Strategy to enhance the semicontinuous anaerobic digestion of food waste exogenous additives: experimental and machine learning approaches.

The anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste (FW) was easy to acidify and accumulate ammonia nitrogen. Adding exogenous materials to the AD system can enhance its conversion efficiency by alleviating acidification and ammonia nitrogen inhibition. This work investigated the effects of the addition frequency and additive amount on the AD of FW with increasing organic loading rate (OLR).

Aiming at low nitrogen leaching diets based on nitrogen fertilizer regulatory policy: A regional bio-economic assessment of the Zayandeh-Rud river basin-Iran.

Negative environmental impacts of nitrogen (N) intensive diets have triggered global debates on sustainable nitrogen management. Solutions such as dietary transitions, cropland reallocation and N Regulatory Policy (NRP) have been proposed to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of N use in food production. However, there is still insufficient understanding of how NRPs could be designed to minimize negative environmental impact across diverse agro-ecological zones without sacrificing human dietary requirements.

Irrigation Targeted to Provoke Ejection of Ascospores of Shortens the Season for Ascospore Release and Results in Less Apple Scab.

Trials were carried out in apple orchards of Emilia-Romagna and Trentino-Alto Adige in northern Italy to investigate the effects of sprinkler irrigation on possible reduction in inoculum and subsequent disease pressure of , the ascomycete causing apple scab. In spring, volumetric spore traps were placed above apple leaf litter containing pseudothecia with ascospores of the fungus. Pseudothecia matured more rapidly in irrigated plots, and 95% of the total number of spores trapped in a season was reached on average 164 degree days (base temperature 0°C) earlier in irrigated compared with nonirrigated plots.

Behavioral Adaptations of Nursing Brangus Cows to Virtual Fencing: Insights from a Training Deployment Phase.

Virtual fencing systems have emerged as a promising technology for managing the distribution of livestock in extensive grazing environments. This study provides comprehensive documentation of the learning process involving two conditional behavioral mechanisms and the documentation of efficient, effective, and safe animal training for virtual fence applications on nursing Brangus cows. Two hypotheses were examined: (1) animals would learn to avoid restricted zones by increasing their use of containment zones within a virtual fence polygon, and (2) animals would progressively receive fewer audio-electric cues over time and increasingly rely on auditory cues for behavioral modification.

Integrated global assessment of the natural forest carbon potential.

Forests are a substantial terrestrial carbon sink, but anthropogenic changes in land use and climate have considerably reduced the scale of this system. Remote-sensing estimates to quantify carbon losses from global forests are characterized by considerable uncertainty and we lack a comprehensive ground-sourced evaluation to benchmark these estimates. Here we combine several ground-sourced and satellite-derived approaches to evaluate the scale of the global forest carbon potential outside agricultural and urban lands.

Additive effects of light and branching on fruit size and chemical fruit quality of greenhouse tomatoes.

Introduction: Greenhouse tomato growers face the challenge of balancing fruit size and chemical quality traits. This study focused on elucidating the interplay between plant branching and light management on these traits, while maintaining consistent shoot density.

Methods: We evaluated one- and two-shoot plants under varying top light intensities using high-pressure sodium lamps and light-emitting diode (LED) inter-lighting.

The global biogeography of tree leaf form and habit.

Understanding what controls global leaf type variation in trees is crucial for comprehending their role in terrestrial ecosystems, including carbon, water and nutrient dynamics. Yet our understanding of the factors influencing forest leaf types remains incomplete, leaving us uncertain about the global proportions of needle-leaved, broadleaved, evergreen and deciduous trees. To address these gaps, we conducted a global, ground-sourced assessment of forest leaf-type variation by integrating forest inventory data with comprehensive leaf form (broadleaf vs needle-leaf) and habit (evergreen vs deciduous) records.

Distribution of PAHs, PCBs, and PCDD/Fs in products from full-scale relevant pyrolysis of diverse contaminated organic waste.

Biomass pyrolysis is the anoxic thermal conversion of biomass into a carbon rich, porous solid, often called biochar. This could be a better waste management alternative for contaminated organic wastes than incineration, due to the useful properties of biochar and potential for carbon sequestration. There are, however, concerns about the potential formation/destruction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs).

Secondary Metabolites and Their Role in Strawberry Defense.

Strawberry is a high-value commercial crop and a model for the economically important Rosaceae family. Strawberry is vulnerable to attack by many pathogens that can affect different parts of the plant, including the shoot, root, flowers, and berries. To restrict pathogen growth, strawberry produce a repertoire of secondary metabolites that have an important role in defense against diseases.

Assessing the sensitivity and resistance of communities in a changing environment.

We propose that the ecological resilience of communities to permanent changes of the environment can be based on how variation in the overall abundance of individuals affects the number of species. Community sensitivity is defined as the ratio between the rate of change in the log expected number of species and the rate of change in the log expected number of individuals in the community. High community sensitivity means that small changes in the total abundance strongly impact the number of species.

Real-Time Monitoring of Grazing Cattle Using LORA-WAN Sensors to Improve Precision in Detecting Animal Welfare Implications via Daily Distance Walked Metrics.

Animal welfare monitoring relies on sensor accuracy for detecting changes in animal well-being. We compared the distance calculations based on global positioning system (GPS) data alone or combined with motion data from triaxial accelerometers. The assessment involved static trackers placed outdoors or indoors vs.

Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions.

Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species. Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though they have the potential to transform ecosystems and economies. Here, leveraging global tree databases, we explore how the phylogenetic and functional diversity of native tree communities, human pressure and the environment influence the establishment of non-native tree species and the subsequent invasion severity.

Fungicide-Resistant in Forest Nurseries May Impact Disease Control in Norway Spruce.

Gray mold, caused by spp., is a serious problem in Norway spruce seedling production in forest nurseries. From 2013 to 2019, 125 isolates of were obtained from eight forest nurseries in Norway: 53 from Norway spruce seedlings, 16 from indoor air, 52 from indoor surfaces, and four from weeds growing close to seedlings.

The role of environmental stress in fruit pigmentation.

For many fruit crops, the colour of the fruit outwardly defines its eating quality. Fruit pigments provide reproductive advantage for the plant as well as providing protection against unfavourable environmental conditions and pathogens. For consumers these colours are considered attractive and provide many of the dietary benefits derived from fruits.

Genome analysis of strains associated with crown- and leather-rot in strawberry.

has two distinct pathotypes that cause crown rot and leather rot in strawberry ( × ). Strains of the crown rot pathotype can infect both the rhizome (crown) and fruit tissues, while strains of the leather rot pathotype can only infect the fruits of strawberry. The genome of a highly virulent crown rot strain, a low virulent crown rot strain, and three leather rot strains were sequenced using PacBio high fidelity (HiFi) long read sequencing.

Frequent export of pig slurry for outside storage reduced methane but not ammonia emissions in cold and warm seasons.

Manure management is a significant source of methane (CH) and ammonia (NH), and there is an urgent need for strategies to reduce these emissions. More frequent export of manure for outside storage can lower gaseous emissions from housing facilities, but the longer residence time may then increase emissions during outside storage. This study examined CH and NH emissions from liquid pig manure (pig slurry) removed from the in-house slurry collection pits at three different frequencies, i.

Twenty years of catchment monitoring highlights the predominant role of long-term phosphorus balances and soil phosphorus status in affecting phosphorus loss in livestock-intensive regions.

Livestock husbandry has raised enormous environmental concerns around the world, including water quality issues. Yet there is a need to document long-term water quality trends in livestock-intensive regions and reveal the drivers for the trends based on detailed catchment monitoring. Here, we assessed the concentration and load trends of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) in streamwater of a livestock-intensive catchment in southwestern Norway, based on continuous flow measurements and flow-proportional composite water sampling.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Novel Candidate Resistance Genes Involved in Defence against in Strawberry.

Crown rot, caused by , is a devastating disease of strawberry. While most commercial octoploid strawberry cultivars ( × Duch) are generally susceptible, the diploid species is a potential source of resistance genes to . We previously reported several genotypes with varying degrees of resistance to .

Entomophthoralean fungi overwinter with the bird cherry-oat aphid on bird cherry trees.

In Scandinavia, the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi overwinter as eggs on the bird cherry tree Prunus padus. Branches of P. padus were collected at the late February / early March from 17 locations in Norway over a three-year period.

Biocontrol-based strategies for improving soil health and managing plant-parasitic nematodes in coffee production.

Coffee is an important commodity for Kenya, where production is steadily declining, despite a global rise in demand. Of the various constraints affecting production, plant-parasitic nematodes are a significant, but often overlooked, threat. As a perennial crop, treating plantations once infected with nematodes becomes difficult.

Composition of Sugars, Organic Acids, Phenolic Compounds, and Volatile Organic Compounds in Lingonberries ( L.) at Five Ripening Stages.

Wild lingonberries are a traditional source of food in the Nordic countries and an important contributor to economic activity of non-wood forest products in the region. Lingonberries are a rich source of bioactive compounds and can be a valuable contributor to a healthy diet. However, there are few studies available on how the bioactive compounds in lingonberries develop as they ripen.

Culture adaptation for enhanced biogas production from birch wood applying stable carbon isotope analysis to monitor changes in the microbial community.

Birch wood is a potential feedstock for biogas production in Northern Europe; however, the lignocellulosic matrix is recalcitrant preventing efficient conversion to methane. To improve digestibility, birch wood was thermally pre-treated using steam explosion at 220 °C for 10 min. The steam-exploded birch wood (SEBW) was co-digested with cow manure for a period of 120 days in continuously fed CSTRs where the microbial community adapted to the SEBW feedstock.

Ecotoxicity attenuation by acid-resistant nanofiltration in scandium recovery from TiO production waste.

The lack of high-grade scandium (Sc) ores and recovery strategies has stimulated research on the exploitation of non-ore-related secondary sources that have great potential to safeguard the critical raw materials supply of the EU's economy. Waste materials may satisfy the growing global Sc demand, specifically residues from titanium dioxide (TiO) production. New technologies are being developed for the recovery of Sc from such residues; however, the possible environmental impacts of intermediary products and residues are usually not considered.