Changing role of water table and weather conditions in diameter growth of Scots pine on drained peatlands

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Root rot increases the vulnerability of Norway spruce trees to Ips typographus infestation

Norway spruce (Picea abies) is one of the most economically important tree species in Northern and Central Europe. Root rot caused by Heterobasidion annosum s.l. and the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) are major disturbance agents of Norway spruce and are expected to increasingly affect spruce-dominated forests as the climate warms. This study investigated the direct interaction between root rot and I. typographus, with the aim of examining whether root rot and the stress it causes to a tree increases the risk of subsequent bark beetle attack. In total, 442 Norway spruce trees from nine different mature, even-aged forest stands were studied. First, symptoms caused by I. typographus were evaluated before final felling from each tree based on visual assessments of crown and stem conditions. After the felling, the sample plots were relocated from the clearcut areas, and the stumps of sampled trees were reassessed for root rot. Exploratory analysis and binomial Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) were used to analyze relationships between explanatory variables and their effect to I. typographus infestation. The best predictors for I. typographus infestation at individual tree level were presence of root rot and to a lesser extent, tree diameter at breast height. Seventy-five percent of root rot-infected trees were also infested with I. typographus, and most of those trees were either dead or severely infested. Results suggest that root rot weakens trees, making them more vulnerable to subsequent I. typographus infestation, especially early in outbreaks when bark beetle population densities are low

Pilot scale hydrodynamic cavitation and hot-water extraction of Norway spruce bark yield antimicrobial and polyphenol-rich fractions

Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst) tree bark contains high concentrations of polyphenolic compounds with antibacterial, antioxidant, and antiviral properties. While laboratory-scale extraction studies are relatively abundant, the behavior of biomass properties and compound profiles during upscaled processing have remained underexplored. This study addresses the gap by assessing the industrial feasibility of using an industrial-scale assortment of bark biomass obtained directly from a sawmill. It compares two green pilot-scale extraction methods using only water as the solvent: hydrodynamic cavitation and hot-water extraction. The resulting lyophilized and spray-dried extracts were analyzed for their antibacterial, antiviral, and antioxidant activities, as well as their chemical composition, including carbohydrate, stilbene, tannin, and terpene contents. To further evaluate the industrial potential, a technical feasibility analysis was conducted, highlighting material and energy balances for both extraction processes and identifying areas for improvement. The findings indicate that both extraction methods effectively yielded polyphenol-rich extracts with desirable bioactivities. Notably, hot-water extracts, with slightly higher condensed tannin and stilbene content, exhibited higher antioxidant activity and greater efficacy against enterovirus (coxsackievirus A9), while hydrodynamic cavitation products showed higher activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Lyophilization resulted in slightly lower chain-length, but higher concentrations of tannins and stilbenes compared to spray-drying. Overall, this study demonstrates that upscaled processing of spruce bark can effectively and sustainably produce commercially viable extraction products

Integrating policy targets into product environmental impact assessments: A case study with Finnish agricultural products

Political objectives aimed at reducing environmental impacts currently face challenges in effectively assessing achievement at product level. Applying the principles of Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment (AESA, or Planetary Boundaries-based Life Cycle Assessment, PB-LCA) to these targets could be a way forward to evaluate a product's performance against political targets. Here, we explore the possibilities of assigning emission budgets for agricultural products based on political and scientific targets utilising the principles of PB-LCA. We tested these principles by assessing a few Finnish agricultural products; wheat, peas, milk, and beef. First, we identified national and EU-level political targets relevant to agricultural products produced in Finland. Then these targets alongside scientific planetary boundary targets were translated to emission budgets for products by first sharing the targets equal per capita and then using two different sharing principles; calorie-based and nutrition-based. In the last step, the environmental impacts of the products were compared with the emission budget assigned to each product. The results demonstrated that the method used to assign the emission budgets affects the results, nutrition-based sharing leading to better performance compared to calorie-based sharing. Beef exceeded its budget in almost all impact categories, while the results for milk and peas depended on the sharing principle used. Wheat's impacts were within the budget across all categories. The results show that both political and scientific targets can evaluate a product's sustainability performance, and comparing environmental impacts against political targets can provide new insights for decision-makers

Optimization of protein recovery from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) head and backbone by response surface methodology and characterization of functional properties and nutritional value

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) head and backbone by-products were hydrolysed using non-commercial protease enzyme (ERM 1) to produce protein. Response surface methodology was used to optimise conditions, including hydrolysis time, hydromodule and enzyme–substrate (E:S) ratio for maximum protein recovery. Highest protein recovery was obtained after 4 h hydrolysis, 1 L/kg hydromodule, and 0.39% of E:S ratio for the salmon head. Similarly, 3.75 h of hydrolysis time, 2.67 L/kg of hydromodule and 0.499% of E:S were found optimal for the salmon backbone. Total amino acid (TAA) composition revealed the presence of all essential amino acids in both hydrolysates. The sum of 16 TAAs was approximately both in salmon head and backbone samples 70 g/100 g, while FAAs were much higher in salmon head (13.4 g/100 g) then in the salmon backbone (8.8 g/100 g). The hydrolysates prevented the growth of E. coli K-12, but no significant effect on Listeria innocua (ATTC 33090) growth was seen. Fish hydrolysates showed nitrogen solubility indices above 90% at pH 5–8, with one exception of the salmon head hydrolysate at pH 5 with a value of 67.8%. Samples formed gels at 5 and 10% protein concentration. Gels were weak compared to gelatine gels