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Managing agricultural landscapes to support biodiversity conservation requires profound structural changes worldwide. Often, discussions are centered on management at the field level. However, a wide and growing body of evidence calls for zooming out and targeting agricultural policies, research, and interventions at the landscape level to halt and reverse the decline in biodiversity, increase biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, and improve the resilience and adaptability of these ecosystems. We conducted the most comprehensive assessment to date on landscape complexity effects on nondomesticated terrestrial biodiversity through a meta-analysis of 1,134 effect sizes from 157 peer-reviewed articles. Increasing landscape complexity through changes in composition, configuration, or heterogeneity significatively and positively affects biodiversity. More complex landscapes host more biodiversity (richness, abundance, and evenness) with potential benefits to sustainable agricultural production and conservation, and effects are likely underestimated. The few articles that assessed the combined contribution of linear (e.g., hedgerows) and areal (e.g., woodlots) elements resulted in a near-doubling of the effect sizes (i.e., biodiversity level) compared to the dominant number of studies measuring these elements separately. Similarly, positive effects on biodiversity are stronger in articles monitoring biodiversity for at least 2 y compared to the dominant 1-y monitoring efforts. Besides, positive and stronger effects exist when monitoring occurs in nonoverlapping landscapes, highlighting the need for long-term and robustly designed monitoring efforts. Living in harmony with nature will require shifting paradigms toward valuing and promoting multifunctional agriculture at the farm and landscape levels with a research agenda that untangles complex agricultural landscapes' contributions to people and nature under current and future conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Convention on Biological Diversity conference (COP15), United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), and United Nations Food Systems Summit, 2021 is a pivotal year for transitioning towards sustainable food systems. Diversified farming systems are key to more sustainable food production. Here we present a global dataset documenting outcomes of diversified farming practices for biodiversity and yields compiled following best standards for systematic review of primary studies and specifically designed for use in meta-analysis. The dataset includes 4076 comparisons of biodiversity outcomes and 1214 of yield in diversified farming systems compared to one of two reference systems. It contains evidence from 48 countries of effects on species from 33 taxonomic orders (spanning insects, plants, birds, mammals, eukaryotes, annelids, fungi, and bacteria) of diversified farming systems producing annual or perennial crops across 12 commodity groups. The dataset presented provides a resource for researchers and practitioners to easily access information on where diversified farming systems effectively contribute to biodiversity and food production outcomes. Measurement(s) yield trait • biodiversity outcomes Technology Type(s) Meta-Analysis Factor Type(s) Crop type • non-domesticated taxa Sample Characteristic - Organism Mammalia • Arthropoda • Aves • Amphibian • Annelida • Eukaryota • Nematoda • Plant • Reptile Sample Characteristic - Environment agricultural field • natural environment Sample Characteristic - Location global Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14723913 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A eutectic mixture of choline chloride (ChCl) and citric acid (CA) was successfully used for the preparation of chitosan (Chit) bio-films by thermo-compression molding. Optimization of the film preparation conditions was carried out using response surface methodology and a Box-Behnken design based on the best mechanical properties and lowest energetic requirements (lower compression load and time). The optimum film, made with chitosan and ChCl–CA (eutectic mixture), was compared with films prepared using only CA in their formulation. Chit–ChCl–CA films presented higher elasticity, opacity and total color difference, and a lower tensile strength in relation to the Chit–CA films. Films prepared with the eutectic mixture presented higher water vapor permeability values. These results were associated with the films microstructures. FTIR analysis confirms the occurrence of chemical changes in the processed films. The thermo-compression process significantly affects the crystallinity of the pristine chitosan. The films thermal stability is depressed when compared to the stability of each component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of screening sultanas for ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination, using mid-infrared spectroscopy/Golden Gate single-reflection ATR (attenuated total reflection), is described. The main spectral characteristics of sultanas from different sources were identified in a preliminary acquisition and spectral analysis study. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that samples of various origins had different spectral characteristics, especially in water content and the fingerprint region. A lack of reproducibility was observed in the spectra acquired on different days. However, spectral repeatability was greatly improved when water activity of the sample was set at 0.62. A calibration curve of OTA was constructed in the range 10-40 µg OTA kg-1. Samples with OTA levels higher than 20 µg kg-1 were separated from samples contaminated with a lower concentration (10 µg OTA kg-1) and from uncontaminated samples. The reported methodology is a reliable and simple technique for screening dried vine fruit for OTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]