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Publikasjoner

NIBIOs ansatte publiserer flere hundre vitenskapelige artikler og forskningsrapporter hvert år. Her finner du referanser og lenker til publikasjoner og andre forsknings- og formidlingsaktiviteter. Samlingen oppdateres løpende med både nytt og historisk materiale. For mer informasjon om NIBIOs publikasjoner, besøk NIBIOs bibliotek.

2016

Sammendrag

Individual tree mortality models based on logistic regression exist for different tree species and countries around the world. We examine two mortality models developed in Norway and two models from Austria for Norway spruce (Picea abies), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and birch (Betula pubescens and Betula pendula) trees. We apply all models with their original coefficients on the Norwegian National Forest Inventory (NNFI) data. The dataset comprises 36,217 spruce, 17,483 pine and 24,418 birch trees. We show the differences in predictions that arise from newly paramete-rized predictor variables and the effect of the original calibration data from different geographic regions. Next we recalibrate the mortality functions with the NNFI data to show the improvements in the predictions and illustrate the impact of the different predictor variables. We apply statistical methods to assess which of the original and recalibrated models best mimic the observed mortality rates of the three species. Finally we provide the new coefficient set for the model functions for spruce, pine and birch in Norway.

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Red fescue (RF, Festuca rubra L.) is used on golf putting greens in the Nordic region due to its high disease resistance and low requirements for nitrogen (N) and water, but low density and growth rate makes RF susceptible to annual bluegrass (AB, Poa annua L.) invasion. Putting greens seeded with RF + bentgrass (Agrostis sp.) may be more competitive with AB but also have different playing characteristics. Our objective was to compare RF, RF + colonial bentgrass (CB, Agrostis capillaris L.), and RF + velvet bentgrass (VB, Agrostis canina L.) putting greens at two mowing heights (4.0 or 5.5 mm), three N rates (5, 10, or 15 g N m−2 yr−1), and three phosphorus (P)–arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi treatments (0 and 1.8 g P m−2yr−1 without inoculation and 0 g P m−2yr−1 with inoculation). The four-factorial experiment was conducted in 2011 and 2012 at Landvik, Norway. Red fescue provided lower visual quality and density and less competition against AB than RF + bentgrass combinations. Increasing the N rate from 5 to 15 g N m−2yr−1 increased the proportion of bentgrass tillers from 53 to 64% in RF + CB and from 86 to 92% in RF + VB. Surface hardness increased in the order RF + VB < RF + CB < RF turfs. Ballroll distance decreased with increasing N rate and was longer with RF and RF + VB than with RF + CB. The main effects of N and mowing height on AB invasion were not significant, but lower mowing increased AB competition in RF. Mycorrhiza colonization of roots was not significantly affected by any practice, and neither P nor arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi influenced the competition against AB.

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Prohexadione-Ca, an acylcylohexadione, is a plant growth retardant jointly developed by BASF, Germany and Kumiai Chemical Industry, Japan. In 2012, a trial on 11-year-old 'Aroma'/'M 9' apple trees growing on the experimental farm at NIBIO Ullensvang, western Norway was initiated. Trees were treated with prohexadione-Ca (trade name Regalis®, 10% prohexadione-Ca as active ingredient) 10 days after full bloom (June 6) at concentrations of 125 or 250 g ha-1; other trees were also sprayed 10 days after full bloom and again one month later (July 5) at the same concentrations and compared against an untreated control. Treatments were applied to individual whole trees in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Prohexadione-Ca treatments significantly reduced shoot growth of treated apple trees. Two treatments with 125 g or one treatment of 250 g reduced growth by ~80%. Prohexadione-Ca had little effect on yield and fruit quality. Shoot growth was also retarded in the year following application and this is attributed to a carry over effect of the prohexadione-Ca application(s).

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Sammendrag

When establishing an apple orchard it is important to stimulate the growth of young trees to fill up their allotted space in the row and minimize the time to come into full production with high quality fruit. In May 2012 two-year-old 'Summerred'/'M.9' knip trees were planted at the experimental farm at NIBIO Ullensvang, western Norway. The planting distance was 4×1 m (2500 trees ha-1). Three fertigation schemes were established (zero; low - 0.15 g N m-1 row day-1, and high nitrogen - 0.30 g N m-1 row day-1) and two crop loads allowed (low and high). In the year after planting the crop loads were limited to zero and five apples tree-1, respectively. In the third leaf the crop loads were adjusted by hand to 15 apples and 30 apples tree-1, respectively. The experimental design was a randomized blocks with four replications and 10 trees treatment-1. No significant effects of N-fertigation on soil NO3-, NH4+ or N-min contents were found. However, N-fertigation increased the leaf nitrogen content the whole season and leaf N were ≥ than the standard adequacy range (1.5-2.0%). Trees reached the desirable height of 3 m in the third leaf. Trunk circumference and number of branches per tree increased from second to third leaf, but were not significantly influenced by the N-fertigation. In the third leaf the high crop load trees yielded 7 kg tree-1 (17.5 t ha-1) and the low crop load 4 kg tree-1. Fruit weights were negatively correlated with the crop loads. Small differences in fruit quality attributes were found. Return bloom was not affected after the second leaf. However, the high crop load in the third leaf clearly reduced the amounts of return bloom in 2015, irrespective of the amount of N-fertigation.

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The response of three-year-old 'Summerred' trees to crop load regulation by the chemical thinning agent Brevis® was tested in comparison with different levels of hand thinning. Brevis® was applied once or twice at a dosage of 1.1 and 2.2 kg ha-1 when fruitlets were approximately 15 and 19 mm in diameter at the time of the first and second application, respectively. All Brevis® applications significantly reduced the number of fruits tree-1. Both the single application of 2.2 kg ha-1 and the two-fold application of 1.1 kg ha-1 thinned the tree to the target crop load level of 30 apples tree-1. The degree of thinning by the single application of 1.1 kg ha-1 Brevis® did not significantly increase fruit weight and resulted in a very strong inhibition of return bloom similar to that observed in the untreated controls and trees hand thinned to 60 fruits tree-1. Return bloom was positively related to the level of thinning obtained. At the target fruit load of about 30 apples tree-1, return bloom was around 40% of the bloom in the year of the thinning trial. A further thinning to circa 15 fruits tree-1 increased return bloom to approximately 60%. In conclusion, 'Summerred' trees planted as two-year-old feathered trees should not bear more than 20 to 25 fruits tree-1 in their 3rd leaf in a northern climate to avoid the onset of biennial bearing and to ensure regular annual yields. Only then sufficient numbers of flower buds will develop to have the chance to obtain a good crop in the next year.

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The use of seaweeds in animal diets is not new. However, little is known about the feed value of seaweed, both in terms of chemical composition and protein digestibility, and regarding variation between species and season. In this study, eight seaweed species of the genus Acrosiphonia, Alaria, Laminaria, Mastocarpus, Palmaria, Pelvetia, Porphyra, and Ulva were sampled in spring (March) and autumn (October and November) 2014 at the coast of Bodø in Northern Norway, and were analysed for chemical composition, in situ rumen degradability and total tract crude protein (CP) digestibility. Ash content in dry matter (DM) was generally high (overall mean 190 g/kg in DM) and varied considerably, between species (P < 0.01) and between seasons (P = 0.02). CP concentration in DM varied both between species (P < 0.0001) and seasons (P < 0.01). Highest CP in DM was found for Porphyra (350 g/kg DM) and lowest for Pelvetia (90 g/kg DM). Spring samples were higher in CP than autumn samples. The effective degradability estimated at 5% rumen passage rate (ED5) of CP varied between species (P < 0.0001) but not between seasons (P = 0.10). The highest ED5 of CP was found for Alaria (550 g/kg CP) and lowest for Ulva (240 g/kg CP). Digestible rumen escape protein (DEP) varied significantly between species (P < 0.0001) but not between seasons (P = 0.06); highest DEP was found for Ulva (530 g/kg CP) and Porphyra (500 g/kg CP). Based on our results, Acrosiphonia, Alaria, Laminaria, Mastocarpus and Palmaria can supply the rumen with high amounts of rumen degradable protein, while Porphyra and Ulva can be used as a source of digestible bypass protein. Pelvetia had a very low degradability and should not be used to feed dairy cows.

Sammendrag

Copper in low natural concentrations is essential for cell metabolism but in excess it becomes extremely toxic to aquatic life, including to the early life stages of marine macroalgae. This work determined the effects of copper exposure on meiospore development of two kelp species, the native Macrocystis pyrifera and invasive Undaria pinnatifida. After settlement, meiospores were exposed to nominal copper concentrations of control (no added copper), 100, 200, 300 and 400 μg L−1 Cu for 9 days. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry of total dissolved copper (CuT) concentrations in the blanks showed that nominal copper concentrations were reduced to 54, 91, 131 and 171 μg L−1 CuT, respectively, indicating that > 50% of the dissolved copper was adsorbed onto the culture vessel walls. In the media with meiospores, the dissolved copper concentrations decreased to 39, 86, 97 and 148 μg L−1 CuT in M. pyrifera and to 39, 65, 97 and 146 μg L−1 CuT in U. pinnatifida, indicating that 6–15% of the dissolved copper was adsorbed by the cells. For both species, meiospores germinated in all copper treatments, with germination decreasing with increasing copper concentration. However, gametophyte growth and sexual differentiation were arrested under all copper treatments. The effective copper concentration causing 50% of arrested germination (Cu-EC50) was 157 and 231 μg L−1 CuT for M. pyrifera and U. pinnatifida, respectively. The higher Cu-EC50 for U. pinnatifida suggests ecological success for the invasive species in copper-polluted environments; however, the subsequent inhibition of gametogenesis under all copper treatments indicated no difference in copper tolerance between both kelp early life stages. We compare our results with the literature available on the effects of copper on the development of early life stages of brown seaweed (Laminariales and Fucales) and discuss the importance of reporting actual experimental dissolved copper concentrations and the necessity of standardizing the response variables measured in macroalgal copper ecotoxicology.

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Feeding by pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) causes severe damage to newly planted conifer seedlings in most parts of Scandinavia. We investigated the effect of planting time and insecticide treatment on pine weevil damage and seedling growth. The main objective was to study if planting in early autumn on fresh clear-cuts would promote seedling establishment and reduce the amount of damage caused by pine weevil the following season. The experiment was conducted in southern Sweden and in south-eastern Norway with an identical experimental design at three sites in each country. On each site, Norway spruce seedlings with or without insecticide treatment were planted at four different planting times: August, September, November and May the following year. In Sweden, the proportion of untreated seedlings that were killed by pine weevils was reduced when seedlings were planted at the earliest time (August/September) compared to late planting in November, or May the following year. This pattern was not found in Norway. The average length of leading shoot, diameter growth and biomass were clearly benefited by planting in August in both countries. Insecticide treatment decreased the number of seedlings killed or severely damaged in both Norway and Sweden.

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Projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and sea ice forecasts suggest that Arctic sea ice will decline markedly in coming decades. Expected effects on the entire ecosystem include a contraction of suitable polar bear habitat into one or few refugia. Such large-scale habitat decline and fragmentation could lead to reduced genetic diversity. Here we compare genetic variability of four vagrant polar bears that reached Iceland with that in recognized subpopulations from across the range, examining 23 autosomal microsatellites, mitochondrial control region sequences and Y-chromosomal markers. The vagrants' genotypes grouped with different genetic clusters and showed similar genetic variability at autosomal microsatellites (expected heterozygosity, allelic richness, and individual heterozygosity) as individuals in recognized subpopulations. Each vagrant carried a different mitochondrial haplotype. A likely route for polar bears to reach Iceland is via Fram Strait, a major gateway for the physical exportation of sea ice from the Arctic basin. Vagrant polar bears on Iceland likely originated from more than one recognized subpopulation, and may have been caught in sea ice export during long-distance movements to the East Greenland area. Although their potentially diverse geographic origins might suggest that these vagrants encompass much higher genetic variability than vagrants or dispersers in other regions, the four Icelandic vagrants encompassed similar genetic variability as any four randomly picked individuals from a single subpopulation or from the entire sample. We suggest that this is a consequence of the low overall genetic variability and weak range-wide genetic structuring of polar bears – few dispersers can represent a large portion of the species' gene pool. As predicted by theory and our demographic simulations, continued gene flow will be necessary to counteract loss of genetic variability in increasingly fragmented Arctic habitats. Similar considerations will be important in the management of other taxa that utilize sea ice habitats.