Can carbon offsetting pay for upland ecological restoration?

Upland peat soils represent a large terrestrial carbon store and as such have the potential to be either an ongoing net sink of carbon or a significant net source of carbon. In the UK many upland peats are managed for a range of purposes but these purposes have rarely included carbon stewardship. However, there is now an opportunity to consider whether management practices could be altered to enhance storage of carbon in upland peats. Further, there are now voluntary and regulated carbon trading schemes operational throughout Europe that mean stored carbon, if verified, could have an economic and tradeable value. This means that new income streams could become available for upland management. The ‘Sustainable Uplands’ RELU project has developed a model for calculating carbon fluxes from peat soils that covers all carbon uptake and release pathways (e.g. fluvial and gaseous pathways). The model has been developed so that the impact of common management options within UK upland peats can be considered. The model was run for a decade from 1997-2006 and applied to an area of 550 km² of upland peat soils in the Peak District. The study estimates that the region is presently a net sink of − 62 ktonnes CO₂ equivalent at an average export of − 136 tonnes CO₂ equivalent/km²/yr. If management interventions were targeted across the area the total sink could increase to − 160 ktonnes CO₂/yr at an average export of − 219 tonnes CO₂ equivalent/km²/yr. However, not all interventions resulted in a benefit; some resulted in increased losses of CO₂ equivalents. Given present costs of peatland restoration and value of carbon offsets, the study suggests that 51% of those areas, where a carbon benefit was estimated by modelling for targeted action of management interventions, would show a profit from carbon offsetting within 30 years. However, this percentage is very dependent upon the price of carbon used.     

Automatic quantification of changes in bone in serial MR images of joints

Recent innovations in drug therapies have made it highly desirable to obtain sensitive biomarkers of disease progression that can be used to quantify the performance of candidate disease modifying drugs. In order to measure potential image-based biomarkers of disease progression in an experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we present two different methods to automatically quantify changes in a bone in in-vivo serial magnetic resonance (MR) images from the model. Both methods are based on rigid and nonrigid image registration to perform the analysis. The first method uses segmentation propagation to delineate a bone from the serial MR images giving a global measure of temporal changes in bone volume. The second method uses rigid body registration to determine intensity change within a bone, and then maps these into a reference coordinate system using nonrigid registration. This gives a local measure of temporal changes in bone lesion volume. We detected significant temporal changes in local bone lesion volume in five out of eight identified candidate bone lesion regions, and significant difference in local bone lesion volume between male and female subjects in three out of eight candidate bone lesion regions. But the global bone volume was found to be fluctuating over time. Finally, we compare our findings with histology of the subjects and the manual segmentation of bone lesions.     

Status of Mysis diluviana in Lake Ontario in 2013: Lower abundance but higher fecundity than in the 1990s

Mysis diluviana is a major component of prey fish diets in the Great Lakes, so annual production of M. diluviana is important for understanding and modeling energy flow through Great Lakes food webs. However, only three lake-wide measurements of M. diluviana annual production in Lake Ontario are currently available (1971, 1990, 1995). During 2013, lake-wide coverage of Lake Ontario was achieved during four periods from April to November. Annual mean density and biomass of M. diluviana in 2013 were 99?#/m² (SE: 8) and 318?mg?dw/m² (SE: 28) – approximately half of values observed in 1990s. M. diluviana comprised 13–30% of offshore zooplankton biomass in each period. Reproduction peaked in fall, with mean brood size of 32 embryos (range: 11–49), at least 10% larger than in 1990s. Generation time was two years from embryo to initial reproduction. Growth rates were 0.052?mm/d for the age-0 cohort and 0.027?mm/d for the age-1 cohort. Age-0 growth rate was significantly higher than in 1980s–90s (0.035?mm/d). Annual production in 2013 was 0.85?g?dw/m²/yr (SE: 0.03) which was 30–40% of values observed in 1990 and 1995 (2.23 and 2.53?g/m²/yr). Annual production to biomass ratio (P/B) in 2013 was 2.65?/yr which was 80–85% of values observed in 1990 and 1995 (3.24 and 3.11?/yr), but this difference was not statistically significant. Our results suggest that changes in annual production over time can be estimated using changes in biomass over time and a mean P/B ratio.     

Measuring labor input on pasture-based dairy farms using a smartphone

With the cessation of milk quotas in the European Union, dairy herd sizes increased in some countries, including Ireland, with an associated increase in labor requirement. Second to feed costs, labor has been identified as one of the highest costs on pasture-based dairy farms. Compared with other European Union countries, Ireland has historically had low milk production per labor unit; thus, optimization of labor efficiency on farm should be addressed before or concurrently with herd expansion. The objective of this study was to quantify current levels of labor input and labor efficiency on commercial pasture-based dairy farms and to identify the facilities and management practices associated with increased labor efficiency. Thirty-eight dairy farms of varying herd sizes, previously identified as labor-efficient farms, were enrolled on the study and data were collected over 3 consecutive days each month over a 12-mo period, starting in May 2015 and finishing in August of 2016. This was achieved through the use of a smartphone application. For analysis purposes, farms were categorized into 1 of 3 herd size categories (HSC): farms with <150 cows (HSC 1), 150–249 cows (HSC 2), or ≥250 cows (HSC 3). Overall farm labor input increased with HSC with 3,015, 4,499, and 6,023 h worked on HSC 1, 2, and 3, respectively. A higher proportion of work was carried out by hired staff as herd size increased. Labor efficiency was measured as total hours input to the dairy enterprise divided by herd size. Labor efficiency improved as herd size increased above 250 cows with 17.3 h/cow per yr observed for HSC 3; labor efficiency was similar for HSC 1 and 2, at 23.8 and 23.3 h/cow per yr, respectively. A large range of efficiency was observed within HSC. The labor requirements had a distinct seasonal pattern across the 3 HSC with the highest input observed in springtime (February to April) primarily due to calving and calf-care duties, milking, and winter feeding. The lowest input was observed in wintertime (November to January) when cows were dry. Particular facilities and management practices were associated with efficiency within certain tasks, the most notable in regard to milking and winter feeding practices. Additionally, the most efficient farms used contractors to perform a higher proportion of machinery work on farm than the least efficient farms.     

Short communication: Risk factors for sonographically detectable udder edema in overbagged cows at dairy shows

At dairy cow shows, the appearance of the udder is very important. To show cows at their best, udders are often presented in an overbagged state by extending milking intervals before the show. This practice represents an animal welfare issue because it is associated with behavior changes (e.g., excessive abduction and decreased eating time) and may affect the health of the animal. The aim of the current study was to determine the association between various parameters (e.g., milk yield, days in milk, milking procedures, or administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, or diuretics) and the sonographically detectable udder edema score. Data were collected from the show catalogs, by interviewing the exhibitors, by analyzing official veterinary treatment protocols and official milking data, via laboratory analysis of blood samples, and by sonographic examinations of the udders at the show. For sonographically detectable udder edema scoring, 3 scans were taken, 1 on each fore quarter and 1 incorporating both rear quarters at the level of the median suspensory ligament. For grading the scans, a scoring system of 4 grades (score 0 = no edema, 1 = slight edema, 2 = moderate edema, 3 = severe edema) was used. Data from 321 cows of different breeds were collected at 4 highly competitive Swiss dairy shows (shows A–D) between January and September 2017. To determine risk factors for sonographically detectable udder edema, data were analyzed with 2 different logistic regression models. In model 1, the odds ratios were 3.33 (milking intervals of ≥16 h vs. <14 h), 3.84 (show A vs. show C), and 7.39 (dairy breeds vs. dual-purpose breeds). Milking intervals of dairy breeds were significantly higher than those of dual-purpose breeds. In model 2, milking interval was the only significant risk factor with an odds ratio of 9.00 for milking intervals of ≥16 h. Only the milking intervals represented a relevant risk factor in both models; therefore, we concluded that the previously described sonographic udder edema scoring is a useful technique for detecting overbagged udders at dairy shows. Its routine implementation may improve cow welfare at dairy shows.     

Visualization of dynamic fiber-matrix interfacial shear debonding

To visualize the debonding event in real time for the study of dynamic crack initiation and propagation at the fiber–matrix interface, a modified tension Kolsky bar was integrated with a high-speed synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast imaging setup. In the gage section, the pull-out configuration was utilized to understand the behavior of interfacial debonding between SC-15 epoxy matrix and S-2 glass fiber, tungsten wire, steel wire, and carbon fiber composite Z-pin at pull-out velocities of 2.5 and 5.0 m s^?1. The load history and images of the debonding progression were simultaneously recorded. Both S-2 glass fiber and Z-pin experienced catastrophic interfacial debonding whereas tungsten and steel wire experienced both catastrophic debonding and stick–slip behavior. Even though S-2 glass fiber and Z-pin samples exhibited a slight increase and tungsten and steel wire samples exhibited a slight decrease in average peak force and average interfacial shear stress as the pull-out velocities were increased, no statistical difference was found for most properties when the velocity was increased. Furthermore, the debonding behavior for each fiber material is similar with increasing pull-out velocity. Thus, the debonding mechanism, peak force, and interfacial shear stress were rate insensitive as the pull-out velocity doubled from 2.5 to 5.0 m s^?1. Scanning electron microscope imaging of recovered epoxy beads revealed a snap-back behavior around the meniscus region of the bead for S-2 glass, tungsten, and steel fiber materials at 5.0 m s^?1 whereas those at 2.5 m s^?1 exhibited no snap-back behavior.