Haplotype Affinities Resolve a Major Component of Goat (Capra hircus) MtDNA D-Loop Diversity and Reveal Specific Features of the Sardinian Stock

Goat mtDNA haplogroup A is a poorly resolved lineage absorbing most of the overall diversity and is found in locations as distant as Eastern Asia and Southern Africa. Its phylogenetic dissection would cast light on an important portion of the spread of goat breeding. The aims of this work were 1) to provide an operational definition of meaningful mtDNA units within haplogroup A, 2) to investigate the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of diversity by considering the modes of selection operated by breeders and 3) to identify the peculiarities of Sardinian mtDNA types. We sequenced the mtDNA D-loop in a large sample of animals (1,591) which represents a non-trivial quota of the entire goat population of Sardinia. We found that Sardinia mirrors a large quota of mtDNA diversity of Western Eurasia in the number of variable sites, their mutational pattern and allele frequency. By using Bayesian analysis, a distance-based tree and a network analysis, we recognized demographically coherent groups of sequences identified by particular subsets of the variable positions. The results showed that this assignment system could be reproduced in other studies, capturing the greatest part of haplotype diversity

Land and farming system dynamics and their drivers in the Mediterranean Basin

Given the heterogeneity and richness of Mediterranean farming systems, it is difficult to assess the nature and causes of observed dynamics based on single case studies. This research identifies case studies conducted on the north and south of the Mediterranean basin to provide a comprehensive overview of the current land and farming system dynamics and their main drivers. We analyze 80 papers published in international journals from 1985 to 2015. The studies vary in spatial scale, from 4 km2 in the case of peri-urban regions and small agricultural areas to more than 500,000 km2 in the case of national-based analyses. Most of the papers focus on mountainous rural areas, whereas only a few case studies are located in mixed regions or peri-urban inland regions. We analyze the farm trajectories behind the general dynamics to understand the ongoing processes at the agricultural level and their related drivers. Social and demographic drivers are indicated as particularly relevant for abandonment, which is frequently associated with intensification processes. Intensification dynamics are driven mainly by economic factors, which particularly affect annual crop production. Few papers analyze the dynamics of extensification and more research in this field is needed to understand this process and its eventual transition to the abandonment of agricultural areas. This analysis provides an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and information from a diverse range of disciplines and interest groups, which should be combined to formulate effective land use policies