Fungal Planet description sheets: 1436–1477

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Argentina, Colletotrichum araujiae on leaves, stems and fruits of Araujia hortorum. Australia, Agaricus pateritonsus on soil, Curvularia fraserae on dying leaf of Bothriochloa insculpta, Curvularia millisiae from yellowing leaf tips of Cyperus aromaticus, Marasmius brunneolorobustus on well-rotted wood, Nigrospora cooperae from necrotic leaf of Heteropogon contortus, Penicillium tealii from the body of a dead spider, Pseudocercospora robertsiorum from leaf spots of Senna tora, Talaromyces atkinsoniae from gills of Marasmius crinis-equi and Zasmidium pearceae from leaf spots of Smilax glyciphylla. Brazil, Preussia bezerrensis from air. Chile, Paraconiothyrium kelleni from the rhizosphere of Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis f. chiloensis. Finland, Inocybe udicola on soil in mixed forest with Betula pendula, Populus tremula, Picea abies and Alnus incana. France, Myrmecridium normannianum on dead culm of unidentified Poaceae. Germany, Vexillomyces fraxinicola from symptomless stem wood of Fraxinus excelsior. India, Diaporthe limoniae on infected fruit of Limonia acidissima, Didymella naikii on leaves of Cajanus cajan, and Fulvifomes mangroviensis on basal trunk of Aegiceras corniculatum. Indonesia, Penicillium ezekielii from Zea mays kernels. Namibia, Neocamarosporium calicoremae and Neocladosporium calicoremae on stems of Calicorema capitata, and Pleiochaeta adenolobi on symptomatic leaves of Adenolobus pechuelii. Netherlands, Chalara pteridii on stems of Pteridium aquilinum, Neomackenziella juncicola (incl. Neomackenziella gen. nov.) and Sporidesmiella junci from dead culms of Juncus effusus. Pakistan, Inocybe longistipitata on soil in a Quercus forest. Poland, Phytophthora viadrina from rhizosphere soil of Quercus robur, and Septoria krystynae on leaf spots of Viscum album. Portugal (Azores), Acrogenospora stellata on dead wood or bark. South Africa, Phyllactinia greyiae on leaves of Greyia sutherlandii and Punctelia anae on bark of Vachellia karroo. Spain, Anteaglonium lusitanicum on decaying wood of Prunus lusitanica subsp. lusitanica, Hawksworthiomyces riparius from fluvial sediments, Lophiostoma carabassense endophytic in roots of Limbarda crithmoides, and Tuber mohedanoi from calcareus soils. Spain (Canary Islands), Mycena laurisilvae on stumps and woody debris. Sweden, Elaphomyces geminus from soil under Quercus robur. Thailand, Lactifluus chiangraiensis on soil under Pinus merkusii, Lactifluus nakhonphanomensis and Xerocomus sisongkhramensis on soil under Dipterocarpus trees. Ukraine, Valsonectria robiniae on dead twigs of Robinia hispida. USA, Spiralomyces americanus (incl. Spiralomyces gen. nov.) from office air. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes

Farm Computer Uptake and Practices in New Zealand

There is wide interest in both management circles and service industries in forecasts of the future uptake of computers on farm and horticultural businesses. Similarly, knowledge of how computer owning managers are utilizing them is of interest. From a 1992/93 postal survey of a stratified random sample of New Zealand producers it was determined that of the 24 per cent with computers, 19 per cent used them for business purposes and 5 per cent solely for entertainment and other non-business functions. An analysis of the length of past and anticipated ownership suggests New Zealand farmers are near the maximum uptake rate on the traditional sigmoid adoption curve. Existing ownership was positively correlated with farmer education level and farm size. On average, the computer was used 6.87 hours/week and three-quarters of respondents believed the benefits compensated for the costs. Farm budgeting and financial recording were the major business uses

Farm Computer Uptake and Practices in New Zealand

There is wide interest in both management circles and service industries in forecasts of the future uptake of computers on farm and horticultural businesses. Similarly, knowledge of how computer owning managers are utilizing them is of interest. From a 1992/93 postal survey of a stratified random sample of New Zealand producers it was determined that of the 24 per cent with computers, 19 per cent used them for business purposes and 5 per cent solely for entertainment and other non-business functions. An analysis of the length of past and anticipated ownership suggests New Zealand farmers are near the maximum uptake rate on the traditional sigmoid adoption curve. Existing ownership was positively correlated with farmer education level and farm size. On average, the computer was used 6.87 hours/week and three-quarters of respondents believed the benefits compensated for the costs. Farm budgeting and financial recording were the major business uses.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Behavioral classification of data from collars containing motion sensors in grazing cattle

Remote monitoring of animal behavior offers great potential to improve livestock management however technologies able to collect data at high frequency and accurate data classification methods are required. The objective of this study was to develop a methodology capable of performing unsupervised behavioral classification of electronic data collected at high frequency from collar-mounted motion and GPS sensors in grazing cattle. Two independent trials were conducted, one for developing the classification algorithm (4 groups of 11 steers) and a second for its evaluation (14 steers). Each steer was fitted with a collar containing GPS and a 3-axis accelerometer that collected data at 4 and 10 Hz, respectively. Foraging, ruminating, traveling, resting and ‘other active behaviors’ (which included scratching against objects, head shaking, and grooming) were observed and recorded continuously at the nearest second in animals wearing collars. Collar data were aggregated to 10-s intervals through the mean (indicative of the position of the neck and travel speed) and standard deviation (SD; indicative of activity level) and then log-transformed for analysis. The histograms of travel speed showed 3 populations and observations revealed these populations represented stationary, slow and fast travel behaviors. The histograms of the accelerometer X-axis mean showed populations corresponding with behaviors of head down or head up. The histograms of the accelerometer X-axis SD showed 3 populations representing behaviors with high, medium and low activity levels. Mixture models were fitted to data from each animal in both trials to calculate threshold values corresponding to where behaviors transitioned between different states. These thresholds from the 3 sensor signatures were then used in a decision tree to classify all 10-s data where behaviors were unknown into 5 mutually exclusive behaviors. The algorithm correctly classified 85.5% and 90.5% of all data points in the development and evaluation datasets, respectively. Foraging showed the greatest sensitivity (93.7% and 98.4%) and specificity (94.6% and 99.4%) followed by ruminating (sensitivity 97% and 87%, and specificity 90% and 95%) for development and evaluation trials, respectively. Major advantages of mixture models include computational efficiency suitable for large data sets (e.g. >2 million data lines), minimal requirement for training datasets, and estimation of threshold values for individual animals under unknown and varying environmental conditions. The technology and methodology allows for the automatic and real-time monitoring of behavior with high spatial and temporal resolution which could benefit livestock industries beyond the research domain for improved animal and ecological management

Opportunities for improving livestock production with e-Management systems

There is increased interest in hardware and software that can support e-Management for grassland-based livestock industries. Managers of grazing livestock were early adopters of radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies automatically monitoring individual animal performance. Recent developments of remote sensing, automated individual recording and management, location based systems, improved data transfer and technologies that can be used in more extensive grazing systems are providing new opportunities for the development of e-Management systems. There is a need for better data integration and systems that can provide the best available information to enable better decision-making. For greater industry adoption of more integrated e-Management systems, there needs to be a clear economic value. With increased on farm monitoring and the expansion of digital data sources, grazing livestock production systems have the opportunity to expand production efficiency through the implementation of e-Management

Using UHF proximity loggers to quantify male–female interactions: A scoping study of estrous activity in cattle

Reproductive efficiency is an important determinant of profitable cattle breeding systems and the success of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) in wildlife conservation programs. Methods of estrous detection used in intensive beef and dairy cattle systems lack accuracy and remain the single biggest issue for improvement of reproductive rates and such methods are not practical for either large-scale extensive beef cattle enterprises or free-living mammalian species. Recent developments in UHF (ultra high frequency) proximity logger telemetry devices have been used to provide a continuous pair-wise measure of associations between individual animals for both livestock and wildlife. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of using UHF telemetry to identify the reproductive cycle phenotype in terms of intensity and duration of estrus. The study was conducted using Belmont Red (interbred Africander Brahman Hereford–Shorthorn) cattle grazing irrigated pasture on Belmont Research Station, northeastern Australia. The cow-bull associations from three groups of cows each with one bull were recorded over a 7-week breeding season and the stage of estrus was identified using ultrasonography. Telemetry data from bull and cows, collected over 4 8-day logger deployments, were log transformed and analyzed by ANOVA. Both the number and duration of bull-cow affiliations were significantly (P < 0.001) greater in estrous cows compared to anestrus cows. These results support the development of the UHF technology as a hands-off and noninvasive means of gathering socio-sexual information on both wildlife and livestock for reproductive management

Using UHF proximity loggers to quantify male–female interactions: A scoping study of estrous activity in cattle

Reproductive efficiency is an important determinant of profitable cattle breeding systems and the success of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) in wildlife conservation programs. Methods of estrous detection used in intensive beef and dairy cattle systems lack accuracy and remain the single biggest issue for improvement of reproductive rates and such methods are not practical for either large-scale extensive beef cattle enterprises or free-living mammalian species. Recent developments in UHF (ultra high frequency) proximity logger telemetry devices have been used to provide a continuous pair-wise measure of associations between individual animals for both livestock and wildlife. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of using UHF telemetry to identify the reproductive cycle phenotype in terms of intensity and duration of estrus. The study was conducted using Belmont Red (interbred Africander Brahman Hereford–Shorthorn) cattle grazing irrigated pasture on Belmont Research Station, northeastern Australia. The cow-bull associations from three groups of cows each with one bull were recorded over a 7-week breeding season and the stage of estrus was identified using ultrasonography. Telemetry data from bull and cows, collected over 4 8-day logger deployments, were log transformed and analyzed by ANOVA. Both the number and duration of bull-cow affiliations were significantly (P < 0.001) greater in estrous cows compared to anestrus cows. These results support the development of the UHF technology as a hands-off and noninvasive means of gathering socio-sexual information on both wildlife and livestock for reproductive management

Accuracy of multi-spectral proximal sensors for monitoring grazed tropical pastures

No abstract availabl