Bridging the Gap between Centrally Defined Policies and Local Decisions – Towards more Sensitive and Creative Rural Landscape Management

European policies and instruments such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and many instruments for nature and landscape conservation in Europe have for some decades been dominated by centralisation and standardisation. This paper shows that this has led to the neglect of contextual and place-related approaches and an unnecessarily high degree of over-simplification. Recently, as a reaction to this over-simplification, diversity and specific character has been particularly stressed in many European and national strategies for rural landscapes and conservation, but the processes of simplification still continue. Using examples from mixed agriculture and forestry landscapes in Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden, this paper aims to contribute to understanding the gap between centrally defined strategies for rural landscapes and awareness and management practices at local level. The three countries are situated at the outer fringes of Europe, and are complementary with their different degrees of urbanisation, forest distribution and tree-richness in the agricultural landscapes. Furthermore, the aim is to show how local landscape management is driven and to identify factors contributing to a better use of public policies through a participatory process with visions for the future. Systems of landscape classifications such as landscape character assessment often recognise the specific character of these landscapes, but have so far achieved very little for the preservation of their locally specific values, nor have they contributed to the development and the creation of new visions for future management. Such systems could contribute much more if they could be opened to adaptation on a more local scale in communication-led management planning.     

Drought responses of six ornamental herbaceous perennials

Although low water use landscaping is becoming common in arid regions, little is known about drought tolerance and drought responses of many ornamental plants, especially herbaceous perennials. Drought responses were assessed for six herbaceous ornamental landscape perennials in a 38 l pot-in-pot system in northern Utah over a 2-year period. The first year was an establishment period. During the second year, drought responses were evaluated for established Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench, Gaillardia aristata Pursh, Lavandula angustifolia P. Mill., Leucanthemum × superbum (J.W. Ingram) Berg. ex Kent, ‘Alaska’, Penstemon barbatus Roth var. praecox nanus rondo, and Penstemon × mexicali Mitch. ‘Red Rocks’. Plants were irrigated at frequencies of 1 (control), 2, or 4 weeks between June and September, simulating well-watered conditions, moderate drought, or severe drought. Osmotic potential (Ψ_s), gas exchange, visual quality, leaf area, and dry weight were assessed. In a confined root zone, P. barbatus showed the greatest tolerance to all levels of drought, avoiding desiccation by increasing root:shoot ratio and decreasing stomatal conductance as water became limiting. L. angustifolia and P. × mexicali showed tolerance to moderate drought conditions, but died after exposure to the first episode of severe drought. Neither G. aristata nor L. superbum were able to regulate shoot water loss effectively. Instead, both species displayed drought avoidance mechanisms, dying back when water was limiting and showing new growth after they were watered. Compared to control plants, G. aristata shoot dry weight was reduced by 50% and 84%, and L. superbum shoot dry weight was reduced by 47% and 99% for the 2- and 4-week irrigation intervals, respectively. Root dry weights were affected similarly for both species. E. purpurea exhibited poor visual quality at all irrigation intervals, in particular wilting severely in both drought treatments, but regaining turgor when watered again. P. barbatus is recommended for ornamental landscapes that receive little or no supplemental irrigation, while E. purpurea is not recommended for low water landscapes because of low visual quality under even mild drought.     

Host specificity of abomasal nematodes in free ranging alpine ruminants

Abomasums from 641 alpine wild ruminants representing five different species (Cervus elaphus, Capreolus capreolus, Rupicapra rupicapra, Capra ibex, Ovis musimon) and from 19 domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from alpine areas were examined in order to investigate the host-specificity of abomasal helminths. Nine out of 20 helminth species were found in at least five different host species. A discriminant analysis was able to significantly discriminate the hosts on the basis of their helminth community composition with the exception of O. musimon and O. aries. Based on the correlation between each variable represented by helminth species with the most explanatory discriminant axis, it was possible to classify helminths into specialists and generalists. Specialists are represented by the dominant species in a community of an host species or family while generalists appear in the communities of many different hosts as intermediate species. Due to the pathogenic potential of some of these generalist species (i.e. Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus axei) and their ability to adapt easily to the conditions found in several different hosts, they appear to be the most important from a sanitary point of view.     

Can scale-dependent landcover relationships explain canid community composition independent of intraguild occupancy?

Landscape Ecology - Niche theory is frequently used as a framework to integrate environmental variables and species interactions to describe species geographic distribution. Yet, the scale at which...     

Growth, stress response and free amino acid levels in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis Kaup 1858) chronically exposed to exogenous ammonia

Stressful husbandry conditions are likely to affect growth and amino acid metabolism in fish. In this study, chronic ammonia exposure was used to test the effects of a stressor on growth and amino acid metabolism of Senegalese sole juveniles. The fish were exposed for 52 days to 11.6 mg L⁻¹ [low‐TAN (L‐TAN)] or 23.2 mg L⁻¹ [high‐TAN (H‐TAN)] of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), or to 0 mg L⁻¹ (Control). Growth in L‐TAN groups was slightly but significantly different from the Control groups [relative growth rate (RGR=0.35±0.13 and 0.52±0.23% day⁻¹ respectively)]. In H‐TAN groups, growth was severely affected (RGR=0.01±0.13% day⁻¹). Stress parameters (plasma cortisol and glucose) showed slight or no significant differences between treatments. Plasma free amino acid (FAA) concentrations were affected after H‐TAN treatment. Increases in glutamine and aspartate concentrations in H‐TAN fish suggest alterations in amino acid metabolism related to nitrogen excretion processes. Some of the changes in FAA concentrations also suggest mobilization to energy supply and synthesis of metabolites related to stress response. Therefore, Senegalese sole seem to adapt to the L‐TAN concentration tested, but the H‐TAN concentration reduced growth and affected amino acid metabolism.     

Effect of three diets on the gametogenic development and fatty acid profile of Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) gonads

In this study, the effects of three diets were investigated to enhance Paracentrotus lividus production for commercial purposes. P. lividus were fed ad libitum for 80 days with: diet A—fresh Codium tomentosum Stackhouse, 1797; diet B—formulated using a jellified mix of macroalgae and vegetables, including C. tomentosum (20%), Coralina sp. Linnaeus, 1758 (17%), cabbage Brassica oleracea var. capitata Linnaeus, 1753 (30%), carrot Daucus carota Linnaeus, 1753 (30%) and agar (3%) as a gelling agent. Diet C consisted of maize Zea mays Linnaeus, 1753 (56%) and New Zealand spinach Tetragonia tetragonoides (Pallas, 1781) Kuntze, 1891 (44%). Their effects on the gonadal and somatic growths, gonadosomatic index (GI) and gametogenesis were evaluated, as well as on the total lipid content and fatty acid composition of sea urchin's gonads. Diet A provided high values of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Gonads of sea urchins fed with diet A were found mostly in growth and maturation stages of gametogenesis and showed the lowest lipid content. Sea urchins fed with diet B presented their gonads in the reabsorption stage and had the highest values of omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Sea urchins fed with diet C were in the early stages of gametogenesis and had the highest values of lipid content, plus omega‐6 PUFAs. Once as an ingredient in a balanced mix with vegetables, C. tomentosum can be a key factor to the development of new promising high‐quality and low‐cost feed for P. lividus roe enhancement.