The value of bat-boxes in the conservation of Pipistrellus pygmaeus in wetland rice paddies

Wetlands with rice paddies are key habitats in the conservation of biodiversity in the Mediterranean Region and are potentially suitable habitats for foraging bats, since they provide food (insects) and drinking places; nevertheless, many wetlands lack natural roosting sites. A bat-box program designed to ascertain bat-box preferences was initiated in 1999 in the Ebro Delta (NE Spain), one of the most important wetlands in Europe. A total of 69 bat-boxes of two types (single and double compartment) were placed on three supports (trees, houses, and posts) facing east or west. Pipistrellus pygmaeus occupancy rates and the number of individuals per box were monitored on 16 occasions from July 2000 to February 2004. Bat-box preferences were only detected during the breeding season. Bat abundance was higher in east-facing boxes, in double-compartment boxes, and in boxes placed on posts and houses. Boxes on natural supports (trees) were avoided. Bat-box occupancy rates were higher during the breeding season (95.6%, spring-summer) due to the formation of maternity colonies. The number of individuals in bat-boxes during the breeding season increased as the study period progressed (from summer 2000 to summer 2003), suggesting a high degree of acceptance by maternity colonies of these alternative locations. Occupancy rates observed were the highest ever reported in bat-box scientific literature. This study highlights the role of bat-box programs as useful alternative management tools for the conservation of bat populations in highly productive wetland habitats where few natural roost sites are available.     

Explaining farmers’ reluctance to adopt green manure cover crops planting for sustainable agriculture in Northwest China

Green manure cover crops (GMCCs) planting has a potential for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in agroecosystems and provides important ecosystem services, thereby achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stipulated by the United Nations. However, the advantages of cultivating GMCCs on arable land are not widely recognized. For example, in the whole of China, the GMCCs planting area is less than 3.5% of total arable land. The aim of this study is to explore reasons for the low adoption rate of GMCCs planting. Using best–worst scaling (BWS) approach, farmers ranked their preferred conservation practices including three types of GMCC cropping systems. Taking Gansu Province in Northwest China as a case study, a survey with 276 farmers was conducted. The findings indicated that three factors are related to the low adoption rate of GMCCs: 1) farmers preferred improving farmland irrigation facilities and substituting chemical fertilizers with organic rather than planting GMCCs; 2) lack of awareness and understanding of government policy on GMCCs and limited access to training courses; 3) financial support and subsidies from the government are insufficient. This study provides insights and strategic implications for policymakers on how to further promote GMCCs in the future.     

Challenges and prospects for consumer acceptance of cultured meat

Consumer acceptance of cultured meat is expected to depend on a wide diversity of determinants ranging from technology-related perceptions to product-speciifc expectations, and including wider contextu...     

Consumer perceptions of food safety risk：Evidence from a segmentation study in Albania

Albania is facing serious problems with the national food safety control system in terms of legislation, control and enforce-ment. The objective of this paper is to analyse consumer perceptions about s...     

What relative seafood prices can tell us about the status of stocks

Changes in the distribution of seafood prices can provide useful insights into the availability of different species to fishermen and to fish markets. We propose a log‐relative‐price‐index (LRPI) and demonstrate how such a concept might be useful for exploring long‐term changes in wild fish communities as a result of intensive exploitation. We estimate the LRPI for 26 fish species in the Celtic Sea (UK) and for 33 species on Italian fish markets. In both systems the LRPI changed significantly during recent decades, and in the Celtic Sea this probably resulted from a decline in the availability of high trophic level target species such as cod and hake as well as an increase in the availability of low trophic level pelagic species. By contrast, the LRPI of Italian fishes remained relatively constant from 1972 to 1980, but declined thereafter as a result of widespread expansion in fin‐fish aquaculture, and a consequential increase in the supply, and hence decrease in the price of high trophic level fish such as seabass and seabream.     

The feeding ecology of earthworms – A review

Current knowledge of earthworm feeding ecology is reviewed, with particular reference to food selection, ingestion, digestion and assimilation, and the use of novel techniques to advance understanding of the functional significance of these processes.

Traditional research methods including direct observation of feeding behaviour, gut content analysis, choice tests, and litter bags have provided a wealth of information on earthworm feeding. However, there is a lack of the mechanistic, quantitative information required to characterise adequately their functional role in soil ecosystem processes such as soil C sequestration and loss, decomposition of organic residues, the maintenance of soil structure and trophic interactions with plants and microorganisms.

Stable isotope ratio analysis of light elements (C, N, and S) offers a powerful research tool to reveal and quantify trophic relationships of earthworms in soil food webs, while molecular techniques can further enhance understanding of the interactions between earthworms and microorganisms and their functional significance.     

Freshwater biodiversity under climate warming pressure: Identifying the winners and losers in temperate standing waterbodies

Climate warming is affecting the biodiversity all around the world, resulting in the expansion or contraction of the geographical range of species, and leading to colonisation (winners) and extinction (losers) events in ecosystems. It is crucial for the conservation of biodiversity to identify these potential winners and losers.We focus here on small standing waterbodies in Switzerland and on five taxonomic groups: vascular plants, snails, beetles, dragonflies and amphibians. We first assessed the sensitivity of each species to climate warming through their thermal preferences, using current altitudinal and latitudinal distribution, as a surrogate for temperature. We then evaluated the resilience of species to perturbations through five ecological and biogeographical criteria applicable to the perturbation “warming”: dispersal ability, degree of habitat specialisation, geographical extent in the study area, future trend in geographical extent, and future trend of habitat availability for species.Potential winners and losers of a warming climate could be quantified through their thermal preferences. The proportion of potential losers ranged from zero species for snails to 33% of the regional species pool for dragonflies. The set of potential winners was much larger, ranging from 53% for amphibians to 61% for dragonflies. A multimetric index combining the five resilience criteria enabled the further prioritisation of the species along a gradient of extinction risk.This potential threat from climate warming is not reflected by the current Red Lists of dragonflies and amphibians, suggesting that conservation management could gain from a complementary label indicating the degree of sensitivity to warming.     

Analysis of the factors creating consumer attributes of roasted beef steaks

The aim of the study was to analyze the factors creating consumer attributes of roasted beef steaks of various animals. Eight cuts from 30 carcasses (characterized by various types of animal, conformation and fat class, rib fat thickness, ossification score) were selected. Samples were prepared using the roasting method and consumers rated the tenderness, juiciness, flavor, overall acceptability (rated in a 100‐point scale), and satisfaction (rated from 2 to 5) for analyzed samples. No influence of type of animal, fat class, conformation class or ossification score on the results of consumer analysis was observed. For all analyzed factors, the influence of cut on consumer analysis was observed (the highest values of all consumer attributes were observed for tenderloin ‐ for juiciness significantly higher than for other cuts, for tenderness, flavor and MQ4 comparable only with rump (RMP231), while for overall acceptability and satisfaction – with both rump cuts). For rib fat thickness consumer attributes of roasted beef meat were not linear, but the influence was observed – the highest values of consumer attributes were observed for 13 mm rib fat thickness.     

Visual aspects in urban woodland management

This paper presents a study of woodland management guidelines analysed for their inclusion of visual aspects. The aim of the study was to identify approaches towards the management of visual aspects in urban woodland. For the study, 24 management guidelines from Sweden and the UK were reviewed for scale, degree of operational detail, the visual concepts used, their emphasis and justification. The review revealed that there exists a diversity of approaches towards managing visual aspects regarding the selection and emphasis of visual concepts as well as the scale at which they are applied and degree of operationality. Some general differences between Sweden and the UK where identified. These differences in treatment of visual aspects were mainly related to the use of different scale levels, different levels of abstraction and the basis for justifying the importance of visual qualities in management. These differences are discussed in relation to the wider management context, including landowner structure, landscape history and forestry traditions. We conclude that studying urban woodland management in another context (e.g. geographical and historical) can provide new insights for visual management. We also believe that transferring management strategies across cultures will result in them being altered at the policy and operational levels by the change of context. We further suggest that the use of visual concept could provide one approach for better integration of visual qualities in urban woodland management.     

Highly client-oriented breeding,using local preferences and selection,produces widely adapted rice varieties

When explicit measures are taken to account for the needs of clients (farmers and consumers) it results in highly client-oriented breeding. This involves the participation of farmers to specify the design of desirable varieties and, once they are produced, their testing without delay with the target clients in the target environments. The term highly client-oriented breeding (COB) explains the purpose of farmer involvement – the deliberate achievement of a high degree of client orientation – rather than simply explaining the process of farmers participating in plant breeding (participatory plant breeding). Client-oriented breeding is sometimes based on the preferences of relatively few farmers in a small area, so a possible drawback is that it will produce varieties that are too locally adapted. We describe the testing of varieties in the High Barind Tract (HBT) of Bangladesh from a COB programme carried out in Chitwan district, Nepal. The two best lines, Judi 582 and Judi 567, yielded 19–50% more during the T. Aman season and 106% more during the Aus season than check varieties in the HBT. Research to determine farmers’ preferences and adoption consistently showed these varieties were preferred over all available alternatives. The new varieties were broadly adapted as they were superior in all the three rice-growing seasons over varying levels of inputs. This broad adaptation could be explained by the breeding method: the generations were advanced in two contrasting seasons and each generation was grown on a different farmer's field under different management and planting dates. Because the segregating generations were grown under moderate and fluctuating levels of nitrogen, it is to be expected that genotypes with good nitrogen use efficiency will be selected that can also respond to added nitrogen. Overall, the cost-effectiveness of COB was high as it produced widely adapted genotypes from a small breeding programme, and knowledge of farmers’ preferences increased the efficiency of targeting new germplasm.