Characteristics of Predation and Losses in the New York Sheep Industry

A questionnaire survey was used in 1985 to obtain data on predation and losses from New York sheep growers. Surveys were returned by 685 growers which was a 40% return rate. The average grower managed 160 acres, including 24 acres of pasture, kept 106 sheep and received 12% of the total family income from sheep farming. Sheep predation occurred on 44% of the farms and dogs were considered the most harmful predator by 88% of the growers with losses. Growers with sheep losses had significantly larger flocks, more acreage in pasture, larger farms and depended more heavily on sheep farming for income than growers without losses (p \u3c 0.05). Growers who had reduced their pasture acreage and were planning further reductions had significantly higher losses than growers whose acreage had remained constant or increased and were planning to add more pasture (p \u3c 0.001). Growers who had reduced their flock size also had significantly higher losses than those who had increased their flocks (p \u3c 0.05). Finally, individuals who would reduce or sell their flock if predation continued had significantly higher losses than growers who planned to use lethal predator control methods to combat future predation (p \u3e 0.05)

ASSESSING DEER DAMAGE IN YOUNG FRUIT ORCHARDS

Evaluations of systematic damage assessments of 5, 10 and 20 percent of all apple trees in 12 orchards were compared. The 10% assessment technique was selected as the most accurate and efficient in estimating summer and fall damage. Analysis of several parameters of tree vigor found significant differences between browsed and unbrowsed trees for tree basal diameter and central leader diameter over 2 successive years. These subtle yet important differences in tree development were felt to severely limit the possibilities of relating browsing to growth and. later, yields. Methods and considerations for making control decisions on a per acre basis are discussed

Long-term Performance of ‘Delicious’ Apple Trees Grafted on Geneva® Rootstocks and Trained to Four High-density Systems under New York State Climatic Conditions

We conducted a large (0.8 ha) field experiment of system × rootstock, using Super Chief Delicious apple as cultivar at Yonder farm in Hudson, NY, between 2007 and 2017. In this study, we compared six Geneva® rootstocks (‘G.11’, ‘G.16’, ‘G.210’, ‘G.30’, ‘G.41’, and ‘G.935’) with one Budagovsky (‘B.118’) and three Malling rootstocks (‘M.7EMLA’, ‘M.9T337’ and ‘M.26EMLA’). Trees on each rootstock were trained to four high-density systems: Super Spindle (SS) (5382 apple trees/ha), Tall Spindle (TS) (3262 apple trees/ha), Triple Axis Spindle (TAS) (2243 apple trees/ha), and Vertical Axis (VA) (1656 apple trees/ha). Rootstock and training system interacted to influence growth, production, and fruit quality. When comparing systems, SS trees were the least vigorous but much more productive on a per hectare basis. Among the rootstocks we evaluated, ‘B.118’ had the largest trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA), followed by ‘G.30’ and ‘M.7EMLA’, which were similar in size but they did not differ statistically from ‘G.935’. ‘M.9T337’ was the smallest and was significantly smaller than most of the other rootstocks but it did not differ statistically from ‘G.11’, ‘G.16’, ‘G.210’, ‘G.41’, and ‘M.26EMLA’. Although ‘B.118’ trees were the largest, they had low productivity, whereas the second largest rootstock ‘G.30’ was the most productive on a per hectare basis. ‘M.9’ was the smallest rootstock and failed to adequately fill the space in all systems except the SS, and had low cumulative yield. The highest values for cumulative yield efficiency (CYE) were with ‘G.210’ for all training systems except for VA, where ‘M.9T337’ had the highest value. The lowest values were for all training systems with ‘B.118’ and ‘M.7EMLA’. Regardless of the training system, ‘M.7EMLA’ trees had the highest number of root suckers. Some fruit quality traits were affected by training system, rootstock or system × rootstock combination.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Carbon Emission Flow in Networks

As the human population increases and production expands, energy demand and anthropogenic carbon emission rates have been growing rapidly, and the need to decrease carbon emission levels has drawn increasing attention. The link between energy production and consumption has required the large-scale transport of energy within energy transmission networks. Within this energy flow, there is a virtual circulation of carbon emissions. To understand this circulation and account for the relationship between energy consumption and carbon emissions, this paper introduces the concept of “carbon emission flow in networks” and establishes a method to calculate carbon emission flow in networks. Using an actual analysis of China's energy pattern, the authors discuss the significance of this new concept, not only as a feasible approach but also as an innovative theoretical perspective

Effect of tree type and rootstock on the long-term performance of ‘Gala’, ‘Fuji’ and ‘Honeycrisp’ apple trees trained to Tall Spindle under New York State climatic conditions

In 2006, two 0.3 ha orchard trials were established at two sites (Dressel farm in Southeastern New York State and VandeWalle farm in Western New York State) to compare two tree types (feathered trees and bench-grafted trees) on five rootstocks [three Geneva® rootstocks (G.11, G.16, G.41) with one Budagovsky rootstock (B.9) and one Malling rootstock (M.9T337)] as controls. ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ were used as scion cultivars at Dressel farm and ‘Gala’ and ‘Honeycrisp’ as the scions cultivars at VandeWalle farm. At each location, trees were planted at 3,262 trees ha−1and trained to a Tall Spindle (TS) system. Location, tree type and rootstock interacted to affect tree growth, production and fruit quality of each scion cultivar. ‘Gala’ trees from VandeWalle (Western NY State) were more productive (33% more production) than those from Dressel Farm (Southern NY State), because they produced more fruits per cm−2 and fruit size was bigger. When comparing the two tree types (feathered and bench-grafted) at both locations and across all rootstocks (B.9, G.11, G.16, G.41, and M.9T337), feathered trees were similar in tree size after 11 seasons as bench-grafted ones, except for ‘Fuji’ at Dressel farm where bench-grafted trees were 27% smaller than feathered trees. The bench-grafted trees had lower cumulative yield per hectare, cumulative yield efficiency, and cumulative crop load than the fully feathered trees. Finally, when comparing all 10 tree type × rootstock combinations, for ‘Fuji’, feathered trees with G.11, for ‘Gala’, feathered trees with G.41, and for ‘Honeycrisp’, feathered trees with G.16 were the combinations with the highest cumulative yield, high yield efficiency and crop loads, low biennial bearing, and with slightly significant larger fruits.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Bioenergy: Biofuel production on the margins

Productive agricultural land that could otherwise be used to produce much-needed food crops is being diverted towards grain-based ethanol production in both Europe and the United States, partly in response to government legislation. An alternative is to grow cellulosic crops on so-called marginal lands. An evaluation of the potential of marginal lands in the Midwestern United States to produce biofuel while mitigating direct greenhouse gas emissions now finds that they have the capacity to produce a significant amount of biofuel energy without the initial carbon debt and indirect land-use costs associated with food-based biofuels

The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions

Acknowledgements. This study was made possible by funding from the Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation. Data Deposition A global spatial dataset of reforestation opportunities is available on Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/record/883444). Figures 1 and 2 have associated raw data that can be made available upon request.Peer reviewedPostprin