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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.

2017

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Abstract

Armillaria possesses several intriguing characteristics that have inspired wide interest in understanding phylogenetic relationships within and among species of this genus. Nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence– based analyses of Armillaria provide only limited information for phylogenetic studies among widely divergent taxa. More recent studies have shown that translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1) sequences are highly informative for phylogenetic analysis of Armillaria species within diverse global regions. This study used Neighbor-net and coalescence-based Bayesian analyses to examine phylogenetic relationships of newly determined and existing tef1 sequences derived from diverse Armillaria species from across the Northern Hemisphere, with Southern Hemisphere Armillaria species included for reference. Based on the Bayesian analysis of tef1 sequences, Armillaria species from the Northern Hemisphere are generally contained within the following four superclades, which are named according to the specific epithet of the most frequently cited species within the superclade: (i) Socialis/Tabescens (exannulate) superclade including Eurasian A. ectypa, North American A. socialis (A. tabescens), and Eurasian A. socialis (A. tabescens) clades; (ii) Mellea superclade including undescribed annulate North American Armillaria sp. (Mexico) and four separate clades of A. mellea (Europe and Iran, eastern Asia, and two groups from North America); (iii) Gallica superclade including Armillaria Nag E (Japan), multiple clades of A. gallica (Asia and Europe), A. calvescens (eastern North America), A. cepistipes (North America), A. altimontana (western USA), A. nabsnona (North America and Japan), and at least two A. gallica clades (North America); and (iv) Solidipes/Ostoyae superclade including two A. solidipes/ostoyae clades (North America), A. gemina (eastern USA), A. solidipes/ostoyae (Eurasia), A. cepistipes (Europe and Japan), A. sinapina (North America and Japan), and A. borealis (Eurasia) clade 2. Of note is that A. borealis (Eurasia) clade 1 appears basal to the Solidipes/Ostoyae and Gallica superclades. The Neighbor-net analysis showed similar phylogenetic relationships. This study further demonstrates the utility of tef1 for global phylogenetic studies of Armillaria species and provides critical insights into multiple taxonomic issues that warrant further study.

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Abstract

Climate change is expected to alter average temperature and precipitation values and to increase the variability of precipitation events, which may lead to even more intense and frequent water hazards. Water hazards engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of scientific and engineering principles for protection of human populations from the effects of water hazards; protection of environments, both local and global, from the potentially deleterious effects of water hazards; and improvement of environmental quality for mitigating the negative effects of water hazards. An integrated approach of water hazards engineering based on mapping, nature-based and technical solutions will constitute a feasible solution in the process of adapting to challenges generated by climate changes worldwide. This paper will debate this concept also providing some examples from several European countries.

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Abstract

As the human population grows and its influence on the environment continually increases, sustainability is again on the policy agenda. At the same time there is increasing awareness of the need for more environmentally attuned landscape planning. Nevertheless, researchers have recognized that many research findings are not applied in real life management or practice. We argue that the lack of incorporating ecological knowledge into landscape planning is partly caused by a communication gap between ecologists and planners and designers. In this article we suggest one approach of how this communication gap could be minimized. We link landscape ecological concepts relevant for land use planning to a well-known planning and design concept, the Emerald Necklace. We argue that applying the Emerald Necklace concept in a planning process can have several possible positive contributions. First, it will necessitate thinking on a landscape scale, i.e., putting the focus not only on individual planning project areas, but also on the ways in which these are linked to the surrounding landscape. Further, it will help identify priority areas from an ecological perspective. Finally, it will emphasize the importance of heterogeneity of habitats and connectivity of the blue-green infrastructure during the planning process. In addition, and equally important, the concept provides abundant opportunities for creative design. We hope using the Emerald Necklace will contribute to improved dialogue and understanding between the professions involved in planning processes.

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Abstract

The rapid increase of the world population constantly demands more food production from agricultural soils. This causes conflicts, since at the same time strong interest arises on novel bio-based products from agriculture, and new perspectives for rural landscapes with their valuable ecosystem services. Agriculture is in transition to fulfill these demands. In many countries, conventional farming, influenced by post-war food requirements, has largely been transformed into integrated and sustainable farming. However, since it is estimated that agricultural production systems will have to produce food for a global population that might amount to 9.1 billion by 2050 and over 10 billion by the end of the century, we will require an even smarter use of the available land, including fallow and derelict sites. One of the biggest challenges is to reverse non-sustainable management and land degradation. Innovative technologies and principles have to be applied to characterize marginal lands, explore options for remediation and re-establish productivity. With view to the heterogeneity of agricultural lands, it is more than logical to apply specific crop management and production practices according to soil conditions. Cross-fertilizing with conservation agriculture, such a novel approach will provide (1) increased resource use efficiency by producing more with less (ensuring food security), (2) improved product quality, (3) ameliorated nutritional status in food and feed products, (4) increased sustainability, (5) product traceability and (6) minimized negative environmental impacts notably on biodiversity and ecological functions. A sustainable strategy for future agriculture should concentrate on production of food and fodder, before utilizing bulk fractions for emerging bio-based products and convert residual stage products to compost, biochar and bioenergy. The present position paper discusses recent developments to indicate how to unlock the potentials of marginal land.