scholarly journals A large-scale perspective for managing prairie avifauna assemblages across the western US: influences of habitat, land ownership and latitude

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e2879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria J. Dreitz ◽  
Lani T. Stinson ◽  
Beth A. Hahn ◽  
Jason D. Tack ◽  
Paul M. Lukacs

Future demands for increased food production are expected to have severe impacts on prairie biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Prairie avifauna of North America have experienced drastic population declines, prompting numerous conservation efforts, which have been informed primarily by small-scale studies. We applied a large-scale perspective that integrates scale dependency in avian responses by analyzing observations of 20 prairie bird species (17 grassland obligates and three sagebrush obligate species) from 2009–2012 in the western prairie region of the United States. We employed a multi-species model approach to examine the relationship of land ownership, habitat, and latitude to landscape-scale species richness. Our findings suggest that patterns and processes influencing avian assemblages at the focal-scale (e.g., inference at the sampling unit) may not function at the landscape-scale (e.g., inference amongst sampling units). Individual species responses to land ownership, habitat and latitude were highly variable. The broad spatial extent of our study demonstrates the need to include lands in private ownership to assess biodiversity and the importance of maintaining habitat diversity to support avian assemblages. Lastly, focal-scale information can document species presence within a study area, but landscape-scale information provides an essential complement to inform conservation actions and policies by placing local biodiversity in the context of an entire region, landscape or ecosystem.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aeriel D Belk ◽  
Toni Duarte ◽  
Casey Quinn ◽  
David A. Coil ◽  
Keith E. Belk ◽  
...  

Abstract Background. The United States’ large-scale poultry meat industry is energy and water intensive, and opportunities may exist to improve sustainability during the broiler chilling process. After harvest, the internal temperature of the chicken is rapidly cooled to inhibit bacterial growth that would otherwise compromise the safety of the product. This step is accomplished most commonly by water immersion chilling in the United States, while air chilling methods dominate other global markets. A comprehensive understanding of the differences between these chilling methods is lacking. Therefore, we assessed the meat quality, shelf-life, microbial ecology, and technoeconomic impacts of chilling methods on chicken broilers in a university meat laboratory setting. Results. We discovered that air-chilling (AC) methods resulted in superior chicken odor and shelf-life, especially prior to 14 days of dark storage. Moreover, we demonstrated that AC resulted in a more diverse microbiome that we hypothesize may delay the dominance of the spoilage organism Pseudomonas. Finally, a technoeconomic analysis highlighted potential economic advantages to AC when compared to water-chilling (WC) in facility locations where water costs are a more significant factor than energy costs. Conclusions. In this pilot study, AC chilling methods resulted in a superior product compared to WC methods and may have economic advantages in regions of the U.S. where water is expensive. As a next step, a similar experiment should be done in an industrial setting to confirm these results generated in a small-scale university lab facility.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Marwa ◽  
Isabela Warioba

<p>This paper assesses the challenges that are posed to the new mining law and other Regulations that govern the mining sector in Tanzania. The main issues discussed in this paper include the conflicts between the local people and the mining companies regarding land ownership, compensation and forced eviction, conflicts between Small Scale Mining (SSM) and Large Scale Mining (LSM).</p><p>The findings obtained by the authors, intimates that the major problems in the mining sector are due to lack of law enforcement and good governance in the sector as well as lack of awareness of the laws governing the sector by the local communities.</p>Lastly, the authors concludes and recommend that, until and unless the laws are adhered to and kept into practice, the problems in the mining sector will not be easily resolved. Hence in order for the mining sector to benefit the indigenous and the investors, there should be enhancement of sustainable development;, people should be educated on the laws and the effects of mining on the environment and the relationship between SSM and LSM be improved.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rochelle Werner ◽  
Bess Caswell ◽  
Kenneth Maleta ◽  
Christine Stewart

Abstract Objectives To characterize the nutritional composition of chicken eggs from a large-scale commercial producer and a small-scale household producer in rural Malawi. Methods A convenience sample of 28 large commercial and 32 village eggs from Malawi were hardboiled and measured for the weight in grams of the whole egg, peeled egg, egg white, and egg yolk. A separate convenience sample of 11 commercial and 17 village eggs were selected for nutrient analysis. Eggs were hardboiled for 4 minutes, refrigerated, and shipped to a nutrient analysis lab in the United States. Eggs from each source were pooled and analyzed for macronutrients, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Analytes were reported per 100 g sample and converted to nutrients per egg using the mean peeled egg weight. Results The mean weight in grams of whole commercial eggs (59.4 ± 5.3) was 19 g greater than whole village eggs (40.4 ± 3.0). Commercial eggs had a 15 g greater mass of egg whites (37.0 ± 4.2) than village eggs (21.8 ± 2.5), but the mass of egg yolks only differed by one gram (commercial: 15.3 ± 1.0 and village: 14.1 ± 1.4). Per 100 g sample, commercial and village eggs had similar calories (143 kcals vs. 162kcals), protein (12.5 g vs. 12.5 g), water-soluble vitamins (1.61 µg vs. 1.92 µg Vitamin B-12; 63.5 µg vs. 59.9 µg folate, DFE) and minerals (1.7 mg vs. 2.1 mg iron; 21 µg vs. 24 µg selenium; 1.1 mg vs. 1.4 mg zinc). For fat-soluble nutrients, the 100 g sample of commercial eggs had a higher concentration of Vitamin A than the village eggs (150 µg vs. 102 µg RAE) but lower concentrations of Vitamin D3, α-tocopherol, and choline than the village eggs (0.8 µg vs. 2.9 µg Vitamin D3; 2.25 mg vs. 4.08 mg α-tocopherol; and 238 mg vs. 314 mg choline). However, when compared on a per egg basis, the fat-soluble nutrient content of the whole eggs was similar due to the smaller size of the village eggs. Conclusions On a per egg basis, eggs from small-scale households may deliver comparable amounts of fat-soluble nutrients but fewer calories, protein, and minerals compared to eggs from commercial producers; however, on a per 100 g basis, village eggs were a more nutrient-dense option. Funding Sources The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, BLUM Center of UC Davis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-68
Author(s):  
Meena Maiya Suwal ◽  
Janardan Lamichhane ◽  
Dhurva Prasad Gauchan

Micropropagation is an alternative technique to propagate at large scale plants to meet global plant demand. Various researchers have worked on the micropropagation technique to regenerate bamboo species by using nodal segments from years. Contamination, browning, necrosis, and acclimatization with physiological stress are the extreme problems of the micropropagation technique. But, many numbers of papers have been published on micropropagation of the bamboo species through nodal segments as explants. The proliferation of the bamboo shoots is dependent on the season of collection, size of explants, the position of explants, diversity of plants, concentration and combination of plant growth regulators, most adequate culture medium, environmental condition of the equipment, handling, and individual species. Bamboo is a monocarpic fast-growing, tall perennial grass and having the high potential to generate economic and social benefits. It helps to maintain land patterns and control soil erosion.  The long life cycle of the bamboo produces a huge amount of seeds but unfortunately, mostly, they are non-viable. So, bamboos are propagated from vegetative by cutting and air layering. However, these methods are only for a small scale and they also tend to destroy large mother plant stocks and difficult to be transported. So, the in vitro propagation technique is useful to obtain large progenies from desired genotypes. Mostly, BAP and TDZ growth hormones are widely used for shoot multiplication and IBA, NAA and IAA are used for root initiation as per developed protocols in tissue culture for large scale production. This review intends to explore an overview of the recent literature reports to summarize the importance of micropropagation by using nodal segments of bamboo species and factors influencing it.


2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1509-1525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariela I Haber ◽  
Nathalie A Steinhauer ◽  
Dennis vanEngelsdorp

Abstract The parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) is a major cause of overwintering honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony losses in the United States, suggesting that beekeepers must control Varroa populations to maintain viable colonies. Beekeepers have access to several chemical varroacides and nonchemical practices to control Varroa populations. However, no studies have examined large-scale patterns in Varroa control methods in the United States. Here we used responses from 4 yr of annual surveys of beekeepers representing all regions and operation sizes across the United States to investigate use of Varroa control methods and winter colony losses associated with use of different methods. We focused on seven varroacide products (amitraz, coumaphos, fluvalinate, hop oil, oxalic acid, formic acid, and thymol) and six nonchemical practices (drone brood removal, small-cell comb, screened bottom boards, powdered sugar, mite-resistant bees, and splitting colonies) suggested to aid in Varroa control. We found that nearly all large-scale beekeepers used at least one varroacide, whereas small-scale beekeepers were more likely to use only nonchemical practices or not use any Varroa control. Use of varroacides was consistently associated with the lowest winter losses, with amitraz being associated with lower losses than any other varroacide product. Among nonchemical practices, splitting colonies was associated with the lowest winter losses, although losses associated with sole use of nonchemical practices were high overall. Our results suggest potential control methods that are effective or preferred by beekeepers and should therefore inform experiments that directly test the efficacy of different control methods. This will allow beekeepers to incorporate Varroa control methods into management plans that improve the overwintering success of their colonies.


1992 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Priscilla Smith Naro

The transition from slave to free labor in the Americas involved many and varied forms of internal labor and land adjustments which affected slaves, landless farmers, and large scale producers in rural areas. Unlike Haiti and the United States South, the Brazilian process of emancipation was gradual and did not involve violent structural ruptures with the past. The Land Law of 1850, the Law of the Free Womb of 1871 and the 1885 Sexagenarian Law marked fundamental phases in an ongoing process of state participation in the organization of the free labor market, which culminated in Abolition on 13 May 1888, and the onset of the Republic on 15 November of the following year. Current analyses of the late nineteenth century emphasize continuity and define the state as its own agent, embarking on a course of conservative modernization which unfolded during the process of transition from the liberalism of a nineteenth-century empire to the interventionist Republic which was ushered in, in 1889. The planter class, joined with emerging but weak Brazilian industrial and financial sectors and upheld by the military, contributed to an Estado Oligárquico, in Marcelo Carmagnani's terminology, linked by coffee production into the world economy as a flourishing dependent peripheral economy. But the process, which until recently was associated with the coffee export sector and its relation to urbanization and industrialization, has now taken on broader dimensions. A developed domestic economy, composed of a complex and sophisticated internal food supply network, operated alongside the export economy throughout the nineteenth century. Although unstudied from the political perspective of small-scale food producers who were displaced by the coffee economy, the broader issue of food provision could not be dissociated from conservative modernization, the basic issues of which would be carried forth during the course of the First Republic in the form of “Ruralismo.”


2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (10) ◽  
pp. 3781-3795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward I. Tollerud ◽  
Fernando Caracena ◽  
Steven E. Koch ◽  
Brian D. Jamison ◽  
R. Michael Hardesty ◽  
...  

Previous studies of the low-level jet (LLJ) over the central Great Plains of the United States have been unable to determine the role that mesoscale and smaller circulations play in the transport of moisture. To address this issue, two aircraft missions during the International H2O Project (IHOP_2002) were designed to observe closely a well-developed LLJ over the Great Plains (primarily Oklahoma and Kansas) with multiple observation platforms. In addition to standard operational platforms (most important, radiosondes and profilers) to provide the large-scale setting, dropsondes released from the aircraft at 55-km intervals and a pair of onboard lidar instruments—High Resolution Doppler Lidar (HRDL) for wind and differential absorption lidar (DIAL) for moisture—observed the moisture transport in the LLJ at greater resolution. Using these observations, the authors describe the multiscalar structure of the LLJ and then focus attention on the bulk properties and effects of scales of motion by computing moisture fluxes through cross sections that bracket the LLJ. From these computations, the Reynolds averages within the cross sections can be computed. This allow an estimate to be made of the bulk effect of integrated estimates of the contribution of small-scale (mesoscale to convective scale) circulations to the overall transport. The performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model in forecasting the intensity and evolution of the LLJ for this case is briefly examined.


1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Nackenoff

During the past fifteen years, several economists, historians and sociologists have propounded a sectoral model of economic growth and change in the United States. According to this analysis, as large-scale, monopolistic enterprises began to emerge in the late nineteenth century, different investment considerations and labour market requirements were also evolving. A dual economy was beginning to be formed. The large-scale capital sector, and the small-scale capital sector each had its own economic environment of conduct. Each sector tended, too, to develop its own corresponding labour market, with monopoly sector or ‘core’ firms holding out certain economic advantages for employees: money, job security, benefits, and opportunities for advancement within the firm. Thus, the work experience in these two sectors increasingly diverged. Even if the large-scale capital sector did offer economic advantages, growth tended to be capital-intensive, and the growth of employment in this sector slowed down, and then stopped by the end of the Second World War. Employment shifted to trades and services, with lower wage rates, and, of course, to the public sector, which currently employs nearly a third of the American workforce.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. SJ7-SJ22
Author(s):  
Asm Kamruzzaman ◽  
Manika Prasad ◽  
Stephen Sonnenberg

Production from organic-rich shale petroleum systems is extremely challenging due to the complex rock and flow characteristics. An accurate characterization of shale reservoir rock properties would positively impact hydrocarbon exploration and production planning. We integrate large-scale geologic components with small-scale petrophysical rock properties to categorize distinct rock types in low-porosity and low-permeability shales. We then use this workflow to distinguish three rock types in the reservoir interval of the Niobrara Shale in the Denver Basin of the United States: the Upper Chalks (A, B, and C Chalk), the Marls (A, B, and C Marl), and the Lower Chalks (D Chalk and Fort Hays Limestone). In our study area, we find that the Upper Chalk has better reservoir-rock quality, moderate source-rock potential, stiffer rocks, and a higher fraction of compliant micro- and nanopores. On the other hand, the Marls have moderate reservoir-rock quality and a higher source-rock potential. The Upper Chalks and the Marls should have major economic potential. The Lower Chalk has higher porosity and a higher fraction of micro- and nanopores; however, it exhibits poor source-rock potential. The measured core data indicate large mineralogy, organic richness, and porosity heterogeneities throughout the Niobrara interval at all scales.


1995 ◽  
Vol 350 (1334) ◽  
pp. 369-379 ◽  

Models of ecological communities, including coevolved patterns of resource use among sympatric species (for example, ‘resource partitioning’), are poor or inadequate representations of natural systems despite intense theoretical effort for many years. Some of these difficulties are due to a failure to recognize the necessary conditions for community patterns to develop, which are largely controlled by the dynamic characteristics of individual species. In continental bird communities — examples of which are considered here - these necessary conditions often will not be met owing to the mobility of most species. Here I document the degrees to which the large-scale dynamics (over hundreds of km) of individual bird species are expressed in community terms in five forest-habitat types throughout the year. These data demonstrate that continental bird communities are so dynamic that the conditions for the development of definite structure are unlikely to be met in either proximate or evolutionary time. The failure of community theories to account for and predict structure probably reflects too much concentration on mechanisms at inappropriate spatial scales.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document