A fast,low‐cost and efficient method for the diagnosis of sperm DNA fragmentation in several species

Sperm DNA fragmentation is a condition that interferes directly in the reproductive efficiency. Currently, there are several methods for assessing the sperm DNA integrity, such as Alkaline Comet, TUNEL and Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay. However, many of these techniques are laborious and require high‐precision equipment. Thus, the development of new techniques can optimize the evaluation of sperm DNA damage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to standardize the toluidine blue (TB) stain technique for the analysis of DNA fragmentation of dog, cat, bull, stallion and ram spermatozoa. For this purpose, we used six animals of each specie (n = 30), in reproductive age. Sperm was collected by different methods according to the particularities of each species, and such samples were divided into two aliquots: a sperm sample was kept at 5°C (considered as intact sperm DNA), and the remaining samples were submitted to the induction of DNA fragmentation by exposure to ultraviolet light for 4 hr. Samples were then mixed with the intact sample to obtain known and progressive proportions of sperm with fragmented DNA (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%). Semen smears were performed and subjected to staining with TB. Blue‐stained spermatozoa were considered to have DNA fragmentation. We observed high linear regression coefficients between the expected proportion of damaged DNA and the results of TB for dog, cat, ram, bull and stallion samples. In conclusion, TB stain was considered a fast and effective technique for the study of spermatozoa DNA in several species.     

Pedotransfer functions to assess adsorbed phosphate using iron oxide content and magnetic susceptibility in an Oxisol

Adsorbed phosphate in soils can be chemically extracted; however, this process is both time‐consuming and not cost‐effective if large numbers of samples have to be analysed. Indirect assessment of adsorbed phosphate by pedotransfer functions (PTFs) can help optimize fertilizer strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the spatial variability of adsorbed phosphate (P_ads), iron oxides and magnetic susceptibility (MS) in oxisols and to calibrate PTFs to predict P_ads. A total of 308 soil samples were collected from Hapludox and Eutrudox soils formed from sandstone in Brazil. The contents of clay (196–607 g/kg), iron oxides (40–165 g/kg), MS (1.2–29 × 10^?6 m³/kg) and P_ads (327–842 mg/kg) were in the range of typical values for these highly weathered soils. This study showed that the attributes studied were spatially dependent. Geomorphic surfaces enabled understanding of spatial variability and helped to develop a more efficient sampling scheme to calibrate PTFs. Moreover, the adsorbed phosphate in these oxisols could be predicted by a PTF using iron oxides and MS as predictors. The MS attribute enabled the most accurate prediction (concordance coefficient = 0.95, root‐mean‐square error = 46 mg/kg and relative improvement in root‐mean‐square error = ?4.12) of spatial variability through PTF compared to other predictors.     

Symbiotic N<Subscript>2</Subscript> fixation and nitrate utilisation in irrigated lucerne (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Medicago sativa</Emphasis>) systems

Symbiotic N₂ fixation by lucerne (Medicago sativa) has capacity to provide significant inputs of N to agro-ecosystems, and the species has also been shown to scavenge soil mineral N and thus act as a sink for excess reactive N. The balance between these two N cycle processes was investigated in an extensive irrigated lucerne growing region where nitrate contamination of groundwater has been reported. We sampled 18 permanent pure lucerne stands under irrigation for standing dry matter, total shoot N, and N₂ fixation using ¹⁵N natural abundance along with activity of the inducible enzyme nitrate reductase as indicators of use of soil NO₃⁻ by lucerne. On average 65% of lucerne N was obtained from symbiotic N₂ fixation. Converting standing dry matter estimates to annual N₂ fixation amounts we calculated average N₂ fixation of 311 kg N/ha, including N in roots and nodules. Uptake of N from soil by lucerne was calculated to be 181 kg N/ha/year. We were not able to identify the source of this soil mineral N, although nitrate reductase activity of lucerne was higher than that of non-N₂ fixing species examined.     

Performance evaluation of forest co-management: a case study of Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary,Bangladesh

The objective was to evaluate the performance of the co-management of Nishorgo Support Project at Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary in Bangladesh. I adopted the Focus Groups Discussion method for opinion survey and applied the SWOTAHP technique for data analysis. Local people did not participate in the decision-making process of forest management and they perceived co-management as a threat to their livelihoods. Moreover, mistrust and misunderstanding among different stakeholders, political and ethical conflicts, lack of property rights of tribal communities, and lack of accountability and transparency were identified as the drawbacks of co-management.     

Effect of Stocking Density on Growth,Survival, and Condition of the Mexican Cichlid Cichlasoma beani

The Mexican cichlid Cichlasoma beani is currently exploited regionally as food and can be commercialized in the aquarium trade. Natural populations of C. beani may already be negatively affected by anthropogenic alteration of the areas in which it is distributed. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect on growth, survival, and condition of C. beani cultured in three stocking densities: three (D3), six (D6), and nine (D9) fish per each 40 L tank. At the end of a 6‐wk trial the fish cultured in D3 were longer, heavier, and grew faster than the rest of the treatments but their survival was the lowest compared to D6 and D9. The mortalities were caused by a strong aggressive behavior in D3.