DIFFERENCES IN CONSUMERS OF FRESH TOMATOES AT FOUR RETAIL VENUES

This paper presents the results of surveys of fresh tomato consumers conducted in 1990 in four New Jersey produce venues: a supermarket, a farmers' market, an at-the-farm store, and two roadside stands. The surveys were conducted through face-to-face interviews. Consumers' preferences, purchasing patterns, attitudes and demographics were examined. Results of the surveys suggest that supermarkets should emphasize price and convenience in marketing fresh tomatoes; whereas farmers' markets, at-the-farm stores, and roadside stands should emphasize taste and freshness.Consumer/Household Economics,

Genomic variation in a widespread Neotropical bird (Xenops minutus) reveals divergence, population expansion, and gene flow

Elucidating the demographic and phylogeographic histories of species provides insight into the processes responsible for generating biological diversity, and genomic datasets are now permitting the estimation of histories and demographic parameters with unprecedented accuracy. We used a genomic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset generated using a RAD-Seq method to investigate the historical demography and phylogeography of a widespread lowland Neotropical bird (Xenops minutus). As expected, we found that prominent landscape features that act as dispersal barriers, such as Amazonian rivers and the Andes Mountains, are associated with the deepest phylogeographic breaks, and also that isolation by distance is limited in areas between these barriers. In addition, we inferred positive population growth for most populations and detected evidence of historical gene flow between populations that are now physically isolated. Even with genomic estimates of historical demographic parameters, we found the prominent diversification hypotheses to be untestable. We conclude that investigations into the multifarious processes shaping species histories, aided by genomic datasets, will provide greater resolution of diversification in the Neotropics, but that future efforts should focus on understanding the processes shaping the histories of lineages rather than trying to reconcile these histories with landscape and climatic events in Earth history.Comment: 61 pages, 4 figures (+3 supplemental), 3 tables (+6 supplemental

ECONOMIC AND MARKETING ISSUES FROM A GROWER'S PERSPECTIVE

Marketing,

A phylogeny of birds based on over 1,500 loci collected by target enrichment and high-throughput sequencing

Evolutionary relationships among birds in Neoaves, the clade comprising the vast majority of avian diversity, have vexed systematists due to the ancient, rapid radiation of numerous lineages. We applied a new phylogenomic approach to resolve relationships in Neoaves using target enrichment (sequence capture) and high-throughput sequencing of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) in avian genomes. We collected sequence data from UCE loci for 32 members of Neoaves and one outgroup (chicken) and analyzed data sets that differed in their amount of missing data. An alignment of 1,541 loci that allowed missing data was 87% complete and resulted in a highly resolved phylogeny with broad agreement between the Bayesian and maximum-likelihood (ML) trees. Although results from the 100% complete matrix of 416 UCE loci were similar, the Bayesian and ML trees differed to a greater extent in this analysis, suggesting that increasing from 416 to 1,541 loci led to increased stability and resolution of the tree. Novel results of our study include surprisingly close relationships between phenotypically divergent bird families, such as tropicbirds (Phaethontidae) and the sunbittern (Eurypygidae) as well as between bustards (Otididae) and turacos (Musophagidae). This phylogeny bolsters support for monophyletic waterbird and landbird clades and also strongly supports controversial results from previous studies, including the sister relationship between passerines and parrots and the non-monophyly of raptorial birds in the hawk and falcon families. Although significant challenges remain to fully resolving some of the deep relationships in Neoaves, especially among lineages outside the waterbirds and landbirds, this study suggests that increased data will yield an increasingly resolved avian phylogeny.Comment: 30 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, 1 supplementary table, 3 supplementary figure

Comparative Cost Analyses of Conventional, Integrated Crop Management, and Organic Methods

Production costs have been analyzed in several studies using such normative approaches as budgeting and mathematical programming, and positive approaches as estimation of production, cost, or profit functions. This study used budgeting methods to analyze the costs and benefits of adopting integrated crop management (ICM) or organic methods versus conventional agriculture for tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharada), and pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo L.). Data were collected using field studies conducted at the Rutgers University Snyder Research and Extension Farm, Pittstown, N.J. Time and motion study techniques were used to record machinery use and labor quantities. Records of production inputs and yields were also collected. These records were then converted to a 1.0-acre (0.4-ha) basis to constructed crop budgets. Results show that ICM systems are more profitable than conventional and organic systems. Organic systems had the lowest net returns. However, because of the organic price premium, the net returns were fairly close to those for conventional and ICM systems

RESEARCH REPORTS: THE ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF A NEW JERSEY FRESH TOMATO PACKING FACILITY: A STOCHASTIC SIMULATION APPROACH

This study evaluates the economic feasibility of establishing a packing house for the New Jersey Tomato Council Cooperative Association. Several scenarios were evaluated using a comprehensive firm-level, dynamic, stochastic, multiple-year, capital-budgeting computer model. Results indicate that the packing house would have difficulty sustaining itself if it packed tomatoes only during the three months a year that local tomatoes are produced. Economic performance of the packing house improved, however, when additional tomatoes were repacked from another supplier during the months that tomatoes are not produced in New Jersey.Agribusiness,

Habitat association predicts genetic diversity and population divergence in amazonian birds

© 2017 by The University of Chicago. The ecological traits of organisms may predict their genetic diversity and population genetic structure and mediate the action of evolutionary processes important for speciation and adaptation. Making these ecological-evolutionary links is difficult because it requires comparable genetic estimates from many species with differing ecologies. In Amazonian birds, habitat association is an important component of ecological diversity. Here, we examine the link between habitat association and genetic parameters using 20 pairs of closely related Amazonian bird species in which one member of the pair occurs primarily in forest edge and floodplains and the other occurs in upland forest interior. We use standardized geographic sampling and data from 2,416 genomic markers to estimate genetic diversity, population genetic structure, and statistics reflecting demographic and evolutionary processes. We find that species of upland forest have greater genetic diversity and divergence across the landscape as well as signatures of older histories and less gene flow than floodplain species. Our results reveal that species ecology in the form of habitat association is an important predictor of genetic diversity and population divergence and suggest that differences in diversity between floodplain and upland avifaunas in the Amazon may be driven by differences in the demographic and evolutionary processes at work in the two habitats

Phylogeny and phylogenetic classification of the antbirds, ovenbirds, woodcreepers, and allies (Aves: Passeriformes: Infraorder Furnariides)

The infraorder Furnariides is a diverse group of suboscine passerine birds comprising a substantial component of the Neotropical avifauna. The included species encompass a broad array of morphologies and behaviours, making them appealing for evolutionary studies, but the size of the group (ca. 600 species) has limited well-sampled higher-level phylogenetic studies. Using DNA sequence data from the nuclear RAG-1 and RAG-2 exons, we undertook a phylogenetic analysis of the Furnariides sampling 124 (more than 88%) of the genera. Basal relationships among family-level taxa differed depending on phylogenetic method, but all topologies had little nodal support, mirroring the results from earlier studies in which discerning relationships at the base of the radiation was also difficult. In contrast, branch support for family-rank taxa and for many relationships within those clades was generally high. Our results support the Melanopareidae and Grallariidae as distinct from the Rhinocryptidae and Formicariidae, respectively. Within the Furnariides our data contradict some recent phylogenetic hypotheses and suggest that further study is needed to resolve these discrepancies. Of the few genera represented by multiple species, several were not monophyletic, indicating that additional systematic work remains within furnariine families and must include dense taxon sampling. We use this study as a basis for proposing a new phylogenetic classification for the group and in the process erect new family-group names for clades having high branch support across methods. © 2009 The Willi Hennig Society