground whole-tree harvesting (WTH) on Norway spruce (Picea abies) seedling growth and pine weevil (Hylobius abietis) damage at two sites (SE and W Norway). We also compared two planting environments within the WTH plots (WTH-0: areas with no residues, WTH-1: areas where residue piles had been placed and removed before planting). In practice, one-third of the residues were left on site after WTH. After three growing seasons there were no differences for height or diameter increment between SOH and WTH (WTH-1 and WTH-0 combined) treatments. However, relative diameter increment was largest for WTH-1 seedlings and lowest for WTH-0 seedlings. Few seedlings sustained pine weevil attacks at the W Norway site, with no differences among treatments. At the SE Norway site, the percent of seedlings damaged by pine weevils and average debarked area were significantly higher after WTH (82% and 3.3 cm2) compared to SOH (62% and 1.7 cm2). We conclude that WTH may lead to spatial differences in establishment conditions.