Profits and nitrate leaching under irrigated corn: a simulation

The economic impact of reducing the amount of nitrate leached out of the root zone under irrigation in the arid West was examined. The economic incentives of irrigation management were evaluated under the assumptions of both profit-maximizing and utility-maximizing (in reducing cost and effort expended in irrigation) decision-making criteria. The results indicate that there is a coincidence of interests of the farmer and the environment provided some leaching occurred. If no leaching is allowed, profit decreases markedly. Both behaviors result in less nitrate leaching than less profitable or less utility-producing irrigating practices.     

Relationships between biochemical attributes (non-structural carbohydrates and phenolics) and natural durability against fungi in dry teak wood (Tectona grandis L. f.)

• Introduction   

Non-structural carbohydrates and phenolic compounds are implicated in the natural durability of wood. In order to find the chemical traits of natural durability in teak wood, the radial distribution of phenolics compounds and non-structural carbohydrates were studied in trees ranked by contrasting natural durability class against Antrodia sp.     

Substrate utilization by Aspergillus flavus in inoculated whole corn kernels and isolated tissues

Utilization of the major corn (Zea mays) reserve materials (free saccharides, starch, triglycerides, and zein) was monitored during infection of detached kernels by Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) over a 12-day period. Inoculated whole kernels were compared to noninoculated kernels. Concentrations of sucrose and raffinose in inoculated seed decreased to nearly zero at 6 days, whereas concentrations of these saccharides in noninoculated seed dropped at a considerably slower rate, and significant levels remained at the end of the incubation period. Triglyceride concentrations remained unchanged in the noninoculated seed but dropped continuously after 2 days in the inoculated seed. Starch and zein concentrations did not change during the 12-day incubation period. Aflatoxin B1 was first detected after 2 days and increased to about 20 microg/g (20,000 ppb) after 12 days. Very low aflatoxin concentrations were detected in the noninoculated seed. Significant concentrations of erythritol, arabitol, and mannitol were produced during infection, with peak concentrations occurring at 8 days. Whole seed and germ tissue appeared to support good fungal growth and aflatoxin production, whereas ground tissues and endosperm did not. A. flavus preferentially utilized saccharides as initial carbon substrates followed by triglycerides. When invading nonwounded corn kernels, the fungus selectively targets the germ tissue where these materials are localized in the highest concentrations.     

Molting and Mortality of Red Swamp and White River Crawfish Subjected to Eyestalk Ablation: A Preliminary Study for Commercial Soft-Shell Crawfish Production

Eyestalk ablation may reduce the cost of soft-shell crawfish production by reducing the molt interval. In this study, both immature and mature red swamp crawfish Procambarus clarkii and white river crawfish Procambarus zonangulus , formally Procambarus actus actus (Hobbs and Hobbs 1990), were ablated using a pair of modified pliers and placed in a recirculating system. Molting percentages, mortalities and mean molt intervals of the ablated crawfish were analyzed.
Eyestalk ablation resulted in dramatic reduction of molt intervals and mortalities comparable with the current commercial (non-ablation) soft-shell crawfish production systems. The mean molt intervals of the ablated red swamp crawfish ranged from 6.7 to 7.8 days for immature and 9.2 days for mature animals; whereas, the molt interval of ablated white river crawfish was 8.9 and 11.2 days for immature and mature animals, respectively. Mortalities obtained in this study ranged from 20 to 48% and 32 to 66% for immature and mature crawfish, respectively. During the experiments, molting percentages and mortalities were not consistent. Secondary treatments such as air clotting and cauterization did not alter mortality significantly.     

Adoption of milk cooling technology among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya

Factors influencing adoption of milk cooling technology were studied with data for 90 smallholder dairy farmers who were randomly selected from seven dairy cooperative societies in Kiambu County, Kenya. Logistic regression identified the age of the household head, daily household milk consumption, freehold land ownership, fodder production area, number of female calves, cooperative membership and cooperative services as significant factors influencing farmers’ willingness to invest in milk cooling technology. These findings offer an entry point for increased interventions by policy makers and various dairy sector stakeholders in promoting milk cooling technology with the aim of significantly reducing post-harvest losses and increasing the sector’s competitiveness.     

Species concepts and speciation of fishes: concluding remarks

The definition of the species category has stimulated more debate than perhaps any other topic in the biological sciences. There are currently more than 22 different species concepts and the debate continues on which concepts apply to all organisms, which concepts are operational and which concepts should be used in specific circumstances. The first major division of the types of concepts depends on whether one views species as constructs that exist for ordering biodiversity and information retrieval (i.e. classes), or views species as ontological individuals that exist in nature. If species are categories that can be defined, then theoretically, a single species can arise more than once in different places or at different times. If, on the other hand, species are individuals, then they are historical events, monophyletic and each species is unique.     

Conservation and management of the rivers of the Kruger National Park: Suggested methods for calculating instream flow needs

1. Six major river systems flow west to east across the Kruger National Park (South Africa). All arise outside the western boundary of the KNP, and are outside the jurisdiction of the Park authorities. 2. Growing human populations to the west of the Park are placing increasing demands on the water resources of these rivers, and a variety of artificial changes threaten the ecological integrity of the rivers. 3. As a result, the Luvuvhu and Letaba Rivers to the north no longer have a perennial flow, while the flow of the Crocodile River on the southern boundary of the Park has been regulated to a more constant regime due to irrigation demands. The Letaba, Olifants, and Crocodile Rivers all receive diverse pollutants. The Sabie River, at present the least disturbed system, and biologically the most diverse in South Africa, is threatened with multiple regulation within the next five years. 4. The paper describes the development of initial protocols for the assessment of instream flow needs for the Luvuvhu and Sabie Rivers. These methods require an extension of existing methods developed in the USA to ensure the maintenance of ecological processes, rather than the maintenance of single target species. 5. Two methods are described: one that identifies the consumptive and non-consumptive water requirements of the rivers, adding all consumptive to the limiting non-consumptive quantity to give a base-flow requirement. 6. A second method uses a conservation status model to assess the ecological consequences of flow reductions generated through a hydrological model, in response to different impoundment conditions. 7. Both methods are successful in appropriate circumstances, but we conclude that the proposed impoundment and agricultural development of the Sabie River, in particular, is an inappropriate use of this unique resource, and that the catchment would be more advantageously developed for tourism, recreation, and nature conservation.     

Polyculture of sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) suspended from salmon cages

Commercial and developmental operations for the culture of the seascallop, Placopecten magellanicus, are present in AtlanticCanada and New England. In an experiment designed to examine the commercialfeasibility of polyculture of scallops with Atlantic salmon(Salmo salar), we measured growth andsurvival of sea scallops grown in suspension at two salmon aquaculture sites innortheastern Maine (Johnson Cove (JC) and Treats Island (TI)). Sea scallop spatwere grown in pearl nets and deployed on drop lines containing ten nets inAugust 1994. One drop line of ten nets was sampled about every four months andscallops were counted, measured and weighed. Scallop tissues were also analysedfor paralytic shellfish toxins (PSP). The maximum level of PSP recorded duringthe study was 1174 g STX equiv.·100 gtissue^–1 (excluding adductor muscle weight). After one year,shell heights were 53.6 and 56.4 mm, growth rates were 0.11 and0.12 mm per day and wet adductor muscle weights were 3.3 and 4.1g (TI and JC, respectively). These growth rates were comparable tosea scallops grown in suspension culture to a nearby scallop aquaculture siteand other areas in Atlantic Canada. Reduced rates of survival were found duringthe latter part of the experiment and were attributable, in part, to heavyfouling, predators and high stocking density. The potential for supplementalincome, diversification of the salmon aquaculture industry, and feasibility ofculturing scallops at adjacent sites to salmon operations does exist.     

Attributes of People’s Organisations and the institutional viability of selected Community-Based Forest Management projects in northern Luzon

An assessment was made of the attributes of People’s Organisations (POs) and of the institutional viability of Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) programs in three project sites in the Philippines. In CBFM, the capacity of People’s Organisations, as de facto managers of forest resources, is being developed by non-government organisations under the guidance of local government units (LGUs) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). A survey was conducted of community members (case informants) and members of the various agencies (key informants) to ascertain the characteristics of successful POs and the relationship between these characteristics and the viability of CBFM. Although commendable contributions have been made to the forest management capability of POs, their standard of living and environmental conditions, there are also many instances in which institutional conflict among stakeholders is apparent. The great challenge for the various stakeholders is to orchestrate their differing interests so as to address successfully the critical issues of the low socioeconomic status of PO members, corruption, lack of transparency and accountability of the organisations involved, loss of interest of PO members in project activities, lack of technical assistance, loss of credibility of the DENR, and lack of equitable benefit sharing.