Significance of Urban Vegetation on Lawns Regarding the Risk of Fire

Urban green infrastructure significantly influences the functioning of a city and the comfort of its residents. Lawns are an essential element of public greenery. They represent a live component, and if they are lacking, of low quality, or neglected, this will cause major problems in the urban environment. The vegetation structure of urban grassy areas changes under the influence of different management methods used for their maintenance. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the species diversity of urban lawns and to determine the influence of this vegetation on factors based on the representation of the species found. Three sites with urban lawns were chosen in a built-up city area where different types of vegetation management were applied: Typical management, in which grassy areas are mowed twice a year; intensive management, in which lawns are mowed several times a year and the biomass is removed; and extensive management, in which lawns are mowed irregularly, once a year at most, and the biomass is left unevenly on the site. Extensive management and unkempt urban grassy areas represent a high risk of fire due to the presence of plant species that produce great amounts of biomass. Combined with dry and warm weather, the dead biomass can lead to outbreaks of fire. Extensive management of urban grassy areas brings some benefits, such as lower maintenance costs and increased biodiversity and bioretention. On the other hand, intensive management reduces the risk of fire and the biodiversity of the plant community. Attention should be paid to the composition of vegetative species and their functions that could threaten the safety of residents, with the risk of fire being one of them. However, the vegetation biomass of grassy areas affected by management practices is only a precondition for the risk of fire because weather and drought occurrence play important roles as well.

The effects of first defoliation and previous management intensity on forage quality of a semi-natural species-rich grassland

Semi-natural grasslands occupy large parts of the European landscape but little information exists about seasonal variations in their nutritive value during the growing season. This paper presents results of novel data showing the effect of 13 years of previous contrasting management intensities on herbage nutritional value in relation to different dates of first defoliation (by grazing or haymaking). The treatments were: extensive management and intensive management from previous years (1998–2011). Both treatments were cut in June followed by intensive/extensive grazing for the rest of the grazing season (July–October). To evaluate forage quality in the first defoliation date, biomass sampling was performed in the year 2012 for 23 weeks from May to mid-October, and in 2013 for seven weeks from May to mid-June. Sampling was performed from plots that were not under management during the sampling year. Previous extensive management was associated with significantly reduced forage quality for in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and reduced divalent cations (Ca, Mg) and Na during the first seven weeks of the grazing season and the forage was suitable only for beef cattle. Due to low forage IVOMD, the forage is suitable only for cattle maintenance or for low quality hay when the start of grazing was postponed from seven weeks of vegetative growth to 13 weeks, regardless of the previous intensity. Herbage harvested after 13 weeks of the grazing season was of very low quality and was unsuitable as a forage for cattle when it was the only source of feed. Agri-environmental payments are necessary to help agricultural utilisation to maintain semi-natural grasslands by compensating for deterioration of forage quality, not only for the postponement of the first defoliation (either as cutting or grazing) after mid-June, but also when extensive management is required.

Comparative behaviour of local and exotic chickens in tests of fearfulness, anxiety and cognition

Behaviour affects performance and productivity of poultry birds especially chickens, some behavioural traits are advantageous in a particular production system and may be of disadvantage in another production system. The present study compared behavioural of Nigeria Local Chicken, NLC (two separate samples of 11 Yoruba Ecotype) and its Exotic counterparts (11 Broilers and 11 Pullets) by use of the Open Field (OFT), T-Maze, Forced Approach, and Voluntary Approach Tests (FAT and VAT respectively) during two phases of Growth (0-4 Weeks, and 4-8 weeks age respectively). The former group (NLC) is better adapted to extensive management in the Nigerian Guinea savannah than the latter Results showed that Yoruba NLC issued a significantly (p<0.05) higher number of distress calls than the Exotic genotypes in the OFT at age 7 and 48 days, and the NLC issued significantly more calls at 7 days age. Broilers exhibited significantly lower OFT Latency at 7 and 48 days, and Broilers traversed fewer squares and spent less time ambulating than other genotypes at 48 days age. Ina T-maze, Broilers showed significantly (p<0.05) lower exploratory behaviour than other groups (higher latency to leave the start box). In the FAT, NLC showed lower Latency to flight (p<0.05) than the Exotic genotypes. Ethological test results indicate differences in the behavioural characters exhibited by Yoruba NLC and Exotic Chickens and such differences could embody the basis of anecdotal differences in the rates of survival under extensive management conditions, and may be subjected to quantitative genetic selection in the ongoing effort to produce improved chickens that incorporate a combination of desirable traits from both Local and Exotic chickens.

Readabilty in management reports: extension and good governance practices

La legibilidad en los informes de gestión: extensión y buenas prácticas de gobierno corporativo. Este estudio expande el conocimiento sobre la legibilidad de los informes contables, su extensión y el cumplimiento de las empresas con las prácticas de buen gobierno. También cubre un vacío en el análisis de la legibilidad de la información narrativa escrita en español. Examinamos la legibilidad en los Informes de Gestión de las empresas españolas que cotizan en el Mercado Continuo de la Bolsa de Madrid durante el período 2010-2016. Los resultados revelan que los informes de gestión más extensos, es decir, aquellos con mayor cantidad de texto, son los menos legibles, y que el uso de elementos visuales en los informes ayuda a mejorar su legibilidad. Además, las empresas que siguen prácticas de buen gobierno, emiten información compleja con claridad, velocidad y simplicidad, lo que mejora la legibilidad de los informes contables. This study expands our knowledge about the readability of accounting narratives, their extension and companies’ compliance with good governance practices. It also covers a gap in the analysis of the readability of narrative information written in Spanish. We examined the readability in Management Reports of Spanish companies listed on the Continuous Market of the Madrid Stock Exchange during the period 2010–2016. The results reveal that the most extensive management reports — that is, those with the greatest quantities of text — are the least readable and that the use of visual elements in reports helps to improve their readability. Moreover, companies that follow good governance practices issue complex information with clarity, speed, and simplicity, which improves the readability of accounting narratives.

The Attitude Changes Of Local Farmers Toward The Introduction Of Artificial Insemination In The Extensive Of Cattle Raising In The Seram Bagian Barat District, Maluku Province, Indonesia

Special efforts for cow must be pregnant (Upsus Siwab) is a program for the achievement of meat adequacy in 2022 through the optimization strategy of implementing Artificial Insemination (AI) in 34 provinces including Maluku Province. One of them is Seram Bagian Barat District. The type of cattle that are kept are Bali with extensive management. Maluku Province is The AI introduction area, so there are many challenges to meet the targets set. The purpose of this paper is to know the performance of AI introductions and the effect toward farmer attitudes in the SBB District during the 3 years of assistance. The method of this research was a survey, interviews with farmers, field officers, and district officers. Data with the Ishiknas format for 3 years was collected from the Agriculture services of SBB District. Data was tabulated and analyzed descriptively. The basic problems related to the application of AI are (1) it is difficult to detect the oestrus because all cattle are released, (2) the habits of mating cattle naturally, (3) there is no interest in participating of AI, and (4) the knowledge of oestrus is very minimal. The strategy to solved the problem was introduction the hormone of Oestrus Synchronization (SE). The strategy was quite successful, in 2017, the realization of AI was 85%. Realization in 2018 and 2019 were more than 100%. The S/C score was 1.13 times indicates that the cows have very good reproductive performance. There were 15 variations in gestational age with the range of 8 months 4 days - 9 months 17 days. The most average were 9 months 10 days (16.6%) and 9 months 11 days (16.6%). The pregnancy rates of AI was 10 -311 cows/month with an average of 108.8 cows, while in natural marriages 0 - 32 cows/month with an average of 12.5 cows. The birth weights of AI with Bali bulls straw ranged from 17 to 23 kg (an average of 19.6 kg), while the natural mating was an average of 16 kg. Another results, the birth weight of AI with Ongole bulls straw on male was an average of 32.2 kg and 30 kg on female. In 2017, the implementation of the AI was all done in combination with the SE because no farmers wanted to report the oestrus of cows. In 2018 there were reports from farmers and in 2019, all AI implementations were based on normal oestrus reports. The change in attitudes of farmers regarding adoption of AI was caused by the calves had a higher birth weight and a higher selling price. Implementation of AI in the District of SBB has good prospects for increasing the quantity and quality of cattle and also increasing the income of farmers

Changes in the Abundance of Danish Orchids over the Past 30 Years

Orchid abundance data collected over the past 30 years (1987–2016) from 440 sites within the National Orchid Monitoring Program were analyzed to quantify the population trends of orchids in Denmark, and the underlying reasons for the observed population trends were analyzed and discussed. Of the 45 monitored Danish orchids, 20 showed a significant decrease in abundance over the past 30 years (16, if only orchids with at least 50 observations each were selected), thus corroborating the previous observations of declining orchid abundances at the European scale. Generally, there was a significant negative effect of overgrowing with tall-growing herbs and shrubs on the abundance of Danish orchids, mainly caused by change of farming practices, as extensive management, such as grazing or mowing of light-open grassland areas, has decreased.

Management Intensification of Hay Meadows and Fruit Orchards Alters Soil Macro- Invertebrate Communities Differently

Land-use changes and especially management intensification currently pose a major threat to biodiversity both on and beneath the soil surface. With a comparative approach, we investigated how management intensity in orchards and meadows influences soil macro-invertebrate communities in a North-Italian Alpine region. We compared soil fauna assemblies from traditional low-input sites with respective intensively managed ones. As expected, the taxonomical richness and diversity were lower in both intensive management types. Extensive management of both types revealed similar communities, while intensification led to substantial differences between management types. From these results, we conclude that intensification of agricultural practices severely alters the soil fauna community and biodiversity in general, however, the direction of these changes is governed by the management type. In our view, extensive management, traditional for mountain areas, favors soil fauna communities that have adapted over a long time and can thus be viewed as a sustainable reference condition for new production systems that consider the protection of soil diversity in order to conserve essential ecosystem functions.