Modelling oxygen consumption rates of post-smolt Atlantic salmon in commercial-scale,land-based farms

Oxygen consumption rates of post-smolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) were recorded during various growth trials at four land-based salmon farms in south-west Norway, during the period 1988–1992. Principle component analysis indicated that fish size, water temperature and current speed had the greatest influence on oxygen consumption of fish in all the farms. A multiple regression analysis showed that 70% of the variation in the oxygen consumption could be explained by these three parameters. The predicted effect of fish size, water temperature and current speed on oxygen consumption are consistent with those reported in studies conducted on salmonids held in tunnel respirometers. The model described in this study may be a useful tool for the estimation of oxygen and water requirements needed for the design and operation of land-based farms.     

Modeling optimal dietary pigmentation strategies in farmed Atlantic salmon: Application of mixed-integer non-linear mathematical programming techniques

The most important visual quality characteristic of Atlantic salmon is the red/pink flesh color. The primary source of this coloration in salmon is caused by deposition of relatively large amounts of pigments, such as astaxanthin, obtained from their diet. Astaxanthin is expensive, and in commercial farming practice, dietary color pigments comprises about 15-20% of the total feed cost. One important operational process in commercial fish farms is therefore to minimize pigment costs. Based on recent models on the effects of dietary pigment concentration and fish size on visual color perception of Atlantic salmon, this study has built a mathematical programming model designed to optimize dietary astaxanthin concentrations throughout the grow-out period that results in well-pigmented fish at minimum cost. We have applied a mixed-integer non-linear programming algorithm to solve this problem. Various managerial implications of applying optimization models in product quality management of farmed salmon are discussed.     

The importance of traditional meadow management techniques for conservation of vascular plant species richness in Norway

Using information from a regional survey of vascular plants of 130 sites in western Norway, a selection of sites based on a heuristic iterative complementarity-based nature reserve selection procedure was performed. The results indicate that conservation of traditionally managed hay meadows is of major importance as they contributed 60.1% of all native species recorded; afforested grasslands (deciduous woodlands < 70 years old) contributed 26.8%, whereas artificially fertilized hay meadows and intensively cultivated grasslands taken together contributed 13.1% of the species. The species composition of the meadows was significantly nested. Thus, if you conserve the most species-rich meadows, you also conserve most of the species in the less species-rich meadows. Nestedness in meadows was significantly correlated with within-meadow habitat diversity and soil pH. The most species-rich meadows were traditional meadows, characterized by high habitat diversity and high soil pH. These meadows will support nearly all species including habitat specialists and regionally rare species, whilst artificially fertilized hay meadows only support the generalist subset, i.e. common species. Area was not significantly correlated with nestedness suggesting that it is more important to cover many habitats than to preserve large traditional meadows just because they are large.     

Vascular plants as a surrogate species group in complementary site selection for bryophytes, macrolichens, spiders, carabids, staphylinids, snails, and wood living polypore fungi in a northern forest

Vascular plants were investigated as a potential surrogate group in complementary small scale site selection, such as woodland key habitats in Scandinavia. We compared the response of vascular plants to environmental gradients to that of seven other plant, fungal and animal groups within a forest reserve in western Norway using data from 59 plots of 0.25 ha. We also examined whether the spatial changes in species (beta-2 index) of vascular plants matched that of the other groups. All seven groups responded to the same gradients in nutrient richness and humidity as the vascular plants. Furthermore, changes in species composition of vascular plants were reflected in comparable degrees of change among the “target“ groups. The lower the degree of change in species composition between plots in the “target“ groups relative to that of vascular plants, the higher the percentage “target“ species encompassed in a complementary selection of sites based on vascular plants. We conclude that in practical site selection of small scale sites of conservation value, such as woodland key habitats, vascular plants may be used in combination with an inventory of important habitats for rare and/or redlisted forest species, such as dead wood, old trees, deciduous trees, and cliffs.