Cattle vector-borne disease occurrence and management and climate change experiences in pastoral communities in Northern Tanzania

The livestock sector is vital to Tanzanian economy, and pastoralists largely depend on livestock production for their livelihood. The Vector-Borne Diseases (VBDs) of cattle, East Coast fever (ECF) and African animal trypanosomosis (AAT), whose occurrence are known to be influenced by climatic conditions, cause substantial cattle production losses in pastoralist communities that may be heightened with climate change. However, little is documented on pastoralists’ experiences and observations on climate change and ECF and AAT occurrence. Further, information on management practices for ECF and AAT is outdated following privatisation of veterinary services in Tanzania. This research employed 10 randomly selected villages of Monduli District in Northern Tanzania in 2014-2015. The study explored pastoralist indigenous knowledge of the relationship between climate parameters (temperature and rainfall) and ECF and AAT using participatory epidemiology approaches. The study also quantified the seasonal prevalence of Theileria parva and trypanosome infection in 960 cattle during the wet and dry seasons. Entomological surveys for brown ear ticks (Rhipicephalus appendiculatus) and tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) were also carried out. Assessment of management practices for ECF and AAT, seasonal movements and wildlife interactions in Maasai ecosystem were investigated. This research was the first to explore pastoralists’ understanding, observation and experiences on climate parameters and ECF and AAT. The findings on seasonal prevalence of T. parva and trypanosome infection will help inform decision-making on current and future cattle VBD control strategies. In addition, the information gathered from this thesis will inform the design and implementation of active surveillance, better control and preventive strategies to manage vectors and cattle vector-borne diseases in a changing climate in pastoral communities

Environmental and farm management effects on food nutrient concentrations and yields of East African staple food crops

Hidden hunger affects two billion people worldwide, particularly children and pregnant women. Human health and well-being are dependent on the quality and quantity of food consumed, particularly of plant-based foods. Plants source their nutrients from the soil. Essential nutrients for both, plants and humans, therefore, predominantly originate from the soil. Very little is known about the influence of environmental factors (e.g. soil types and abiotic factors, such as weather), or farm management choices (e.g. fertilisation or agrobiodiversity), on nutrient concentrations of edible crop parts. The main aim of this thesis was, therefore, to analyse the effects of soil fertility, farm management, and abiotic factors such as drought, on the quantity (yields) and quality (nutrient concentrations) of essential macro- (Mg, P, S, K, Ca) and micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu), of the edible parts of three East African staple food crops, i.e. maize (Zea mays L.), cassava (Manihot esculenta} Crantz), and matooke (East African Highland Banana (Musa acuminata Colla)), and discuss the resulting implications for food and nutrition security. Two research areas were selected in East Africa, one with a high fertility soil (Kapchorwa, Uganda - Nitisol) and one with a low fertility soil (Teso South, Kenya Ferralsol). In each region, 72 households were randomly selected, and leaf and edible crop parts, and soil samples collected on three fields per household, organised by distance (closest, mid-distance, and farthest field). Maize and cassava were collected in Teso South, maize and matooke were collected in Kapchorwa. Yields, fertilizer usage and species richness (SR) and diversity (SD) were recorded per field. The total nutrient concentrations were measured in all samples collected (soils and plant parts). A drought occurring in the second rain season of 2016 provided the opportunity to analyse water stress effects on crop quantity and quality (Chapter 2). Edible part samples and yields collected in both seasons were compared. Soil chemical and physical properties, together with farm management variables, were compared to edible part nutrient concentrations and yields using a Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) (Chapter 3). To understand the strength of association between the measurements routinely done by agronomists (leaf measurement) and nutritionists (edible part measurement), samples of each crop were collected, and were compared to each other and to yields, using a bivariate linear mixed model (Chapter 4). During the severe drought, nutrient concentrations in Kapchorwa decreased significantly from normal to drought season in both crops. In contrast, during the moderate drought in Teso South, nutrient concentrations increased significantly in both crops. Lacking nutrient phloem mobility is suggested to play a vital role in mobilisation of micronutrients (Fe, Mn, and Cu), as shown by their decreased concentration under severe drought in the yields of both crops in Kapchorwa (Chapter 2). Soil type had a very strong effect on food nutrient concentrations. Maize grain nutrient concentrations and yields, for example, were significantly higher for all nutrients measured on higher fertility soils. Maize grain had the highest correlations with soil factors. In contrast, corresponding correlations to management factors were much weaker (Chapter 3). Concerning the comparison of nutrient concentrations in different plant parts, low phloem mobile nutrients Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, and Cu showed the largest differences in correlations between leaves and edible parts. In the same comparison, perennial crops (matooke and cassava) showed lower correlations between leaves and edible parts, than annual crops (maize) (Chapter 4). Environmental factors, such as drought impacted food nutrient concentrations. Severe drought caused a potential double-burden for consumers, decreasing both yields and nutrient concentrations, particularly of micronutrients. Considering food nutrient concentrations, apart from yield, as response variables in agronomic trials (e.g. fertilisation or soil improvement strategies) would contribute towards discounting the notion that crops growing on fertile soils always produce healthy and high-quality foods. Leaves may provide information on plant health, however, do not provide enough information to gauge both yields and food quality, particularly regarding micronutrients. The results also showed that measuring the edible part is vital to assessing food quality, particularly due to the observed effects of nutrient mobility, affecting particularly micronutrients and Ca. Ending hunger and improving food and nutrition security for all, particularly when confronted with global change issues such as degrading soils and a changing climate, requires a collaborative effort by all disciplines concerned.Weltweit leiden zwei Milliarden Menschen an verborgenem Hunger. Die Qualität und die Quantität der konsumierten Nahrung, besonders die der pflanzlichen Nahrung, beeinflusst die Gesundheit und das Wohlbefinden der Menschen. Pflanzen nehmen ihre Nährstoffe aus dem Boden auf. Folglich stammen die essentiellen Makro- und Mikronährstoffe für Pflanzen und damit auch für den Menschen überwiegend aus dem Boden. Es bestehen große Wissenslücken, inwieweit Umweltfaktoren (z.B. abiotische Faktoren wie Bodentyp und Wetter) und das betriebliche Management, die Nährstoffkonzentration im essbaren Pflanzenteil beeinflussen. Das Forschungsziel dieser Arbeit war, den Einfluss der Bodenfruchtbarkeit, des Betriebsmanagements sowie abiotischer Faktoren auf die Erträge (Quantität) und die Nährstoffkonzentrationen (Qualität, essentielle Makro- (Mg, P, S, K, Ca), und Mikronährstoffen (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu)) dreier ostafrikanischer Grundnahrungsmittel, und zwar Mais (Zea mays L.), Maniok (Manihot esculenta Crantz) und Matooke (ostafrikanische Hochlandbanane (Musa acuminata Colla)), zu analysieren und daraus resultierende Implikationen für die Nahrungs- und Ernährungssicherung zu diskutieren. Zwei Forschungsgebiete mit unterschiedlicher Bodenfruchtbarkeit wurden in Ostafrika ausgewählt (hohe Bodenfruchtbarkeit: Kapchorwa, Uganda Nitisole; niedrige Bodenfruchtbarkeit: Teso South, Kenia Ferralsole). Auf landwirtschaftliche Betrieben wurden Proben der Blätter, der essbaren Pflanzenteile und Bodenproben gesammelt, und deren Nährstoffkonzentrationen gemessen. Mais- und Maniokproben wurden in Teso South gesammelt. Mais- und Matookeproben wurden in Kapchorwa gesammelt. Erträge, Düngeaufwand, Artenreichtum und -diversität wurden je Feld gemessen. Eine eingetretene Dürre in der zweiten Regenperiode 2016 ermöglichte es, die Ertragsquantität und -qualität unter Trockenstress zu analysieren (Kapitel 2). Einflüsse der Bodenchemie und Bodenphysik sowie des betrieblichen Managements wurden mit den Nährstoffkonzentrationen im essbaren Pflanzenteil und den Erträgen unter Anwendung der Kanonischen Korrespondenz-Analyse (CCA) ermittelt (Kapitel 3). Die Nährstoffgehalte der Blätter und der essbaren Pflanzenteile wurden mit den Erträgen durch ein bivariates lineares gemischtes Modell verglichen, um damit die Ergebnisse der gängigen Messmethoden der Agrar- (Blätter) und Ernährungswissenschaften (essbare Pflanzenteile) zu vergleichen, Unterschiede zu identifizieren, und Implikationen für die Nahrungs- und Ernährungssicherung abzuleiten (Kapitel 4). Die Nährstoffgehalte in der intensiven Dürreperiode in Kapchorwa hatten, verglichen mit der normalen Regenzeit, in beiden Pflanzen signifikant abgenommen. Konträr dazu hatten die Nährstoffgehalte in Teso South während der moderaten Dürre in beiden Pflanzen signifikant zugenommen. Die niedrigen Mikronährstoffkonzentrationen im essbaren Pflanzenteil während der intensiven Dürreperiode (Fe, Mn und Cu) lassen darauf schließen, dass die niedrige Nährstoffmobilität im Phloem hierfür verantwortlich war (Kapitel 2). Auch der Bodentyp hatte einen starken Effekt auf die Nährstoffkonzentrationen im essbaren Pflanzenteil. Die Konzentrationen aller gemessenen Nährstoffe im Maiskorn sind auf den fruchtbareren Böden signifikant höher als auf nährstoffärmeren Böden. Die Nährstoffkonzentrationen im Maiskorn korrelierten am stärksten mit den Bodeneigenschaften und am wenigsten mit Managementfaktoren. Der Vergleich der Nährstoffkonzentrationen zwischen Blättern und essbaren Pflanzenteilen zeigten, dass die wenig phloemmobilen Nährstoffe (Ca, Mn, Fe, und Cu) die größten Korrelationsunterschiede aufweisen. Die mehrjährigen Pflanzen (Matooke und Maniok) zeigten dabei eine niedrigere Korrelation zwischen den Pflanzenteilen als die einjährige Pflanze (Mais) (Kapitel 4). Umweltfaktoren, wie zum Beispiel die starke Dürre führte zu Nährstoff- (besonders die der Mikronährstoffe) und Ertragseinbußen, welches damit eine doppelte Belastung der Bevölkerung bedeutete. Würden in agrarwissenschaftlichen Versuchen neben den Erträgen die Nährstoffkonzentrationen des essbaren Teils der Pflanze erhoben werden, könnte man der gängigen Annahme, dass nur auf fruchtbaren Böden gesunde und qualitativ hochwertige Nahrung produziert wird, relativieren. Die Analyse der Blätter gibt Auskunft über die Pflanzengesundheit und den Ertrag, erlaubt aber keine Rückschlüsse über die Ertragsqualität, vor allem nicht in Bezug auf Mikronährstoffe und Ca. Umwelt- und Managementfaktoren haben einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Nährstoffkonzentrationen und könnten damit die Nahrungs- und Ernährungssicherheit erheblich beeinflussen. Eine Steigerung der Nahrungs- und Ernährungssicherheit und damit ein Ende des weltweiten Hungerns, gerade auch im Kontext wachsender Herausforderungen einhergehend mit der Klimakrise und einer zunehmenden Bodendegradierung, verlangen einen kollaborativen Einsatz aller beteiligten Disziplinen

Toward a Sustainable Agriculture Through Plant Biostimulants

Over the past decade, interest in plant biostimulants has been on the rise, compelled by the growing interest of researchers, extension specialists, private industries, and farmers in integrating these products in the array of environmentally friendly tools to secure improved crop performance, nutrient efficiency, product quality, and yield stability. Plant biostimulants include diverse organic and inorganic substances, natural compounds, and/or beneficial microorganisms such as humic acids, protein hydrolysates, seaweed and plant extracts, silicon, endophytic fungi like mycorrhizal fungi, and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria belonging to the genera Azospirillum, Azotobacter, and Rhizobium. Other substances (e.g., chitosan and other biopolymers and inorganic compounds) can have biostimulant properties, but their classification within the group of biostimulants is still under consideration. Plant biostimulants are usually applied to high-value crops, mainly greenhouse crops, fruit trees and vines, open-field crops, flowers, and ornamentals to sustainably increase yield and product quality. The global biostimulant market is currently estimated at about $2.0 billion and is expected to reach$3.0 billion by 2021 at an annual growth rate of 13%. A growing interest in plant biostimulants from industries and scientists was demonstrated by the high number of published peer-reviewed articles, conferences, workshops, and symposia in the past ten years. This book compiles several original research articles, technology reports, methods, opinions, perspectives, and invited reviews and mini reviews dissecting the biostimulatory action of these natural compounds and substances and beneficial microorganisms on crops grown under optimal and suboptimal growing conditions (e.g., salinity, drought, nutrient deficiency and toxicity, heavy metal contaminations, waterlogging, and adverse soil pH conditions). Also included are contributions dealing with the effect as well as the molecular and physiological mechanisms of plant biostimulants on nutrient efficiency, product quality, and modulation of the microbial population both quantitatively and qualitatively. In addition, identification and understanding of the optimal method, time, rate of application and phenological stage for improving plant performance and resilience to stress as well as the best combinations of plant species/cultivar × environment × management practices are also reported. We strongly believe that high standard reflected in this compilation on the principles and practices of plant biostimulants will foster knowledge transfer among scientific communities, industries, and agronomists, and will enable a better understanding of the mode of action and application procedures of biostimulants in different cropping systems

Everything Flows

This collection of essays explores the metaphysical thesis that the living world is not ontologically made up of substantial particles or things, as has often been assumed, but is rather constituted by processes. The biological domain is organized as an interdependent hierarchy of processes, which are stabilized and actively maintained at different timescales. Even entities that intuitively appear to be paradigms of things, such as organisms, are actually better understood as processes. Unlike previous attempts to articulate processual views of biology, which have tended to use Alfred North Whitehead’s panpsychist metaphysics as a foundation, this book takes a naturalistic approach to metaphysics. It submits that the main motivations for replacing an ontology of substances with one of processes are to be looked for in the empirical findings of science. Biology provides compelling reasons for thinking that the living realm is fundamentally dynamic and that the existence of things is always conditional on the existence of processes. The phenomenon of life cries out for theories that prioritize processes over things, and it suggests that the central explanandum of biology is not change but rather stability—or, more precisely, stability attained through constant change. This multicontributor volume brings together philosophers of science and metaphysicians interested in exploring the consequences of a processual philosophy of biology. The contributors draw on an extremely wide range of biological case studies and employ a process perspective to cast new light on a number of traditional philosophical problems such as identity, persistence, and individuality

Ecological genomics and adaptation of rosewoods Dalbergia cochinchinensis and D. oliveri for conservation and restoration

Global biodiversity, in particular tropical forests, is decreasing under both environmental change and anthropogenic disturbance. Environmental change alters species’ adaptability to their current habitat, leading to loss of fitness and range shift, while anthropogenic disturbance reduces their adaptive capacity. Conserving and restoring threatened species and ecosystems thus become a grand challenge for the 21st century. This thesis studies two threatened rosewood species, Dalbergia cochinchinensis and D. oliveri, which are illegally exploited for their valuable timber in the Greater Mekong Subregion. They became the world’s most trafficked wild product between 2005 and 2014, amounting to ~40% of the total global trade. Conservation efforts grew in the last decade to tackle the range-wide challenge, aiming to improve the species’ survival, amplify the production of genetic materials, and designate more conservation units. However, a sustainable supply of genetic materials can meet several challenges that compromise the effectiveness of a restoration programme, namely the genetic bottlenecks, maladaptation, and climate change. While knowledge of adaptation can predict and mitigate these risks, standard study approaches such as common garden experiments have become impractical due to the acute threats of illegal logging in these two species, which are lacking in a priori knowledge. This thesis aims to increase the knowledge of genetic and physiological underpinning of adaptation in the two Dalbergia species with relevance to application in conservation and restoration strategies. This thesis presents a rich body of genomic resources such as chromosome-scale genomes and reference transcriptomes, which advance the progress in less-represented angiosperm tree genomes and woody legume genomes and enable studies in genetic diversity. Comparative genomic studies revealed insight into the evolution and potential adaptive role of of certain gene families in tropical Dalbergia species. The landscape genomic study provides a comprehensive scan of adaptive signals and reports significant differences of the adaptive variation between the two species, where D. cochinchinensis is driven by temperature variability and D. oliveri by precipitation variability. The controlled stress experiment provides a physiological understanding of how the two species regulate their water relations and photosynthetic apparatus to respond to drought differently, where D. cochinchinensis has a more anisohydric behaviour than D. oliveri. These contrasting patterns of adaptation indicate how the two species may differentiate their niches, while co-occurring in some habitats. The knowledge of adaptive variation identifies hotspots of local adaptation and vulnerability towards climate change, and thus are expected to help conservation practitioners delineate conservation units, compare provenances for assisted germplasm transfer, and prioritise conservation actions. It also opens new avenues for future research, including combining common garden experiments and genomic approaches to more fully unravel genotype-phenotype-environment relationships

Improving photosynthetic efficiency and plant growth in controlled environments: the role of light quality, biostimulant application and ionising radiation

The possibility of growing higher plants, especially crops, in controlled environments allows reducing the variability of plant responses to the multiple stress occurring in the field and increasing the primary production. Among variables implicated in plant development and physiology, light represents a driver. Therefore, selecting specific wavelengths of visible light to obtain appropriate light quality regimes may significantly improve photosynthesis, biomass production, and secondary metabolites synthesis, resulting in an enrichment of food quality (in terms of nutraceutical compounds and antioxidants) and plant tolerance against abiotic stresses. The use of the light quality as 'natural fertiliser' alone or combined with other eco-friendly practices such as the employment of biostimulants could be a promising solution to enhance crop productivity preserving the overexploitation of soil and reducing the overuse of agrochemicals. The light spectrum modulation within growth chambers or vertical farms may find proper applications in the cultivation of crops in extreme environments on the Earth, such as hot or cold deserts or in the Space environment. This latter is highly unhospitable because it is characterised by many unfavourable ecological factors, including microgravity and cosmic radiations. In particular, ionising radiation is one of the significant constraints preventing plant growth and survival in Space. In the Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSSs), conceived to sustain human life in Space, plants will have a crucial role in food production and air regeneration and CO2 removal. Thus, in the next future, the challenge to grow plants in Space must consider studying the effect of Space ionising radiation not only on humans and animals but also on plants. The PhD project is focused on the role of light quality in regulating the photosynthetic machinery of higher plants in controlled environments. In particular, it has been explored if and how specific light wavelengths during growth may modify plant physiological behaviour and phytochemical production in response to biostimulant application or exposure to ionising radiation. Among different variables affecting plant growth, biostimulants application was selected with the specific aim to improve the overall plant physiological performance in terms of primary and secondary metabolism in the context of sustainable agricultural practices. The ionising radiation was chosen as a space stress environmental factor in the view of experiments finalised to plant cultivation in Space. The experiments were carried out on widely consumed crops such as tomato, spinach, soybean and chard, considered important functional foods. Plants were grown in dedicated growth chambers under specific temperature, relative humidity, photoperiod, and light intensity condition, modulating the light spectrum to obtain specific light regimes promoting the photosynthetic performance. The outcomes of these experiments were utilised in the subsequent trials to test how light quality combined with ionising radiation or growth-promoting agents, i.e., biostimulants, may modify photosynthesis and antioxidant production. A downscaling investigative approach was adopted to analyse plant responses at different scale levels from cells and tissues to the whole organism. The outcomes of this research may have implications not only for developing sustainable protocols for indoor cultivation but also for plant growth in extreme environments on Earth and Space, such as the orbiting stations

Improving Sustainability in Organic and Low Input Food Production Systems. Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress of the European Integrated Project Quality Low Input Food (QLIF). University of Hohenheim, Germany, March 20 – 23, 2007

These proceedings document the results of the congress 'Improving Sustainability in Organic and Low Input Food Production Systems' which took place on March 20–23, 2007, at the University of Hohenheim in Germany. This congress was the 3rd in a series organized as part of the EU funded Integrated Project 'Quality Low Input Food' QLIF . The congress was convened in parallel with the 9th Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture in German-speaking countries, entitled 'Between tradition and globalization', hosted by the University of Hohenheim. The QLIF project aims to improve quality, ensure safety and reduce cost along the organic and low input food supply chains through research, dissemination and training activities. Its subprojects cover all aspects of organic and low input food and farming: Consumer studies, quality, crop & livestock production, processing and supply chains, environmental and socioeconomic aspects