Search results for "Veterinary"

Dual-purpose wheat technology: a tool for ensuring food security and livestock sustainability in cereal-based cropping pattern

2020

Wheat cultivation under a dual-purpose (DP) system holds great potential to provide additional fodder for livestock with marginal grain reduction. This study explores the potential of wheat as a DP...

2018

BackgroundThe use and partitioning of trophic resources is a central aspect of community function. On the ground of tropical forests, dozens of ant species may be found together and ecological mechanisms should act to allow such coexistence. One hypothesis states that niche specialization is higher in the tropics, compared to temperate regions. However, trophic niches of most species are virtually unknown. Several techniques might be combined to study trophic niche, such as field observations, fatty acid analysis (FAA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA). In this work, we combine these three techniques to unveil partitioning of trophic resources in a tropical and a temperate community. We des…

Testing the usefulness of habitat corridors in mitigating the negative effects of fragmentation: the soil faunal community as a model system

2004

Abstract The corridor hypothesis predicts that habitat corridors should attenuate the negative effects of fragmentation on populations or communities by enhancing the dispersal of organisms between the habitat fragments (the ‘rescue effect’). In the present 12-month mesocosm experiment, this hypothesis was tested using the soil micro- and mesofaunal community in humus patches—either connected or unconnected with humus corridors to each other—as a model system. Of particular interest was to explore whether faunal groups with differing life strategies (e.g. in trophic position and dispersal capacity) would differ in their responses to the corridors. The results showed that enchytraeid worms w…

Colonisation of newly established habitats by soil decomposer organisms: the effect of habitat corridors in relation to colonisation distance and hab…

2005

Abstract The aim of the present 2.5-year-long field experiment was to explore the ability of various members of the detrital food web to colonise newly established habitat patches in field conditions, either in the presence or absence of habitat corridors. Patch size and distance to the “mainland” (colonisation source) were manipulated to explore the scale dependency of the corridor effects. Sterilised humus patches, embedded in mineral soil regarded as uninhabitable (or non-preferred) matrix for the soil organisms, functioned as newly established habitats. Intact forest soil served as the source of colonisers. Three kinds of patches were established: large ones situated at relatively long …

Do enchytraeid worms and habitat corridors facilitate the colonisation of habitat patches by soil microbes?

2004

Due to their high abundance and ubiquitous existence, microbes are considered to be efficient colonisers of newly established habitats. To shed light on the dispersal mechanisms of soil microbes, a controlled microcosm experiment was established. In these microcosms, the dispersal of microbes from a source humus patch to originally sterile humus patches (embedded in a mineral soil matrix) was followed for 16 months, applying 16S and 18S ribosomal DNA-based PCR-DGGE molecular methods. Specifically, the role of enchytraeid worms and habitat (humus) corridors as possible facilitators of microbe dispersal was studied. The results showed that enchytraeid worms function efficiently as vectors for…

Afforested fields benefit nutrient-demanding fungi

2015

Impaired ecosystems are converted back to natural ecosystems or some other target stage by means of restoration and management. Due to their agricultural legacy, afforested fields might be valuable compensatory habitats for rare fungal species that require nutrient-rich forest soils. Using a large-scale field experiment in Finland, we studied community composition of macrofungi (agarics and boletes) on former fields, which had been afforested as monocultures 20 years ago using native spruce Picea abies, pine Pinus sylvestris, and birch Betula pendula. We studied the effect of soil quality, tree species, and site on community composition and structure. Many nutrient-demanding as well as rare…

2021

Without insights into the threats affecting species across their distributions and throughout their annual cycles, effective conservation management cannot be applied. The Whenua Hou diving petrel Pelecanoides whenuahouensis (WHDP) is a Critically Endangered small seabird whose offshore habits and threats are poorly understood. We tracked WHDPs year-round in 2015/16, 2017/18, and 2018/19 using global location-sensing immersion loggers to identify offshore distribution, movements, behaviour, and overlap with commercial fishing effort. During the breeding period, WHDPs ranged from southern Aotearoa (New Zealand) to Maukahuka (Auckland Islands). After breeding, WHDPs migrated southwest towards…

Control of off-flavor compounds in a full-scale recirculating aquaculture system rearing rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

2020

Fish is increasingly produced in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), which can offer some production and environmental benefits. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to develop off-flavors in RA...

The use of a spatial model of economic efficiency to predict the most likely outcomes under different fishing strategy scenarios

2021

The current European Union has been progressively implementing since January 2014 a discard ban which includes the obligation to land unwanted catch for certain regulated species and sizes. Although a full enforcement of the landing obligation has a direct impact on discard reduction through more responsible and selective fishing, fishers argue that it will prompt both a decrease in incomes and an increase in working time onboard. Thus, the measure is in a hold in south-western waters due to the difficulties to implement the ban in mixed fisheries This paper analyzes some possible scenarios which fishers could face under the landing obligation. It is shown the construction of a spatial bio-…

Integrating spatial management measures into fisheries: The Lepidorhombus spp. case study

2020

Most fisheries management systems rely on a set of regulatory measures to achieve desired objectives. Controls on catch and effort are usually supplemented with gear restrictions, minimum landing sizes, and in the framework of the new common fisheries policy, limitation of discards and by-catch. However, the increasing use of spatial management measures such as conservation areas or spatial and temporal area closures faces new challenges for fishery managers. Here we present an integrated spatial framework to identify areas in which undersized commercial species are more abundant. Once these areas are identified they could be avoided by fishers, minimizing the fishing impact over the immatu…