Comet or asteroid shower in the late Eocene?

The passage of a comet shower approximately 35 million years ago is generally advocated to explain the coincidence during Earth's late Eocene of an unusually high flux of interplanetary dust particles and the formation of the two largest craters in the Cenozoic, Popigai and the Chesapeake Bay. However, new platinum-group element analyses indicate that Popigai was formed by the impact of an L-chondrite meteorite. Such an asteroidal projectile is difficult to reconcile with a cometary origin. Perhaps instead the higher delivery rate of extraterrestrial matter, dust, and large objects was caused by a major collision in the asteroid belt.     

Prospects for the future of pink salmon in three oceans: From the native Pacific to the novel Arctic and Atlantic

While populations of other migratory salmonids suffer in the Anthropocene, pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbusca Salmonidae) are thriving, and their distribution is expanding both within their natural range and in the Atlantic and Arctic following introduction of the species to the White Sea in the 1950s. Pink salmon are now rapidly spreading in Europe and even across the ocean to North America. Large numbers of pink salmon breed in Norwegian rivers and small numbers of individuals have been captured throughout the North Atlantic since 2017. Although little is known about the biology and ecology of the pink salmon in its novel distribution, the impacts of the species' introduction are potentially highly significant for native species and watershed productivity. Contrasts between pink salmon in the native and extended ranges will be key to navigating management strategies for Atlantic nations where the pink salmon is entrenching itself among the fish fauna, posing potential threats to native fish communities. One key conclusion of this paper is that the species' heritable traits are rapidly selected and drive local adaptation and evolution. Within the Atlantic region, this may facilitate further establishment and spread. The invasion of pink salmon in the Atlantic basin is ultimately a massive ecological experiment and one of the first examples of a major faunal change in the North Atlantic Ocean that is already undergoing rapid changes due to other anthropogenic stressors. New research is urgently needed to understand the role and potential future impacts of pink salmon in Atlantic ecosystems.     

Dairy cattle crossbreeding in the tropics: Choice of crossbreeding strategy

Summary Two strategies for crossbreeding of indigenous and exotic cattle for milk production in the tropics,viz. rotational crossing and formation of a composite breed, have been compared. Genetic considerations suggest that rotational crossing would lead to somewhat better dairy performance, mainly because of more heterozygosity. Predictions based on the performance of adjacent genetic groups as obtained from a comprehensive literature review point in the same direction.Rotational crossbreeding depends on a continuous introduction of bulls of both parental breeds. The herd will consist of 2 (or more) genetic groups, which might be inconvenient for breeding arrangements, but provides more flexibility. The system requires good organisation and is most suitable in large farms. In small scale dairying the composite breed strategy is the most practical approach to dairy cattle breeding in the tropics.

---

Cruzamiento De Vacuno Lechero En Los Tropicos: Eleccion De La Estrategia De Cruzamiento

Resumen El artículo compara dos estrategias de cruzamiento entre vacuno lechero exótico e indígena en los trópicos: el cruzamiento rotativo y la formación de una raza híbrida. Las consideraciones genéticas sugieren que el cruzamiento rotativo debería llevar a una mejor producción lechera, sobre todo debido a un aumento de la heterozigosis. Las predicciones basadas en el rendimiento de grupos genéticos adyacentes determinado a partir de una revisión bibliográfica apuntan en la misma dirección.El cruzamiento rotativo require una introducción contínua de toros de las dos razas parentales. El rebaño consistiría de 2 (o más) grupos genéticos, lo que -si bien permite una mayor flexibilidad- puede dificultar la planificación de la reproducción. El sistema requiere una buena organización y resulta más factible en explotaciones grandes. En explotaciones pequeñas de los trópicos, la formación de una raza híbrida es la estrategia más prática en lo que a cría de vacuno lechero se refiere.

---

Croisement Du Cheptel Laitier Sous Les Tropiques: Choix De La Strategie De Croisement

Résumé Deux stratégies pour le croisement entre le bétail indigène et le bétail exotique pour la production laitière sous les Tropiques, à savoir le croisement rotationnel et la formation d'une race composite, ont été comparées. Des considérations génétiques suggèrent que le croisement rotationnel amènerait quelque chose de plus performant au niveau laitièr, principalement dù à l'augmentation de hétérozygotie. Des prédictions, basées sur les performances de groupes génétiques adjacents, issues de l'étude complète de la littérature donnent la même analyse.Le croisement rotationnel est basé sur l'introduction continuelle de taureaux venant des deux races parentales. La horde consistera en 2 (ou plus) groupes génétiques, ce qui peut être gênant pour le croisement mais permet plus de flexibilité. Le système demande une bonne organisation et est préférable dans les grandes fermes. A une échelle de production laitiere plus faible la stratégie de la race composite est l'approche la plus pratique pour le croisement du cheptel laitier sous les Tropiques.

     

Effects of sublethal concentrations of lignosulphonates on growth,intestinal flora and some digestive enzymes of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri)

Young rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) were exposed to lignosulphonates (LS) at concentrations of 0, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1 280 and 1 920 ppm for 35 or 60 days. At concentrations of 160 ppm LS and higher the growth rates were slower. The higher concentrations had the most retarding effect on growth, but a clear general relationship between LS concentration and growth retardation was not observed.The bacterial flora in the digestive tract of the fish was examined. The predominant micro-organisms were flavobacteria, bacilli, streptococci and yeasts (Cryptococcus spp.), which were also isolated from the diet. There were about 10 000 viable aerobic and 1 000 anaerobic bacteria per gramme of intestinal contents. There was no significant difference in quantitative or qualitative composition of the intestinal flora of the different groups.The following groups of digestive enzymes were studied: proteinases, amylases, lipases and deoxyribonucleases. The activities of proteinases and nucleases were significantly impaired in fish exposed to concentrations of 1 280 ppm LS and higher, and those of amylases at concentrations of 320 ppm LS and higher. A possible connection between the reduced growth rates and depressed activities of the digestive enzymes is discussed, but no firm conclusion regarding the mechanism by which LS effects fish growth can be made on the basis of the present study.     

Risk and economic sustainability of crop farming systems

In economic terms, resilience in farming has to do with the capacity of a farm business to survive various risks and other shocks. Despite its importance, resilience has seldom been directly considered in evaluations of economic sustainability. A whole-farm stochastic simulation model over a 6-year planning horizon was used to analyse organic and conventional cropping systems using a model of a representative farm in Eastern Norway. The relative economic sustainability of alternative systems under changing assumptions about future technology and price regimes was examined in terms of financial survival to the end of the planning period. The same alternatives were also compared in terms of stochastic efficiency. To model the risk of business failure adequately there is a need to deal with the risk of bankruptcy, and a modification of traditional analysis was used for that purpose. The organic farming system was found to be somewhat less economically sustainable than the conventional system, especially if the organic price premiums and the organic area payments were to be phased out. The results illustrate possible conflicts between pursuit of risk efficiency and economic sustainability. The model developed could be used to support farmers’ choices between farming systems as well as to help policy makers develop more sharply targeted policies.     

Using value functions to elicit spatial preference information

Decision making in forest planning often involves situations, where the value of the stand is dependent on its location or the properties of the stands nearby. Often the most intuitive tool to describe spatial objectives and outcomes is a visual map. However, evaluating and comparing different maps may prove a considerable cognitive burden, especially over large areas and in long-term planning. In this study, we investigate the use of value functions for eliciting spatial preference information from maps. Our case study is part of a project investigating the possibilities of increasing broadleaf-tree-dominated habitats in a northern Swedish landscape. The experts involved in the project evaluated maps showing different fragmentation patterns. Different spatial indices were then calculated for the maps, and expert evaluations were used to sketch value functions describing the preferred fragmentation level. The approach was found to be a quick way of translating spatial preferences into numerical values and conceptualizing the relatively abstract concept of fragmentation in the landscape. Furthermore, the results show that the choice of a certain fragmentation index has a crucial effect on the value function.     

Effects of temporal aggregation in integrated strategic/tactical and strategic forest planning

Integrated approaches to forest planning lead to large models and there is a subsequent need for a reduction of the number of constraints and variables. One way of achieving this is to aggregate data, either spatially or temporally. In this paper an integrated forest planning mixed integer model that takes into account both long-term strategic and shorter-term tactical forest management decisions is utilised. The study analyses the consequences of temporal aggregation in the strategic part of the integrated model, whereas the tactical part is modelled by a fixed set of years divided into seasons. For reference, analyses are also made using a pure strategic linear programming model. Cases using both equal and variable strategic period lengths are presented, and two case study areas are used. Results indicate that integrated plans, as well as strategic plans, are not particularly affected by the number of equal length strategic periods when more than five periods, i.e. less than 20 year period length, are used. When modelling strategic and integrated problems using variable-length periods, care should be taken to ensure that harvest operations late in the planning horizon get enough timing options to be adequately described.