Carte per la valutazione delle criticità di un sistema pastorale appenninico in relazione alle infrastrutture di interesse zootecnico

Sono rappresentate carte di analisi del sistema pastorale finalizzate alla definizione di indirizzi gestionali di un sistema di prateria dell'Appennino centrale

Environmental education about grassland biodiversity, pasture management and research social utility

Dry grassland ecosystems represent a fundamental resource of plant species richness and are defined as ‘habitat of priority importance’ for nature conservation by EU, in particular as orchid species concerns. Biodiversity conservation depends on key elements such as habitat productivity, plant species functional features, type of management, density and grazing behaviour of herbivores. Information about the aforementioned interactions can offer key knowledge to promote grassland biodiversity conservation and for management decision making, and may help to improve the governance of economic benefit as indicated by EU agricultural policies. In this perspective, the dissemination of information could be a paramount tool to understand the importance of environmental scientific researches for the territory development. In the Marche Region, the agri-environmental project for the biodiversity guardianship comes from the grassland research activities, provided economic aid to the farmer that manages the natural grassland systems in agreement with European Community guidelines for the biodiversity maintenance and the use of animals for habitat prevention/maintaining. Research projects have been turned into an environmental educational project aimed to educate and sensitise the primary school children to the environmental issues, in addition to show the social utility of research. Our environmental educational project was carried out by means of the following steps: - definition of biodiversity and ecosystem, - illustration of grassland plant and animal biodiversity, - biodiversity threats and their interplay with other environmental, social and economic issues, - example of research project leading with biodiversity conservation, animal welfare and zootechnic activities. Students of the first university degree in Natural and Environmental Sciences participated to the project with the aim to acquire specific competences about scientific dissemination. Children have shown great involvement and attention towards environmental problems

Glycoconjugates in Sheep Buccal Glands Investigated by Conventional and Lectin Histochemistry

Sheep buccal glands consist of mucous acini capped by demilunes. Information on the chemical structure of their secretory glycoconjugates were obtained by means of a battery of peroxidase conjugated lectins with affinity for specific terminal and / or internal sugars. Neuraminidase procedures followed by lectin staining were also used to visualize the carbohydrate sequence. Stored secretions in mucous acinar cells contained glycoconjugates with N-acetylglucosamine and sialic acid linked to αN-acetylgalactosamine and galactosyl (β1→3) N-acetylgalactosamine. Demilunar cells displayed fucose, mannose, N-acetylglucosamine and a, N- acetylgalactosamine residues. Cells lining duct system showed a very strong staining at the apical surface and in the cytoplasm with UEA I, LTA and Con

Biometrical approach to evaluate the relationship between roe deer body parameters and winter feeding resources

Introduction: The study is aimed to analyze the biometrical data referred to animals pertaining to class age 0 (0-11 months), in roe deer population of central Italy Apennine, in order to evaluate the relationship between size/shape of body structure/parameters and feeding resources available during the autumn-winter period. Materials and Methods: The analysis of the size was performed on 56 roe deer obtained by selective shooting. For the mandible shape analysis 27 samples were treated with the GeoGebra’s program. To evaluate the relationship between size/shape of body structure/parameters and the feeding resources, an environmental category, derived from the carrying capacity of forest ecosystems relative to the hunting zone, was attributed to each animal. Statistical analysis of size was performed by ANOVA. Shape variables were generated using a Generalized Procustes Analysis program. Results: The analysis of the size showed no significant differences for analyzed parameters between sex, while five parameters showed significant differences among environmental categories. As mandible concerns, it showed an increasing size trend linked to the available feeding resources. This is also supported by the fact that the shape analysis showed a more open mandibular angle (for the mandibular dorsal view) in those animals living in the hunting zone characterized by highest feeding resources, in particular in subjects pertaining to the sub-class 0-8 months. Conclusion: Data analysis suggests that the mandible seems to be the element whose development is mainly affected by the winter feeding resource availability. In the roe deer, the mandible reaches the definitive size during the first living year. So, the food availability during the first winter season could represent a critical factor for the development of this bone. This approach applied to a wider database could be useful to define body marker parameters related to environmental carrying capacity to planning the roe deer selective shooting