Mountain Pastures Research Articles

Readings in Times of Crisis: New Interpretations of Stories about the Settlement of Iceland

Readings in Times of Crisis: New Interpretations of Stories about the Settlement of Iceland

Block­Module for the Surface Application of Biologies to Mountain Meadows and Pastures

It was shown that the constant use of mountain meadows and pastures leads to soil depletion and deterioration. Liquid microorganisms-based biologies are considered to contribute to the soil fertility restoration. It has been revealed that there is a lack of serial samples of small-sized maneuverable machines for small contour areas, which could superficially apply solutions of biologies to mountain meadows and pastures.Research purpose To develop and manufacture a laboratory model of the unit for the mountainous area based on the Feng Shou 180 mini-tractor, which could reduce the slope areas degradation processes.Materials and methods A laboratory sample of the machine has been substantiated and developed. Its design is adapted to work with degraded soils in the mountains with a slope of cultivated areas up to 15 degrees. The technology was tested in the mountainous zone of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania at an altitude of 1540 meters above sea level. A technical examination of a laboratory sample of a block module for biologies surface application was carried out according to the adopted standards.Results and discussion A block-module has been developed for biologies surface application to mountain meadows and pastures. It was identified that the unit laboratory sample complies with the agrotechnical requirements and the terms of reference. The following necessary parameters were calculated: tank capacity is 300 liters, application rate is 0.109 liters per second, pipeline diameter is 12 millimeters. It was determined that the use of the block-module increased the yield of perennial grasses in the mountain zone by 15-20 percent in one year, made it possible to strengthen the turf, which will prevent the development of water and wind erosion in the future.

Consumer Liking and Value Perception of Mountain Cheese from Different Pasture Periods: Evidence for Mountain Systems Supporting Policies

Every year, mountain pastures show a progressive impoverishment of forage. The loss in grassland feed value restricts the production period of local Pecorino cheeses, which strongly depend on the vegetative cycle of the pasture linked to climatic conditions. The Monte Fietone mountain area (Macerata, Italy) has emblematic pasture flora during spring and early summer. This unique environment is normally used for rearing sheep, allowing regular production of local Pecorino cheeses from their milk, which is rich in vitamins and intrinsic floral aromas. Biologists and agronomists are giving increasing importance to these mountain food products. We conducted sensorial tests and experimental auctions to investigate recognition of the quality of this rare artisanal product. The results indicate considerable potential for economic differentiation. Accordingly, we recommend useful and applicable marketing and policy actions to support the sustainability of mountain grazing systems.

Mountain pastures increase the resilience of livestock farming to extreme events in the Ariège department, France

Mountain pastures are embedded in highly sensitive mountain ecosystems and provide forage for livestock during summer. In years when forage in the lowlands becomes scarce due to over-grazing and land degradation, or climate-related extreme events such as droughts, increasing stocking densities or expanding grazed areas in mountain pastures provide an additional and cost-efficient forage source. Their utilization highly depends on the management decisions of farmers and practices on their own agricultural land. To predict future land use and concomitant ecological impacts, it is crucial to understand the complex interplay between the decisions of farmers as well as the socio-economic and climatic environment. To understand these interactions, we use the agent-based part of the SECLAND model to analyze the future systemic feedback between climate change, land owner’s decisions on land use, and land use change on agricultural land and mountain pastures in the department of Ariège, France. We develop three land use scenarios for a sustainability-driven, a business-as-usual, and a scenario driven by fossil-fueled economic growth. In all scenarios, 32–46% of farms cease to exist, while active farms intensify their land use. On mountain pastures, results show increasing stocking densities up to the maximum carrying capacity of 0.3 livestock units per hectare, especially under the scenario with strong climate change effects and increased extreme events. Additionally, these patterns are strongly shaped by farm succession, vegetation regrowth on unused mountain pastures, and the search for cost-efficient forage resources. Such high stocking densities on mountain pastures increase the pressure on the ecosystem through manure droppings and the introduction of alien microbes, calling for considerate management to avoid conflicting situations. Agent-based models such as that used in this study enable researchers to untangle the described complex interactions between grazing livestock, and the utilization of lowland and mountain pastures in European mountain agroecosystems.

Agro-climatic profiles of summer mountain pastures in the French Alps: towards a monitoring tool to contribute to climate risk assessment

Summer mountain pastures (also called alpages) are a central element for many agro-pastoral livestock systems in the alpine region, by providing the feedstock for herds during the summer transhumance. However, vegetation phenology and productivity in mountain pastures are increasingly affected by climate hazards exacerbated by climate change, such as early snow removal, late frost events, or droughts. Difficulties can then arise to match animal demand with forage resource on alpages and, in the long term, threaten the sustainable management of these highly multifunctional socio-ecological systems. To help agro-pastoral actors adapt, an essential step is to quantify the risk of impacts on the forage resource, due to an increased occurrence or intensity of climate hazards.Exposure to climate hazards on alpages is defined locally by topographic aspects in combination with the broader influence of the regional climate. Our work therefore aimed at providing a tailored assessment of potential climate risk for the forage resource at the individual scale of each alpage in the French Alps. To this end, we developed agro-climatic indicators based on atmospheric and snow cover data accounting for geographic and topographic conditions, and applied them to a database providing unique spatially explicit information at the alpage level.For the first time, we introduce a description of agro-climatic conditions and provide a classification of agro-climatic profiles of alpages in the French Alps, ranging from low to high potential risk for the forage resource, mainly following a North-South gradient combined with altitude. We also bring insights on the evolutions of the climate risk with climate change and discuss management implications for agro-pastoral livestock systems using alpages. We finally present a web-based visualization tool that aim at communicating agro-climatic profiles and their evolution to practitioners and at assisting decision makers in understanding climate-related risks on the alpages of the French Alps.

Whole-Genome Investigation of Salmonella Dublin Considering Mountain Pastures as Reservoirs in Southern Bavaria, Germany.

Worldwide, Salmonella Dublin (S. Dublin) is responsible for clinical disease in cattle and also in humans. In Southern Bavaria, Germany, the serovar was identified as a causative agent for 54 animal disease outbreaks in herds between 2017 and 2021. Most of these emerged from cattle herds (n = 50). Two occurred in pig farms and two in bovine herds other than cattle. Genomic analysis of 88 S. Dublin strains isolated during these animal disease outbreaks revealed 7 clusters with 3 different MLST-based sequence types and 16 subordinate cgMLST-based complex types. Antimicrobial susceptibility investigation revealed one resistant and three intermediate strains. Furthermore, only a few genes coding for bacterial virulence were found among the isolates. Genome analysis enables pathogen identification and antimicrobial susceptibility, serotyping, phylogeny, and follow-up traceback analysis. Mountain pastures turned out to be the most likely locations for transmission between cattle of different herd origins, as indicated by epidemiological data and genomic traceback analyses. In this context, S. Dublin shedding was also detected in asymptomatic herding dogs. Due to the high prevalence of S. Dublin in Upper Bavaria over the years, we suggest referring to this administrative region as “endemic”. Consequently, cattle should be screened for salmonellosis before and after mountain pasturing.

Historical distribution of the Garden Dormouse in Poland

The Garden Dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), is the rarest species of the Gliridae family in Central Europe. So far, information on the occurrence of this species in Poland is based mainly on historical data in the literature. The presence of the Garden Dormouse is additionally confused by the occurrence of the Forest Dormouse (Dryomys nitedula) of similar appearance. The range of both species overlap in Poland, and they have often been distinguished incorrectly. The aim of the research was to critically analyse the known localities of the Garden Dormouse in Poland, using both literature data and museum collections. The analysis of museum collections indicated errors in species identification, where specimens of the Forest Dormouse were usually described as a Garden Dormouse. New, previously unknown, localities have also been found. Most numerous in the collections are specimens from the vicinity of Babia Góra (Western Carpathians), where 5 individuals were caught in the early 1960s. Another occurrence of the Garden Dormouse in the Carpathians was recorded in Zakopane in the second half of the 19th century. Another region of the species’ occurrence is the area of Lusatia, in the lowland, western part of the country, where one specimen was found. The last specimen was found in Silesia in the first half of the 20th century. The remaining literature information should be considered uncertain. The last certain information about the occurrence of the Garden Dormouse in Poland comes from the 1960s from Zawoja (vicinity of Babia Góra) and since then, despite intensive searches in the 1970s and 1980s, this species has not been found in the localities where it was captured earlier. There have been significant changes in the landscape in the areas where the species historically occurred. The mosaic of mountain pastures, arable fields and small spruce forests, constituting a favourable habitat for the Garden Dormouse, has been replaced by beech forests, which are currently dominated by the Edible Dormouse (Glis glis).

Thinning the thickets: Foraging of hardy cattle, sheep and goats in green alder shrubs

Abstract Green alder shrubs Alnus viridis increasingly overgrow European mountain pastures but hinder natural forest succession. This nitrogen‐fixing, autochthonous invasive species has numerous negative effects including the loss of biodiversity and landscape aesthetic, eutrophication of soils and downstream waters, and greenhouse gas emission. Over centuries, A. viridis encroachment was impeded by grazing livestock, particularly goats. However, in modern agriculture, livestock numbers decreased on remote mountain pastures and goat farming became unprofitable. A grazing experiment tested if hardy breeds of the more economically attractive livestock species, cattle and sheep can replace goats as A. viridis antagonists. On a subalpine pasture heavily encroached by A. viridis, space use and debarking (bark foraging) by Dexter cattle, Engadine sheep and Pfauen goats were analysed using GPS tracking and vegetation mapping. Dexter cattle used space least evenly (Camargo evenness: cattle = 0.39; sheep = 0.52; and goats = 0.47) and preferred flat slopes and open pastures. They spent least time foraging in A. viridis stands (relative presence while foraging: cattle = 0.55; sheep = 0.76; and goats = 0.80). Dexter cattle did not debark any A. viridis, but damaged shrubs by trampling. Engadine sheep visited A. viridis stands nearly as often as goats, but preferred flat slopes, short vegetation and shrub edges more clearly than goats. This sheep breed debarked significantly more A. viridis branches (average 244 branches per paddock; 7.4% of all A. viridis branches) than goats (45; 0.8%). Goats preferred mountain‐ash shrubs Sorbus aucuparia covering only 2% of the shrub layer. Synthesis and applications. Green alder shrubs, controlled by goats traditionally, overgrow valuable mountain pasture ecosystems today. Cattle, kept instead of goats, may slow down but not hinder shrub encroachment, because they avoid shrub stands and do not debark green alder. However, this study is the first to show that Engadine sheep are even better suited for green alder clearance than goats. Moreover, if management goals include forest re‐establishment, Engadine sheep outperform goats, because they debark green alder (which hinders forest regeneration), but do not destroy elderberry—a valuable forest pioneer. Hardy breeds are an important tool to maintain biodiverse, open pastures, restore natural mountain forests and mitigate the negative environmental effects of shrub encroachment.

Locomotion behavior of dairy cows on traditional summer mountain farms in comparison with modern cubiclehousing without access to pasture.

Pasture based systems enable cattle to express their natural behavior and are thus expected to provide better welfare than the majority of confinement systems. The aim of this study was to objectively measure locomotion activity of healthy dairy cattle kept on mountain pastures (n = 44) compared with cows kept in cubicle housing systems (n = 38). Selected cows were equipped with a validated 3D-accelerometer on one hind limb, and locomotion behavior was recorded for 48 hours. The 1-hour summaries of the variables lying time, walking time, standing bouts, walking bouts and number of strides were summed up to 24-hour summaries, and the means of the stride distance and stride duration were weighted by the variable number of strides. Mountain pasture cows had higher locomotor activity levels in comparison to cubicle cows. Mountain pasture cows spent less time lying down (528.1±109.5 min/day vs. 693.3±73.8 min/day; P<0.0001) and more time walking (75.6±25.9 min/day vs. 38.8±15.8 min/day; P <0.0001) than cubicle cows. Lying bout duration was longer in cubicle than in mountain pasture cows (90.9± 15.2 min/bout vs. 74.2 ± 21.1 min/bout; P = 0.0001), whilst the number of walking bouts was higher in mountain pasture cows than cubicle cows (199.1 ± 49.1 vs. 123.8 ± 43.8 bouts per day; P < 0.001). Likewise, the number of strides was higher in mountain pasture cows than cubicle cows (2040.5 ± 825.3 vs. 916.7 ± 408.6; P < 0.001). Mountain pasture cows had shorter stride duration (P < 0.0001) and shorter strides (P = 0.0002) than cubicle cows (1.8 ± 0.1 s/stride vs 2 ± 0.2 s/stride and 126.3 ± 18.1 vs 142.1 ± 17.8 m/stride, respectively). In summary, cows kept on mountain pasture were more active and spent longer than 12 hours / day standing. Lying markedly less than 12 hours per day seems to represent the normal behavior of pastured cows searching for fresh grass. This does not cause any obvious damage to the locomotor system as claws of cattle are well adapted to long periods of movement on mountain pastures.

젖소 사육환경과 영양조성에 대한 마케팅 정보가 치즈 선호도에 미치는 영향

The taste preference for cheese is primarily dependent on an individual’s habitual experience, such as personal memories since childhood. Cheese is not a traditional food in Korea, and therefore, the liking of cheese is acquired mainly through the exposure to European natural cheese by frequent travels rather than habitual experience. Although Korean dairy farms started the production of European style natural cheese because of surplus milk undulation, yet its demand has been consistently increasing in the last decade. Most of the mountain cheese variety in Europe are produced during the summer season on mountain pastures, especially in countries surrounded by the Alps. Nevertheless, not only consumers but also mountain cheese producers cannot comprehensively explain the differences in the nutritional properties of the milk from cows that grazed on mountain pasture and cows that were raised indoors. As the demand for cheese consumption is steadily increasing in Korea, it is necessary to study the effects of providing marketing information regarding the health conditions and rearing system of dairy cows in relation to the nutritional composition of cheese. In addition to the marketing focus on health-promoting unsaturated fatty acid composition of milk and cheese, the relationship between providing the marketing information on the raising environments of cows and the overall liking of mountain cheese were also investigated.

Distribution of Salers cows in contrasting rangeland pastures relative to established slope and water guidelines

Topographical constraints, particularly steep slopes and far distances to water, have persistently challenged livestock distribution globally. Information gained from global positioning system (GPS) tracking devices have accelerated knowledge of cattle (Bos taurus) use of complex topography to potentially challenge established guidelines. In northern Wyoming, USA, we deployed 5 GPS collars on multiparous Salers cows with calves from July to November 2018–2019. Cattle rotated between 2 contrasting rangeland pastures: the Basin pasture (Foothills Shrublands and Low Mountains ecoregion; mean slope of 17.7% (range: 0.87–111.01%)) and Mountain pasture (transitioning to Absaroka-Gallatin Volcanic Mountain ecoregion; mean slope of 24.4% (range: 0.26–125.11%)). We estimated mean and maximum slope use and distances from water, along with daily distances traveled for each GPS-collared cow per pasture per year. We also generated utilization distributions with Brownian bridge movement models to compare mean slope and distances to water among quartiles of predicted use, and compared stocking rate adjustments per pasture between standard and GPS location derived methods. Mean daily distance traveled was 5126.5 km and 5011.6 km in the Basin and Mountain pastures, respectively, and average distance to water was <1.65 km. Cattle use was concentrated on gentler slopes than the average slope of the pasture. Mean and maximum slope use was 17.5% (9.9°) and 68.2% (34.3°) respectively in the Basin pasture and 8.9% (5.1°) and 57.1% (29.7°) in the Basin pasture. Compared to standard methods, GPS-derived grazeable area calculations suggested that there was less grazeable area in the Basin pasture but more in the Mountain pasture. Our results indicate that cattle adapted to mountainous terrain may challenge established guidelines for slope use, but not for distance to water. Such information could influence grazeable area calculations, stocking rates, and water development.

УСТРОЙСТВО ДЛЯ ПОВЫШЕНИЯ ПРОДУКТИВНОСТИ ЛУГОВ И ПАСТБИЩ ГОРНОЙ ЗОНЫ

Due to the lack of serial samples of small-sized maneuverable machines capable of the surface application of biological product solutions to degraded mountain meadows and pastures, the authors developed a laboratory sample of the block module based on the Fenshaw-180 minitractor and offered the technology of introducing biological products by the developed unit, specified the design of its working parts and units, taking into account agrotechnical requirements. At the next stage, they carried out commissioning and adjustment work, bench and field tests of the block module. For testing, a site typical of the soil-climatic zone was selected that meets the requirements of the technical assignment, technical specifications for manufacturing, and agrotechnical requirements for the prototype. Tuning and adjustment, bench and field tests of the block module were then carried out. For testing, a typical site for the soil-climatic zone was selected that meets the requirements of the technical assignment, technical specifications for manufacturing and agrotechnical requirements for a prototype. The technology was tested in the mountainous zone of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (the Dargavs basin, the SKNIIGPSKh base) at an altitude of 1540 m above sea level with a southeastern exposure and a slope steepness of up to 15°. The laboratory sample of the unit complies with the agrotechnical requirements and the terms of reference. Surface application of biological preparations was carried out according to the application rates. Studies have established an increase in the yearly yield of perennial grasses by 15…20% and strengthening of the turf, which prevents the development of water and wind erosion in a mountain zone with degraded soils. The authors conclude that it is expedient to use the developed block-module in mountain meadows and pastures with a slope of up to 15°.

УЛУЧШЕНИЕ ДЕГРАДИРОВАННЫХ ГОРНЫХ СКЛОНОВ МЕТОДОМ ДИСКОВАНИЯ

Lack of small-sized maneuverable serial discator samples for shallow contour areas of mountain meadows and pastures contributed to the development of mini-discator sample to operate on mountain slopes on soils of diff erent texture. The authors analized the constructive parameters of working elements - discs (the distance between adjacent discs, the curvature radius of discs, and the disc diameter) and their location on the frame of a mini-discator. Based on the Feng Shou-180 mini-tractor, they developed a laboratory prototype of a small-sized modular unit of a mini-discator for soil cultivation (discing). The machine is applicable to soils of diff erent mechanical composition located in the mountain zone of the North Caucasus on the hillside areas of forage lands with a slope of up to 12°. The designed laboratory prototype of a mini-discator is a hinged construction with single-row arrangement of nine spherical disks mounted on individual racks at an angle to the movement axis. There is a device to prevent clogging of the cutting discs and a device to adjust the pressure on the ground. The machine can also be fi tted with press rollers. The design can be switched from the right-left-hand to left-right-hand slope operation when turning. The technical tests of the laboratory prototype were carried out at the SKNIIGPSKH mountain facilities in the village of Dargavs, RNO-Alania, at the altitude of 1540 m above sea level and a slope inclination of up to 15°. The performance tests of the laboratory sample modular unit of the mounted mini-discator for meadow and pasture soil treatment in the mountain zone and technical examination of the scientifi c documentation were carried out in accordance with GOST 33687-2016 and GOST 33687-2015. The developed and manufactured laboratory sample gives prerequisites for designing a serial sample of the machine. The application of the modular unit of the minidiscator will ensure the reduction of degradation processes of sloping areas, increase the yield of forage lands, enhance the resistance to water and wind erosion, and increase the environmental sustainability and effi ciency of grassland farming.

Humus of the brown soils of the mountain pastures of Uzbekistan

The aim of the study: assessment of humus content and its distribution in the profile of brown soils of mountain pastures in Uzbekistan. Location and time of the study. Soil pits were cut in the Republic of Uzbekistan in seven agricultural regions, widely used in agriculture: Tashkent region, Bustonlik district; Jizzakh region, Zomin district; Samarkand region, Nurabad district; Navoi region, Nurata district; Kashkadarya region, Kitab district; Surkhandarya region, Sherabad district; Namangan region, Papal district. The study was carried out in 2019-2021. Methods. Field studies, sampling and sample preparation were carried out in accordance with the generally accepted methods: soil organic carbon content was measured by bichromate digestion, carbonate content was determined by acidimetric method and soil inorganic carbon content was calculated by subtracting from the total content of carbonates. Silty fractions were isolated by centrifugation. Humus differentiation into reserves and their estimation was carried out according to the method proposed by one of the authors. Main results. The studied brown soils of mountain pastures of Uzbekistan are characterized by loamy granulometric composition, with a clay fraction not exceeding 20%. The content of carbonates is low (2.5–9%), with the maximum amount in the carbonate horizon. Soils are slightly leached. The total humus content in the upper horizon varies from 1% to 6.6%. The dependence of soil humus content on the slope exposure was noted: the soils of the more humid northern and western slopes contain more humus than the southern and eastern ones. In addition, the humus content is significantly affected by erosion. To assess the nature of changes in the organic matter of the brown soils during their agricultural use, humus of the near, labile and potential reserves (as percentage of the total content) was isolated for the first time. It was revealed that humus of potential reserve prevails in soils (35.5-90%). Its vertical distribution is characterized by a sharp decrease in the sub-humus part, while the humus of the near and labile reserves is distributed evenly in the profile, without a pronounced dependence on external conditions and the degree of disturbance. The proportion of insoluble organic substances in the total humus content ranged from 0.39 to 86%, of sparingly soluble organic substances - from 3 to 100%. There is a relationship between the amount of sparingly soluble and insoluble organic matter in the upper horizon and the degree of soil erosion. Conclusion. The distribution of humus and its reserves in the brown soils of the mountain pastures of Uzbekistan is uneven and strongly affected by erosion. The loss of near and labile humus reserves leads to a decrease in the content of total humus. Further study of humus features, humus accumulation and restoration in brown soils is important for the development of recommendations for the rational use, anti-erosion protection and increasing the productivity of mountain pastures in Uzbekistan.

Фосфор коричневих ґрунтів гірських пасовищ Узбекистану

The aim of this work is to assess the content and distribution of phosphorus in the profile of brown soils (Cambisols, Kastanozems, Leptosols) of the mountain pastures of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Soil incisions laid 7 agricultural areas of the country. Field research, sampling and analytical work were performed in 2019–2021. The list of indicators under study includes the degree of soil erodation, the general content of humus, the content of the clay fraction, the general content of phosphorus and the content of the movable phosphorus in the selected clay fraction and in the soil. A detailed division of phosphorus into reserves and their calculation according to the methodology of calculations of reserves of nutrition elements according to N.I. Gorbunov (1978). The studied mountain brown soils are characterized by a loamy granulometric composition, nutty-cloddy structure, a slightly acidic or slightly alkaline reaction. The total humus content in the upper horizon varies from 1.0 to 6.8 %. The proportion of the clay fraction is from 2.9 to 18.3 %. The content of phosphorus in the clay fractions is 2–3 times higher than in the soil as a whole and the maximum is 0.558 %. The phosphorus reserves was allocated – close, immediate and potential. Fluctuations in the content of phosphorus reserves in the humus horizon were revealed: immediate from 6 to 26 %, near - from 7 to 19 %, potential, dominant in the total content of 68 to 80%. In the humus horizon, an insoluble form of phosphorus occurs, which increases the resistance of soils to water erosion due to the formation of water resistance structures. Uneven distribution of phosphorus and its reserves in brown soils on the mountain pastures of Uzbekistan, both in the soil profile and the regions of the country, is stated, which is affected by the relief, exposure of slopes, the features of soil -forming rocks, atmospheric precipitation, hydrothermal conditions, and the period of biological activity of soils. The losses of the near and direct reserves of the humus lead to a decrease in the total content of the phosphorus as a whole.

Macro - and Microorganisms of Animals (Helminths and Bacteria) as Indicators of the Degree of Sanitary Pollution of Soil and Water of Mountain Pastures of the North Caucasus

Macro - and Microorganisms of Animals (Helminths and Bacteria) as Indicators of the Degree of Sanitary Pollution of Soil and Water of Mountain Pastures of the North Caucasus

Sedimentological and paleontological analysis of the Lower Jurassic part of the Zatrnik Formation on the Pokljuka plateau, Slovenia

The uppermost Ladinian to Lower Jurassic Zatrnik Formation is the lithostratigraphic unit of the Mesozoic deeper marine Bled Basin. The uppermost part of the Zatrnik Formation and the transition into the overlying Ribnica Breccia was logged at the Zajamniki mountain pasture on the Pokljuka mountain plateau in the Julian Alps. The lowermost part the section belongs to the “classical” Zatrnik Formation and is dominated by beige micritic limestone and fine-grained calcarenite. Foraminifers Siphovalvulina, ?Everticyclammina, ?Mesoendothyra and ?Pseudopfenderina are present, indicating Early Jurassic age. The beige limestone is followed by light pink limestone of the uppermost Zatrnik Formation. Slumps are common in this interval, and crinoids are abundant. Alongside some species already present in beds lower in the succession, Meandrovoluta asiagoensis Fugagnoli &amp; Rettori, Trocholina sp., Valvulinidae, small Textulariidae, Lagenida, and small ?Ophthalmidium also occur in this interval. Resedimented limestone predominates through the studied part of the Zatrnik Formation, indicating deposition on the slope or at the foot of the slope of the basin. The switch to crinoid-rich facies within the slumped interval of the Zatrnik Formation may reflect accelerated subsidence of the margins of the Julian Carbonate Platform in the Pliensbachian. The Zatrnik Formation is followed by the formation of the Pliensbachian (?) Ribnica Breccia. Impregnations of ferromanganese oxides, violet colour, and an increase in clay content are characteristic. The foraminiferal assemblage consists of Lenticulina, small elongated Lagenida, and epistominids. Individual beds of the Ribnica Breccia were deposited via debris flows. Enrichments in ferromanganese oxides point to slower sedimentation.

Fatty acid and terpenoid profile: A signature of mountain milk

The aim of this work was to verify the suitability of terpenoids and fatty acid composition to authenticate the altitude of milk production. Milk originating from lowland (L1), mountain (M1) and alpine pasture (H1 and H2) in the Aosta Valley (Northwest Italy), during the month of June, was collected at a cheese factory. The M1, H1, and H2 milk is characterised by a high content of α-linolenic, vaccenic acid and conjugated linoleic fatty acids, compared with milk from lowland pastures. Terpenoid profiles changed with altitude of grazing. The leave-one-out cross-validation, using altitude of grazing as a grouping, and C14:0 iso, anteisoC17:0, C18:1 trans-11, C18:2 trans-9, trans-12 and cis-ocimene as discriminant variables, gave a correct classification rates of 98% of milk samples to origin of production.

Prevalence of Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis, Associated Risk Factors and Spatial Distribution in Spanish Beef Cattle Based on Veterinary Laboratory Database Records.

Bovine genital campylobacteriosis (BGC) is a sexually transmitted disease that causes early reproductive failure in natural breeding cattle that are managed extensively. The aim of this study was to assess the BGC prevalence in Spain from 2011 to 2019 using data collected cross-sectionally from the diagnostic reports issued by the SALUVET veterinary diagnostic laboratory from a total of 5,182 breeding bulls from 1,950 herds managed under “dehesa” systems (large herds within fenced pastures and all-year breeding season) or mountain systems (smaller herds with seasonal breeding management and grazing in communal mountain pastures). Infection was detected by PCR in 7.7 and 12.2% of the bulls and herds tested, respectively. The “dehesa” herd management system (OR = 2.078, P = < 0.001, 95% CI = 1.55–1.77), bovine trichomonosis status of the herd (OR = 1.606, P = 0.004, 95% CI = 1.15–2.22), and bulls ≥3 years old (OR = 1.392, P = 0.04, 95% CI = 1.01–1.92) were identified as risk factors associated with Campylobacter fetus venerealis infection. We also studied the high-risk areas for circulation of the infection in extensive beef cattle herds in Spain, showing four significant clusters in “dehesa” areas in the south-western provinces of the country and a fifth cluster located in a mountain area in northern Spain. The results obtained in the present study indicate that BGC is endemic and widely distributed in Spanish beef herds. Specifically, “dehesa” herds are at greater risk for introduction of Cfv based on relatively high local prevalence of the infection and the use of specific management practices.

Agrolandscapes of the East Sayan Mountain Province of Eastern Siberia and the Far East of Russian

According to the data of the agro-landscape and ecological zoning of Eastern Siberia and the Far East, conducted by the authors, the spatial distribution of biological and ecological patterns in the East Sayan Mountain province was established. The province is located in the Eastern Sayan mountain system within the Southern Taiga zone. Its area is 17022.5 thousand hectares. Mountains occupy 76% of the province’s territory, plains – 24%. In the structure of land forests occupy more than 68% of the area of the province . Other land (mainly rocks and glaciers) occupies 20%. Under water is 3.4% of the area, swamps occupy 2.8%. Shrubs occupy less than 1%, mountain deer pastures – 0.8% of the area of the province. Agricultural land occupies 4.5% of the total area of the province. Including arable land – 0.9%, pastures – 2.6%, hayfields – 1%. The structure of natural forage lands (NFL) is dominated by mountain pastures on mountain soils (76%). The plains and foothills of the province are dominated by dry southern taiga meadows (13%). Floodplain meadows (5%) and swampy meadows (5%) are also represented. The ecological state of the province’s landscapes is good and satisfactory. In particular, NFL – good and satisfactory, forests – good and satisfactory, mountain deer pastures – good. The ecological state of arable land is tense. The established patterns are the necessary information basis for the development and implementation of innovative technologies for sustainable agricultural development, rational nature management and environmental protection in the East Sayan Mountain Province of Eastern Siberia and the Far East.