Search results for " AGRICULTURE"
showing 10 items of 2212 documents
Small-scale shrimp fisheries bycatch: a multi-criteria approach for data-poor situations
2020
Abstract Bycatch and discards from small-scale fisheries (SSF) are usually ignored when compared with industrial fisheries, not only by policy-makers, but also by scientists. Therefore, SSF social, economic and ecological impacts are poorly known and especially in the context of incidental catches, regardless of whether they become bycatch or discards. Such neglect is worrisome due to the role that SSF play in food security and poverty alleviation, particularly in coastal and rural communities in developing countries. In this study, a combination of sampling data and the fishers' behavior (specifically the basis of their decision on where to fish) were used. Bayesian models were applied to …
Disintegration of Italian rural landscapes to international environmental agreements
2015
In Italy, the first law that puts landscape and historical buildings under public control was implemented in 1922. While this represents a significant achievement for those times, for that law landscape essentially has an historical and aesthetic connotation, without any explicit reference to the components of flora, fauna and geology. Today, many protection policies and initiatives are still biased by the lack of reference to the intrinsic value that biodiversity and ecosystem services have for the maintenance of traditional landscapes, as well as for the survival of the human species. The priority accorded to historical and aesthetic values can lead to a lack of attention to the complex r…
Impediments to fisheries recovery in Canada: Policy and institutional constraints on developing management practices compliant with the precautionary…
2020
The status of many Canadian fisheries is poor, a consequence of inadequate implementation of sustainable fishery policy within the context of the Precautionary Approach (PA). A key component of implementation lies with the provision of science advice. Scientists are responsible for advising on options likely to meet policy intent and objectives. Here, we examine PA-compliance in the role of science in Canada's fisheries management decision-making. We distinguish science-based from science-determined decisions and processes. Science-based decisions emerge from consultation processes involving stakeholders; science need not always have a clear and accountable role that can be transparently se…
Eliciting expert knowledge to inform stock status for data-limited stock assessments
2019
Data-limited fisheries are a major challenge for stock assessment analysts, as many traditional data-rich models cannot be implemented. Approaches based on stock reduction analysis offer simple ways to handle low data availability, but are particularly sensitive to assumptions on relative stock status (i.e., current biomass compared to unperturbed biomass). For the vast majority of data-limited stocks, stock status is unmeasured. The present study presents a method to elicit expert knowledge to inform stock status and a novel, user-friendly on-line application for expert elicitation. Expert opinions are compared to stock status derived from data-rich models. Here, it is evaluated how expert…
Agronomic, metabolomic and lipidomic characterization of Sicilian Origanum vulgare (L.) ecotypes
2016
Although Origanum vulgare (L.) has been deeply analysed at phytochemical level, poor knowledge is available regarding non-volatile compounds such as lipids. The aim of this work was to characterise five wild Sicilian Origanum ecotypes from an agronomic, metabolomic and lipidomic perspective. Serradifalco presented higher dry weight and inflorescences/plant than the others while Favara had a significantly higher number of branches per plant and more extensive flowered stratum. Metabolomic analysis, performed with LC-MS-TOF, allowed a preliminary characterisation of the non-volatile metabolome of the five oregano ecotypes Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum. Twenty-five metabolites were identified b…
Filling gaps: closing the life cycle of the endangered Mediterranean limpet Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791 (Gastropoda, Patellidae)
2020
Several reproductive issues and the larval development of the ferruginous limpet, Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791, an endangered species endemic from the western Mediterranean Sea, were studied to fill gaps in the knowledge of its life cycle. Average diameter of mature oocytes was 141.83 μm and mean oocyte density in the ovary was 283,800 oocytes/gram. No significant correlations were found between both oocyte diameter or density and female shell length. Female fecundity (number of oocytes per gonad) was significantly correlated with shell length and varied between 189,200 oocytes in a 40.0 mm female and 5,019,200 oocytes in an 86.4 mm female. However, there was considerable variability, in…
Designer ecosystems : A solution for the conservation-exploitation dilemma
2016
Increase in human population is accelerating the rate of land use change, biodiversity loss and habitat degradation, triggering a serious threat to life supporting ecosystem services. Existing strategies for biological conservation remain insufficient to achieve a sustainable human-nature relationship and this situation has fueled a debate on the conservation-exploitation dilemma. We need to devise novel strategies, in a mutually inclusive way, which can support biological conservation and secure economic development of deprived populations. Here we propose the use of designer ecosystems which can ensure ecological sustainability while providing ample and some new means of livelihood to loc…
Applicability of a single‐use bioreactor compared to a glass bioreactor for the fermentation of filamentous fungi and evaluation of the reproducibili…
2021
Abstract The implementation of single‐use technologies offers several major advantages, e.g. prevention of cross‐contamination, especially when spore‐forming microorganisms are present. This study investigated the application of a single‐use bioreactor in batch fermentation of filamentous fungus Penicillium sp. (IBWF 040‐09) from the Institute of Biotechnology and Drug Research (IBWF), which is capable of intracellular production of a protease inhibitor against parasitic proteases as a secondary metabolite. Several modifications to the SU bioreactor were suggested in this study to allow the fermentation in which the fungus forms pellets. Simultaneously, fermentations in conventional glass b…
Use of Plant Water Extracts for Weed Control in Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum L. Subsp. durum Desf.)
2020
The use of plant water extracts to control weeds is gaining attention in environmentally-friendly agriculture, but the study of the effect that such extracts may exert on the yield of durum wheat is still unexplored. In 2014 and 2016, the herbicidal potential of several plant water extracts was field tested on durum wheat (cv Valbelice). In 2014, extracts obtained from Artemisia arborescens, Rhus coriaria, Lantana camara, Thymus vulgaris, and Euphorbia characias were used, whereas in 2016 only A. arborescens and R. coriaria were tested as &ldquo
Natural Forest Management in Neotropical Mountain Rain Forests — An Ecological Experiment
2008
In tropical forests, the first step in the destruction cycle is usually the over-exploitation of high value timber, leading not only to extinction of the extracted species (Silva Matos and Bovi 2002) but also to the conversion of the forests into pastures in many cases (Wunder 1996b). In many highlands of Ecuador the productivity of the pastures is depleted due to the invasion of bracken fern (see Chapter 28 in this volume), which finally leads again to the conversion of primary forests by local farmers (Paulsch et al. 2001; Hartig and Beck 2003). This process usually is accompanied by loss of biodiversity (Brooks et al. 200 I), increased erosion, changes of hydrology (Bruijnzel 2004), and …