Availability Of Food Types Research Articles

Development and Validation of a Farmers' Market Audit Tool in Rural and Urban Communities.

The number of farmers' markets in the United States is growing. Although there are tools to analyze food availability at grocery stores, corner stores, and convenience stores, little research exists about the availability of food types at farmers' markets. This research developed an audit tool to measure the food environment at farmers' markets in rural and urban food environments and examined its psychometric properties, including face validity, interrater reliability, and discriminant validity. The Farmers' Market Audit Tool was reviewed by content experts, revised, and then tested in six farmers' markets by researchers across three states in 2013, including Kentucky, North Carolina, and Montana. Seven food categories were developed, including vegetables, fruits, meats, cheeses, eggs, grains, and samples. Interrater reliability was high within farmers' market across states. As expected, discriminant validity indicated a systematic disagreement within and between states due to seasonality and ability to grow different types of food across different farmers' markets. The total scores assessing the healthfulness of each farmers' market was 38 (range = 28-50). Using the Farmers' Market Audit Tool at farmers' markets is a reliable and valid method to capture the availability of food offerings.

Seasonal diet of black-backed jackal in the Eastern Karoo, South Africa

The ability of small canids to consume a variety of resources in an opportunistic manner has been cited as a reason for their wide distribution across many habitats. Black-backed jackals Canis mesomelas have varied diets that reflect changes in food availability as a result of seasonal fluctuations in resources. Seasonal fluctuations can include variations in food type availability, as well as variations in the phenology of food resources (i.e. ungulate birth peaks). Additionally, the presence of apex predators can affect opportunistic predator diets through the provision of carrion. We investigated the diet of black-backed jackals on a reserve in the semi-arid Karoo, South Africa. Ungulates (>5 kg) were the dominant prey item across all seasons, reflecting either active predation or scavenging. Most seasonal comparisons in percent occurrence of prey groups revealed significant seasonal fluctuations in black-backed jackal diet. However, in terms of biomass consumed, the diet remained stable, dominated by small ungulates across all seasons with no clear seasonal change in ungulate composition. These results suggest that in this study black-backed jackals, although being opportunistic in terms of diet composition, had a seasonally stable food resource, most likely facilitated by the presence of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus providing scavenging opportunities.

Ranging patterns of François’ langur in a fragmented habitat in Fusui Reserve, Guangxi Province, China

Studies of animal ranging patterns and the influencing ecological factors are useful for understanding the relationship between aspects of animal behavior and ecology. In a year-long study, we investigated the ranging behavior and other determining factors for a group of François’ langur in an isolated habitat of approximately 25.7 ha in Fusui Reserve, China. The François’ langur home range was estimated to be 15.3 ha, covering ∼60% of their total habitat. The mean yearly day range length estimate was 802.5 m (SD=295.5 m). Langurs changed sleeping sites approximately every 3 days, resulting in increases in the amount of grid cells used and the range length. Food availability of flowers and fruits were seasonal, whereas both mature and immature leaves of most trees were perennial. Ranging behavior was not significantly correlated with the availability of mature leaves, immature leaves, buds, fruits (ripe and unripe fruits) or seeds (p>0.05). These results suggested that variations in food type availability were not factors influencing ranging behavior for this langur group, whereas sleeping site changes, and probably predation avoidance, are factors that influence the ranging patterns of the langur group.

Time allocation of bison in meadow patches driven by potential energy gains and group size dynamics

Understanding the behavioural mechanisms involved in broad‐scale spatial organisation of grazing herbivores requires uncovering the factors controlling foraging decisions, such as patch residency time. Foraging theory specifies that rate maximizers must simultaneously consider both the optimal residency time in a food patch and the optimal diet. Specifically, resource depletion or spatial variation in food type availability should not influence food choice, but only patch residency time. Few studies, however, have tested these principles together, and none on free‐ranging large herbivores. We evaluated the combined effects of forage characteristics, predation risk, and group size on residency time by free‐ranging bisonBison bisonin summer. We hypothesized that residency time in meadows would increase with the availability ofCarex atherodes, a highly profitable plant species maximizing energy intake rate, but decrease with sward complexity (i.e. plant species composition and structure) within foraging stations. We also anticipated that predation risk and group size would influence the relationship between vegetation characteristics and residency time. Residency times were measured in 44 sites using cameras located at meadow edges. We determined that residency time in meadows varied with meadow area, group size, biomass ofC. atherodesavailable on the area, and proportion ofC. atherodeswithin foraging stations. We found that the likelihood of departure decreased with an increase in the total biomass ofC. atherodesavailable over the meadow, an effect attenuated by an increase in group size. Residency time in meadows was also influenced by plant species composition, with higher accessibility ofC. atherodeswithin feeding stations increasing residency time. We found little evidence, however, that sward structure and predation risk influenced residency time. Overall, our study demonstrated that the search for rapid energy gains, together with the constraints imposed by group living, can explain time allocation in habitat patches by large gregarious herbivores.

Integrating hearing loss was a complex and dynamic process for patients

<h3>Objectives</h3> The aim of this study was to characterise the local foods and beverages sold and advertised in three deprived urban African neighbourhoods. <h3>Design</h3> Cross-sectional observational study. We undertook an...