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End of 21st‐century hydroclimate projections suggest an expansion of subtropical dry zones, with Mediterranean and Sahel regions becoming much drier. However, paleobotanical assemblage evidence from the middle Miocene (17‐12 Ma), suggests both regions were instead humid environments. Here we show that by modifying regional sea surface temperatures (SST) in an Earth System Model (CESM1.2) simulation of the middle Miocene, the increased ocean evaporation and integrated water vapor flux overrides any drying effects associated with warming‐induced land‐surface evaporation driven by atmospheric CO2 concentrations. These modifications markedly reduce the bias in the model‐data comparison for this period. A vegetation model (BIOME4) forced with simulated climatologies predicts both regions were dominated by mixed forest, which is largely consistent with the paleobotanical record. This study unveils the potential for wetter subtropical Mediterranean climates associated with warming, presenting an alternative scenario from future drying projections with localized SST warming governing regional climate change. Plain Language Summary: Climate models project drier conditions over Europe and Northern Africa due to global warming. However, evidence from a past warm climate period, the middle Miocene (∼15 million years ago), finds wetter rather than drier environments. We refine climate model boundary conditions by reconstructing warmer ocean waters in the North Atlantic based on proxy evidence. The warmer ocean produces wetter environments by enhancing North Atlantic precipitation events and the North African monsoon. The increased rainfall and surface temperature cause a vegetation model to predict more forest coverage over Europe and Northern Africa, which is consistent with fossil evidence from ∼15 million years ago. This study unveils the potential for wetter climates associated with warming, presenting an alternative scenario from future drying projections, with localized sea surface warming governing regional climate. Key Points: Middle Miocene Europe rainfall discrepancy between herpetological (dry) and paleobotanical (wet) records complicate climate model validationSimulations that produce dry environments also produce cool North Atlantic sea surface temperatures which are inconsistent with proxiesSSTs informed by North Atlantic proxies produce wetter environments consistent with paleobotanical evidence [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate interactions between milk feeding quantity (FL) and feeding frequency (FF) on intake, growth performance, rumen development and blood metabolites in dairy calves. A total of 48 Holstein calves (n = 12 calves per treatment: 6 males and 6 females) were randomly assigned to one of four treatments, including (1) two low plane of milk feeding (2 meals/d, LPM-2×; 3 meals/d, LPM-3×; total milk intake = 210 L) and two high plane of milk feeding (2 meals/d, HPM-2×; 3 meals/d, HPM-3×; total milk intake = 371 L). Calves fed HPM had higher BW, ADG, blood glucose and triglycerides concentration during the preweaning. Calves fed HPM received more ME, total DMI and ate less starter than LPM calves during preweaning. Regardless of the milk feeding quantity, with increasing FF, starter intake, total DMI and ME were reduced without a negative effect on ADG. Calves fed 3 times/d compared with 2 times/d had a lower final hip width. Calves fed HPM had higher ruminal pH and molar proportion of acetate and acetate to propionate ratio, but less molar proportion of propionate and butyrate and total VFA compared with calves fed LPM on d 35 of the study. Interaction between milk feeding level and feeding frequency was observed for plasma glucose concentration with HPM-3× calves having the greatest value at d 35 of study. In conclusion, at both levels of milk feeding, calves did not benefit from the increased feeding frequency, but calves benefitted from HPM.Highlights Calves did not benefit from increased milk feeding frequency at either low or high plane of milk feeding. The performance of calves on low plane of milk feeding was constrained by the low nutrient intake and not the feeding frequency. Regardless of plane of milk feeding, feeding 3 meals/d reduced total DM and starter intake with no detrimental effects on overall average daily gain.

Different small-sided games (SSG) can be used by coaches to induce specific demands on athletes during team sports training. In basketball, defensive and time pressures are common stressors experienced by players during official matches. However, no studies have investigated the effect of changing these variables in SSG during training. We compared the physical and physiological demands of three basketball SSG performed in a half court with two hoops: 3vs3 with man-to-man defence in the half playing area, 3vs3 with man-to-man defence in the full playing area, and 3vs3 with a reduced shot-clock (3vs3HALF, 3vs3FULL, 3vs3RT, respectively). Twelve male U-17 basketball athletes formed four balanced teams. Each team played the three SSG against each other in a random order, totalling 18 SSG. During the SSG, the players wore triaxial accelerometers and heart rate monitors. SSG were filmed to record the players’ motor actions. The results showed that 3vs3FULL (p=0.004, d=0.42,small-to-moderate effect) and 3vs3RT (p=0.026, d=0.33,small-to-moderate effect) increased the time spent in higher acceleration zones compared to 3vs3HALF. Both 3vs3FULL and 3vs3RT presented more transition sprints compared to 3vs3HALF. The 3vs3FULL also presented more fakes and the 3vs3RT presented more jumps compared to the 3vs3HALF. Physiological responses presented no differences between the SSG formats. In conclusion, defensive and time pressures increase the physical demand in 3vs3 SSG performed in the half court. The three SSG investigated in this study presented mean heart rate values close to 90% of the maximum heart rate, which suggests that these SSG may be used to increase athletes’ aerobic performance.

Great Black-backed Gulls Larus marinus and American Herring Gulls L. argentatus smithsonianus are considered dietary generalists at the population level: they consume a variety of prey types, including the adults and offspring of other seabirds, and they shift among prey types as availability varies. Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica adults, eggs, and chicks are often the target of depredation, and adults are also susceptible to kleptoparasitic attacks by large gulls during their summer breeding season in coastal Newfoundland, Canada. We investigated the depredation and kleptoparasitism of puffins by large gulls during July-August 2021/22 at a multi-species breeding colony on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. We hypothesized that both the inshore arrival of spawning Capelin Mallotus villosus, a key forage fish species in the region, and the onset of the puffin chick-rearing period, which typically coincide, influence puffin depredation and kleptoparasitism by large gulls. Shoreline transects on James Island revealed a decrease in new adult puffin carcasses during puffin chickrearing and Capelin spawning, with most adult puffin depredation occurring before the inshore arrival of spawning Capelin in both years. Behavioural observations (i.e., focal animal, behavioural sampling, and instantaneous scan sampling) revealed that Great Black-backed Gulls were more often present within puffin burrow areas and spent a higher proportion of time in these areas relative to American Herring Gulls, especially during Capelin spawning and puffin chick-rearing. Within puffin burrow areas, Great Black-backed Gulls depredated chicks and kleptoparasitized adults. As only ~30% of followed individuals of both gull species entered puffin burrow areas, it is possible that only a few Great Black-backed Gulls were responsible for puffin depredation and kleptoparasitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Yeast of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SCY) origin has over long time been incorporated into domestic animal diets. In calves, several products have offered improved performance and health. Although several types of research have been completed, the mode of action of SCY is not clear in calves. Under this review, we have highlighted the works available in the literature on the use of SCY in calves performance, health, immunity, and the gut environment. Both active live yeast and yeast culture have positive effects on growth, rumen, small intestines, immunity and general health of the calf. Specifically, SCY can improve DMI, growth, feed efficiency and reduce diarrhea in calves. Furthermore, subtle improvements are seen in rumen fermentation (increased butyrate production) and rumen papillae growth. These positive results are, however, more pronounced in calves that are under stress or exposed to significant levels of disease-causing agents. There is a need for further research in areas such as gut morphology, gut microbiology and immunity using latest molecular methods to fully understand how SCY helps the growth and development of calves.

Antibiotically disturbed gastrointestinal microbiota needs a long period time to be restored to normal, which may cause a series of problems to the host. The understanding of restoration of the biased microbiota by antibiotics remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the microbiota shift in foregut (rumen) and hindgut (rectum) of lactating cows after antibiotics exposure as well as after antibiotics withdrawal with (Microbiota transplantation, MT group) or without (Control, CON group) microbiota transplantation. We were able to demonstrate that microbiota in both foregut and hindgut significantly changed after 3 or 14 days of antibiotics exposure, and the changes persisted over long period of time (>18 days) after withdrawing the antibiotics. We further observed a faster restoration of microbiota in both foregut and hindgut of MT group than CON group, microbiota in foregut was mainly benefited from microbiota transplantation by restoring the alpha-diversity as well as within-group similarity, while microbiota in hindgut was primarily benefited from microbiota transplantation by reestablishing the co-occurrence network (nodes number, edges number, density, modularity as well as closeness centrality). These results together expanded our understanding of restoration of the biased microbiota by antibiotics, and may also be instructive to deal with the delayed microbiota restoration at least in cows.