Welfare indicators at slaughter of cattle and pigs

Animal welfare is a growing concern in our society. The well-being of our livestock production has not only ethical concerns from the consumers, but it also affects the meat quality. Assessing animal welfare at the abattoir could be challenging, as stressful situations are common. Carcass damages lead to financial losses to both the abattoir and animal producers, as a result of carcass downgrading and rejections. The intention of this study was to investigate which welfare indicators can be used during slaughter of cattle and pigs, and whether good animal welfare is economically beneficial. Information have been obtained through scientific articles and reports, but also on the websites of The Swedish Board of Agriculture and The National Food Agency. Stressful situations during slaughter could be transport, regrouping, handling, and lairage. Welfare indicators are limited in numbers during slaughter. Indicators mentioned in this study are lameness, bruises and injuries, pH, meat defects (DFD and PSE) and quality. Meat defects, such as DFD or PSE, are dependent on pH which descends, while a descending pH is dependent on the pre-slaughter stress levels of the animal. Post slaughter, the carcasses are being classified by their usefulness. This assessment helps the animal producers to produce high quality products while at the same time meeting the market's requirements. Welfare during slaughter is important, both on the basis of the animals' intrinsic value, but also on the quality of the meat product. There are limited welfare indicators associated with slaughter; including lameness, bruising, body injury, pH of the meat and quality (including DFD and PSE). Although lameness does not affect meat quality to the same extent as the other indicators, it has an impact on animal welfare. Improving animal welfare, where animals’ have less prevalence of bruises and injuries and are less stressed before and during slaughter, leads to higher quality of carcass and meat and thus higher prices on the product. These welfare indicators can be set in relation to economic benefits and affect the working methods and situations of abattoirs and producers in the future

Vallfoders inverkan på smågrisars beteende i samband med avvänjning

Pigs’ (Sus scrofa) behaviors are affected by the environment they are housed in, where an enriched environment offers pigs to perform more diverse behaviors. Pigs reared in barren environments perform more oral manipulation toward their pen mates, compared to pigs reared in enriched environments. In conventional pig production, straw is the most common bedding material in enriched system. Roughage have a beneficial use in animal production. For example, providing pigs with silage, in addition to straw, increases their opportunities to perform foraging and exploratory behaviors, and may also contribute to nutrient supply and promote gastric health. Weaning in conventional pig production usually means an abrupt feed-change. Problems associated with weaning are e.g., diarrhea and behavioral problems, like belly nosing, mounting and fighting due to regrouping after weaning. Pre-weaning enrichment may improve the welfare of the piglets by expanding the piglets’ behavioral repertoire, stimulating foraging and feed-intake around weaning, and decreasing aggression and stress response post-weaning. Pigs have a strong motivation to perform foraging and exploratory behaviors, where environmental enrichment is used to provide pigs an environment suitable to perform these species-specific behaviors and to prevent damaging and undesirable behaviors. Silage have a positive impact on the pigs’ welfare when given as an additional rooting substrate. Silage increases the time pigs spend on manipulating and exploring the substrate, e.g., in combination with straw, as well as it could serve as an additional nutritive feed source. The aim of this study was to investigate piglets’ behavior, pre- and post-weaning, when having access to silage, in addition to straw, compared to no access to silage. In this study, 105 piglets (YxH), divided in two batches, were. Four different treatments were tested: no silage (C, n = 22), silage only pre-weaning (Spre, n = 28), silage only post-weaning (Spost, n = 26), and silage both pre- and post-weaning (Spp, n = 29). Piglets were weighed at three occasions and behavioral data was collected performing direct observation, using instantaneous (scan) sampling and continuous (focal) sampling. Minitab 18 was used to perform statistical analyses, and behavioral differences was tested using general linear model (ANOVA). Effects of silage were found on piglets’ body weight (BW) (P < 0.001), where Spost and Spp had the highest growth rates. Pre-weaning, suckling was the highest in Spre and Spp (P < 0.001). Further, nosing objects was most common in Spost (P < 0.01). Spp performed the most ear and tail biting (P < 0.05). This study found no differences in behavior between piglets that were provided with silage pre-weaning, compared with those that only received silage post-weaning. In general, foraging and exploring behaviors increased if the piglets received silage in addition to straw. No effect of silage on social interactions and unwanted behaviors among the piglets was confirmed. However, silage may be a good enrichment and have potential to promote pigs’ gastric health, due to its scent and nutrient composition.Grisars (Sus scrofa) beteende påverkas av den miljö de hålls i, där en stimulerande och berikande miljö erbjuder grisarna att utföra fler varierande beteende. Grisar som hålls i en karg och ostimulerande miljö utför fler beteenden som riktas mot andra grisar, jämfört med grisar som hålls i en stimulerad och berikad miljö. Halm är det vanligaste strömaterialet som används till grisar i konventionell produktion. Det finns fördelar med att använda grovfoder i djurproduktion. Till exempel, genom att ge ensilage till grisar, i kombination med halm, ökar grisars möjligheter till att utföra födosökande och undersökande beteende, samtidigt som ensilage kan bidra till tillförsel av näring och främja mag- och tarmhälsan. I konventionell grisproduktion innebär avvänjning vanligtvis en plötslig foderförändring för smågrisen. Problem som ofta är förknippade med avvänjning är bland annat diarré och beteendeproblem. Beteendeproblemen kan till exempel vara att smågrisen trycker trynet mot en annan smågris och masserar dennes mage (eng. belly nosing) eller ridning och slagsmål till följd av omgruppering efter avvänjning. Miljöberikning före avvänjning kan förbättra smågrisarnas välfärd genom att utvidga deras beteenderepertoar, stimulera födosöksbeteende och foderintag kring avvänjning, samt minska aggression och stressrespons efter avvänjning. Grisar är starkt motiverade till att födosöka och utforska sin omgivning. Miljöberikning till grisar används därför för att ge dem en miljö som gör det möjligt att utföra dessa artspecifika beteende, samtidigt som det kan förhindra att grisarna utför skadliga och oönskade beteende. Ensilage har en positiv inverkan på grisarnas välfärd när det ges i samband med annat strömaterial. Ensilage, kombinerat med exempelvis halm, ökar tiden som grisarna spenderar på att tugga och utforska strömaterialet, samtidigt som det kan fungera som en ytterligare näringskälla. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka smågrisarnas beteende, före och efter avvänjning, när de hade tillgång till ensilage, kombinerat med halm, jämfört med inte tillgång till ensilage. Studien inkluderade 105 smågrisar (YxH), uppdelade på två omgångar. Fyra behandlingar testades: ingen tillgång på ensilage (C, n = 22), tillgång till ensilage endast före avvänjning (Spre, n = 28), tillgång till ensilage endast efter avvänjning (Spost, n = 26), och tillgång till ensilage både före och efter avvänjning (Spp, n = 29). Smågrisarna vägdes vid tre tillfällen och beteendedata samlades in genom direktobservationer. Statistiska analyser utfördes i Minitab 18, där skillnader i smågrisarnas beteende analyserades med generella linjära modeller (ANOVA). Ensilaget hade en påverkan på smågrisarnas kroppsvikt (P <0,001), där grisar i Spost och Spp hade högt tillväxt av grupperna. Dibeteende före avvänjning var högst hos grisarna i Spre och Spp (P <0,001). Nosa på, och undersöka, boxens inredning var vanligast i Spost (P <0,01). Spp hade högst förekomst av öron- och svansbitning (P <0,05). Denna studie fann inga skillnader i beteende mellan smågrisar som hade tillgång till ensilage före avvänjning, jämfört med de som endast hade tillgång till ensilage efter avvänjning. Generellt ökade födosöks- och undersökningsbeteende hos smågrisarna som hade tillgång till ensilage. Någon effekt på sociala interaktioner eller oönskade beteenden kunde inte ses. Ensilage kan däremot vara en bra miljöberikning och har potential att främja grisars mag- och tarmhälsa, med tanke på dess doft och näringssammansättning

A global synthesis of fire effects on pollinators

Understanding fire effects on pollinators is critical in the context of fire regime changes and the global pollination crisis. Through a systematic and quantitative review of the literature, we provide the first global assessment of pollinator responses to fire. We hypothesize that pollinators increase after fire and during the early postfire succession stages; however, high fire frequency has the opposite effect, decreasing pollinators. Location: Terrestrial ecosystems, excluding Antarctica. Time period: Data collected from 1973 to 2017. Major taxa studied: Insects (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera) and a few bird species. Methods: We first compiled available studies across the globe that assessed fire effects on pollinator communities. Then, by means of hierarchical meta-analyses, we evaluated how different fire regime parameters (fire frequency, postfire time and fire type) and habitat characteristics affect the abundance and richness of animals that act as pollinators. We also explored to what extent the responses vary among taxa groups and life history traits of pollinators (sociality system, nest location and feeding specialization), and among biomes. The overall effect size of fire on pollinator abundance and richness across all studies was positive. Fire effect was especially clear and significant in early postfire communities, after wildfires, and for Hymenoptera. Taxonomic resolution influenced fire effects, where only studies at the species/genus and family levels showed significant effects. The main exceptions were recurrent fires that showed a negative effect, and especially wildfire effects on Lepidoptera abundance that showed a significant negative response. Main conclusions: Pollinators tend to be promoted after a wildfire event. However, short fire intervals may threat pollinators, and especially lepidopterans. Given the current fire regime changes at the global scale, it is imperative to monitor postfire pollinators across many ecosystems, as our results suggest that fire regime is critical in determining the dynamics of pollinator communities.Fil: Carbone, Lucas Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Tavella, Julia Rita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Pausas, Juli G.. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Aguilar, Ramiro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Stakeholders' Perceptions about Fire Impacts on Lithuanian Protected Areas

The aim of this work is to study Lithuanian stakeholders' perceptions of fire impacts in protected areas. For this study, the stakeholders consisted of foresters, ecologists and farmers. A clear understanding of the opinions of stakeholders about fire effects on environmental, social and economic aspects of Lithuanian protected areas will allow an assessment of the stakeholders' reaction to fire policy, including government measures towards fire prevention, suppression and application of prescribed fire to landscape management. The results showed that stakeholders in general think that fire is not a threat to Lithuania and to the ecological processes in the protected areas. However, they agree that fires have negative impacts on soil properties and fertility but are not to an irremediable or irrecoverable extent. Stakeholders disagree that fire has positive consequences for agricultural and cattle activities but agreed that vegetation recovers quickly. They do not see fire as a social and economic problem, do not agree that prescribed fire could be used to landscape management, and believe that mechanical thinning is a better management tool than prescribed fire. Stakeholders agree that fire does not have negative impacts on the biodiversity. These opinions depended on the age group of the respondent but especially on the respondent's professional occupation

Формирование инновационного потенциала региональных хозяйственных систем

Рассмотрены основные составляющие компоненты инновационного потенциала и их роль для социально-экономического развития региона, а также процессы связи между различными этапами инновационного и технического развития

Inventering av insekter på brandfältet vid Kallgateburg, 2013

Två år efter en större brand ca 5 km väster om Slite undersöktes framförallt skalbaggs­faunan. Som metod användes tio stora, frihängande fönsterfällor, utspridda inom ca två hektar av en genombränd öppen till gles, talldominerad barrskog. Fällorna verkade mellan den 10 maj och 24 juli 2013. Totalt påträffades ca 300 arter varav 17 skalbaggar och tre gaddsteklar är rödlistade. Av dessa är kortvingen Batrisodes hubenthali, granbarkbagge (Lasconotus jelski), viveln Dryophthorus corticalis och större vedgeting (Symmorphus murarius) klassade som nationellt hotade. Majoriteten av de funna rödlistade arterna är knutna till död ved, och då särskilt tallved. Mängden brandberoende arter var förvånansvärt få. Däremot hittades en intressant marklevande insektsfauna med arter knutna till fuktig mark, sand, myror, och betespåverkan. Resultaten pekar på att skogarna intill Kallgateburgs naturreservat är mycket skyddsvärda, något som även manifesteras i en riklig förekomst av gamla barrträd. I viss grad pekar dessutom resultaten på en skyddsvärd mark- och hävdberoende insektsfauna, möjligen främst knuten till våtare marktyper. Fem skalbaggsarter påträffades här för första gången på Gotland, varav fyra är under spridning i norra Europa