Status of Lion (Panthera leo) and Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in Nechisar National Park, Ethiopia

Globally large carnivores are in decline due to a combination of habitat degradation and direct human persecution. A survey was conducted in Nechisar national park, Southern Ethiopia to investigate the population status of lion (Panthera leo) and hyena (Crocuta crocuta). Eleven callups were performed; a total of two adult male lions and six spotted hyenas responded. Estimates give a lion density of between 2 and 5 per 100 km2 or a total population estimate of 7 to 23 lions and a hyena density of between 4 to 8 hyenas per 100 km2 or a total population estimate of 17 to 34 hyenas. These estimates include extrapolation to a heavily encroached area where large carnivores are unlikely to occur. The lion population is probably limited to the visually confirmed four individuals. The carrying capacity of Nechisar national park, excluding livestock, is 21 lions and 48 hyenas. The resident agro-pastoral communities who are living with their livestock inside and adjacent to the national park are in conflict with carnivores. This might account for the low density of lion and hyena in the park, and perhaps might result in local extinction within a few years.Keywords: Callups, Hyena, Lion, Nechisar, Density, Ethiopia

Evaluation of a smart system for the optimization of logistics performance of a pruning biomass value chain

The paper presents a report on the performance evaluation of a newly developed smart logistics system (SLS). Field tests were conducted in Spain, Germany, and Sweden. The evaluation focused on the performance of a smart box tool (used to capture information during biomass transport) and a web-based information platform (used to monitor the flow of agricultural pruning from farms to end users and associated information flow). The tests were performed following a product usability testing approach, considering both qualitative and quantitative parameters. The detailed performance evaluation included the following: systematic analysis of 41 recordable parameters (stored in a spreadsheet database), analysis of feedback and problems encountered during the tests, and overall quality analysis applying the product quality model adapted from ISO/IEC FDIS 9126-1 standard. The data recording and storage and the capability to support product traceability and supply chain management were found to be very satisfactory, while assembly of smart box components (mainly the associated cables), data transferring intervals, and manageability could be improved. From the data retrieved during test activities, in more than 95% of the parameters within 41 columns, the expected values were displayed correctly. Some errors were observed, which might have been caused mainly by barriers that could hinder proper data recording and transfer from the smart box to the central database. These problems can be counteracted and the performance of the SLS can be improved so that it can be upgraded to be a marketable tool that can promote sustainable biomass-to-energy value chains

Life-cycle assessment of the use of peach pruning residues for electricity generation

Biomass residues from permanent crops might be an alternative fuel for energy generation in a local market with limited transport distances. Moreover, as activities related to CO2 reduction are of special attention in the European Union (EU), sustainable use of resources plays an important role in climate change mitigation. In this paper, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of the integrated value chain from peach pruning residues for electricity generation is presented and compared with the common practice including the mulching process of the pruned biomass in an orchard. It was shown that biomass harvesting, chipping and its delivery to a power plant-the Pruning-to-Energy (PtE) scenario - is feasible from an environmental point of view. The total global warming potential (GWP) of this value chain was 200 kg CO2 eq.·ha-1 (or 27 kg CO2 eq.·GJ-1). In turn, the mulching and leaving of the pruned biomass in an orchard-the pruning-to-soil (PtS) scenario - is characterized by a CO2 equivalent of 2360 kg-ha-1. Other impact categories showed a lower environmental impact for the PtE scenario as well. When considering the Spanish electricity-mix instead of coal-based electricity, the PtS scenario score better in most impact categories, but the GWP for the PtE scenario remains lower

Processing and Quality Guidelines for Organic Food Processing/Verarbeitungs- und Qualitätsleitfaden für biologische Lebensmittel/Linee guida per la lavorazione e la qualità visto che trasformazione di alimenti biologici

These guidelines on quality and processing of organic foods have been prepared as part of the Core Organic Plus funded project “SusOrganic - Development of quality standards and optimised processing methods for organic produce”

Critical points in the transport of cattle to slaughter in Spain that may compromise the animals’ welfare

The welfare of cattle depends greatly on the attitudes and training of stockpersons and on the availability of appropriate facilities. Much has been learned about stress during transport, but less attention has been paid to identifying and correcting critical points, partly because they vary widely both nationally and internationally. A survey of cattle transport in Spain was made in an effort to determine which parts of the process most compromised the animals' welfare. Data were collected on the methods and facilities for loading and unloading, transport times, types of vehicle and slaughterhouse practices. Loading facilities were adequate and loading times generally short but some farms continued to use an electric goad and weather-proofing was generally poor. The average journey time within Spain was three-and-a-half hours, but many trips were made abroad (especially to Italy), few drivers received specific training courses and the types and quality of vehicles varied widely. The average unloading time was very short but the animals were not always inspected for injuries or dirtiness. Lairage times were normally more than eight hours but few slaughterhouses had air-conditioning equipment to prevent excessive heat or dehydration. Almost all stockpersons avoided either regrouping animals or housing or transporting animals at high densities

Development and worldwide use of non-lethal, and minimal population-level impact, protocols for the isolation of amphibian chytrid fungi

T.W.J.G., M.C.F., D.S.S., A.L., E.C., F.C.C., J.B., A.A.C., C.M., F.S., B.R.S., S.O., were supported through the Biodiversa project RACE: Risk Assessment of Chytridiomycosis to European Amphibian Biodiversity (NERC standard grant NE/K014455/1 and NE/E006701/1; ANR-08-BDVA-002-03). M.C.F., J.S., C.W., P.G. were supported by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2014-273), M.C.F., A.C., C.W. were supported by the Morris Animal Foundation. J.V. was supported by the Bolyai János Research Grant of the Hunagrian Academy of Sciences (BO/00597/14). F.G. and D.G. were supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme Future Conservationist Award. C.S.A. was supported by Fondecyt (No. 1181758). M.C.F. and A.C. were supported by. Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund Project (152510704). GMR held a doctoral scholarship (SFRH/BD/69194/2010) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. L.F.T., C.L., L.P.R. K.R.Z., T.Y.J., T.S.J. were supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP #2016/25358-3), the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq #300896/2016–6) and a Catalyzing New International Collaborations grant from the United States NSF (OISE-1159513). C.S.A. was supported by Fondecyt (No. 1181758). T.M.D. was supported by the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. B.W. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (2015R1D1A1A01057282).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Development and worldwide use of non-lethal, and minimal population-level impact, protocols for the isolation of amphibian chytrid fungi

© The Author(s) 2018.Parasitic chytrid fungi have emerged as a significant threat to amphibian species worldwide, necessitating the development of techniques to isolate these pathogens into culture for research purposes. However, early methods of isolating chytrids from their hosts relied on killing amphibians. We modified a pre-existing protocol for isolating chytrids from infected animals to use toe clips and biopsies from toe webbing rather than euthanizing hosts, and distributed the protocol to researchers as part of the BiodivERsA project RACE; here called the RML protocol. In tandem, we developed a lethal procedure for isolating chytrids from tadpole mouthparts. Reviewing a database of use a decade after their inception, we find that these methods have been applied across 5 continents, 23 countries and in 62 amphibian species. Isolation of chytrids by the non-lethal RML protocol occured in 18% of attempts with 207 fungal isolates and three species of chytrid being recovered. Isolation of chytrids from tadpoles occured in 43% of attempts with 334 fungal isolates of one species (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) being recovered. Together, these methods have resulted in a significant reduction and refinement of our use of threatened amphibian species and have improved our ability to work with this group of emerging pathogens.T.W.J.G., M.C.F., D.S.S., A.L., E.C., F.C.C., J.B., A.A.C., C.M., F.S., B.R.S., S.O., were supported through the Biodiversa project RACE: Risk Assessment of Chytridiomycosis to European Amphibian Biodiversity (NERC standard grant NE/K014455/1 and NE/E006701/1; ANR-08-BDVA-002-03). M.C.F., J.S., C.W., P.G. were supported by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2014-273), M.C.F., A.C., C.W. were supported by the Morris Animal Foundation. J.V. was supported by the Bolyai János Research Grant of the Hunagrian Academy of Sciences (BO/00597/14). F.G. and D.G. were supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme Future Conservationist Award. C.S.A. was supported by Fondecyt (No. 1181758). M.C.F. and A.C. were supported by. Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund Project (152510704). GMR held a doctoral scholarship (SFRH/ BD/69194/2010) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. L.F.T., C.L., L.P.R. K.R.Z., T.Y.J., T.S.J. were supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP #2016/25358-3), the National Counsel of Technological and Scientifc Development (CNPq #300896/2016–6) and a Catalyzing New International Collaborations grant from the United States NSF (OISE-1159513). C.S.A. was supported by Fondecyt (No. 1181758). T.M.D. was supported by the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. B.W. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (2015R1D1A1A01057282).Peer Reviewe