A stochastic frontier analysis of technical progress, efficiency change and productivity growth in the Pacific Northwest sawmill industry

Stochastic frontier analysis was employed to investigate technical efficiency and productivity growth in the sawmilling industry of the U.S. Pacific Northwest over the period 1968–2002. The results of our analysis indicate that productivity growth was strong over the 30-year study period, due almost exclusively to technical progress. The model developed in this analysis was used to examine the cause of employment declines in the sawmilling industry between 1988 and 1994. We found that that 62% of the decline was due to changes in output and non-labor input factors and 38% was due to technical change alone.     

Nutritional and Chemical Composition of By-Product Fractions Produced from Wet Reduction of Individual Red Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Heads and Viscera

There is growing interest for fishmeals and oils made from utilizing different fish by-products (heads, viscera, frames, etc.) that come directly from the commercial processing line. The major components of fish processing waste from salmon filleting operations are heads and viscera. In order to maximize the utilization of these individual by-products, the different fractions were evaluated. Analysis of essential amino acids in fishmeal showed significant differences in all essential amino acids except lysine. Differences were also noted in the levels of minerals, fatty acid methyl esters, biogenic amines, and fat soluble vitamins. The largest difference observed was in the level of retinol in the oil extracted from heads (8.9 ± 1.0 μg/g oil) and viscera (26.9 ± 3.8 μg/g oil). Head processing resulted in more lipids and cake, while the majority of viscera became stickwater. Results suggest that the fishmeal produced from different by-product parts can result in different nutritional values for feed or food ingredients.     

Host specificity of Asian parasitoids for potential classical biological control of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila suzukii</Emphasis>

The Asian spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, has recently become a serious pest of soft fruits in Europe. Classical biological control through the introduction of larval parasitoids from its native range in Asia is presently being considered. However, host specificity of potential biological control agents has to be determined to avoid releasing species that may have unintended non-target impacts. Larvae of six different European non-target fly species and the target D. suzukii were exposed either on diet or blueberries to three Asian larval parasitoids, Asobara japonica, Leptopilina japonica, and Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis, and one European species, Leptopilina heterotoma. Asobara japonica showed the lowest specificity, attacking and developing in all Drosophilidae. Leptopilina japonica successfully parasitized two non-target Drosophilidae, D. melanogaster and D. subobscura, with one singly progeny emerging from D. immigrans. Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis had the highest level of specificity but variations occurred between two geographical populations tested. A Japanese population was strictly specific to D. suzukii, whereas another population from China parasitized D. suzukii, D. melanogaster and sporadically D. subobscura. The European L. heterotoma successfully developed in D. melanogaster, D. subobscura and occasionally in D. immigrans, but nearly all eggs and larvae in D. suzukii were encapsulated. These results show that Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis is the species with the highest potential for biological control, but more studies are needed on its taxonomic status and the existence of biotypes or cryptic species varying in their specificity before field releases can be conducted in Europe.     

Evaluation and delivery of domestic animal health services in remote communities in the Northwest Territories: A case study of status and needs

Domestic animal health services are supplied to communities in Canada's Northwest Territories (NT) in diverse ways, including private veterinary practices in 2 of 33 communities, and by mail-order, fly-in, free clinics, and a government-coordinated lay vaccinator program in some of the other 31 communities. We evaluated delivery, needs, and potential uptake of domestic animal health services in the Sahtu Settlement Area, NT by offering free clinics for 225 dogs in 2008 and 2009; and administered questionnaires to 42 dog owners and 67 students in 2008. Owners indicated that 20% of dogs were neutered, 37% had had rabies vaccinations, and 29% had been dewormed. Physical examination of dogs demonstrated that 54% were "thin" and 4% were "emaciated." Owners and youth showed a range of attitudes toward dogs and supported improved domestic animal health services. Future services need to build on existing programs and collaborate with communities to ensure relevance, ownership, and sustainability.     

Gross postmortem and histologic examination findings from abortion losses and calf mortalities in western Canadian beef herds

Production losses from abortions, stillbirths, and early calf mortality were described for the 2002 calf crop in 203 beef herds in western Canada. A total of 1689 calves were examined. A summary diagnosis was reported for 64% of aborted calves, 78% of stillborn calves, 88% of neonatal calves, and 94% of the calves > 3 d of age. Diagnoses for aborted calves included: thyroid gland lesions, pneumonia, developmental anomalies, placentitis, and myocardial necrosis or myopathy. For stillborn calves, diagnostic findings included: dystocia, thyroid gland lesions, myocardial necrosis or myopathy, developmental anomalies, and skeletal myopathy or necrosis. The most common diagnoses for neonatal calves (≤ 3 d) were: pneumonia, skeletal myopathy or necrosis, myocardial necrosis or myopathy, accident or trauma, and septicemia. For older calves (3 d to 3 mo), the most common diagnoses included: starvation, abomasal ulcer or perforation, enteritis or colitis, pneumonia, and intestinal volvulus, obstruction, or perforation.     

Landslide densities associated with rainfall,stand age,and topography on forested landscapes,southwestern Washington,USA

Elevated landslide rates in forested landscapes can adversely impact aquatic habitat and water quality and remove and/or degrade soil resources required for forest regeneration. As a result, understanding the associations between management actions, natural factors, and landslide rates is important information needed for land managers. An unusual and powerful storm in early December, 2007, caused record flooding and thousands of landslides across southwest Washington and northwest Oregon, USA, and provided a rare opportunity to examine the effects of both natural factors and forest management practices on landslide density. Landslide inventory data were collected from both aerial photos and systematic field surveys to provide a broad survey database that was used to develop estimates of landslide density and to examine associations between landslide density, precipitation, topography, and forest stand age across a 152,000 ha forested landscape in the Willapa Hills, Washington. We estimated the probability of detecting landslides on aerial photos for six strata defined by forest stand age and a broad range of rainfall intensity, expressed as percent of the 100-year, 24-h, maximum rainfall. Key findings are that landslide detection probability decreased with increasing stand age, but was similar across rainfall intensities. The overall fraction of field-detected landslides that were not detected on 1:12,000-scale aerial photos was 39%. Very few landslides occurred in the 0–100% of 100-year rainfall category, regardless of stand age or slope gradient class. At higher rainfall intensities, significantly higher landslide densities occurred on steep slopes (>70% gradient) compared to lower gradient slopes, as expected. Above ∼150% of 100-year rainfall, the density of landslides was ∼2–3 times larger in the 0–5 and 6–10 year stand age categories than in the 11–20, 21–30, 31–40, and 41+ categories. The effect of stand age was strongest at the highest rainfall intensities. Our results demonstrate that ground-based landslide inventory data are required in order to correct for detection bias from aerial photos, develop reasonable estimates of landslide density across environmental gradients such as rainfall magnitude and topography, and make unbiased interpretations of relationships between forest management associations and landslide occurrence.     

Calibrating the liana crown occupancy index in Amazonian forests

Lianas hold an important, but understudied, role in forest dynamics, however they are difficult to measure and detailed liana measurements are time consuming. Many researchers have therefore used an ordinal scale index, the crown occupancy index (COI), to describe the liana load carried by trees. Here we assess the overall effectiveness, in terms of accuracy, precision, repeatability and efficiency, of the COI in tropical forests. We relate the COI to more detailed liana measurements at the individual tree-level and site-level, comparing sites with different levels of liana infestation. Our results show (1) that the COI accurately measures individual tree and plot level liana loads, indicated by the strong correlations between the COI and the number and basal area of lianas. However, (2) as expected, the COI is only weakly related to the basal area of lianas rooted close to the tree, which is a proxy for competition for below-ground resources. The COI is also (3) an efficient measure of liana loads, as the input time needed for a COI survey is considerably less than that of a detailed liana survey. We also (4) found a high degree of repeatability in COI classification between observers. Additionally (5), the COI can be used to differentiate between sites in terms of their overall liana canopy competition (precision), but (6) may not be a precise indicator of the site-level mean basal area of lianas in tree crowns.     

Dryland cropping systems influence the microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a semiarid sandy soil

Indicators of soil quality, such as microbial biomass C and N (MBC, MBN) and enzyme activities (EAs), involved in C, P, N, and S cycling, as affected by dryland cropping systems under conventional (ct) and no tillage (nt) practices were evaluated for 5?years. The soil is sandy loam with an average of 16.4% clay, 67.6% sand, and 0.65?g kg^?1 OM at 0?C10?cm. The crops evaluated were rotations of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) or forage sorghum (also called haygrazer), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), and winter rye (Secale cereale): grain sorghum?Ccotton (Sr_g?CCt), cotton?Cwinter rye?Csorghum (Ct?CRye?CSr_g), and forage sorghum?Cwinter rye (Sr_f?CRye). The tillage treatments did not affect soil MB and EAs of C cycling (i.e., ??-glucosidase, ??-glucosaminidase, ??-galactosidase), P cycling (alkaline phosphatase, phosphodiesterase), and S cycling (arylsulfatase)??except for separation due to tillage for Sr_f?CRye and Ct?CRye?CSr_g observed in PCA plots when all EAs were evaluated together. After 3?years, rotations with a winter cover crop history (Ct?CRye?CSr_g and Sr_f?CRye) enhanced soil MBN (up to 63%) and EAs (21-37%) compared to Sr_g?CCt. After 5?years, Sr_g?CCt and Ct?CRye?CSr_g showed similar soil MBC, MBN, EAs, total carbon (TC), and organic carbon (OC). A comparison of Sr_g?CCt plots with nearby continuous cotton (Ct?CCt) research plots in the same soil revealed that it took 5?years to detect higher TC (12%), MBC (38%), and EAs (32?C36%, depending on the enzyme) under Sr_g?CCt. The significant improvements in MB and EAs found, as affected by dryland cropping systems with a history of winter cover crops and/or higher biomass return crops than cotton, can represent changes in soil OM, nutrient cycling, and C sequestration for sandy soils in the semiarid Texas High Plains region. It is significant that these soil changes occurred despite summer crop failure (2003 and 2006) and lack of winter cover crops (2006) due to lack of precipitation in certain years.     

Nutrient Allocation of ‘TifEagle’ Bermudagrass as Influenced by Trinexapac-Ethyl

ABSTRACT

Inhibiting shoot growth of dwarf bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon(L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davey] with a plant-growth retardant, trinexapac-ethyl (TE), may redirect nutrients and photosynthate away from leaf tissue to promote root growth and improve nutrient-use efficiency. Two greenhouse experiments evaluated three rates of TE, 0.025, 0.05, and 0.075 kg a.i. ha^?1, applied every three weeks on ‘TifEagle’ bermudagrass for 12 weeks. Lysimeters constructed to United State Golf Association specifications were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Increased TE rates quadratically reduced clipping yield 38%–75%, improved turf quality 6%–13%, and enhanced chlorophyll concentrations 30%–70% over the untreated grass. Dry-root mass increased with TE rate 11%–37% after 12 weeks. Total clipping nutrients recovered from five sampling dates were reduced by approximately 50%, 85%, and 90% for turf receiving TE at 0.025, 0.05, and 0.075 kg ha^?1 3 wk^?1, respectively. Thatch (stolons and rhizomes) and roots had higher nitrogen (N) concentration and retention with increased TE rate, suggesting inhibited leaf growth increased N storage in belowground plant tissue. Overall, TE may effectively enhance turf quality, root growth, and nutrient-use efficiency of dwarf-type bermudagrasses. Chemical name used: trinexapac-ethyl, [4-(cyclopropyl-[α]-hydroxymethylene)-3,5-dioxo-cyclohexane carboxylic acid ethylester].