Search results for "far"
showing 10 items of 6421 documents
Application of a new protocol to evaluate the benthic impacts of aquaculture: Colonization of experimental units for monitoring by polychaeta
2019
A range of different protocols and indices have been developed in recent years for the definition of Environmental Quality Standards in aquaculture. However, it can be difficult to compare these protocols or indices between different regions or different habitats due to spatial heterogeneity at different scales. We carried out a field study to estimate the effectiveness of experimental units (sediment-filled trays) as an environmental management tool. The experimental units were filled with two different sediments - sand and mud - and placed underneath two fish farm facilities for one month. Using polychaetes to assess the ecological status, AMBI and multidimensional analysis showed clear r…
Coping styles in farmed fish: consequences for aquaculture
2017
Individual differences in physiological and behavioural responses to stressors are increasingly recognised as adaptive variation and thus raw material for evolution and fish farming improvements including selective breeding. Such individual variation has been evolutionarily conserved and is present in all vertebrate taxa including fish. In farmed animals, the interest in consistent trait associations, that is coping styles, has increased dramatically over the last years because many studies have demonstrated links to performance traits, health and disease susceptibility and welfare. This study will review (i) the main behavioural, neuroendocrine, cognitive and emotional differences between …
An optimised multi-host trematode life cycle: fishery discards enhance trophic parasite transmission to scavenging birds
2016
Overlapping distributions of hosts and parasites are critical for successful completion of multi-host parasite life cycles and even small environmental changes can impact on the parasite's presence in a host or habitat. The generalist Cardiocephaloides longicollis was used as a model for multi-host trematode life cycles in marine habitats. This parasite was studied to quantify parasite dispersion and transmission dynamics, effects of biological changes and anthropogenic impacts on life cycle completion. We compiled the largest host dataset to date, by analysing 3351 molluscs (24 species), 2108 fish (25 species) and 154 birds (17 species) and analysed the resultant data based on a number of …
Understanding insect foraging in complex habitats by comparing trophic levels: insights from specialist host-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid systems
2019
Insects typically forage in complex habitats in which their resources are surrounded by non-resources. For herbivores, pollinators, parasitoids, and higher level predators research has focused on how specific trophic levels filter and integrate information from cues in their habitat to locate resources. However, these insights frequently build specific theory per trophic level and seldom across trophic levels. Here, we synthesize advances in understanding of insect foraging behavior in complex habitats by comparing trophic levels in specialist host-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid systems. We argue that resources may become less apparent to foraging insects when they are member of higher trophic …
Innate antipredator behavior can promote infection in fish even in the absence of predators
2019
Natural enemies—predators and parasites—largely shape the dynamics of ecosystems. It is known that antipredator and antiparasite defense can be mutually conflicting, however consequences of this trade-off for the regulation of infection burden in animals are still poorly understood. We hypothesize that even in the absence of cues from predators, innate antipredator behavior (“ghost of predation past”) interferes with defense against parasites and can enhance the infection risk. As a case study, we explore interactions between a commercial species, the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, and its parasite, the trematode eye-fluke Diplostomum pseudospathaceum. Fish–parasite interactions were te…
Are alternative food networks winning strategies to increase organic SMEs profitability? Evidence from a case study
2020
The aim of this study was to understand how and how much alternative food networks (AFNs) contribute to increasing the profitability of the organic SMEs, compared to traditional organic sales channels. For this purpose, an economic analysis and an in-depth interview were carried out in a case study located in the Sicilian northern coast. Findings showed a clear convenience of the participation to alternative food networks compared to the case in which all farm production was conferred to traditional sales channels, highlighting an increase both of farm profit (+76.9%) and net income (+72.1%). However, the in-depth interview revealed that AFNs are a mean, not only to have economic benefits, …
Validation of an online system for the continuous monitoring of tree water status for sustainable irrigation managements in olive (Olea europaea L.)
2016
Abstract As a result of climate change a large reduction of agricultural water through improved irrigation management is a major need for agriculture sustainability. To this aim, always more sensitive sensors to monitor plant water status have been developed in recent years. Among them, the leaf patch clamp pressure probes are very promising for water management of olive but until now have been tested only in few environmental and management conditions. In this work these sensors have been tested for two consecutive years on two completely different management systems: a traditional rainfed orchard and a super high density (SHD) drip irrigated orchard. Within the SHD orchard the probes have…
A ricardian analysis of the impact of climate change on permanent crops in a mediterranean region
2019
This is the first study which explores the impact of climate change in Sicily, a small Mediterranean region of Southern Europe. According to research, Mediterranean area has shown large climate shifts in the last century and it has been identified as one of the most prominent “Hot-Spots” in future climate change projections. Since agriculture is an economic activity which strongly depends on climate setting and is particularly responsive to climate changes, it is important to understand how such changes may affect agricultural profitability in the Mediterranean region. The aim of the present study is to assess the expected impact of climate change on permanent crops cultivated in Sicilian r…
Jellyfish blooms perception in Mediterranean finfish aquaculture
2017
7 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, supplemental material https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.11.005
Depuration of geosmin- and 2-methylisoborneol-induced off-flavors in recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farmed European whitefish Coregonus lavar…
2019
European whitefish Coregonus lavaretus has increasingly become an important species for aquatic food production, especially in the Nordic countries. Whitefish is produced in traditional cage and pond operations, and in recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in which, unfortunately, off-flavors and odors, mostly caused by geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB), can accumulate in fish flesh from the circulating water. GSM and MIB have very low human sensory detection limits and, therefore, often disliked by consumers even at low concentrations. In this study, concentrations of GSM and MIB in RAS farmed European whitefish were studied by an analytical method based on headspace solid phase …