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Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article draws from economic theory and the recent European Commission report on agricultural land market regulation to assess the suitability of selected regulatory policies for agricultural land markets in Ireland. Insights from policy in other EU Member States indicates that some flexibility is always required to permit the existence of temporary land leasing contracts. Farmland rental prices in Ireland have mainly followed the underlying returns to agriculture and been much less influenced by speculative bubbles relative to farmland sales markets. The land rental data for 2019 do not point to the need for maximum price regulation. The availability of reliable statistics is not a sufficient condition to prevent bubbles from emerging, but farmland markets need to be closely monitored with up-to-date official statistics informing potential market participants and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic History Research / Investigaciones de Historia Económica is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Historia Economica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In China, the Grain for Green Program (GGP) is an ambitious project to convert croplands into natural vegetation, but exactly how changes in vegetation translate into changes in soil organic carbon remains less clear. Here we conducted a meta‐analysis using 734 observations to explore the effects of land recovery on soil organic carbon and nutrients in four provinces in Southwest China. Following GGP, the soil organic carbon content (SOCc) and soil organic carbon stock (SOCs) increased by 33.73% and 22.39%, respectively, compared with the surrounding croplands. Similarly, soil nitrogen increased, while phosphorus decreased. Outcomes were heterogeneous, but depended on variations in soil and environmental characteristics. Both the regional land use and cover change indicated by the landscape type transfer matrix and net primary production from 2000 to 2020 further confirmed that the GGP promoted the forest area and regional mean net primary production. Our findings suggest that the GGP could enhance soil and vegetation carbon sequestration in Southwest China and help to develop a carbon‐neutral strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Smart farming is a new concept that can be described as applying different kinds of modern technology to make farming more efficient. One such technology is the Internet of Things, an extension of the Internet and other connections into mundane devices. This paper uses dedicated sensors and cloud computing technologies to model a smart farming system that helps farmers keep track of state of the crops and livestock. It also covers implementing and testing an Android tracker app that is supposed to become the first component of the mentioned system, a client application that communicates with the cloud computing services yet to be implemented. The end product provides its users with an easy way of keeping track of the state of their farms, simplifying the farmers' work and enhancing productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Fish abundance and growth are regulated by a combination of bottom-up and top-down forces, but many management techniques depend more heavily on the latter. Here, we evaluated whether intersystem variation in nutrient loading and bottom-up forces play more dominant roles in the control of abundance and growth of species across similar lakes than intra-and interspecific compensatory effects. We aimed to assess whether patterns of abundance and growth are consistent among fish species across lakes. Methods: We tested this by evaluating pairwise comparisons of catch-per-unit-effort, condition, and length-at-age data for 11 common warmwater fish species from 184 mesotrophic and eutrophic glacial lakes in Indiana, United States. We characterized the environmental conditions of each lake using limnological measurements (e.g., chlorophyll-a concentration and surface temperature), lake morphology descriptions (e.g., depth and size), catchment characteristics (e.g., percent agricultural land cover), and nutrient load modeling using the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Analysis model. Taking a meta-analysis approach, we used effect size calculation from pairwise correlations among lakes to identify environmental and community impacts on species abundance, condition, and length at age. Result: We demonstrated that there were positive associations among most species comparisons (i.e., multiple species experiencing relatively fast growth in the same lake). Evaluations of environmental conditions among systems suggested that differences in estimated phosphorus input and the limnological measurements of total phosphorus, Secchi depth, and chlorophyll-a concentration were good predictors of length at age and catch per unit effort for fish. Conclusion: Our results indicated that there is a strong and consistent influence of environmental conditions and bottom-up processes in determining species abundance and growth. This suggests that bottom-up forces and environmental conditions linked to nutrient loading likely determine the upper boundary of fish abundance and growth in these lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Water Resources / Recursos Hídricos is the property of Associacao Portuguesa dos Recursos Hidricos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The areas of activity of student youth during the creation of collective farms in Ukrainian villages during the period of complete collectivization by the Bolshevik authorities were studied. It was emphasized that the main task of the students was to carry out ideological work among the peasants to establish the collective farm system as soon as possible. Students, Komsomol members, and party members went on business trips to collective farms, where they created libraries, formed circles, developed plans for the sowing campaign, participated in grain drives, and organized tractor convoys and machinetractor stations. Official reports and press articles noted that, thanks to the students' help, many collective farms were transformed into exemplary ones. The involvement of student youth in the process of collectivization was significant, particularly in the search for and exposure of class enemies, or «kurkuls», who, according to the Bolshevik leadership, obstructed general collectivization. Despite the eviction of kulaks from collective farms, establishing effective work was often hindered by a lack of seeds and livestock. The analyzed efforts include organizing technical assistance for collective farms with the participation of students, such as fundraising for tractors and training through tractor courses. Challenges to these efforts included insufficient funds for organizing courses and a lack of interest from organizations in creating them. It has been proven that the creation of collective farms occurred at an accelerated pace and was accompanied by repression against those who resisted the system. Student youth were tasked with conducting explanatory work among the peasants and aiding in the exposure of elements hostile to the Bolshevik government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Avances is the property of Instituto de Informacion Cientifica y Tecnologica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Anuario Colombiano de Historia Social y de la Cultura is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Historia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Anuario Colombiano de Historia Social y de la Cultura is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Historia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Chile is a country that has had large renewable energy resources in recent years, and it has demonstrated a commitment to the use of clean energy. However, most solar energy projects are located in northern Chile, neglecting other areas, such as the southern part of the country, where the photovoltaic energy industry has the potential to thrive. This is the case in the Araucanía region, particularly in Temuco, which has diverse agricultural activity. However, being a remote area without access to the electrical grid, it relies on generation sources like oil. This article, a research product, aims to demonstrate the functionality that can be added to agricultural land by combining it with solar parks. To achieve this, an agrovoltaic system was estimated for a plot of land in the agricultural zone of Temuco. This system will serve as a sample of the integration between photovoltaic infrastructure and the agricultural industry for those interested in installing it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Secuencia: Revista de Historia y Ciencias Sociales is the property of Instituto de Investigaciones - Dr. Jose M. Luis Mora and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The relationship between agricultural systems and the development of complex societies in ancient Hawai'i has been debated for decades. To contribute to this debate, we examine a terrace complex representing an extended family agricultural land plot in the Kula dryland field system of East Maui, Hawaiian Islands. Botanical, faunal, soil, and architectural analysis data reveal a variety of household labor practices related to agroforestry ca. a.d. 1400–1820. A pre-human open forest soil substrate was replaced with stone agricultural terracing which was in turn enclosed by upslope-downslope garden walls that parceled the terrace complex into distinct garden areas. These results lead us to conclude that a wide range of specialized upland activities were practiced, including food cultivation, forestry, pig husbandry, and bird-hunting. The net sum of these local activities helped underpin the formative process of larger regional-level agricultural systems which in turn can inform us about polity-level staple and wealth finance systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Recursos Rurais is the property of Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

"The Collective Farm is Getting on Its Feet" explores the aftermath of Stalin's death on a collective farm in Lithuania. The article highlights the mourning and despair felt by the Soviet people, as well as the director's efforts to organize a mourning ceremony and maintain the farm's operations. It also discusses the benefits of collective farming and the role of People's Defenders in ensuring order and safety. The text touches on a debate among collective farmers about the superiority of chimpanzees or macaques and the presence of religious symbols on the farm, which led to conflicts with the church. The article also mentions the 20th congress of the CPSU and the opening of the iron curtain by Khrushchev. The director attends the Third World Youth Festival in Moscow, where he encounters stiliagas and faces challenges with a group of Lithuanian students. The text describes an incident involving bathing naked in a fountain, which could have serious consequences, but they are saved by a KGB officer. The director reflects on his experiences and newfound motivation as a leader. [Extracted from the article]

This study investigates the impact of Payments for Watershed Ecosystem Services (PWS) on the sustainable utilisation of cropland and crop security in Huangshan City, which is the primary implementation area for the Payments for Xin'an River Watershed Ecosystem Services pilot in China. Using a two-stage analytical framework along with a quasi-natural experiment, the research examines the policy's effectiveness in Huangshan City. In the initial stage, the directional distance function and global Malmquist-Luenberger index (DDF-GML) model are employed to calculate the agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP), representing sustainable management of cultivated land. Concurrently, the study constructs unobservable counterfactual paths using the synthetic control method (SCM) to evaluate impacts on land use practices. The findings show an increase in Huangshan City's AGTFP from 1.118 in 2010 to 1.823 in 2020. Quantitative assessments indicate that the policy contributed to a 15.3% rise in AGTFP in the PWS cohort compared to the control group. Though initial decreases were detected during three pilot intervals, a consistent upward trajectory in AGTFP was identified, suggesting that PWS encourages crop stability and the sustainable development of arable land. Further support from permutation, regional, and temporal placebo examinations affirm these conclusions. This work implies that PWS may be extended to other agriculturally vulnerable regions to foster a balanced alignment between sustainable growth and the enhancement of crop security The assessment focuses on policy lessons that could inform broader sustainability strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall erosivity describes the capability of rainfall to cause soil erosion from a surface during a storm. Currently, the average long-term annual and monthly rainfall erosivity for a location may be obtained from isoerodent maps using a sample of climate stations across the United States (US). However, at the state-scale these measures are sporadic, using rainfall data from an increasingly outdated period, which may not reflect possible changing rainfall erosivity. Focusing on the state of Kentucky, US, we developed rainfall erosivity grids from the state Mesonet system to determine if erosivity has changed spatially and temporally between the original erosivity datasets from the latter twentieth-century and 2011–2020. We further used the Mesonet-derived dataset to develop a GIS-based model to estimate potential soil erosion for croplands during the fallow-season when soil is most prone to erosive storms. Results indicated that monthly erosivity increased across the state between the two periods. Larger increases in erosivity during the latter part of the fallow-season resulted in higher estimated soil erosion from croplands, particularly to the west. These findings may provide guidance in identifying and targeting croplands at greatest potential risk of soil erosion during the fallow-season for additional monitoring, mitigation and management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been numerous assessment systems and publications for the competitiveness of farming enterprises around the globe due to the high academic, business and policy importance of this problem. Common shortcomings of most evaluating frameworks are that they are based on unlike competitiveness understanding, principles and criteria, traditional indicators of technical and accountancy efficiency, factors productivity, the profitability of activity, firms market share etc. Other deficiencies of dominating approaches are that they are focused on a certain (size, juridic, sectoral, territorial) dimension of farming structures, and the ignorance of a critical governance aspect of a farm's competitiveness. This paper suggests a holistic multi-pillar framework for assessing the competitiveness of farming structures and evaluating the absolute and comparative competitiveness of Bulgarian farms of major juridical types, economic sizes, product specialization, and ecological and geographical locations. A hierarchical system consisting of four pillars of farm competitiveness (Economic efficiency, Financial endowment, Adaptability and Sustainability), and appropriate four Criteria, seventeen particular and five integral indicators are used to measure the competitiveness levels. The study has found that the competitiveness of farms in the country is at a good level, but there is significant differentiation in the levels and factors of farms with different juridical types, sizes, specializations and ecological and geographical locations. Besides the juridical type, other dimensions of farming structures like economic size, product specialization, location, market or selfsufficiency orientation, are (sometimes more) important for determining their absolute and comparative competitiveness. Critical for maintaining the competitive positions of Bulgarian farms are their low productivity, income, financial security, and adaptability to changes in the natural environment. For the improvement of the later weaknesses are to be directed farm management strategies and public policy support measures. A large portion of farms of different types has low competitiveness, and if adequate measures are not taken in due time to improve management and restructuring farms, the efficiency of state support, etc., a significant part of Bulgarian farms will cease to exist in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring and classifying the water quality is necessary to manage the appropriate water quality for various farms near the coast or affected by seawater. This research aimed to improve the water quality classification model for various farms using Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network-based multiclass Support Vector Machine. It also implements the Random Forest Feature Importance Selection to increase model accuracy. The class reduction technique decreases the probability of co-occurrence classes for various farms in overlapping water ecosystems. The result has shown that the dataset that applied the class reduction helped increase the model's efficiency more than the feature selection technique. The models that applied the multi-class Support Vector Machine classifier are more accurate than the Softmax activation function classifier. The findings indicate that the model using Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network-based One-versus-One Support Vector Machine combined with the Random Forest Feature Importance Selection and the class reduction has the highest efficiency and improves the water quality classification model in various farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents a solution that combines deep learning-based image processing, blockchain technology, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to achieve smarter control and traceability in greenhouse operations within the agricultural sector. By integrating these technologies, the aim is to overcome challenges posed by climate change, plant growth, limited agricultural land, and water scarcity, while enhancing crop yields and ensuring efficient and secure operations. The proposed system automates image capture, measurement, storage, and monitoring of environmental parameters in greenhouses, utilizing highly accurate image processing techniques with a 98% success rate. The integration of blockchain technology establishes an immutable and transparent record of transactions and data points, thereby improving traceability across the agricultural supply chain. This comprehensive approach fosters accountability, transparency, and trust, empowering consumers to make well-informed decisions regarding the products they purchase. Ultimately, this research contributes to advancing efficient and sustainable agricultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tecnología y Ciencias del Agua is the property of Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua (IMTA) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To describe the time in days for lame dairy cows to recover after diagnosis and treatment of claw horn lameness, and to investigate whether cure rates differed between farms. Five dairy farms in the Waikato region were conveniently enrolled into a descriptive epidemiological study. Three of these farms had dairy cattle enrolled over two consecutive seasons, while two farms enrolled for one year. Lame cattle diagnosed by the farmers were enrolled into the study if they had a lameness score (LS ≥ 2 on a 0–3 scale) and claw horn lesions. All enrolled animals were treated by a single veterinarian following a consistent methodology, and subsequently assessed for LS at a median frequency of 4 days from enrolment until they were sound (LS = 0). The times (days) taken for animals to become sound and non-lame (LS < 2) were reported for all animals, and Kaplan–Meier survival curves used to present the results. A Cox-proportional hazard model was used to assess if the hazard of soundness was associated with farm, age, breed, lesion, number of limbs involved, and LS at enrolment. A total of 241 lame cattle with claw horn lesions were enrolled across the five farms. White line disease was the predominant pain-causing lesion in 225 (93%) animals, and blocks were applied to 205 (85%) of enrolled animals. The overall median days from enrolment to becoming sound was 18 (95% CI = 14–21) days, and 7 (95% CI = 7–8) days to become non-lame. A difference in the hazards of lameness cure between farms was identified (p = 0.007), with median days to lameness cure between farms ranging from 11 to 21 days. No associations were identified between age, breed, limb, or LS at enrolment on the lameness cure rates. Treatment of claw horn lameness following industry-standard guidelines in dairy cattle on five New Zealand dairy farms resulted in rapid cure, although cure rates differed between farms. Following industry best-practice lameness treatment guidelines, including frequent use of blocks, can result in rapid lameness cure rates in New Zealand dairy cows. This study also suggests that management of lame cattle on pasture can positively benefit their welfare and recovery times. The reported cure rates provide veterinarians with benchmarks on the length of time after which a lame animal should be re-examined, and in the investigation of poor treatment response rates at the herd level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Setting up a business with Champignon mushrooms in the countryside is innovative, adaptable to the current context and can be developed by any investor who has financing options. The business is advantageous due to the peculiarities of mushrooms, which do not need special growing conditions, do not require the existence of an actual agricultural land, grow and are harvested in cycles and waves, ensuring a quick circulation of finances and can be capitalized within agritourism guesthouses. The paper presents the economic and nutritional importance of mushrooms as a low-calorie food, the biological peculiarities and the ecological and environmental requirements, the technology of culture systems, the stages of culture installation, as well as the economic analysis of the establishment and exploitation of a mushroom culture on an area of 804 m². [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Histórica (02528894) is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute Journal is the property of Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Among the varied group of human constructions of heritage interest are the old wind-powered water extraction mills that sometimes form large-scale sets in rural areas with high wind potential. On the Mediterranean island of Mallorca (Spain), up to 2,400 windmills dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries have been counted. The areas in which they are located are considered heritage 'hotspots', i.e., areas prone to specific problems, such as the progressive abandonment of ethnological heritage resulting from urban sprawl over areas with an agricultural orientation. This article aims to monitor urban sprawl in the municipality of Palma, to quantify and map its impact on a set of windmills located mainly in the plain of Sant Jordi, to the east of the city. The study has been carried out using methodologies and analysis techniques from the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service's Urban Atlas and Imperviousness Density products. The study shows that areas with agricultural land uses have been progressively transformed into urbanised ones. This transformation has impacted, above all, windmills located in peri-urban areas adjacent to the city. The analysis aims to show the analytical possibilities of Copernicus services and products, and their applicability in the planning and management of peri-urban agroindustrial heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the methodology of applying factor analysis. The purpose of the research is to examine the applicability of factor analysis in the assessment of factors determining the return on equity of farms in the European Union, aimed at reducing the correlated variables without losing the information contained therein regarding the return on equity. The research used data published in the European FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network). Factor analysis was performed with the R statistical program, ver. 4.2.2. On the basis of the conducted research, 4 factors were identified, into which 15 variables were classified. The factors were given the following names: Farm size and production potential (factor 1), Income and ability to self-finance operations (factor 2), Effects of long-term investment and financial decisions (factor 3) and Investment activity (factor 4). The first factor includes: Labor, Area, Subsidies, S_loans, Inputs, Output, Current_assets and Size. To the second: Income, Cash_flow 2 and Cash_flow 2. The third factor includes Fixed_assets and LM_loans, while the fourth one includes Net_inv and Gross_inv. The use of factor analysis allowed the reduction of variables and the identification of factors determining the return on equity of farms from European Union countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat conversion to agricultural land is one of the main threats to terrestrial biodiversity and can affect ecosystem processes and cause changes in ecosystem services (ESs) and disservices (EDs). Yet, studies often rely only on the abundance and diversity of the service providers; the effects on ecological processes of habitat conversion are rarely directly monitored. In this study, we used the sentinel approach to evaluate how habitat conversion from native forest to agricultural land affected ESs and EDs on an oceanic island. We quantified herbivory on lettuce plants, invertebrate and vertebrate predation rates on artificial caterpillars, pollination on strawberry plants, seed predation on wheat and mustard seeds, and leaf decomposition rates in native forests, maize fields and pastures on Terceira Island, Azores (Portugal). Herbivory, invertebrate predation rates, and pollination service were not significantly different between habitats. Vertebrate predation rates in native forests (mean 6.1% d−1) were significantly higher than that in pastures (0.3% d−1), or high-elevation maize fields (0.5% d−1), and marginally higher than in low-elevation maize fields (2.2% d−1). Overall seed predation after 48 h was significantly higher on wheat (mean 16.8%) than mustard seeds (5.6%). High-elevation maize fields also had higher seed predation (27.8%) than low-elevation ones (0.6%) or pastures (3.6%), but did not differ from the native forest (12.9%). Decomposition after 90 days was highest in pastures (78.4% and 45.9%, for tea and rooibos, respectively); although no significant differences between habitats were detected, except for low-elevation maize fields (64.4% and 33.6%). Conversion from native forest to cultivated land did not cause a clear decrease in the intensity of the studied ESs/EDs except for vertebrate predation. Using direct monitoring tools to simultaneously and consistently quantify multiple ecological processes is not only possible but needed, as ecological processes can respond differently to landscape changes. [Display omitted] • Ecological processes were assessed after converting Azorean forests to agriculture. • All quantified ecosystem services/disservices showed idiosyncratic changes. • Predation rates significantly decreased when forest was converted to cropland. • Herbivory and pollination did not indicate significant changes. • Decomposition and seed predation increased in high elevation maize fields and pastures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We monitored swine-derived Escherichia coli on a Japanese farm where colistin had been used for the treatment of diseases caused by bacteria and investigated colistin resistance and the presence of mcr-1 in 36 E. coli strains isolated before and after the withdrawal of colistin use. Through the withdrawal of colistin use on the farm, the prevalence of colistin-resistant and mcr-1-positive E. coli was markedly reduced but not eradicated because mcr-1 had been maintained in multiple plasmids and various sequence types of nonpathogenic E. coli carried in healthy swine. The monitoring of sequence types of mcr-1-positive E. coli is expected to be important for controlling colistin resistance in swine or other animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid expansion of the human population poses a challenge for wildlife conservation in agricultural landscapes. One proposal for addressing this challenge is to increase biodiversity in such landscapes by increasing crop diversity. However, studies report both positive and negative effects of crop diversity on biodiversity. One possible explanation, derived from the "area–heterogeneity tradeoff hypothesis," is that the effect of crop diversity on biodiversity depends on a tradeoff between increasing the number of crop types in a landscape and decreasing the amount of each single crop type. This should cause positive effects of increasing crop diversity at low to intermediate crop diversity and negative effects at intermediate to high crop diversity. We also propose two factors that could change the point at which the effect of increasing crop diversity shifts from positive to negative. First, we predicted that this shift would occur at a lower crop diversity when the surrounding landscape contains less semi‐natural habitat and at a higher crop diversity when the landscape contains more semi‐natural habitat. This should increase the likelihood of detecting negative effects of crop diversity when semi‐natural cover is low and positive effects when it is high. Second, we predicted that the shift from a positive to negative effect would occur at a lower crop diversity when it is measured locally than when it is measured at greater distances from the site, making detection of negative crop diversity effects more likely when measurements are at local extents. We tested these predictions using data on the biodiversity of herbaceous plants, butterflies, syrphid flies, woody plants, bees, carabid beetles, spiders, and birds at 221 crop field edges in Eastern Ontario, Canada. We found support for an area–crop diversity tradeoff. Semi‐natural cover and measurement extent influenced the biodiversity–crop diversity relationship, with positive effects when semi‐natural cover was high and negative effects when semi‐natural cover was low and when crop diversity was measured at local extents. The results suggest that policies/guidelines designed to increase crop diversity will not benefit biodiversity in the landscapes where conservation action is most urgently needed, that is, in landscapes with high agricultural use and low semi‐natural cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]