A new framework of spatial targeting for single-species conservation planning

Context

Organisations acting to conserve and protect species across large spatial scales prioritise to optimise use of resources. Spatial conservation prioritization tools typically focus on identifying areas containing species groups of interest, with few tools used to identify the best areas for single-species conservation, in particular, to conserve currently widespread but declining species.

Objective

A single-species prioritization framework, based on temporal and spatial patterns of occupancy and abundance, was developed to spatially prioritize conservation action for widespread species by identifying smaller areas to work within to achieve predefined conservation objectives.

Methods

We demonstrate our approach for 29 widespread bird species in the UK, using breeding bird atlas data from two periods to define distribution, relative abundance and change in relative abundance. We selected occupied 10-km squares with abundance trends that matched species conservation objectives relating to maintaining or increasing population size or range, and then identified spatial clusters of squares for each objective using a Getis-Ord-Gi* or near neighbour analysis.

Results

For each species, the framework identified clusters of 20-km squares that enabled us to identify small areas in which species recovery action could be prioritized.

Conclusions

Our approach identified a proportion of species’ ranges to prioritize for species recovery. This approach is a relatively quick process that can be used to inform single-species conservation for any taxa if sufficiently fine-scale occupancy and abundance information is available for two or more time periods. This is a relatively simple first step for planning single-species focussed conservation to help optimise resource use.

     

The effects of various plant protection methods on the development of Zymoseptoria tritici and Cephalosporium gramineum,grain yield and protein profile

Septoria leaf blotch progresses rapidly, leading to the development of Zymoseptoria titici forms resistant to fungicides. Cephalosporium stripe is caused by Cephalosporium gramineum. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of selected pesticides in limiting the symptoms of both diseases on winter wheat leaves, and to determine their influence on grain yield and the content and composition of protein fractions in wheat kernels. Propiconazoles were most effective in inhibiting the development of Septoria leaf blotch (symptoms were reduced from 54.7% to 78.6%). Strobilurins were less effective due to the presence of isolates with the G143A mutation. Symptoms of Cephalosporium stripe were rarely observed, and protective treatments did not reduce their severity. The highest content of grain protein (14.81%) was found in plants most intensely protected with the fungicides containing fenpropimorph, pyraclostrobin and epoxiconazole. The principal component analysis revealed that the plant protection method influenced the grain protein profile. The accumulation of HMW glutenins and α/β gliadins was mutually interrelated and higher in high-input treatments; control grain was characterized by close relationships between ω-gliadins, LMW glutenins, albumins and globulins, whereas low-input treatments influenced mostly γ-gliadins.     

Assessment of the long‐acting ivermectin formulation in sheep: Further insight into potential pharmacokinetic interactions

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the in vivo pharmacokinetic of ivermectin (IVM) after the administration of a long‐acting (LA) formulation to sheep and its impact on potential drug‐drug interactions. The work included the evaluation of the comparative plasma profiles of IVM administered at a single therapeutic dose (200 μg/kg) and as LA formulation at 630 μg/kg. Additionally, IVM was measured in different gastrointestinal tissues at 15 days posttreatment with both IVM formulations. The impact of the long‐lasting and enhanced IVM exposure on the disposition kinetics of abamectin (ABM) was also assessed. Plasma (IVM and ABM) and gastrointestinal (IVM) concentrations were analyzed by HPLC with fluorescent detection. In plasma, the calculated C_max and AUC_0‐t values of the IVM‐LA formulation were 1.47‐ and 3.35‐fold higher compared with IVM 1% formulation, respectively. The T_1/2ab and T_max collected after administration of the LA formulation were 2‐ and 3.5‐fold longer than those observed after administration of IVM 1% formulation, respectively. Significantly higher IVM concentrations were measured in the intestine mucosal tissues and luminal contents with the LA formulation, and in the liver, the increase was 7‐fold higher than conventional formulation. There was no drug interaction between IVM and ABM after the single administration of ABM at 15 days post‐administration of the IVM LA formulation. The characterization of the kinetic behavior of the LA formulation to sheep and its potential influence on drug‐drug interactions is a further contribution to the field.     

Computed Tomographic Angiography under Sedation in the Diagnosis of Suspected Canine Pancreatitis: A Pilot Study

Background

Computed tomography (CT) is highly accurate for diagnosing pancreatitis in humans. The diagnosis of pancreatitis in dogs is based on clinical signs, laboratory findings, and ultrasonographic (US) changes. There are, however, inherent limitations in relying on laboratory and ultrasound findings for the clinical diagnosis of pancreatitis in dogs.

Hypothesis/Objectives

We hypothesized that CT angiography would be a rapid and reliable method to confirm pancreatitis in dogs compared to ultrasonography. The aim was to describe the CT characteristics and compare them to ultrasound findings and correlate the CT appearance to the severity of the patients'' clinical course.

Animals

A prospective pilot case series; 10 dogs with pancreatitis were enrolled if the history, clinical signs, laboratory, and ultrasonographic findings were indicative of pancreatitis.

Methods

A 3‐phase angiographic CT was performed under sedation. Afterward, each dog had US‐guided aspirates of the pancreas collected and blood drawn for cPLi assay. Images were evaluated for portion of visible pancreas, pancreatic size and margin, pancreatic parenchyma, presence of peripancreatic changes and contrast enhancement pattern. The results were compared with outcome.

Results

An enlarged, homogeneously to heterogeneously attenuating and contrast‐enhancing pancreas with ill‐defined borders was identified in all dogs. CT identified more features characterizing pancreatic abnormalities compared to US. Thrombi were found in 3/10 dogs. Three dogs with heterogeneous contrast enhancement had an overall poorer outcome than those with homogenous enhancement.

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

CT angiography under sedation was used in dogs to confirm clinically suspected pancreatitis and identified clinically relevant and potentially prognostic features of pancreatitis in dogs.     

Changes through time in traits of poplar clones in selection trials

Growth, survival, stem characteristics, resistance to wind, and canker disease of 51 poplar clones were evaluated at age 9 and 10 years, and compared to measurements at age 3 in two trials on the Lower Valley of the Colorado River, Argentina. About 30% of the clones in both trials had large changes in growth rankings at age 9 and 10 compared to rankings at age 3. Canker incidence increased about 4-fold between age 3, and measurements at age 9 and 10. Stem form was in general satisfactory, and wind incidence was almost nil. In trial 1, clones 588–1, Conti 12, 582–41, and 582–5 occupied the upper positions in the growth rankings at age 3 and 10, and the clone 588–1 ranked first both in growth and canker incidence in 1998. Stem growth trajectories of clones with similar growth rates did not differ among clones with, and without canker disease. In trial 2, the range in growth among clones was narrower than in trial 1, and canker disease, although of minor incidence, was present in most clones at age 9. Some of the P. deltoides clones in the trials had similar growth, and less canker disease than the Euroamerican clones commonly grown in the region, but progressive canker incidence should be addressed with additional selection trials.     

Estimates of stem wood increments in forest resources: comparison of different approaches in forest inventory: consequences for international reporting: case studyof European forests

Key message

Quality and reliability of forest resource assessments depend on the ability of national forest inventories (NFIs) to supply necessary and high-quality data. Over the last decades and especially since the 1990s, the NFIs in European countries have been rapidly developing. Possibilities for obtaining reliable and accurate data on annual increment from different inventory types were evaluated, and sample-based inventories have been found to be superior to standwise inventories in providing reliable data. Simplified methods may be employed when increment cannot be directly estimated from inventory data.

Context

An increasing intensity of forest resource use requires more accurate, detailed and reliable information, not only on forest area and growing stock but also on forest stand productivity, wood increment and its components.

Aims

The main objectives were to assess the capacities of forest inventories, the methods used for estimation of gross increment and its components and their accuracy and to demonstrate an effective method for estimation of increment when direct inventory methods are not available.

Methods

Data about national forest inventory methods were obtained from 30 responses to a questionnaire, distributed amongst national correspondents of all European countries; reports of COST Actions E43 and FP 1001, databases of Temperate and Boreal Forest Resource Assessment (TBFRA) 2000 and State of Europe’s Forests (SoEF) 2011 were used as well. Analysis and comparison of results from different forest inventories were used for evaluation of data reliability. Relationships between growing stock and gross increment in European forests were also analysed, and corresponding models were proposed.

Results

Seventy-nine percent of European forest area is covered by national forest inventories (NFIs) based on sampling methods and the rest on stand-level inventory and other inventory methods. Data obtained by aggregating standwise data usually underestimate growing stock by 15–20 % and gross increment even more. Almost half of the European forest area (47 %) is monitored using permanent plots, measured twice or more, allowing the estimation of gross increment and its components to be made directly.

Conclusion

Implementation of NFIs based on sampling methods, especially with permanent plots, resulted in an improvement of data quality and in most cases an increase of growing stock and gross increment. The estimation of natural losses is the weakest link in today’s NFIs and in the current assessment of European forest resources. The proposed default values for gross increment and its components is an option to be used in countries not having NFI at all or those which have started it only recently.

     

Age determination of large live trees with inner cavities: radiocarbon dating of Platland tree,a giant African baobab

• Introduction   

For large trees without a continuous sequence of growth rings in their trunk, such as the African baobab (Adansonia digitata L.), the only accurate method for age determination is radiocarbon dating. As of today, this method was limited to dating samples collected from the remains of dead specimens.     

Application of cryoprobe 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and multivariate analysis for the verification of corsican honey

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H NMR) and multivariate analysis techniques have been used to classify honey into two groups by geographical origin. Honey from Corsica (Miel de Corse) was used as an example of a protected designation of origin product. Mathematical models were constructed to determine the feasibility of distinguishing between honey from Corsica and that from other geographical locations in Europe, using (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Honey from 10 different regions within five countries was analyzed. (1)H NMR spectra were used as input variables for projection to latent structures (PLS) followed by linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and genetic programming (GP). Models were generated using three methods, PLS-LDA, two-stage GP, and a combination of PLS and GP (PLS-GP). The PLS-GP model used variables selected by PLS for subsequent GP calculations. All models were generated using Venetian blind cross-validation. Overall classification rates for the discrimination of Corsican and non-Corsican honey of 75.8, 94.5, and 96.2% were determined using PLS-LDA, two-stage GP, and PLS-GP, respectively. The variables utilized by PLS-GP were related to their (1)H NMR chemical shifts, and this led to the identification of trigonelline in honey for the first time.     

The practical use of semiparametric models in field trials

This article examines the practical use of semiparametric models in the analysis of field trials—that is, models with parameterized treatment effects and additive terms derived by a data-driven approach using a locally weighted running line smoother (loess). We discuss graphical methods to identify spatial structure in the data and model selection procedures to choose the degree of smoothing. Once the spatial part of the model has been chosen, hypotheses about the treatment effects may be tested. Semiparametric models are used to analyze two barley field trials exhibiting spatial trends. The first has a single experimental treatment and a row-column design. The second has a split-plot design, and we use a semiparametric model which accounts for the randomization at the different strata of this design. We compare the semiparametric analyses with classical analyses of variance and with alternative spatial models. We find that semiparametric models give a good insight into spatial variation in the field and can improve the precision of parameter estimates.     

Composted biosolids as a source of iron for hybrid poplars (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Populus</Emphasis> sp.) grown in northwest New Mexico

Composted sewage sludge (biosolids) supply plant available Fe and may represent a sustainable alternative to more costly chelated Fe fertilizers currently used to supplement nutrition in hybrid poplar test plots of elevated soil pH. To test the response of poplars, field plots were amended with composted biosolids at two agricultural rates: 22.75 and 44.5 Mg ha⁻¹. Iron EDDHA served as a fertilizer check and control plots received no amendment. The hybrid poplar OP-367 (Populus deltoides × P. nigra) was planted on a 3.6 m grid spacing. Significant amounts of P and Fe originating from the sewage treatment process were detected in soils 13 months after amending. Chlorosis evaluated with a SPAD-502 meter, showed that poplars amended with biosolids remained the least chlorotic and had greater tree growth when compared to Fe EDDHA and control plots during two growing seasons. Biosolids show promise as a cost effective alternative for the remediation of Fe chlorosis in hybrid poplar agroforestry plantations and present new opportunities in northwestern New Mexico for municipalities seeking solid waste land disposal options.