1. |
- Kumar, Umesh, et al.
(författare)
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Multi-omics approaches in plant-microbe interactions hold enormous promise for sustainable agriculture
- 2023
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Ingår i: Agronomy. - Switzerland : MDPI. - 2073-4395. ; 13:7
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plants do not grow in isolation; they interact with diverse microorganisms in their habitat.The development of techniques to identify and quantify the microbial diversity associated with plantscontributes to our understanding of the complexity of environmental influences to which plants areexposed. Identifying interactions which are beneficial to plants can enable us to promote healthygrowth with the minimal application of agrochemicals. Beneficial plant–microbial interactionsassist plants in acquiring inaccessible nutrients to promote plant growth and help them to copewith various stresses and pathogens. An increased knowledge of plant–microbial diversity can beapplied to meet the growing demand for biofertilizers for use in organic agriculture. This reviewhighlights the beneficial effects of soil–microbiota and biofertilizers on improving plant health andcrop yields. We propose that a multi–omics approach is appropriate to evaluate viability in thecontext of sustainable agriculture.
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2. |
- Carvalho, Ricardo, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Household Bioenergy Transitions with Alternative Biomass Feedstocks and Technologies: An Integrated System to Mitigate Environmental Risks in Western Kenya
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In Kenya, over 50% of the total primary energy consumption is from traditional solid-fuel cooking, being this a major cause of deforestation and household air pollution (HAP). Western Kenya has an agricultural biofuel feedstock of over 1.9 million Mt, which could be processed to supply cookstoves with crop-residue pellets and improved wood fallows. The sociotechnical viability of two novel bioenergy value chains were analysed using the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning system. Three scenarios of transition to efficient cookstoves and decentralized biofuel and electricity production systems were tested. In the “Optimal scenario”, the current feedstock in the Kisumu and Siaya counties could satisfy over 80% of the cooking energy demand by 2030. Here, the net greenhouse gas emissions from charcoal production and HAP could be reduced by 87% to 12.6 thousand Mt CO2e. Further work should integrate socioeconomic indicators reflecting additional local/regional stakeholders´ collaboration channels (cost-effective) to support the bioenergy transitions.
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3. |
- Edvardsson, Johannes, et al.
(författare)
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Old wood in a new light : an online dendrochronological database
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Wood Culture. - : Brill Academic Publishers. - 2772-3194 .- 2772-3186. ; 3:1-3, s. 442-463
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Old Wood in a New Light database project focuses on the digitization and accessibility of the results of dendrochronological samples analyzed and archived at four Swedish university-based tree-ring laboratories at Lund University, Stockholm University, University of Gothenburg, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Collaboration with the Environmental Archaeology Laboratory and Humlab at Umeå University enables long-term open access to data, raw data, and metadata. In this project, we (1) systematically undertake large-scale entry and open access publication of results from wood samples scientifically analyzed and archived by Swedish laboratories and the associated metadata, into the Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database (SEAD; www.sead.se) research data infrastructure, and (2) actively promote the database as a resource for new and ongoing interdisciplinary research initiatives. Including dendrochronological data in SEAD infrastructure allows interdisciplinary studies that combine major scientific and societal questions. Building on a pilot study of construction timber from southern Sweden and adaptation of SEAD digitization workflows, more than 70 000 samples archived at the four dendrochronological laboratories are now being handled in the project. The broad coverage of research networks, stakeholder interaction, and strategic support from the cultural heritage community is guaranteed owing to the ongoing collaboration between laboratories and an established international and multidisciplinary reference group.
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4. |
- Fohringer, Christian, et al.
(författare)
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Integrating omics to characterize eco‐physiological adaptations : How moose diet and metabolism differ across biogeographic zones
- 2021
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 11:7, s. 3159-3183
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. With accelerated land conversion and global heating at northern latitudes, it becomes crucial to understand, how life histories of animals in extreme environments adapt to these changes. Animals may either adapt by adjusting foraging behavior or through physiological responses, including adjusting their energy metabolism or both. Until now, it has been difficult to study such adaptations in free‐ranging animals due to methodological constraints that prevent extensive spatiotemporal coverage of ecological and physiological data.2. Through a novel approach of combining DNA‐metabarcoding and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)‐based metabolomics, we aim to elucidate the links between diets and metabolism in Scandinavian moose Alces alces over three biogeographic zones using a unique dataset of 265 marked individuals.3. Based on 17 diet items, we identified four different classes of diet types that match browse species availability in respective ecoregions in northern Sweden. Individuals in the boreal zone consumed predominantly pine and had the least diverse diets, while individuals with highest diet diversity occurred in the coastal areas. Males exhibited lower average diet diversity than females.4. We identified several molecular markers indicating metabolic constraints linked to diet constraints in terms of food availability during winter. While animals consuming pine had higher lipid, phospocholine, and glycerophosphocholine concentrations in their serum than other diet types, birch‐ and willow/aspen‐rich diets exhibit elevated concentrations of several amino acids. The individuals with highest diet diversity had increased levels of ketone bodies, indicating extensive periods of starvation for these individuals.5. Our results show how the adaptive capacity of moose at the eco‐physiological level varies over a large eco‐geographic scale and how it responds to land use pressures. In light of extensive ongoing climate and land use changes, these findings pave the way for future scenario building for animal adaptive capacity.
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5. |
- Androsiuk, P., et al.
(författare)
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Genetic status of Norway spruce (Picea abies) breeding populations for northern Sweden
- 2013
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Ingår i: Silvae Genetica. - : J.D. Sauerlaender's Verlag. - 0037-5349. ; 62:3, s. 127-136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efficient use of any breeding resources requires a good understanding of the genetic value of the founder breeding materials for predicting the gain and diversity in future generations. This study evaluates the distribution of genetic variation and level of relatedness among and within nine breeding populations of Norway spruce for Northern Sweden using nuclear microsatellite markers. A sample set of 456 individuals selected from 140 stands were genotyped with, 15 SSR loci. Over all loci each individual was identified with unique multilocus genotype. High genetic diversity (average H-e=0.820) and low population differentiation (F-ST = 0.0087) characterized this material. Although low in F-ST, the two northernmost populations were clustered as a distinct group diverged from the central populations. The population differentiation pattern corresponds well with the post glacial migration history of Norway spruce and the current gene flow and human activity in the region. The average inbreeding coefficient was 0.084 after removal loci with high frequency of null alleles. The estimated relatedness of the trees gathered in the breeding populations was very low (average kinship coefficient 0.0077) and not structured. The high genetic variation and low and not structured relatedness between individuals found in the breeding populations confirm that the Norway spruce breeding stock for northern Sweden represent valuable genetic resources for both long-term breeding and conservation programs.
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6. |
- Bandau, Franziska, 1982-
(författare)
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Importance of tannins for responses of aspen to anthropogenic nitrogen enrichment
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Boreal forests are often strongly nitrogen (N) limited. However, human activities are leading to increased N inputs into these ecosystems, through atmospheric N deposition and forest fertilization. N input into boreal forests can promote net primary productivity, increase herbivore and pathogen damage, and shift plant species composition and community structure. Genetic diversity has been suggested as a key mechanism to promote a plant species’ stability within communities in response to environmental change. Within any plant population, specific traits (e.g. growth and defense traits) can vary substantially among individuals, and a greater variation in traits may increase chances for the persistence of at least some individuals of a population, when environmental conditions change. One aspect of plant chemistry that can greatly vary among different genotypes (GTs) are condensed tannin (CTs). These secondary metabolites have been suggested to affect plant performance in many ways, e.g. through influencing plant growth, the interactions of plants with herbivores and pathogens, and through affecting litter decomposition, and hence the return of nutrients to plants. To investigate how genotypic variation in foliar CT production may mediate the effects that anthropogenic N enrichment can have on plant performance and litter decomposition, I performed a series of experiments. For these experiments, aspen (Populus tremula) GTs with contrasting abilities to produce foliar CTs (i.e. low- vs. high-tannin producers) were grown under 3 N conditions, representing ambient N (+0 kg ha-1), upper level atmospheric N deposition (+15 kg ha-1), and forest fertilization rates (+150 kg ha-1). This general experimental set-up was once established in a field-like environment, from which natural enemies were excluded, and once in a field, in which enemies were present. In my first two studies, I investigated tissue chemistry and plant performance in both environments. I observed that foliar CT levels decreased in response to N in the enemy‑free environment (study I), but increased with added N when enemies were present (study II). These opposing responses to N may be explained by differences in soil N availability in the two environments, or by induction of CTs after enemy attack. Enemy damage generally increased in response to N, and was higher in low-tannin than in high-tannin plants across all N levels. Plant growth of high‑tannin plants was restricted under ambient and low N conditions, probably due to a trade-off between growth and defense. This growth constraint for high‑tannin plants was weakened, when high amounts of N were added (study I and II), and when enemy levels were sufficiently high, so that benefits gained through defense could outweigh the costs of defense production (study II). Despite those general responses of low- and high‑tannin producers to added N, I also observed a number of individual responses of GTs to N addition, which in some case were not connected to the intrinsic ability of the GTs to produce foliar CTs. In study III, gene expression levels in young leaves and phenolic pools of the plants that were grown in the enemy‑free environment were studied. This study revealed that gene control over the regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway (PPP) was distributed across the entire pathway. Moreover, PPP gene expression was higher in high-tannin GTs than in low‑tannin GTs, particularly under ambient N. At the low N level, gene expressions declined for both low- and high-tannin producers, whereas at the high N level expression at the beginning and the end of the PPP was upregulated and difference between tannin groups disappeared. Furthermore, this study showed that phenolic pools were frequently uncorrelated, and that phenolic pools were only to some extent related to tannin production and gene expression. In study IV, I investigated the decomposability of litter from the field plants. I found that N enrichment generally decreased mass loss, but there was substantial genetic variation in decomposition rates, and GTs were differentially responsive to added N. Study IV further showed that CTs only had a weak effect on decomposition, and other traits, such as specific leaf area and the lignin:N ratio, could better explain genotypic difference in mass loss. Furthermore, N addition caused a shift in which traits most strongly influenced decomposition rates. Collectively, the result of these studies highlight the importance of genetic diversity to promote the stability of species in environments that experience anthropogenic change.
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7. |
- Berg, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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A century of logging and forestry in a reindeer herding area in northern Sweden
- 2008
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 256, s. 1009-1020
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Boreal forest ecosystems are generally highly sensitive to logging and other forestry activities. Thus, commercial forestry has had major effects on the forests and landscape structure in northern Sweden since the middle of the 19th Century, when it rapidly extended across the region. Lichens (which constitute up to 80% of reindeer forage in winter and early spring) have often been amongst the most severely affected ecosystem components. The overall aim of the present study was to analyze how forestry has influenced the potential supply of ground-growing lichens as winter forage for the reindeer in this region over the past ca. 100 years. For this purpose, we analysed changes in forest and stand structure in Scots pine-dominated (Pinus sylvestris L.) reindeer wintering areas in the southern part of the county Norrbotten (covering ca. 58,000 ha) using detailed historical forest inventories and management plans. We found that the amount of the forest types considered potentially good pasture (mainly middleaged and old pine forests) decreased during the first part of the 20th Century. However, the quality of grazing grounds was improved by forestry during this time mainly because selective logging made the forests more open which benefits lichen growth. During the last part of the 20th century forestry impaired the quality of grazing grounds in several ways, e.g. by clear-cutting and intensified use of various silviculturalmeasures. We conclude that ca. 30–50% of the winter grazing grounds have been lost in the study area because of intensive forest management during the last century. The spatially precise historical information about the affects of forestry on lichen pasture provided in this study can be used to direct forest management which will facilitate and promote reindeer herding in the future.
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8. |
- Berg, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Manganese in the litter fall-forest floor continuum of boreal and temperate pine and spruce forest ecosystems : a review
- 2015
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 358, s. 248-260
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have reviewed the literature on the role of manganese (Mn) in the litter fall-to-humus subsystem. Available data gives a focus on North European coniferous forests. Manganese concentrations in pine (Pinus spp.) foliar litter are highly variable both spatially and temporally within the same litter species and for the genus Pinus we found a range from 0.03 to 3.7mgg-1. Concentrations were related negatively to site mean annual temperature (MAT) and annual actual evapotranspiration (AET) for pine species litter but not for that of Norway spruce (Picea abies) as a single species. Combined data for several species showed a highly significant relationship to MAT.Manganese peroxidase is an Mn-dependent enzyme, found in white-rot fungi, essential for the degradation of lignin and ligninlike compounds. The decomposition rates of lignified litter tissue (late phase) is positively related to the litter’s Mn concentration. Further, the Mn concentration is positively related to the limit value for decomposition - the higher the Mn concentration the smaller the stable litter fraction. Manganese release from decomposing litter appears at least in part to be species related. Thus was release from pine needle litter significantly faster (p<. 0.001) than that from the Mn-richer litter of Norway spruce. Over Northern Europe concentrations of total Mn in mor humus as well as extractable Mn in the mineral soil increase with decreasing MAT and over a climatic gradient the Mn concentrations in Norway spruce mor increase more with decreasing MAT than in a gradient with Scots pine. Higher Mn concentrations in humus appear to decrease its stability and result in a higher release of carbon dioxide (CO2) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). We conclude that this may explain (i) the lower amount of carbon (C) in mor layers under Norway spruce as compared to Scots pine as well as the higher amount of C in mineral soil under spruce. The increase in nitrogen (N) concentration in humus, following N fertilization resulted in a decrease in that of Mn. We have found four cases - empirical - with negative interaction between Mn and N; (i) in pine foliar litter fall concentrations of Mn decrease with site MAT whereas those of N increase, (ii) in decomposing late-stage litter with N retarding and Mn stimulating decomposition, (iii) for the stable phase, limit values are related negatively to N and positively to Mn, and (iv) Mn concentrations in humus decrease with MAT whereas those of N increase.
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9. |
- Bergh, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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A Systematic Review of Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine in Sport and Companion Animals : Soft Tissue Mobilization
- 2022
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Ingår i: Animals. - : MDPI. - 2076-2615. ; 12:11
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soft tissue mobilization is frequently used in the treatment of sport and companion animals. There is, however, uncertainty regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of these methods. Therefore, the aim of this systematic literature review was to assess the evidence for clinical effects of massage and stretching in cats, dogs, and horses. A bibliographic search, restricted to studies in cats, dogs, and horses, was performed on Web of Science Core Collection, CABI, and PubMed. Relevant articles were assessed for scientific quality, and information was extracted on study characteristics, species, type of treatment, indication, and treatment effects. Of 1189 unique publications screened, 11 were eligible for inclusion. The risk of bias was assessed as high in eight of the studies and moderate in three of the studies, two of the latter indicating a decreased heart rate after massage. There was considerable heterogeneity in reported treatment effects. Therefore, the scientific evidence is not strong enough to define the clinical efficacy and effectiveness of massage and stretching in sport and companion animals.
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10. |
- Boström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Systematic review of complementary and alternative veterinary medicine in sport and companion animals: extracorporeal shockwave therapy
- 2022
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Ingår i: Animals. - : MDPI. - 2076-2615. ; 12:22
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ECSWT) is increasingly used to treat different types of musculoskeletal conditions in sport and companion animals. To explore the scientific basis for the treatment, we conducted a systematic review of the literature on ECSWT used in horses, dogs, and cats. Methods: Relevant articles published in 1980–2020 were identified from three major databases. Each article was assessed for risk of bias. Results: The review identified 27 relevant articles on the effects of ECSWT in horses, nine in dogs, but none in cats. Typically, ECSWT involved one to three treatment sessions at 1- to 3-week intervals. We identified studies on bone mass and bone healing, wound healing, navicular disease, ligament injury, desmitis, sesamoiditis, tendon injury, osteoarthritis, and short-term analgesic effects. Common to all indications was that the scientific evidence was very limited. For each separate indication, there were relatively few studies, many of which had methodological flaws. Where favorable results were reported, they were usually not replicated in independent studies. A few encouraging results were found. Conclusions: In sport and companion animals, the scientific evidence for clinical effects of ECSWT in horses, dogs, and cats is limited. For some applications, notably short-term pain relief, ligament ailments, and osteoarthritis, the results seem promising and warrant further exploration in high-quality studies.
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