Alternative supply chains for logging residues under access constraints

We conducted a comparative study of chipping logging residues at the roadside landing or at the yarder pad, the latter inaccessible to heavy road vehicles. Field data was collected from real operations in the Italian mountain, and it was used for building a simulation model that could generalize the results of the study. The model was built with Arena 14 and carefully reflected interaction delays between individual units along the chain. Chipping at the pad with a chipper and two shuttles was the best compromise solution of low supply cost and fuel consumption. At a mean cost of €22.7 per fresh tonne, this solution was 10% cheaper than chipping at the landing. Using three chip shuttles did not allow a meaningful reduction of supply cost over a two-shuttle chain, but resulted in a 7% increase of fuel consumption. The distance between the pad and the roadside landing was by far the most important factor in determining supply cost, and accounted for 80% of the variability in the data, for both systems. Under these circumstances, the higher speed and payload of the chip shuttles made it preferable to chip at the pad, provided enough shuttles are available.     

Pheromone detection of the introduced forest pest Megaplatypus mutatus (=Platypus mutatus) (Chapuis) (Platypodinae, Curculionidae) in Italy

Megaplatypus mutatus (Chapuis) (=Platypus mutatus), an ambrosia beetle native to South America, attacks standing live trees of a wide range of forest and fruit tree species, and it is particularly damaging to commercial poplar plantations. In 2000, M. mutatus was observed for the first time in Italy, in the province of Caserta, near Naples. The development of a pheromone-based monitoring system, for detecting the spread and for managing M. mutatus infestations, is an important goal for both European and South American control and surveillance programs. Using a three component pheromone blend developed in Argentina into commercial funnel traps we were able to asses the level of dispersion of this pest in the Italian Campania region. Insects were captured in all the plantations suspected of being infested based on the presence of active parental and larval galleries. We also provide the first report of the attack followed by completion of the life cycle of M. mutatus in European hazelnut, Corylus avellana L. (Betulaceae), an important nut species native to Europe and Western Asia.     

History of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP)

Forty years ago the first meeting of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitiology (WAAVP) was held in Hannover, Germany. We now have a thriving, internationally recognized organization; the meetings attract hundreds of scientists, attendance is increasing with almost every meeting. It is a useful time to review our beginnings, our development and our future. Our history has been one of innovation and activity and contributed to by its members in important areas of veterinary parasitology.     

Using a Small-Log Mobile Sawmill System to Contain Fuel Reduction Treatment Cost on Small Parcels

The Authors tested a mobile small-log sawmill system that could produce cants and boards of variable size, according to the needs and specifications of each property owner. The unit was deployed as part of a comprehensive mechanical fuel reduction operation, aimed at thinning small properties around homesteads. Working on conifer small logs, the mill proved very efficient, with a processing productivity between 0.3 and 2.8 m³ of lumber per working hour and a recovery rate of 50% for boards, and 67% for cants. The mill could be set up and dismantled in a few hours and was easy to move around. However, the exceedingly small amount of logs available at each site entailed a low utilization of the mill (about 25% of the time) and a consequently high processing cost. Under the conditions of the study, milling cost can be contained below 150 US dollars per m³ of lumber only if the single site offers at least 50 m³ of logs, already sorted during harvesting. Hence the suggestion of pooling the wood obtained from small parcel fuel reduction treatments in satellite yards and milling it only when a large enough amount has been accumulated. In turn, satellite yards could be organized into an integrated network complementary—rather than alternative—to stationary mills.     

European and United States perspectives on forest operations in environmentally sensitive areas

This paper offers a forest operations perspective in environmentally sensitive areas in Europe and the United States. The objective is to help inform key sustainability knowledge gaps in forest operations to reduce impacts on the environment and the equipment operators in these increasingly targeted and difficult to operate in areas. Under existing guidelines and best management practices, the protection of ecosystem services linked to soil, water, wildlife and biodiversity have rightly received the highest considerations. However, the connection between protecting these ecological values, safe operational practices and technological advancements is rarely well articulated. One means to address the operational and technological gap is the selection of equipment and tailor the work conditions to terrain type, forest features and management objectives. To that effect, this paper discusses the environmental, planning, equipment selection and operator considerations and proposes possible solutions and guidelines to contain both the operators’ safety and environmental risks in forest operations.     

Spatiotemporal variations of albedo in managed agricultural landscapes: inferences to global warming impacts (GWI)

Landscape Ecology - Albedo can be used to quantify ecosystem and landscape contributions to local and global climate. Such contributions are conventionally expressed as radiative forcing (RF) and...     

Formulation of New Media from Dairy and Brewery Wastes for a Sustainable Production of DHA-Rich Oil by Aurantiochytrium mangrovei

Mozzarella stretching water (MSW) is a dairy effluent generated from mozzarella cheese production that does not have a real use and is destined to disposal, causing environmental problems and representing a high disposal cost for dairy producers. Spent brewery yeast (SBY) is another promising food waste produced after brewery manufacturing that could be recycled in new biotechnological processes. Aurantiochytrium mangrovei is an aquatic protist known as producer of bioactive lipids such as omega 3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3 LC-PUFA), in particular docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In this work MSW and SBY have been used to formulate new sustainable growth media for A. mangrovei cultivation and production of DHA in an attempt to valorize these effluents. MSW required an enzymatic hydrolysis to enhance the biomass production. The new media obtained from hydrolysed MSW was also optimized using response surface methodologies, obtaining 10.14 g L⁻¹ of biomass in optimized medium, with a DHA content of 1.21 g L⁻¹.     

Modeling farm-level adoption of deficit irrigation using Positive Mathematical Programming

Irrigated agriculture in the European Union (EU) is currently adapting to new conditions including the principle of the full recovery of water service costs, the reduction of water availability and the increasing variability in the prices of agricultural products. This has fostered an increasing number of economic analyses to investigate farmers’ behaviour by means of mathematical programming techniques including Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) models.However PMP models generally consider only activities observed in the reference period even if, under new policies and market conditions, farmers can adopt irrigation techniques they have not used previously. In particular, under increasing water costs or decreasing water availability, farmers can introduce Deficit Irrigation (DI) techniques that might not have been profitable earlier.We propose an extension of the PMP approach to include DI techniques not observed in the reference period. These alternative techniques are identified by means of a crop growth model developed by the FAO. We apply our methodology to a Mediterranean area using three sets of simulations involving: increases in water costs, reductions in water availability, and changes in the prices of the products obtained from irrigated crops.Lacking observations of alternative irrigation techniques, our approach captures potential technology adjustments and assesses the impact of changes in water policy and market conditions in a better way.Simulation results show that increasing water costs do not motivate adoption of DI techniques. Rather, farmers are induced to save water by switching from full irrigation to deficit irrigation when water availability is reduced or the prices of irrigated crops are increased.     

UV protectants for Candida oleophila (strain O), a biocontrol agent of postharvest fruit diseases

This study investigated the influence of UV‐B radiation (280–320 nm) on survival of Candida oleophila strain O, an antagonist yeast that prevents postharvest diseases caused by Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum on apple and pear fruits. Lethal doses (LD₅₀ and LD₉₀) were, respectively, 0·89 and 1·45 Kj m^?2 for in vitro exposure and 3·06 and 5·5 Kj m^?2 for in vivo exposure. A screening test of UV‐B protectants for strain O was also evaluated under in vitro and in vivo conditions. The in vitro results showed that sodium ascorbate (0·1% and 0·01%), riboflavin (0·1%) and uric acid (0·1% and 0·01%) were the most effective and most suitable protectants. However, only riboflavin (0·1%) and uric acid (0·1%) were effective under in vivo conditions. The efficacy obtained with strain O against P. expansum, when subjected to UV‐B radiation, was 75·0% and 49·2% for pathogen concentrations of 10⁵ and 10⁶ spores mL^?1, respectively. Adding riboflavin to strain O gave a similar efficacy (64·2%). Applying strain O together with uric acid (0·1%) was less active (47·7%). Nonetheless, its efficacy when applied with the antioxidants sodium ascorbate (71·1%) or ascorbic acid (82·5%) was the greatest. Riboflavin and uric acid were the most cost‐effective protectants, and could be included in the final formulation of strain O when applied preharvest.