The aim of this study was to apply a comprehensive mathematical model designed to assess the current and future availability of food, as well as the resulting nutrient availability and intake, in the context of the Norwegian population. The model explores various scenarios, including self-sufficiency levels for food supply and impacts on nutrition recommendations. A food mass balance charting production, import, export, feed, seed, and consumer allocation in the Norwegian food system provided insights into the nutrients available to the population. The analysis included a comparison with two versions of the Nordic Nutrient Recommendations (NNR)1, with the latest version recommending substantial changes in food consumption compared to current dietary patterns in Norway. The nutrient analysis compared the food mass to Matvaretabellen2 and was supplemented with data from the United Nations World Population Prospects3 and the Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health Organisation/United Nations4 report to ensure comprehensive nutrient analysis. Micronutrient gaps were observed in Iodine (94% of the target intake) and Vitamin D (46% of the target intake), while saturated-fatty acids slightly exceeded the recommended requirements (107% of the upper limit) based on the current baseline scenario. The updated NNR4 recommends changes to specific food categories, namely fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. A secondary scenario testing compared against the updated NNR found that increasing the availability of the supply of these groups does not result in any new nutrient gaps, demonstrating the feasibility of addressing the issue on a national supply basis. These approach offers a mathematical-modelling based tool that can be used to provide information for a national food system. Leveraging the model’s capacity to simulate various scenarios, informed decisions to optimise self-sufficiency levels and align food supply with recommended nutritional guidelines can be made. To improve the model, higher data resolution and clearer categorisation of food groups are required which can then be linked into a more complete national food system. The mathematical model presented in this study provides a framework for understanding of food and nutrient availability in Norway. By identifying critical nutrient gaps and potential solutions, this research contributes knowledge for a healthier and sustainable food future for the nation.

Plant invasions can have large effects on ecosystem services. Some plant invaders were introduced specifically to restore key services to ecosystems, and other invaders are having unintended, detrimental effects on services, such as the quantity and quality of water delivered, flood control, erosion control, and food production. Many ecosystem services are difficult to measure directly, and although there are extensive studies on plant invaders and ecosystem processes, a number of challenges prevent us from confidently extrapolating those processes as proxies for services. To extrapolate local, short-term measures of processes to ecosystem services, we must: (1) determine which processes are the key contributors to a service, (2) assess how multiple processes interact to provide a given service, (3) determine how vegetation types and species affect those processes, and (4) explicitly assess how ecosystem services and their controls vary over space and time, including reliance of ecosystem services on “hot spots” and “hot moments” and a minimum size of a vegetation type in the landscape. A given invader can have positive effects on some services and negative effects on others. It is important to consider that, in some systems, shifting environmental conditions may no longer support native species and that invasive species may be critical contributors to the resilience of ecosystem services.

In the Central Amazonian floodplains, several hundred tree species grow in areas that are periodically flooded by nutrient-rich white-water rivers (várzea) and by nutrient poor black-water rivers (igapó). Seed masses of 31 species from várzea and 27 species from igapó were compared taking into consideration their taxonomic relatedness. Overall average seed mass was higher (mean = 7.08 g) in nutrient-poor igapó than in nutrient-rich várzea (mean = 1.16 g). In igapó, the species growing at high elevations on the flooding gradient had significantly higher seed masses than the species growing at low elevations. In várzea, no difference was found between species growing at high and low elevations. Four large-seeded species from igapó occurring at high elevations on the flooding gradient were responsible for most of the difference in average seed mass between forest types. These data suggest that at low positions in the flooding gradient in igapó, selection pressure on seed size is probably the same as in várzea. At sites with short periods of flooding in igapó forests, on high levels in the flooding gradient, the need for rapid height growth may have selected for species with larger seeds which enable seedlings to be less dependent on soil nutrients.

Sixty-four intact lambs and twenty-four lambs fitted with a duodenal cannula were weaned at 6 weeks of age and grazed pure species swards of either lucerne (Medicago sativa), white clover (Trifolium repens), ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or prairie grass (Bromus catharticus) for 6 weeks. Intake and duodenal digesta flow were estimated when lambs were 8 and 12 weeks of age. Lambs grazing the two legume species grew at a similar rate, as did lambs grazing the two grass species. Legumes promoted a 38% higher growth rate than grasses. The higher growth rate of lambs grazing legumes was associated with a 36% higher digestible organic matter intake (DOMI; 29.5 and 21.7 g/kg body-weight per d for legume and grass respectively) and a 33% higher duodenal non-ammonia-nitrogen (NAN) flow (1.22 and 0.92 g/kg body-weight per d respectively). There was no species difference in the site of organic matter digestion; on average 0.56 of DOMI was apparently digested in the rumen and 0.77 of DOMI was truly digested in the rumen. There was no difference in duodenal NAN flow, relative to DOMI (average, 43 g/kg) or to organic matter apparently digested in the rumen (80 g/kg). Similarly, there was no difference in microbial N flow relative to duodenal NAN (0.50 g/g) and organic matter apparently (41 g/kg) or truly (29 g/kg) digested in the rumen. It was concluded that the higher growth rates achieved by lambs grazing legumes were due to higher intakes which increased the total quantity of nutrients supplied despite more protein being lost in the rumen of lambs consuming legumes.

An experiment was conducted using steers cannulated at the rumen, duodenum and ileum to study the effects of increasing the levels of barley and fishmeal in straw-based diets. Diets A, B, C and D contained ammonia-treated straw, barley and fishmeal in the ratios, 67:33:0, 66:23:11, 53:47:0 and 52:36:12 (by weight) and were offered in daily amounts of 3·9, 3·9, 4·8 and 4·8 kg dry matter. The effects of barley were attributable to increased intakes of digestible organic matter and consequently to increased flows of microbial matter to the duodenum. There were no modifications in the balance of energy to nitrogen-yielding nutrients available for absorption. Introducing fishmeal into diets improved digestibility of cellulose and xylose by up to 6.7 and 4.7 % respectively, and shifted digestion towards the large intestine. Second, it increased amino acid N supply to the small intestine which averaged 52·2, 63·2, 68·8 and 84·0 g/d with diets A, B, C and D. Some changes were also noted in the balance of amino acids absorbed. Consequently, the contribution of amino acids to metabolizable energy intake increased with the proportion of fishmeal in diets (0·17, 0·20, 0·18 and 0·21 for diets A, B, C and D).

Growth rates measured in heifers amounted to 259, 431, 522 and 615 g/d for diets A, B, C and D. They appeared to be related to intestinal amino acid supply.