Ecosystem services from coffee agroforestry in Central America: estimation using the CAF2021 model

The goal of sustainable coffee production requires multiple functions from agroforestry systems. Many are difficult to quantify and data are lacking, hampering the choice of shade tree species and agronomic management. Process-based modelling may help quantify ecosystem services and disservices. We introduce and apply coffee agroforestry model CAF2021 (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5862195). The model allows for complex systems with up to three shade tree species. It simulates coffee yield, timber and fruit production by shade trees, soil loss in erosion, C-sequestration, N-fixation, -emission and -leaching. To calibrate the model, we used multivariate data from 32 different treatments applied in two long-term coffee agroforestry experiments in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Without any further calibration, the model was then applied to agroforestry systems on 89 farms in Costa Rica and 79 in Guatemala where yields had been reported previously in farmer interviews. Despite wide variation in environmental and agronomic conditions, the model explained 36% of yield variation in Costa Rica but only 15% in Guatemala. Model analysis quantified trade-offs between yield and other ecosystem services as a function of fertilisation and shading.

     

Effect of Oil Overlay on Inhibition Potential of Roscovitine in Sheep Cumulus‐Oocyte Complexes

Inhibitors of cyclin‐dependent kinases, as roscovitine, have been used to prevent the spontaneous resumption of meiosis in vitro and to improve the oocyte developmental competence. In this study, the interference of oil overlay on the reversible arrest capacity of roscovitine in sheep oocytes as well as its effects on cumulus expansion was evaluated. For this, cumulus‐oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured for 20 h in TCM 199 with 10% foetal bovine serum (Control) containing 75 μm roscovitine (Rosco). Subsequently, they were in vitro matured (IVM) for further 18 h in inhibitor‐free medium with LH and FSH. The culture was performed in Petri dishes under mineral oil (+) or in 96 well plates without oil overlay (?) at 38.5°C and 5% CO₂. At 20 and 38 h, the cumulus expansion and nuclear maturation were evaluated under stereomicroscope and by Hoechst 33342 staining, respectively. No group presented cumulus expansion at 20 h. After additional culture with gonadotrophins, a significant rate of COCs from both Control groups (+/?) exhibited total expansion while in both Rosco groups (+/?) the partial expansion prevailed. Among the oocytes treated with roscovitine, 65.2% were kept at GV in the absence of oil overlay while 40.6% of them reached MII under oil cover (p < 0.05). This meiotic arrest was reversible, and proper meiosis progression also occurred in the Control groups (+/?). So, the culture system without oil overlay improved the meiotic inhibition promoted by roscovitine without affecting the cumulus expansion rate or the subsequent meiosis progression.     

Method of determination of nitrosamines in sausages by CO2 supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC)

In this paper, the use of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) is proposed for the complete analysis of volatile nitrosamines in sausages. The extraction fluid used was CO2 and variables such as density, temperature of thimbles, extraction time, modifier, fluid flow, and kind of traps were investigated. Several experiments were carried out to obtain the most favorable conditions for analysis of volatile nitrosamines in sausages. The recoveries ranged from 21 to 82% for the five nitrosamines studied. The optimal condition of extraction was 0.2 g of sample fortified with 10 mg/kg, using dynamic extraction during 20 min and with adsorbent Florisil in the trap. The solvent selected for the elution of the analytes was methanol.     

Yield map generation of perennial crops for fresh consumption

Yield mapping technologies can help to increase the quantity and quality of agricultural production. Current systems only focus on the quantification of the harvest, but the quality has equal or greater importance in some perennial crops and impacts directly on the financial profitability. Therefore, a system was developed to quantify and relate the quality obtained in the classification line with the plants of the orchard and for decision-making. The system is comprised of hardware, which obtains the location of the harvester bag during harvesting and unloading at the unloading site, and software that processes the collected data. The cloud of real-time data contributed from the different collectors (bins) allows the construction of yield maps, considering the multi-stage harvesting system. Further, the system enables the creation of a detailed map of the plants and fruits harvested. As the harvest focuses on quality, it takes place in stages, depending on the ripening of the fruits. In addition to the yield maps, the system allows identification of the efficiency of each worker undertaking the harvest by the number of performed discharges and by the time spent. The system was developed in partnership with the Federal Technological University of Paraná and Embrapa Uva & Vinho and was tested in apple orchards in southern Brazil. Although the system was evaluated with only data from apple cultivation, monitoring the quality and quantifying other orchard fruits can positively impact the fruit sector.

     

Effects of road transportation or droving on the weight and metabolism of young bulls

This study evaluated the effects of the mode of transportation on weight and metabolism of young bulls, which are generally transported by two systems: droving and truck. This experiment consisted of two phases: transportation and refeeding and involved transportation by droving and truck. Fifty young Nellore bulls were separated in equal numbers in both groups, droving group and truck group. In the transportation phase, animals were moved, in a 640-km journey. The refeeding phase consisted of 84 days and commenced after the animals arrived at the fattening farm. The effect of the transportation system on animals’ weight, metabolic hormones, and serum biochemistry was assessed after 28, 56, and 84 days. During the transportation phase, animals in the droving group lost 10.11 kg and animals in the truck group gained 13.1 kg. The truck group showed 20.5 kg of weight gain at the end of the refeeding phase. The highest triiodothyronine (T₃) and thyroxine (T₄) concentrations were observed on days 0 and 60 in the transportation phase in both droving and truck groups. The serum cortisol concentration was higher in the droving group than in the truck group on day 56 of the refeeding phase. The IGF-I concentrations were higher during the refeeding phase in the droving group than in the truck group. Our results showed that transportation by droving leads to increased weight loss and reduced further weight gain compared to transportation by truck and that serum concentrations of T₄, cortisol, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) hormones are altered by the transportation system.     

Epidemiological Analysis of Leptospira spp. Infection in Equids from the Brejo Paraibano Microregion of Brazil

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that occurs in humans and several animal species, including cattle, pigs, and horses, and it has a worldwide distribution. In equids, leptospirosis manifests through recurrent uveitis and abortion and other reproductive disorders. The objective of the present study was to investigate the epidemiological situation of Leptospira spp. infection in equids from the Brejo Paraibano microregion in the northeast of Brazil, that is, to assess the prevalence of and identify the major risk factors for infection. For this purpose, blood samples were taken from 257 equids (204 horses, 46 mules, and 7 donkeys), and a microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was used as serological analysis, with 24 serovars of Leptospira spp. as antigens. Antibodies were observed in 16.2% of horses, 13.0% of mules, and 28.6% of donkeys. Animals between the ages of 2.5 and 11 years had a risk of infection 0.4 times lower than those younger than 2.5 years old (odds ratio, 0.4; 95% confidence interval, 0.18-0.90). Further studies are needed to identify potential wild reservoirs and the main routes of infections.     

Faecal nitrogen excretion as an approach to estimate forage intake of wethers

Data from twenty‐two digestibility trials were compiled to examine the relationship between faecal N concentration and organic matter (OM) digestibility (OMD), and between faecal N excretion and OM intake (OMI) by wethers fed tropical or temperate forages alone or with supplements. Data set was grouped by diet type as follows: only tropical grass (n = 204), only temperate grass (n = 160), tropical grass plus supplement (n = 216), temperate grass plus supplement (n = 48), tropical grass plus tropical legume (n = 60) and temperate grass with ruminal infusion of tannins (n = 16). Positive correlation between OMD and either total faecal N concentration (Nfc, % of OM) or metabolic faecal N concentration (Nmetfc, % of OM) was significant for most diet types. Exceptions were the diet that included a tropical legume, where both relationships were negative, and the diet that included tannin extract, where the correlation between OMD and Nfc was not significant. Pearson correlation and linear regressions between OM intake (OMI, g/day) and faecal N excretion (Nf, g/day) were significant for all diet types. When OMI was estimated from the OM faecal excretion and Nfc‐based OMD values, the linear comparison between observed and estimated OMI values showed intercept different from 0 and slope different from 1. When OMI was estimated using the Nf‐based linear regressions, the linear comparison between observed and estimated OMI values showed neither intercept different from 0 nor slope different from 1. Both linear comparisons showed similar R² values (i.e. 0.78 vs. 0.79). In conclusion, linear equations are suitable for directly estimating OM intake by wethers, fed only forage or forage plus supplements, from the amount of N excreted in faeces. The use of this approach in experiments with grazing wethers has the advantage of accounting for individual variations in diet selection and digestion processes and precludes the use of techniques to estimate forage digestibility.     

Spatiotemporal distribution of floral resources in a Brazilian city: Implications for the maintenance of pollinators,especially bees

Cities provide resources for the animals that live in them or their surroundings. There has been an increase in the number of ecological studies in urban areas, including interactions between plants and bees. Bees are pollinators that provide a vital ecosystem service to crops and wild plants. We assessed plant community structure in the campus of Universidade de São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, included in the neotropical Atlantic Forest biome, focusing on floristic composition, pollination syndromes, flowering phenology, and spatiotemporal distribution of floral resources for bees. Currently, the city is surrounded by sugar cane plantations. Once a month, from April 2011 to March 2012, we sampled plant species and individuals in bloom in an area with 500 m radius from the bee-rearing facilities of Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), totaling 78 hectares. We sampled 289 plant species of 73 families; Leguminosae was the richest family. Plants pollinated by bees predominated (67%), followed by plants pollinated by hummingbirds (18%). Melittophilous species flowered throughout the year and, hence, food availability for bees was continuous. The flowering of plant individuals that provided pollen, nectar, and floral oil was seasonal in all vegetation (except for nectar in shrubs), with peaks in resource availability in the transition from the dry to the rainy season, and also in the rainy season. Our results show that the campus is able to maintain bee populations amid a monoculture matrix, acting as a refuge. In addition, it provides a list of several attractive native plants to different pollinator groups, coupled with a phenogram, that can be used in the design and planning of urban areas.