Drivers of wood mouse body condition in Mediterranean agroforestry landscapes

Agriculture and pastureland for cattle grazing are common land uses in Mediterranean landscapes. These activities significantly alter the habitat conditions, affecting the body conditions of wild communities, especially those with low vagility, such as small mammals. We aimed to evaluate how cattle grazing and the habitat composition affected the body condition of the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus in a southern Mediterranean agroforestry system using the Scale Mass Index (SMI) as an indicator of individuals condition. To assess variation in body condition, wood mice were live-trapped in a gradient of grazed sites with different stocking intensities, as well in sites excluded to grazing at different time periods (1998, 2004, and 2008). Wood mice body conditions were influenced by both microhabitat and macrohabitat drivers, with sex-biased patterns, while for the females, only the shrub species had an influence (a microhabitat variable); for the males, both the shrub species and the undercover density (and specifically their interaction) were the important drivers (microhabitat and macrohabitat variables). Unexpectedly, the physical condition variation detected between periods was not directly proportional to the exclusion period, but rather, a certain degree of similarity was found between the different sites (sites excluded since 2004 paired with grazed sites). These results suggest that the presence of food and shelter are determinants to the wood mouse’s physical condition: for females, securing food sources enhance the body condition, while for males, the degree of cover, and consequently refuge against predators, seems to be determinant. These results reinforce the need for sustainable landscape management to assure the maintenance of habitat heterogeneity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influencia del tipo de derivado celulósico sobre la textura y la estabilidad oxidativa y térmica de oleogeles de aceite de soja

The use oleogels (defined as edible oils entrapped in a three-dimensional network employing a self-assembled structuring agent) has recently been proposed to replace saturated fat or trans-fats in foods. In this work the effects of different cellulose derivative mixtures (Avicel, ethyl cellulose and α-cellulose) on lipid stability, glass transition temperature and the texture of soybean oil oleogels were determined by employing a mixture design approach. Avicel affected lipid stability, increasing the oxidative rancidity and peroxide values of oleogels. Oleogels with higher proportions of Avicel also presented higher transition temperatures. A higher percent of ethyl cellulose and α-cellulose in the oleogel mixture resulted in a more stable system with lower oil rancidity and lower glass transition temperatures. In addition, Avicel resulted in a softer and less tacky texture, an important characteristic to consider for food applications.Recientemente, ha sido propuesto el uso de oleogeles (definido como aceites comestibles atrapados en una red tridimensional que ocupa un agente estructurante de auto-ensamblado) como substituto de grasa saturada o grasas trans en alimentos. En este trabajo el efecto de mezclas de diferentes derivados celulósicos (Avicel, etil celulosa y α-celulosa) sobre la estabilidad de lípidos, temperaturas de transición térmica y textura de oleogeles de aceite de soja fueron determinados utilizando un diseño de mezclas. Avicel afectó la estabilidad de lípidos, aumentando la rancidez oxidativa y valores de peróxido en los oleogeles. Oleogeles con mayores proporciones de Avicel también presentaron temperaturas de transición térmica más altas. Porcentajes más altos de etil celulosa y α-celulosa resultaron en un sistema más estable con menor rancidez oxidativa y menores temperaturas de transición térmica. Sin embargo, Avicel resultó en una textura más suave y menos pegajosa, una característica importante a considerar para su aplicación en alimentos

Postrelease survival, vertical and horizontal movements, and thermal habitats of five species of pelagic sharks in the central Pacific Ocean

From 2001 to 2006, 71 pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were deployed on five species of pelagic shark (blue shark [Prionace glauca]; shortfin mako [Isurus oxyrinchus]; silky shark [Carcharhinus falciformis]; oceanic whitetip shark [C. longimanus]; and bigeye thresher [Alopias superciliosus]) in the central Pacific Ocean to determine species-specific movement patterns and survival rates after release from longline fishing gear. Only a single postrelease mortality could be unequivocally documented: a male blue shark which succumbed seven days after release. Meta-analysis of published reports and the current study (n=78 reporting PSATs) indicated that the summary effect of postrelease mortality for blue sharks was 15% (95% CI, 8.5–25.1%) and suggested that catch-and-release in longline fisheries can be a viable management tool to protect parental biomass in shark populations. Pelagic sharks displayed species-specific depth and temperature ranges, although with significant individual temporal and spatial variability in vertical movement patterns, which were also punctuated by stochastic events (e.g., El Niño-Southern Oscillation). Pelagic species can be separated into three broad groups based on daytime temperature preferences by using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averaging clustering on a Kolmogorov-Smirnov Dmax distance matrix: 1) epipelagic species (silky and oceanic whitetip sharks), which spent >95% of their time at temperatures within 2°C of sea surface temperature; 2) mesopelagic-I species (blue sharks and shortfin makos, which spent 95% of their time at temperatures from 9.7° to 26.9°C and from 9.4° to 25.0°C, respectively; and 3) mesopelagic-II species (bigeye threshers), which spent 95% of their time at temperatures from 6.7° to 21.2°C. Distinct thermal niche partitioning based on body size and latitude was also evident within epipelagic species

Challenges for modern wine production in dry areas: dedicated indicators to preview wastewater flows

Wine production is an important socio-economic activity in Mediterranean countries. This study is focused on wine production under warm and dry climate conditions in south Portugal, in two major wine-producing regions (Tejo and Alentejo), characterized by small to medium sized wineries. Vineyards have been expanding in this region of Portugal, where about 50–70% of the vineyards are irrigated, increasing regional water demand. The aim of this study is to propose an integrative approach for wine production, where a simple calculation model has been developed and validated to preview water consumption and wastewater production, as functions of winemaking periods and type of processed grapes. Results revealed a global ratio of 2.2 ±0.45 and 2.1 ±0.17 Lwater/Lwine. Concerning dedicated indicators, 60–75% of the wastewater was produced during Period I and the red wine production represented a 50–64% increase in water consumption. This tool will enable winemakers to calculate Global and Dedicated Indicators, based on their own parameters, which provide information on flow volumes and peak flows. In this context, it will be possible to identify improvements for wastewater treatment and management towards water reuse as a promising solution for the wine sector in the framework of the circular economyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Generate disaggregated soil allocation data using a Minimum Cross Entropy Model

Montado ecosystem in the Alentejo Region, south of Portugal, has enormous agro-ecological and economics heterogeneities. A definition of homogeneous sub-units among this heterogeneous ecosystem was made, but for them is disposal only partial statistical information about soil allocation agro-forestry activities. The paper proposal is to recover the unknown soil allocation at each homogeneous sub-unit, disaggregating a complete data set for the Montado ecosystem area using incomplete information at sub-units level. The methodological framework is based on a Generalized Maximum Entropy approach, which is developed in thee steps concerning the specification of a r order Markov process, the estimates of aggregate transition probabilities and the disaggregation data to recover the unknown soil allocation at each homogeneous sub-units. The results quality is evaluated using the predicted absolute deviation (PAD) and the "Disagegation Information Gain" (DIG) and shows very acceptable estimation errors

Influence of the type of cellulosic derivatives on the texture, and oxidative and thermal stability of soybean oil oleogel

The use oleogels (defined as edible oils entrapped in a three-dimensional network employing a self-assembled structuring agent) has recently been proposed to replace saturated fat or trans-fats in foods. In this work the effects of different cellulose derivative mixtures (Avicel, ethyl cellulose and α-cellulose) on lipid stability, glass transition temperature and the texture of soybean oil oleogels were determined by employing a mixture design approach. Avicel affected lipid stability, increasing the oxidative rancidity and peroxide values of oleogels. Oleogels with higher proportions of Avicel also presented higher transition temperatures. A higher percent of ethyl cellulose and α-cellulose in the oleogel mixture resulted in a more stable system with lower oil rancidity and lower glass transition temperatures. In addition, Avicel resulted in a softer and less tacky texture, an important characteristic to consider for food applications.<br><br>Recientemente, ha sido propuesto el uso de oleogeles (definido como aceites comestibles atrapados en una red tridimensional que ocupa un agente estructurante de auto-ensamblado) como substituto de grasa saturada o grasas trans en alimentos. En este trabajo el efecto de mezclas de diferentes derivados celulósicos (Avicel, etil celulosa y α-celulosa) sobre la estabilidad de lípidos, temperaturas de transición térmica y textura de oleogeles de aceite de soja fueron determinados utilizando un diseño de mezclas. Avicel afectó la estabilidad de lípidos, aumentando la rancidez oxidativa y valores de peróxido en los oleogeles. Oleogeles con mayores proporciones de Avicel también presentaron temperaturas de transición térmica más altas. Porcentajes más altos de etil celulosa y α-celulosa resultaron en un sistema más estable con menor rancidez oxidativa y menores temperaturas de transición térmica. Sin embargo, Avicel resultó en una textura más suave y menos pegajosa, una característica importante a considerar para su aplicación en alimentos

Combined disaggregation of agricultural land uses, livestock numbers and crops' production: an entropy approach

This paper presents several combined agricultural data disaggregation models in order to recover the farms' land uses, the livestock numbers and main crops' productions. The proposed approach estimates incomplete information at disaggregated level through entropy, using an information prior, and generating information for a combined calculation use of data in the estimation of other variables. The models were applied to the region of Algarve, to some rural pilot areas (Salir-Ameixial-Cachopo and Alcoutim) for livestock data, since this data in some Algarve's inland areas is needed for a European forest fire prevention project, and to the agrarian zones in a more complex framework. The results are promising. They were validated, in cross reference to real data, having proven to be valid and reliable. The total error was small and a considerable level of information heterogeneity was recovered. The total error was about 27,9% for the counties' land uses and 21% for the agrarian zones, and for the livestock it was also acceptable. The level of heterogeneity recovered was always higher than 50%, revealing some improvements regarding previous studies