Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduced numbers of generalist arthropod predators after crop management

Summary 1 Generalist arthropod predators act as natural enemies of insect pests in agro-ecosystems. Crop management activities may cause a reduction in arthropod densities, either directly through mortality and emigration, or indirectly through habitat disruption. Our aim was to quantify direct mortality caused by mechanical crop treatments. For some treatments, we also quantified emigration and other indirect effects, such as population declines caused by the impact of habitat deterioration on reproduction and survival. 2 Direct mortality was determined by measuring predator densities simultaneously in control and treatment plots using closed emergence traps immediately following a mechanical treatment. Treatments consisted of the following crop management activities: ploughing, non-inversion tillage, superficial soil loosening, mechanical weed control and grass cutting. Predator densities were measured a second time 5–26 days after treatment to quantify emigration and indirect effects. 3 All treatments had a negative influence on one or more arthropod taxa. Direct mortality caused a 25–60% reduction in arthropod densities. Overall, spiders were more vulnerable to mechanical crop treatment than carabid and staphylinid beetles. Intensive soil cultivation, such as ploughing and soil loosening, did not kill more arthropods than weed harrowing and grass cutting. 4 We estimated the cumulative effects of mortality, emigration and indirect effects 3 weeks following treatment. The cumulative effect was greater than direct arthropod mortality, suggesting delayed effects of habitat disruption. 5 Grass cutting caused spiders and staphylinid beetles to move out of the crop, except in one case when the grass was left to dry, suggesting an important role of organic material or structural elements for arthropod persistence. Our results also suggest that arthropod predators aggregate in undisturbed or less disrupted habitats. 6 Synthesis and applications. Mechanical operations in arable crops and grass cutting cause mortality and emigration of generalist arthropod predators, especially spiders. Effects can be species-specific and are likely to be affected by the timing of management. In grassland, cutting and removal have greater adverse impacts than leaving cuttings that contribute to habitat structure. Adjacent, less-disturbed refuge areas are colonized by predators following husbandry events, demonstrating significant spatial dynamics among farmland arthropods. The negative effects of crop husbandry operations might be mitigated by the provision of refuge areas within and adjacent to fields and by maintaining crop and landscape diversity.
The odors of predators influence the behavior of the silky pocket mouse, Perognathus flavus (Rodentia)

Abstract Studies were conducted to assess the behavioral responses of silky pocket mice, Perognathus flavus, to test odors associated with two naturally occurring predators (northern grasshopper mouse, Onychomys leucogaster, and Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus), a novel test odor (sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps), and a control odor (water). Pocket mice were tested in a chamber in which they had access to two cages containing food; one of these cages contained no odor (control), while the other contained a predator odor. When both cages contained no test odors, pocket mice showed no preference for one cage over the other; they spent equivalent amounts of time in and in front of each cage, and in the frequency of feeding bouts within cages. In contrast, P. flavus avoided odors associated with grasshopper mice and Norway rats. They entered cages containing predator odors far less frequently than the control cages, exhibited significantly reduced exploratory activity, and took significantly smaller amounts of food. Pocket mice entered cages containing odors associated with a non-predator (novel odor, sugar glider) more frequently than cages containing odors associated with grasshopper mice. Because all test subjects had no prior experience with grasshopper mice or Norway rats, these results suggest that P. flavus has an innate ability to detect and respond to odors associated with these two predators.
Phenolic profile of virgin olive oils with and without sensory defects: Oils with non‐oxidative defects exhibit a considerable concentration of phenols

The new health claim on “olive oil polyphenols” recently approved by the European Commission has produced a dramatic increase in the interest in these antioxidant compounds. Although this interest has been focused mostly on extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs), virgin olive oils (VOOs) qualified as having non-oxidative sensory defects, mostly caused by fermentation and the action of fungi on olives, may still have a considerable amount of phenols, even though their sensory quality is not flawless. This study is focused on the phenol composition of all the VOO categories: EVOOs with their ample variability in phenolic composition, VOOs with slight defects, lampante virgin olive oils (LVOO), and reference materials of defective VOOs. The average content of phenols in the analyzed EVOOs (410 ± 16 mg/kg) is higher than the recommended consumption by the health claim (250 mg/kg). VOOs qualified with non-oxidative defects contain high concentrations of phenols (234 ± 27 mg/kg), but only samples characterized by the wet-wood sensory defect show concentrations of phenols close to 250 mg/kg. Practical application: This study has demonstrated that VOOs with slight sensory defects still have a high concentration of phenols, providing antioxidant properties regarding health benefits and stability. The health claim should be not only applied to the extra virgin olive oil category, but also to some virgin olive oils with sensory defects. Profiles of phenols according to their main sensory defect. Picual (A), Hojiblanca (B), rancid (C), winey-vinegary (D), fusty (E), and musty (F).
Herbicidal Potential and Quantification of Suspected Allelochemicals from Four Grass Crop Extracts

Unknown compounds in crop plants are inhibitory to seed germination and early seedling growth of weed plants. A Petri dish assay showed that barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oats (Avena sativa L.), rice (Oryza saliva L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) extracts significantly reduced root growth of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli, Beauv. var. oryzicola Ohwi.) and eclipta (Eclipta prostrata L.). As the concentration of crop extracts increased, root growth of the test plants were significantly reduced. A high-performance liquid chromatography analysis with nine standard phenolic compounds showed that the concentrations and compositions of allelopathic compounds depend on the extracted plant extracts. Caffeic acid, hydro-cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, m-coumaric acid, p-coumaric acid and coumarin were present in all the crop plant species, and hydro-cinnamic acid were detected as the highest amount. Coumarin at 10 -3 M significantly inhibited root growth of alfalfa and barnyard grass more than that of eclipta. The research suggests that extracts of barley, oats, rice and wheat have an allelopathic effect on alfalfa, barnyard grass and eclipta and that the findings of bioassay were considerably correlated with the type and amount of causative allelochemicals, indicating that the allelopathic effects on three test plants were ranked in order of wheat (highest), barley, rice and oats (lowest). The results may have value in enabling weed control based on natural plant extracts or crop residues in the fields.
A meta‐analysis of American black duck winter habitat use along the Atlantic Coast

American black duck (Anas rubripes) populations declined by more than 50% between the 1950s and 1990s, and the species serves as a flagship for conserving salt marsh habitats along the Atlantic Coast. Black ducks have generally been well studied throughout the annual cycle, but surprisingly, we lack a synthetic, quantitative understanding of their space use during the winter. This limits our ability to prioritize habitat acquisition and restoration efforts. We used >17,000 telemetry locations from 235 black ducks ranging from Connecticut to Virginia to study home range composition and space use during winter in relation to habitat quality, urbanization, and severe weather. Despite substantial environmental variation, home range sizes were similar among regions and years. Smaller home and core ranges contained a greater proportion of salt marsh habitat, and ducks experiencing more 4-day freeze events had larger home and core ranges. Ducks exposed to prolonged periods of cold weather had smaller core ranges when those areas comprised more energy-rich freshwater habitats. When we examined individual telemetry locations, we found that ducks used irregularly inundated high marsh more at night, presumably for foraging, and urban habitats more during the day and evening crepuscular periods. We found that black ducks used regularly inundated low marsh less on days where the temperature never rose above freezing, and instead used subtidal areas and forested wetlands more. Finally, we found ducks were marginally more likely to use freshwater habitats during high tides. Our study confirms that black ducks depend on salt marsh for wintering habitat, and points to an unexpectedly important role for forested wetlands during periods of cold weather. We found no evidence that black ducks avoided urban areas or roads, which supports the inclusion of all available habitats in carrying capacity modeling. We emphasize that new hypothesis-driven, local telemetry studies are needed to further elucidate the relationships between black duck movements and environmental variation, especially cold weather. Further, given that most remaining coastal wetlands are currently protected via state and federal lands, we suggest black duck habitat management should strive to acquire and restore brackish and forested wetlands in close proximity to coastal marshes. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
GROWTH RESPONSE OF VIBRIO PARAHAEMOLYTICUS AND LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES IN SALTED FISH FILLETS AS AFFECTED BY ZATARIA MULTIFLORA BOISS. ESSENTIAL OIL, NISIN, AND THEIR COMBINATION

The growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (at inoculation levels, 103 and 105 cfu/g) and Listeria monocytogenes (at inoculation level, 103 cfu/g) were investigated in salted fish fillets (brine salted at 4% NaCl) as affected by different concentrations of Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil (EO), nisin (N) and their combinations at 8C (and 4C only for L. monocytogenes) during 21 days. The growth of V. parahaemolyticus was inhibited at 8C (in control group) and reached <2 log10 cfu/g at the first day of study for inoculation level of 103 cfu/g. At inoculation level of 105 cfu/g, this inhibitory effect was significantly (P < 0.05) affected by adding EO. The significant inhibitory effect of N alone and synergistic inhibitory effect of EO with N were also observed during the study. For L. monocytogenes, the obvious significant inhibitory effect of EO and its combination with N was observed at 4C. Considering the organoleptic effect of the EO used in this study, the best inhibitory effects of EO in combination with N for V. parahaemolyticus and L. monocytogenes were obtained at combinations of EO = 0.405% and n = 0.75 µg/mL, and EO = 0.405% and n = 0.25 µg/mL, respectively. PRACTICAL APPLICATION The synergistic inhibitory effect of Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil and nisin on V. parahaemolyticus and L. monocytogenes, which was obtained in this study can improve the scope of essential oil function in food industry.
Evaluation of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] F1 Hybrids

Heterosis is an important factor in development of hybrid cultivars. Few heterosis studies have been done in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ]. This is because manual cross-pollination is difficult and time-consuming, and not economical to produce large quantities of hybrid seed. Male-sterility systems identified in soybean, combined with insect-mediated cross-pollination, have been shown to produce large quantities of hybrid seed. This procedure was used in this study to produce hybrid seed for replicated yield trials with the objectives to: 1) evaluate the agronomic performance of soybean F1 hybrids; and 2) estimate heterosis for yield and other agronomic traits of the F1 hybrids. Parental genotypes were two male-sterile, female-fertile lines with the ms3 and ms9 mutations, and a group of six high-yielding male-parent lines. The experiment was conducted in two years at several locations. In 2005, twelve F1 hybrids were evaluated along with parent lines. Mid-parent heterosis (MPH) ranged from −29% to +32%, and high-parent heterosis (HPH) from −23% to +1%. In 2006, eleven hybrids were evaluated. MPH values ranged from −53% to −21%, and HPH from −66% to −35%. Seed size and seed protein content showed HPH for some combinations. For traits related to vegetative growth, such as height and lodging, positive MPH and HPH were observed. In general, depending on the year and parent combinations, there were hybrids that performed better than the mid-parent values, suggesting that heterosis was identified in soybean. Significant differences for yield between hybrids of the ms3 and ms9 groups also were observed.
Lack of a role for fluorescent siderophore production in the biological control of Pythium damping-off of cucumber by a strain of Pseudomonas putida

Hyphal growth but not sporangial germination of Pythium ultimum was inhibited by the synthetic iron chelating compound ethylenediamine (di-o-hydroxyphenylacetic acid) (EDDHA) on water agar and by strain N1R of Pseudomonas putida on King's medium B. Eight prototrophic derivatives of N1R (deficient in fluorescent siderophore [pyoverdine] biosynthesis [Pvd - ]) were obtained by Tn5 mutagenesis (.)
Amplitude of ecological potential: chub Leuciscus cephalus (L.) spawning in an artificial lowland canal

Chub Leuciscus cephalus (L.) is a rheophilic cyprinid which prefers lotic habitat conditions, shallow water (0.1–0.3 m) and gravel banks with moderate to high water flow (0.15–0.75m s–1) for spawning. In contrast to these spawning requirements, a self-sustaining chub population was detected in a German lowland canal, the Oder–Havel Kanal. This canal is monotonously embanked with rip rap and almost completely lacks water flow and habitats that are suitable for riverine species. In 1999 chub spawned in the absence of water flow, in depths up to 1.28 m on allochthonous gravel with a mean diameter of 39 ± 16 mm (SD). These findings indicate a substantially higher environmental plasticity and tolerance of chub than previously reported.
Exopolysaccharide Production by Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus Cultures. 1. Conditions of Production

Abstract An industrial strain of Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus , grown in a semisynthetic medium, produces EPS during the stationary phase of growth. Temperatures or sugars that decrease growth rate increase polymer synthesis. Factorial experiments showed that the nature of the sugar, temperature, and initial pH interfere with polymer production. At optimal growth rate, polysaccharide production is dependent on lactose.
Nutritional potential of longhorn grasshopper (ruspolia differens) consumed in Siaya District, Kenya

The longhorn grasshopper (Ruspolia differens) forms a major part of the food culture of communities in the Lake Victoria Region of East Africa. The aim of this research was therefore to assess the nutritional potential of this insect to the human diet in the region in combating nutritional deficiencies that are of public health concern. The green and brown coloured grasshoppers were studied. They were found to contain a protein content of 37.1% and 35.3%, fat content of 48.2% and 46.2%, ash content of 2.8% and 2.6%, a fibre content of 3.9% and 4.9% for the green and brown grasshoppers respectively. Among the macro minerals, potassium (K) was the most abundant with a value of 370.6 mg/100g and 259.7 mg/100g, phosphorus (P) 140.9 mg/100g and 121.0 mg/100g while calcium (Ca) levels showed overall means of 27.4 mg/100g and 24.5 mg/100g in the green and brown grasshopper respectively. Iron (Fe) was the most abundant among the trace minerals with a value of 16.6 mg/100g and 13.0 mg/100g while zinc showed a mean value of 17.3 mg/100g and 12.4 mg/100g in the green and brown grasshopper respectively. The insects showed a retinol concentration of 2.1 μg/g and 2.8 μg/g, α-tocopherol 201.0 μg/g and 152.0 μg/g, riboflavin 1.2 mg/100g and 1.4 mg/100g, 2.1 mg/100g and 2.4 mg/100g of niacin for the green and brown grasshopper respectively. Lipid analysis revealed that the insects’ oil comprised of high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 89.4% and 84.3% neutral lipids, 7.4% and 9.3% phospholipids, 3.2% and 6.4% glycolipids for green and brown grasshopper respectively. These values suggest that Ruspolia differens has potential for exploitation to combat nutritional deficiencies that are of public health concerns. The insect could form a base for new food products of considerable nutritive value.
Species dynamics of epiphytic macrolichens in relation to time since fire and host tree species in boreal forest

Questions (1) How is the abundance of individual epiphytic macrolichen species affected by host tree species and stand development, where canopy succession takes place in prolonged absence of stand-replacing disturbance? (2) Do the associations between individual epiphytic macrolichen species and host tree species change through stand development? Location The central boreal forest of Canada (49°23′ N–49°36′ N, 89°31′ W–89°44′ W). Methods We estimated the percentage cover of epiphytic macrolichens on individual trees in 51 post-fire successional stands of varying tree species composition, ranging from 7 to 209 yr since fire. We analysed how epiphytic macrolichen species cover on individual host tree species and community composition change with time since fire and host tree species using GLM and permutational multivariate ANOVA. Results Cover of individual epiphytic macrolichen species on the host tree species increased continuously, peaked at different time scales or gradually declined through stand development in which canopy succession took place. Some lichen species exhibited exclusive association to particular host tree species. Moreover, stand age-related trends of the cover of some epiphytic macrolichen species differed with host species. Multivariate analysis indicated that host tree species at each stand development stage supported different epiphytic macrolichen species composition. Conclusion Epiphytic macrolichen species dynamics is strongly influenced by time since fire and host tree species identity. Host-specific preferences and their interaction with time since fire suggest that epiphytic lichen composition on a particular host tree species is not merely a random sample of the local species pool, but rather related to their time since fire-dependent preferences for their hosts.
Differentiation of vocalizations in bushbabies (Galaginae, Prosimiae, Primates) and the significance for assessing phylogenetic relationships

A comparative bioacustic analysis of vocalizations of the prosimian subfamily Galaginae revealed that morphologically similar sibling taxa within the main groups of the lesser galagos and the greater galagos can be reliably identified phenotypically on the basis of the acoustic structure of their loud call or advertisement call. Results confirm the separation of two distinct species of greater galagos, Galago crassicaudatus and Galago garnettii, and strongly suggest the discrimination of three distinct species from the senegalensis lesser bushbaby group, Galago senegalensis, Galago moholi and Galao zanzibaricus. An investigation of the ontogenetic development of the loud call indicated that it is derived from the infant's isolation call, displaying in all studied bushbaby taxa a fairly similar acoustic pattern. Shared acoustic characters of the loud call among the different taxa as well as the infant's isolation call were used to propose a hypothesis about the phylogenetic affinities in bushbabies. The results seem to be supported by recent fossil records.
Efficacy of fungicide combinations, phosphoric acid and plant extract from stinging nettle on potato late blight management and tuber yield

Late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans is a major constraint to potato production. Inadequate control of the disease has often resulted in potato yield losses. We assessed the efficacy of fungicides, phosphoric acid and stinging nettle extract combinations for late blight control at two locations in Kenya. Disease severity, relative area under disease progress curves (RAUDPC), pathogen lesions and tuber yield were quantified during the 2008 and 2009 cropping cycles. The application of metalaxyl alternated with phosphate resulted in the greatest suppressive effects on late blight. The average late blight severity ranged from 3.5 to 34% in 2008 and 4.7 to 50% in 2009 at Tigoni location. RAUDPC for the same location ranged from 5 to 40% and 5 to 50% in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Similar levels of late blight severity were recorded at Marimba location in both years. Lesion growth and pathogen lesion numbers on potato plants differed significantly (p < 0.05) among treatments. Fungicides, phosphoric acid and stinging nettle extract varied in late blight control. Potato tuber yield varied among treatments. Phosphoric acid treatment had significantly (p < 0.05) greater tuber yield compared to metalaxyl at both locations. Field plots treated with plant extracts from stinging nettle resulted in the lowest tuber yield compared to other treatments with the exception of the untreated control. Fungicides, phosphoric acid, stinging nettle extract and their combinations can be readily effective in the suppression of late blight severity and pathogen lesions with moderate increases in tuber yield.
Effect of acetylation on some properties of corn and potato starches

Corn starch and starches separated from different potato cultivars were acetylated to evaluate the effect of plant source on the physicochemical, morphological, thermal, rheological, textural and retrogradation properties of the starches. Corn starch showed a lower degree of acetylation than potato starches under similar experimental conditions. The degree of acetylation for different potato starches also differed significantly. Morphological examination revealed that the granules of acetylated Kufri Chandermukhi and Kufri Sindhuri starches tended to appear as fused and less smooth than native starch granules. Acetylation of corn and potato starches decreased the transition temperatures and enthalpy of gelatinization and increased swelling power and light transmittance. However, the change in these was greater in the potato starches with higher percentage of small sized granules. Acetylated starches showed higher peak G',G'' and lower tan δ than their counterpart native starches during heating. Among the starches from different cultivars, the change in the rheological parameters after acetylation differed to a significant extent. The retrogradation was observed to be negligible in the acetylated cooked starch pastes. Results implied that the change in functional properties of starches with acetylation depends on source and granule morphology of native starch.