Impacts of population growth, economic development, and technical change on global food production and consumption

Over the next decades mankind will demand more food from fewer land and water resources. This study quantifies the food production impacts of four alternative development scenarios from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Special Report on Emission Scenarios. Partially and jointly considered are land and water supply impacts from population growth, and technical change, as well as forest and agricultural commodity demand shifts from population growth and economic development. The income impacts on food demand are computed with dynamic elasticities. Simulations with a global, partial equilibrium model of the agricultural and forest sectors show that per capita food levels increase in all examined development scenarios with minor impacts on food prices. Global agricultural land increases by up to 14% between 2010 and 2030. Deforestation restrictions strongly impact the price of land and water resources but have little consequences for the global level of food production and food prices. While projected income changes have the highest partial impact on per capita food consumption levels, population growth leads to the highest increase in total food production. The impact of technical change is amplified or mitigated by adaptations of land management intensities.     

A method for the protection of spruce stands againstIps typographus by the use of barriers of pheromone traps in north-eastern Slovakia

A method and layout of various systems of barriers of pheromone traps is described. The rationale of the method is based on the stress of spruce and the chemical communication ofIps typographus. Various systems of pheromone trap barriers were used according to the required level of protection. The method was used in two areas affected by air pollution and bark beetle outbreak. The first area was in an unnatural spruce monoculture region while the second was in a National Park. The described method led to a significant reduction of bark beetle attacks on trees along forest edges and subsequently to the stopping of movement of the zone of attacked trees due to bark beetle damage. In the case of forest stands with no reduced canopy closure, the reduction of attacks led to a dramatic decline of bark beetle outbreak. On the other hand, this method was not able to reduce the level of bark beetle attack in the interior of forest stands with a decreased level of canopy closure. This method, as part of differentiated pest management measures in one forest district, was successful without any other protection measures in the condition of natural reserves in a spruce vegetation zone.     

Patterns of bark beetle occurrence in Norway spruce stands of national parks in Tatra Mts. in Poland and Slovakia

This paper presents the results of a research project concerning bark beetle populations in Norway spruce stands managed under a nature protection regime in national parks in Tatra Mountains in Poland and Slovakia. The preliminary data on bark beetle occurrence and related selected stand characteristics are presented. The dynamics of a bark beetle outbreak that occurred from 1994–97 in the stands localized on both sides of the state border and in various nature protection regimes is analyzed retrospectively. The data concerning the tree/stand characteristics, i.e. DBH and increment of trees are discussed in relation to its potential role in the mechanism for the spread of bark beetle populations. The patterns of the spatial distribution of trees attacked during the research period (1999–2001) are described.     

Types of bark beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) infestation in spruce forest stands affected by air pollution, bark beetle outbreak and honey fungus (Armillaria mellea)

583 spruce stands in an area affected by air pollution and bark beetle outbreak in Eastern Slovakia were studied in 1996. According to bark beetle infestation of dominant and codominant trees, stands were classified into following types of spruce stand decline:Ips typographus-A,Ips typographus-B,Polygraphus poligraphus, I. typographus/P. poligraphus—A,I. typographus/P. poligraphus—B. The presence of attacked trees in forest edges, bark beetle spots and forest interior was the key important factor for the classification. Data from forest inventory and forest management evidence together with data on types of spruce stands decline were used in further analyses. Results shows that the distribution of forest stands classified into different types or uninfested stands is related mainly to host size and site quality. The percentage of spruce, exposition of stands and stand density showed significant effects. The mechanisms of spreading of studied bark beetle outbreak could be explained by direct effects of stress of trees caused by an abrupt increase of level of solar irradiation and by weakening of trees by the honey fungus.     

Effect of (+)-limonene and 1-methoxy-2-propanol on Ips typographus response to pheromone blends

We compared two different strategies to increase the catches of Ips typographus (L.), particularly males, in pheromone-baited traps. The first of these strategies, the barrier approach, used alternating pheromone blends, targeting males and females respectively, in closely-spaced traps forming a barrier around forest stands. The second strategy, the single trap approach, used widely-spaced traps that were all baited with the same lure and intended to trap the highest possible numbers of males without compromising trapping of females. In the blend used for the barrier traps targeting primarily males, with a lower percentage of (4S)-cis-verbenol (cV), the (−)-α-pinene was replaced step wise with (+)-limonene at rates of 0%, 1%, 10%, 35%, 60% and 90%. This replacement had no significant effect on the numbers of responding I. typographus males, but there was a slight effect on the percentage of males caught. In the attractant blend for the barrier traps targeting females, with a higher percentage of cV, the 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MB) was replaced with 1-methoxy-2-propanol (MP) in a similar fashion as for the male-specific blends. The replacement did not significantly affect the catch of females. Thus, it is possible to use the MP in the blend with cV and ipsdienol without significant change in catch efficacy. In the blends for single traps, the (−)-α- pinene was replaced with (+)-limonene and MB with MP. The replacement of (−)-α-pinene had only a slight effect on the percentage of males, but the results suggest that replacing MB with MP in the blend will not significantly reduce trapping efficacy. Foundation project: The research was supported by Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV-51-P06005 and APVV-27-P05205) and by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (2/6153/26)     

Development of evapotranspiration and water supply of clay-loamy soil on the East Slovak Lowland

With regard to optimization of the factors of field crop harvest formation in semi-arid areas the phenomenon of soil drought is of key importance. This article deals with the problem of soil water management in connection to soil fertility in the area of East Slovakian Lowland, characterized by the complexity of its agro-ecologic conditions. In clay-loamy soils of the corresponding area, soil water content at the level limited by the threshold point and field water capacity ensures that the average value of actual evapotranspiration intensity varies between 2.69 and 3.89 mm per day⁻¹. Time development of soil water storage and evaporation deficit depends on optimized system of soil water management necessary for plant production.     

National soil data in EU countries,where do we stand?

At the European scale, soil characteristics are needed to evaluate soil quality, soil health and soil-based ecosystem services in the context of the European Green Deal. While some soil databases exist at the European scale, a much larger wealth of data is present in individual European countries, allowing a more detailed soil assessment. There is thus an urgent and crucial need to combine these data at the European scale. In the frame of a large European Joint Programme on agricultural soils launched by the European Commission, a survey was conducted in the spring of 2020, in the 24 European participating countries to assess the existing soil data sources, focusing on agricultural soils. The survey will become a contribution to the European Soil Observatory, launched in December 2020, which aims to collect metadata of soil databases related to all kind of land uses, including forest and urban soils. Based upon a comprehensive questionnaire, 170 soil databases were identified at local, regional and national scales. Soil parameters were divided into five groups: (1) main soil parameters according to the Global Soil Map specifications; (2) other soil chemical parameters; (3) other physical parameters; (4) other pedological parameters; and (5) soil biological features. A classification based on the environmental zones of Europe was used to distinguish the climatic zones. This survey shows that while most of the main pedological and chemical parameters are included in more than 70% of the country soil databases, water content, contamination with organic pollutants, and biological parameters are the least frequently reported parameters. Such differences will have consequences when developing an EU policy on soil health as proposed under the EU soil strategy for 2023 and using the data to derive soil health indicators. Many differences in the methods used in collecting, preparing, and analysing the soils were found, thus requiring harmonization procedures and more cooperation among countries and with the EU to use the data at the European scale. In addition, choosing harmonized and useful interpretation and threshold values for EU soil indicators may be challenging due to the different methods used and the wide variety of soil land-use and climate combinations influencing possible thresholds. The temporal scale of the soil databases reported is also extremely wide, starting from the '20s of the 20th century.     

BoLA-DRB3 exon 2 mutations associated with paratuberculosis in cattle

A single nucleotide polymorphism at the antigen recognition site of the bovine leucocyte antigen (BoLA) DRB3 gene was assessed in healthy and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) - infected cattle, in order to determine if there was a correlation between mutations and altered susceptibility to infection. Of a sample of 200 animals, 19.6% were found to be infected with MAP. PCR - single strand conformational polymorphism analysis of the BoLA DRB3 gene found 19 genotypes (16 in the heterozygous and three in homozygous state, respectively). Four mutations, Val53Glu (OR 453.7), Val53Leu (OR 453.7), Asp57His (OR 1.944) and Arg84Gly (OR 1.458), were linked with increased susceptibility to infection, whereas, Asp57Asn (OR 0) and Phe60Tyr (OR 0.453) were associated with increased resistance. The findings indicate potentially important mutations in the protein-binding site of DRB3, which may be crucial to the activation of an appropriate immune response against MAP.