scholarly journals Farm Forestry in Agricultural Southern Ontario, ca. 1850-1940: Evolving Strategies in the Management and Conservation of Forests, Soils and Water on Private Lands

Author(s):  
Patricia Bowley

Early settlers in southern Ontario aspired to become prosperous land-owning farmers; they began by cutting trees. Within a few decades, wind and water, unimpeded by forest cover, devastated soil and crops. Farmers were encouraged by groups such as the Ontario Fruit Growers’ Association to reforest some of their land. Farm forestry, as part of scientific agriculture, had a strong beginning in the early 1900s with the Ontario Agricultural and Experimental Union, but that movement was poorly supported until the 1930s, when the relationship between deforestation and water supplies reached a crisis. The Ontario Conservation and Reforestation Association (OCRA) and the Ontario Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) were created in agricultural southern Ontario in 1937-8 after a disastrously hot dry summer. Each organization interpreted the conservation of natural resources in profoundly different ways: the OCRA as a movement to create forest resources on public property, and the OCIA as management of privately-owned farmlands to improve crop production.

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagdish C. Nautiyal ◽  
Shashi Kant ◽  
Jeremy S. Williams

Most of the timber harvested in southern Ontario is sold in an open market. Sales are mainly conducted on mixed-species woodlots and include a range of timber qualities. An econometric model based on the transaction evidence approach and 506 sales data from 1983 to 1993 is developed to estimate the stumpage value of a stand as well as species components most important in determining value. Volume of timber of different species put on sale in a lot was found to be the prime determinant of sale value. For some species the product of average tree size and volume sold turned out to be influential. Per cubic metre value of standing timber was found to generally increase with tree size, but the nature of the relationship was not clearly identifiable. Ash was found to be the most valuable hardwood in southern Ontario. Ownership was a significant determinant of value, privately owned timber fetching much higher value than that on public lands. This may be due to difference in size of Trees on the two types of land. Site characteristics such as slope, underbrush, and distance from mills did not appear to be important in determining values. The reason most probably was that high per cubic metre values commanded by hardwoods rendered site differences and transportation costs in a well-roaded region relatively insignificant. Stand quality might have been an important factor, but poor data on it did not permit any useful analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
D. S. Ternovsky ◽  
V. Ya. Uzun

The article presents the results of a study aimed at proving the existence of systematic error in traditional calculations of long-term growth rates of agricultural production based on chain indices of agricultural production. According to the authors, the article also introduces a more accurate assessment of its dynamics with the account to the structure of the relationship between prices and the volume of agricultural production. The paper describes a theoretical model that is a methodological basis for the study and explains the discrepancy in assessing the dynamics of agricultural production using chain indices and indexes at constant prices. It allows establishing differences in the ratios of the Laspeyres, Paasche, and Lowe indices for crop and livestock production, due to factors in the formation of demand and the complex structure of the relationship between the price level and the volume of production. The adequacy of the constructed theoretical model is proved based on aggregated data that eliminated the influence of incompleteness of the initial information. As a result, it was established that livestock production is characterized by time-distributed changes in prices and quantity of products, which makes it possible to assess its dynamics using both chain indices and symmetric indices. It is proved that the dynamics of crop production cannot be adequately described using chain indices, since a positive correlation of prices of the previous period and production volumes of the current period causes an overstatement of the index in comparable prices of the previous year. Based on calculations within the proposed aggregated model, it is proved that the use of constant prices as the Lowe index weights, updated every five years, is an acceptable approximation of the Fisher symmetric index. Application of the indicated methodology for calculating the index to the data on Russian agricultural production by main types of products in 1990-2018 allowed to establish an overstatement of dynamics by 11.9%. The main difference falls on crop production (+ 19.6%), while for livestock - the differences are insignificant (-0.7%).


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256183
Author(s):  
Bora Shin ◽  
Jae-Young Lee ◽  
Nang-Hee Kim ◽  
Sei-Woong Choi

We examined the relationship between resource abundance and the feeding activity of phytophagous insects on three common island plants. The aim was to investigate the correlation between phytophagous insects’ abundance and availability of food and island geography. We collected 30,835 leaves from three tree species groups (Mallotus japonicus, Prunus species, and Quercus species) on 18 islands in southwest Korea. The number of plant resources for herbivores varied: the number of leaves per shoot was the highest in Mallotus, leaf weight and the water content per leaf was significantly lower in Quercus species. External feeding was higher for Prunus and Quercus species, whereas the internal feeding type was significantly higher for Quercus species. Geography (area and distance), elevation and food resource (elevation, number of plant species, and the forest cover rate) had a variable effect on phytophagous insects feeding activities: distance and the number of plant species were more explainable to the external feeding guild. In contrast, area and forest cover were more to the internal feeding guild.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Ahmed Boghdady

This study investigates the effect of ownership type on the relation between corporate governance and earnings management. While previous literature has mainly examined the relationship between corporate governance and both accrual and real earnings management, no study to date, to the researcher’s best knowledge, focused on the moderation effect of ownership type on this relationship. Three proxies for measuring accrual and real earnings management, namely discretionary accruals (DA), abnormal cash flows (ACFO), and abnormal discretionary expenses (ADISX) are employed. Three empirical models (i.e. DA, ACFO, and ADISX) are developed in which the earnings management proxies represent the dependent variables and are tested using a sample of non-financial companies containing state-owned and privately owned companies over the period from 2010 to 2017, with 1030 firm-year observations. The results show a positive relationship between ownership type and both accruals manipulation and sales manipulation. In general, the results suggest that the ownership type moderates the relationship between corporate governance and earnings management. The results suggest also that corporate governance mechanisms may not play an almost the same role in monitoring and mitigating real earnings management (REM) practices as they do for accrual earnings management (AEM) in Egypt. Moreover, no evidence is found supportive of the trade-off effect which means that managers in Egyptian firms use both types of earnings management jointly to reach the target levels of earnings


2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1619) ◽  
pp. 20120153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia N. Macedo ◽  
Michael T. Coe ◽  
Ruth DeFries ◽  
Maria Uriarte ◽  
Paulo M. Brando ◽  
...  

Large-scale cattle and crop production are the primary drivers of deforestation in the Amazon today. Such land-use changes can degrade stream ecosystems by reducing connectivity, changing light and nutrient inputs, and altering the quantity and quality of streamwater. This study integrates field data from 12 catchments with satellite-derived information for the 176 000 km 2 upper Xingu watershed (Mato Grosso, Brazil). We quantify recent land-use transitions and evaluate the influence of land management on streamwater temperature, an important determinant of habitat quality in small streams. By 2010, over 40 per cent of catchments outside protected areas were dominated (greater than 60% of area) by agriculture, with an estimated 10 000 impoundments in the upper Xingu. Streams in pasture and soya bean watersheds were significantly warmer than those in forested watersheds, with average daily maxima over 4°C higher in pasture and 3°C higher in soya bean. The upstream density of impoundments and riparian forest cover accounted for 43 per cent of the variation in temperature. Scaling up, our model suggests that management practices associated with recent agricultural expansion may have already increased headwater stream temperatures across the Xingu. Although increased temperatures could negatively impact stream biota, conserving or restoring riparian buffers could reduce predicted warming by as much as fivefold.


Author(s):  
Laura Alice Watt ◽  
David Lowenthal

This chapter explores the history of making parks from privately owned lands, a process that at first relied on donations from states or wealthy individuals, but gradually involved the direct purchase of land. Parks are often celebrated as “belonging to the American public,” but in many cases, they belonged to someone else first. The chapter thus considers the implications of making parks from private lands. After all, these places come with their own history, and often with residents and their own uses for and meanings of the land, which do not generally fit well with the simplified “empty scenic nature” model of park management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 727-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew B. Hufford ◽  
Jorge C. Berny Mier y Teran ◽  
Paul Gepts

Crop biodiversity is one of the major inventions of humanity through the process of domestication. It is also an essential resource for crop improvement to adapt agriculture to ever-changing conditions like global climate change and consumer preferences. Domestication and the subsequent evolution under cultivation have profoundly shaped the genetic architecture of this biodiversity. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of crop biodiversity. Topics include the reduction of genetic diversity during domestication and counteracting factors, a discussion of the relationship between parallel phenotypic and genotypic evolution, the role of plasticity in genotype × environment interactions, and the important role subsistence farmers play in actively maintaining crop biodiversity and in participatory breeding. Linking genotype and phenotype remains the holy grail of crop biodiversity studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele F. Fontefrancesco ◽  
Dauro M. Zocchi

The article investigates the link between food festivals and traditional food knowledge and explores the role played by tourist events in disseminating local agricultural and gastronomic knowledge. This article presents the ethnographic case of the Pink Asparagus Festival in Mezzago in Italy, analyzing how the festival supported the continuation of crop production and its associated traditional knowledge in the village. In the face of a decline of asparagus production, the article highlights the role of the festival in fostering a revival of local food knowledge, which is also able to embrace modernization, at the same time maintaining a strong sense of the past and Mezzago's legacy. Thus, the article suggests that festivals are not just events aimed at commodifying local knowledge, but can be important tools to refresh and maintain local expertise, which is vital and pressing in the context of modern society, and strengthen and expand the relationship between members of the community, thus converting the festival into an endeavor to foster sociocultural sustainability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 781-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D.B. Leakey ◽  
John N. Ferguson ◽  
Charles P. Pignon ◽  
Alex Wu ◽  
Zhenong Jin ◽  
...  

The ratio of plant carbon gain to water use, known as water use efficiency (WUE), has long been recognized as a key constraint on crop production and an important target for crop improvement. WUE is a physiologically and genetically complex trait that can be defined at a range of scales. Many component traits directly influence WUE, including photosynthesis, stomatal and mesophyll conductances, and canopy structure. Interactions of carbon and water relations with diverse aspects of the environment and crop development also modulate WUE. As a consequence, enhancing WUE by breeding or biotechnology has proven challenging but not impossible. This review aims to synthesize new knowledge of WUE arising from advances in phenotyping, modeling, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology in the context of classical theoretical principles. In addition, we discuss how rising atmospheric CO2concentration has created and will continue to create opportunities for enhancing WUE by modifying the trade-off between photosynthesis and transpiration.


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 1295-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Sheath ◽  
Beverly J. Hymes

Ten taxa of freshwater red algae have been observed in a survey of 62 streams and rivers within southern Ontario, Canada, over a period of 3 years. Five species are additions to the flora of Canada, Chroodactylon ramosum, Boldia erythrosiphon, Sirodotia tenuissima, Batrachospermum densum, and B. ectocarpum. In addition to these algae, Audouinella violacea, Sirodotia suecia, and Tuomeya fluviatilis are new observations within Ontario.Most of the Ontario red algae are restricted to streams or rivers with a minimum average flow rate of 10 m min−1. Audouinella violacea, B. moniliforme, and Lemanea fucina occur in a large number of streams which have a wide pH and conductivity range whereas S. tenuissima and B. ectocarpum are confined to one of the sites examined.Ultrastructural findings are reported concerning the cell organization of Boldia as well as the relationship between Batrachospermum plants and the "chantransia" stage. A key to the 10 taxa is included plus descriptions and a list of epiphytes of each alga are presented.


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