scholarly journals Ökologische Bewertung von Waldrändern: ein Methodenvergleich

2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (6) ◽  
pp. 313-320
Author(s):  
Björn Fuhrer ◽  
Manuel Babbi ◽  
Bertil O. Krüsi
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Ecological Connectivity ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
The Impact

Ecological assessing of forest edges: comparison of two methods In Switzerland, forest edges are mostly man-made. Potentially, forest edge ecotones are very rich in species. In agricultural landscapes, they are also the main element of ecological connectivity. Unfortunately, today's forest edges are mostly far too narrow and monotonous to optimally fulfil their role. Some years ago, therefore, the federal government started a programme to improve the ecological quality of forest edges. Of course, the impact of the programme should be monitored and several assessment methods were developed. In the present paper, we compared the assessment methods of Pro Natura and Krüsi by applying them to eleven upgraded and three untreated forest edges. Even though both methods take into account the structure and the floristic richness of forest edges, they differ in many details. One major difference is that the Pro Natura method is based on estimates while the Krüsi method whenever possible relies on measurements. With both methods, it was possible to distinguish valuable from less valuable forest edges and, fortunately, the results of both methods even highly correlated. In conclusion, for a quick assessment by lay men, the rapid and simple Pro Natura method is recommended, whereas for scientific monitoring, the more reproducible and more sophisticated but also more time-consuming Krüsi method is more suitable.

Forest edges and the soil-vegetation- atmosphere interaction at the landscape scale: the state of affairs

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur W. L. Veen ◽  
Wim Klaassen ◽  
Bart Kruijt ◽  
Ronald W.A. Hutjes
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Surface Type ◽  
Heterogeneous Landscape ◽  
Atmosphere Interaction ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Impact

Although the soil-vegetation-atmosphere exchange of momentum and heat is fairly well understood for many types of homogeneous surfaces, the disturbances created by tran sitions of one surface type to another remain to be analysed more fully. This is especially true for the impact which a large transition such as the forest edge has on the average fluxes in a small-scale heterogeneous landscape with forest. Recently acquired experimental evidence appears to some extent contradictory and at variance with conventional concepts.

Increased prevalence of bot flies (Cuterebra fontinella) on white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) near forest edges

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mosheh Wolf ◽  
George O Batzli
Keyword(s):  
Peromyscus Leucopus ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
East Central ◽  
Adult Mice ◽  
Preferred Habitat ◽  
Infected Adult ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Central Illinois

Several studies have suggested that forest edge is preferred habitat for white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). Because previous research has shown that parasitism by bot flies (Cuterebra fontinella) is higher in open areas than in woodlands, lower rates of infestation at woodland edges could partly explain the greater preference for woodland edges by the mice. We recorded the prevalence and load of bot fly larvae in mice trapped along edge-to-interior gradients in four forested areas in east-central Illinois. At all sites the prevalence of bot flies (the proportion of infected adult mice) was greatest near the edge (less than 50 m from the woodland margin), which should reduce, not improve, the quality of edge microhabitats. Mating bot flies tend to congregate in open areas, and the higher prevalence of parasitism by bot flies near the forest edge may reflect the greater penetration of light there than in the interior.

scholarly journals ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE STRUCTURE OF SOWN AREAS OF CROPS ON THE QUALITY OF LAND

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Borys Sydoruk ◽  
Tetyana Yashchuk ◽  
Halyna Sydoruk
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Logical Method ◽  
Environmentally Sound ◽  
The Impact

Introduction. Activities in the field of organization of agricultural land use should be focused primarily on the preservation and reproduction of land, the most productive implementation of all production processes and ensuring environmentally sound use of agricultural landscapes. One of the effective ways to ensure the balanced use of agricultural land by agricultural formations is to optimize the location of crops in accordance with the indicators of agrochemical evaluation of soils, taking into account the economic feasibility of their cultivation. Methods. Research conducted by use of the dialectical method of knowledge of the economic laws and systematic approach to the study of economic phenomena and processes, monographic, induction and deduction - to form of balancing agricultural land use; economic and statistical - to identify the factors that led to changes in the quality of land; abstract-logical method - in the implementation of theoretical generalizations and formulation of conclusions. Results. The author substantiates the importance of optimizing the sown area of agricultural crops to ensure a balanced use of land. A study of soil quality indicators within individual land plots was conducted and their dynamics were analyzed. The impact of the structure of growing crops on the balance of humus in the soil is assessed and the main measures to improve it are substantiated. The main components in the system of improving the quality of land are identified and their importance is proved Discussion. The defining direction for further research is the formation of an institutional environment for the balanced use of agricultural land in order to improve the quality of soils. Keywords: agricultural production, balanced land use, agricultural land, optimization, structure of sown areas.

9 CAN ONE PREDICT THE RESISTANCE OF BULL SPERM TO CRYOPRESERVATION BY ANALYZING MOTILITY PARAMETERS BEFORE FREEZING?

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
L. Defoin ◽  
A. Granados ◽  
I. Donnay
Keyword(s):  
Poor Quality ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Sperm Analysis ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
Pearson Coefficient ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

Batches of straws often need to be thrown away after freezing due to a too-few-number of motile or progressive sperm cells (spz), whereas the quality of the fresh sperm was considered as acceptable. Our objective was to evaluate whether variables related to velocity or linearity for fresh spz could help to predict the resistance to freezing and allow the discard of poor-quality batches before freezing. Motility traits of 20 ejaculates from 20 Belgian Blue bulls collected at an AI center were evaluated for motile spz both before and after freezing using Computer-Assisted Sperm Analysis (CASA, Spermvision; Minit�b, Tiefenbach, Germany). Only six traits of motility showed a normal distribution in the population of motile spz and were kept for further analysis together with the proportion of motile (%mot) and progressive (%prog) spz: velocity on the curved line (VCL), velocity on the straight line (VSL), velocity on the average path (VAP), linearity (LIN = VSL/VCL), beat cross frequency (BCF), and average orientation change of the head (AOC). Significant variation between bulls was observed both before and after freezing for all of the analyzed traits (ANOVA2; P < 0.001). Moreover, freezing significantly altered the motility measures (ANOVA2; P < 0.001). For each variable, a significant correlation was observed between the values (mean or percentage) obtained for each bull before and after freezing (Pearson coefficient: R = 0.43 to 0.72; P < 0.05). However, the impact of freezing on the quality of motility differed between bulls, with low impact for some bulls and major impact for others. Three motility traits measured before freezing were highly correlated with %mot or %prog after freezing: VAP, VSL, and %prog (R = 0.75 to 0.82; P < 0.001). When we evaluated the prediction of rejection or acceptance of a batch of straws after freezing (based on a threshold of 15% progressive spz) by using motility measures recorded before freezing, five traits allowed us to discriminate low-quality batches: %mot, %prog, VAP, VSL, and LIN. Applying to fresh sperm a threshold of 92 �m s-1 for VAP or 84 �m s-1 for VSL allowed us to predict, respectively, 6 and 7 out of the 9 batches that would be rejected after freezing, without discarding batches of acceptable quality. Moreover, using the %mot or %prog before freezing caused us to discard only 3 and 4 batches, respectively. Combining different traits did not add to the precision. In conclusion, analysis of velocity traits for fresh sperm seems more efficient than analysis of %mot or %prog to discard batches that will be of poor quality after freezing. Such analysis could prevent useless work and expense related to straw filling and freezing. However, the definition of thresholds needs further analysis with a larger number of batches of semen and will vary from one AI center to another, depending, for example, on the breed characteristics, the number of spz per straw, the CASA system, or the freezing procedure. This work was supported by the programme FIRST Objective 3 of the European Commission and the Ministery of the R�gion wallonne de Belgique.

scholarly journals Landscape agroforestry reclamation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. M. Ivonin ◽  
◽  
I. V. Voskoboinikova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Energy Concentration ◽  
Homogeneous Groups ◽  
The Core ◽  
Filtration Barrier ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
Material Energy

Purpose: to substantiate the main provisions of landscape agroforestry reclamation. Methods: landscape-chorionic, ecotonic and catenary-basin approaches. Results. A provision on the forest agrarian chorion formed by the core – the phytomass accumulation of the forestry stows and the reclamation fields of its impact on the agricultural landscape has been developed. The characteristics of these fields depend on the intensity of the material-energy manifestations of the chorionic core, which changes in connection with the agro-environment dynamics and the forest-agrarian chorion development. This leads to the emergence of local forest-agricultural landscapes and their ecotones. Forestry stows mesoecotones of and regional forests macroecotones organize the landscape space. In this case, the slope landscapes combine landscape-geochemical flows, and the catchment areas of gullies and watercourse basins combine the systems of such flows. Forest agrarian chorions, due to their influence fields and filtration-barrier function of ecotones, influence the direction and properties of landscape-geochemical flows, changing the ratio of the articles of the water balance of the territory, material-energy removal and accumulation of matter and energy, concentration and dispersion of information, productivity and product quality of agricultural landscapes. Primary catchments of gullies with a well-developed network of valleys, hollows and gullies are characterized by landscape-geochemical microarens, and the basins of watercourses of various orders are mega- and macroarens, which, respectively, represent local forest-agricultural landscapes, districts, regions, and zones of landscape agroforestry reclamation. All forest agrarian chorions (forest strips, groves, etc.) are grouped according to the main criteria: protection of fields and gardens, protection of meadows and pastures, organization of landscape space. Conclusions. The terminology and meanings of agroforestry reclamation and landscape science have been agreed upon. The main provisions of landscape agroforestry have been substantiated: forest agrarian chorion, forest edge ecotone, basin structure and qualitatively homogeneous groups of multifunctional forest agrarian chorions.

scholarly journals Waldrandaufwertungen: Einfluss von Exposition und Wüchsigkeit des Standorts

2016 ◽  
Vol 167 (5) ◽  
pp. 286-293
Author(s):  
Manuel Babbi ◽  
Stefan Widmer ◽  
Marcel Blattner ◽  
Bertil O. Krüsi
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
High Fertility ◽  
Ecological Quality ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Site Factors ◽  
Site Fertility ◽  
Improvement Measures ◽  
Ecological Improvement

Upgrading of forest edges: impacts of orientation and site fertility Wide, species-rich forest edges are rare in Switzerland. For some years now, the ecological improvement of forest edges has therefore been encouraged by the federal government. In order to make optimal use of the limited resources, we need a good knowledge of the site factors that influence the success of upgrading treatments. We studied 48 improved forest edges in Canton Aargau to understand the impacts of orientation and site fertility on the success of the improvement measures. The results showed that both orientation and site fertility had a significant impact on the quality of the enhanced forest edges. On south-facing and nutrient-poor sites, the ecological quality of the improved forest edges was significantly better than on nutrient-rich sites oriented towads other directions. On sites which were not south-facing fertility had no significant effect on the ecological quality of the improved forest edges. On nutrient-poor sites, the risk that problematic or invasive plant species become dominant after upgrading treatments was much smaller than on nutrient- rich sites. The orientation of the forest edge, on the other hand, had no significant effect on that risk. In the future, therefore, forest edge enhancement projects should preferably be carried out on south-facing and nutrient-poor sites. On sites with other expositions or with high fertility, successful upgradings are less likely but not impossible.

scholarly journals Wooded Semi-Natural Habitats Complement Permanent Grasslands in Supporting Wild Bee Diversity in Agricultural Landscapes

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 812
Author(s):  
Justine Rivers-Moore ◽  
Emilie Andrieu ◽  
Aude Vialatte ◽  
Annie Ouin
Keyword(s):  
Selection Index ◽  
Interaction Network ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Bee Communities ◽  
The Impact

Loss of semi-natural habitats (SNH) in agricultural landscapes affects wild bees, often negatively. However, how bee communities respond varies and is still unclear. To date, few studies have used precise descriptors to understand these effects. Our aim was to understand the respective and complementary influences of different wooded and herbaceous habitats on wild bee communities. We selected thirty 500-m radius landscapes on a gradient of a percentage of wooded SNH in south-western France. At each landscape, we sampled wild bees in spring 2016 and plants in spring 2015 and 2016 at the forest edge, in a hedgerow, and in a permanent grassland. Pollen carried by the most abundant bee species was collected and identified. Using beta diversity indices, we showed that wild bee community composition differs between the three SNH types, and especially between herbaceous and wooded SNH. Based on Jacobs’ selection index, we showed that pollen of some plant species recorded in wooded SNH are preferentially selected by wild bees. Studying the impact of the loss of each SNH type on the global bee-pollen interaction network, we found that wooded SNH contributed to its resilience, enabling specific plant–bee interactions. Overall, our results underline the non-negligible contribution of wooded SNH to the diversity of wild bees in agricultural landscapes, and thus the importance of maintaining different types of SNH.

scholarly journals Health-related quality of life in patients with chronic leg ulcers in a developing country

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganiyu Oyediran Oseni ◽  
Cletus Ikechukwu Otene ◽  
Peter Babatunde Olaitan ◽  
Adesina Ajibade ◽  
Olawale Adebayo Olakulehin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Teaching Hospitals ◽  
Leg Ulcers ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Chronic Leg Ulcers

Poverty with inadequate care prolongs duration of ulcers healing with attendant complications. The impact of this on the quality of life of patients in an economic depleted environment needs to be evaluated. Quality of life of patients with chronic leg ulcers was assessed using validated Cardiff wound impact schedule questionnaires in two teaching Hospitals in Nigeria. The result was analyzed using SPSS Version 17 with frequencies and means. Post traumatic ulcers were the most common cause of chronic leg ulcers (33.7%), followed by diabetes mellitus (31.3%),venous ulcers (16.9%), and sickle cell ulcers (4.8%). Tropical ulcers and others like vasculitis and chronic osteomyelitis accounted for 13.3%. The ulcers have deleterious effects on the patients’ occupation, finances, mobility and social interaction with negative self-image. All the symptoms assessed significantly correlated with overall quality of life (QoL). However, physical symptoms dimension is the most highly correlated with QoL score, followed by social life dimension. The least correlated is wellbeing dimension. Symptoms associated with chronic leg ulcer tend to have negative impact on quality of life of these patients. Therefore, these should be borne in mind and incorporated in the management of these patients.

Self-Compassion and Quality of Life in Adults Who Stutter

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2097-2108
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Croft ◽  
Courtney T. Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
The Self ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify levels of self-compassion in adults who do and do not stutter and to determine whether self-compassion predicts the impact of stuttering on quality of life in adults who stutter. Method Participants included 140 adults who do and do not stutter matched for age and gender. All participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale. Adults who stutter also completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Data were analyzed for self-compassion differences between and within adults who do and do not stutter and to predict self-compassion on quality of life in adults who stutter. Results Adults who do and do not stutter exhibited no significant differences in total self-compassion, regardless of participant gender. A simple linear regression of the total self-compassion score and total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering score showed a significant, negative linear relationship of self-compassion predicting the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusions Data suggest that higher levels of self-kindness, mindfulness, and social connectedness (i.e., self-compassion) are related to reduced negative reactions to stuttering, an increased participation in daily communication situations, and an improved overall quality of life. Future research should replicate current findings and identify moderators of the self-compassion–quality of life relationship.

Surgery for Lung Cancer and the Consequences for the Swallow

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (13) ◽  
pp. 162-168
Author(s):  
Pippa Hales ◽  
Corinne Mossey-Gaston
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Vocal Cord Palsy ◽  
Subsequent Treatment ◽  
Physiological Reserve ◽  
Palliative Phase ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Swallow Function

Lung cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers across Northern America and Europe. Treatment options offered are dependent on the type of cancer, the location of the tumor, the staging, and the overall health of the person. When surgery for lung cancer is offered, difficulty swallowing is a potential complication that can have several influencing factors. Surgical interaction with the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) can lead to unilateral vocal cord palsy, altering swallow function and safety. Understanding whether the RLN has been preserved, damaged, or sacrificed is integral to understanding the effect on the swallow and the subsequent treatment options available. There is also the risk of post-surgical reduction of physiological reserve, which can reduce the strength and function of the swallow in addition to any surgery specific complications. As lung cancer has a limited prognosis, the clinician must also factor in the palliative phase, as this can further increase the burden of an already compromised swallow. By understanding the surgery and the implications this may have for the swallow, there is the potential to reduce the impact of post-surgical complications and so improve quality of life (QOL) for people with lung cancer.

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