Date Fiber as a Constituent of Broiler Starter Diets

In Oman, efforts are underway to find alternative sources of fwd to support domestic livestock. The date industry thrives in Oman and one of its by-products is date fiber, a by-product of date syrup production. Although the product contains some free sugars, an evaluation of its potential in broiler diets has never been undertaken. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to investigate the value of date fiber in broiler chick diets. The experimental diets consisted of four graded levels of date fiber: 0, 15, 30 and 45 % in a broiler-starter ration replacing corn as an energy source. The diets were isonitrogenous. There were five replicates for each of the four diets and each replicate contained six broiler chicks. As date fiber percent increased in the dietary treatment, there were linear reductions in body weight gain, calculated apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) content, and apparent protein digestibility (P < 0.05). Poor feed utilization (i .e., reduced feed efficiency) was observed in birds fed date fiber diets compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The poor performance of birds fed date fiber may be attributed to protein and energy limitations. We conclude that date fiber has no value in growing broiler diets. However, it may have utility in diets where a stable body weight is desirable

Bedmap2: improved ice bed, surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica

We present Bedmap2, a new suite of gridded products describing surface elevation, ice-thickness and the seafloor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60° S. We derived these products using data from a variety of sources, including many substantial surveys completed since the original Bedmap compilation (Bedmap1) in 2001. In particular, the Bedmap2 ice thickness grid is made from 25 million measurements, over two orders of magnitude more than were used in Bedmap1. In most parts of Antarctica the subglacial landscape is visible in much greater detail than was previously available and the improved data-coverage has in many areas revealed the full scale of mountain ranges, valleys, basins and troughs, only fragments of which were previously indicated in local surveys. The derived statistics for Bedmap2 show that the volume of ice contained in the Antarctic ice sheet (27 million km3) and its potential contribution to sea-level rise (58 m) are similar to those of Bedmap1, but the mean thickness of the ice sheet is 4.6% greater, the mean depth of the bed beneath the grounded ice sheet is 72 m lower and the area of ice sheet grounded on bed below sea level is increased by 10%. The Bedmap2 compilation highlights several areas beneath the ice sheet where the bed elevation is substantially lower than the deepest bed indicated by Bedmap1. These products, along with grids of data coverage and uncertainty, provide new opportunities for detailed modelling of the past and future evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Bedmap2: improved ice bed, surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica

We present Bedmap2, a new suite of gridded products describing surface elevation, ice-thickness and the seafloor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60° S. We derived these products using data from a variety of sources, including many substantial surveys completed since the original Bedmap compilation (Bedmap1) in 2001. In particular, the Bedmap2 ice thickness grid is made from 25 million measurements, over two orders of magnitude more than were used in Bedmap1. In most parts of Antarctica the subglacial landscape is visible in much greater detail than was previously available and the improved data-coverage has in many areas revealed the full scale of mountain ranges, valleys, basins and troughs, only fragments of which were previously indicated in local surveys. The derived statistics for Bedmap2 show that the volume of ice contained in the Antarctic ice sheet (27 million km3) and its potential contribution to sea-level rise (58 m) are similar to those of Bedmap1, but the mean thickness of the ice sheet is 4.6% greater, the mean depth of the bed beneath the grounded ice sheet is 72 m lower and the area of ice sheet grounded on bed below sea level is increased by 10%. The Bedmap2 compilation highlights several areas beneath the ice sheet where the bed elevation is substantially lower than the deepest bed indicated by Bedmap1. These products, along with grids of data coverage and uncertainty, provide new opportunities for detailed modelling of the past and future evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets

Date Fiber as a Constituent of Broiler Starter Diets

In Oman, efforts are underway to find alternative sources of fwd to support domestic livestock. The date industry thrives in Oman and one of its by-products is date fiber, a by-product of date syrup production. Although the product contains some free sugars, an evaluation of its potential in broiler diets has never been undertaken. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to investigate the value of date fiber in broiler chick diets. The experimental diets consisted of four graded levels of date fiber: 0, 15, 30 and 45 % in a broiler-starter ration replacing corn as an energy source. The diets were isonitrogenous. There were five replicates for each of the four diets and each replicate contained six broiler chicks. As date fiber percent increased in the dietary treatment, there were linear reductions in body weight gain, calculated apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) content, and apparent protein digestibility (P < 0.05). Poor feed utilization (i .e., reduced feed efficiency) was observed in birds fed date fiber diets compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The poor performance of birds fed date fiber may be attributed to protein and energy limitations. We conclude that date fiber has no value in growing broiler diets. However, it may have utility in diets where a stable body weight is desirable