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AbstractAimAgriculture is one of the greatest pressures on biodiversity. Regional studies have shown that the presence of natural habitat and landscape heterogeneity are beneficial for biodiversity in agriculture, but it remains unclear whether their importance varies geographically. Here, we use local biodiversity data to determine which local and landscape variables are most associated with biodiversity patterns and whether their association varies between tropical and non‐tropical regions.LocationGlobal terrestrial area in forest biomes.Major taxa studiedMore than 21,000 species of vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and other taxa.MethodsWe used generalized linear mixed‐effects models to analyse the relationships between either community total abundance or species richness (derived from the PREDICTS database) and a number of site‐level (predominant land use and land‐use intensity) and landscape‐level variables (distance to forest, the percentage of natural habitat in the surrounding landscape, landscape homogeneity, the number of land‐cover types in the landscape, and total fertilizer application). We compared the associations of these variables with biodiversity in tropical and non‐tropical regions.ResultsIn most cases, changes in biodiversity associated with landscape‐level variables were greater than those associated with local land use and land‐use intensity. Increased natural habitat availability was associated with the most consistent increases in biodiversity. Landscape homogeneity was also important but showed different directions of biodiversity change between regions. Associations with fertilizer application or the number of land‐cover types were generally weaker, although still of greater magnitude than for the local land‐use measures.Main conclusionsOur results highlight similarities and differences in the association of local‐ and landscape‐scale variables with local biodiversity in tropical and non‐tropical regions. Landscape natural habitat availability had a consistent positive association with biodiversity, highlighting the key role of landscape management in the maintenance of biodiversity in croplands. Landscape‐scale variables were almost always associated with greater changes in biodiversity than the local‐scale measures.

This article reports upon research on vegan transition, which I bring into dialogue with Sara Ahmed’s figure of the killjoy. Ahmed’s work on affect and the feminist killjoy is found to be apt for considering contemporary vegans and their transgression of normative scripts of happiness and commensality in a dominant meat and dairy consuming culture. The decentring of joy and happiness is also found to be integral to the critical deconstructive work of the vegan killjoy. Ahmed’s ideas further complement the frame of practice theory that I draw upon to understand the process of transition especially in the sense of opposing the meanings of dominant practices. Although food and veganism are not commented upon by Ahmed, the vegan subject constitutes, I argue, a potent further example of what she terms an “affect alien” who must willfully struggle against a dominant affective order and community. Drawing upon interviews with 40 vegans based in the UK, I illustrate examples of contestation and negotiation by vegans and those close to them. The article finds in the figure of the killjoy not only a frame by which to partly understand the negotiation of relationships between vegans and non-vegans but also an opportunity for further intersectional labour between veganism and feminism.

Sustainable food supply has gained considerable consumer concern due to the high percentage of spoilage microorganisms. Food industries need to expand advanced technologies that can maintain the nutritive content of foods, enhance the bio-availability of bioactive compounds, provide environmental and economic sustainability, and fulfill consumers’ requirements of sensory characteristics. Heat treatment negatively affects food samples’ nutritional and sensory properties as bioactives are sensitive to high-temperature processing. The need arises for non-thermal processes to reduce food losses, and sustainable developments in preservation, nutritional security, and food safety are crucial parameters for the upcoming era. Non-thermal processes have been successfully approved because they increase food quality, reduce water utilization, decrease emissions, improve energy efficiency, assure clean labeling, and utilize by-products from waste food. These processes include pulsed electric field (PEF), sonication, high-pressure processing (HPP), cold plasma, and pulsed light. This review describes the use of HPP in various processes for sustainable food processing. The influence of this technique on microbial, physicochemical, and nutritional properties of foods for sustainable food supply is discussed. This approach also emphasizes the limitations of this emerging technique. HPP has been successfully analyzed to meet the global requirements. A limited global food source must have a balanced approach to the raw content, water, energy, and nutrient content. HPP showed positive results in reducing microbial spoilage and, at the same time, retains the nutritional value. HPP technology meets the essential requirements for sustainable and clean labeled food production. It requires limited resources to produce nutritionally suitable foods for consumers’ health.

Cassava utilisation in Malawi is negatively affected by rapid deterioration of fresh roots, primarily caused by postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD). A study was conducted to assess farmers’ knowledge and approaches used to minimize losses from PPD. Multi-stage sampling was used to identify districts, Extension Planning Areas (EPA’s) and farmers. Data were collected from 519 farmers using a structured questionnaire. Results revealed that PPD (74.0%) was the major post-harvest constraint followed by pests and diseases (62.1%). Farmers had varying knowledge levels on signs and causes of PPD. They were knowledgeable on PPD signs with 91.5% ably identifying PPD through change of pulp colour. The farmers also had moderate knowledge on causes of PPD, citing high temperature (57.6%) and over-staying of roots (56.2%) as main causes of PPD. Key methods for preventing PPD are: storage (43.0%) and piece-meal harvesting (40.4%). Only 2.6% of the farmers exploited varietal difference in dealing with PPD as some varieties (Sauti, Mpuma, Ching’amba, and Kalasa) take three to five days before showing PPD signs. Farmers’ knowledge levels and PPD preventive methods could be strengthened through: provision of training on post-harvest handling, improvement in storage and processing technologies; and application of advanced breeding techniques to exploit genetic variation in cassava germplasm.

Differences in bacterial community composition (BCC) between bulk and rhizosphere soil and between rhizospheres of different plant species are assumed to be strongly governed by quantitative and qualitative rhizodeposit differences. However, data on the relationship between rhizodeposit amounts and BCC are lacking. Other soil microorganisms, e.g. arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), may also influence BCC. We simulated foliar herbivory (cutting) to reduce belowground carbon allocation and rhizodeposition of pea plants grown either with or without AMF. This reduced soil respiration, rhizosphere microbial biomass and bacteriovorous protozoan abundance, whereas none of these were affected by AMF. After labelling plants with (13)CO(2), root and rhizosphere soil (13)C enrichment of cut plants were reduced to a higher extent (24-46%) than shoot (13)C enrichment (10-24%). AMF did not affect (13)C enrichment. Despite these clear indications of reduced rhizosphere carbon-input, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA genes PCR-amplified targeting DNA and RNA from rhizosphere soil did not reveal any effects of cutting on banding patterns. In contrast, AMF induced consistent differences in both DNA- and RNA-based DGGE profiles. These results show that a reduction in rhizosphere microbial activity is not necessarily accompanied by changes in BCC, whereas AMF presence inhibits proliferation of some bacterial taxa while stimulating others.

In the United States, today’s ranches are engaging in small-scale nature-based endeavors to diversify their income base. But the geographic boundary of the land they own creates a relatively small area within which to operate, and fragmented ownership diminishes the ability of any single landowner to produce nature-based income. Collective action among nearby landowners can produce a set of resources from which all members of the group can profit. Such action can enhance the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of grasslands and the populations that use them. This article shows that common-interest communities can be used to provide and allocate wildlife and other resources on ranchlands, enabling individual landowners to generate more income from selling nature-based experiences to customers. Common-interest communities are familiar in urban settings but they have not yet been used in this setting. Thus, the article proposes a new approach to ranchland management based upon a familiar set of largely private legal arrangements. More broadly, the article illustrates the relevance of private law and private property to sustainable development by explaining how property owners can use private law to engage in environmentally beneficial and economically profitable enterprises on the vast privately owned landscape of the U.S. Great Plains.

Phosphogypsum (PG) is the solid waste product of phosphate fertilizer production and is characterized by high concentrations of salts, heavy metals, and certain natural radionuclides. The work reported in this paper examined the influence of PG amendment on soil physicochemical proprieties, along with its potential impact on several physiological traits of sunflower seedlings grown under controlled conditions. Sunflower seedlings were grown on agricultural soil substrates amended with PG at rates of 0, 2.5, and 5 %. The pH of the soil decreased but electrical conductivity and organic matter, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and heavy metal contents increased in proportion to PG concentration. In contrast, no variations were observed in magnesium content and small increases were recorded in potassium content. The effects of PG on sunflower growth, leaf chlorophyll content, nutritional status, osmotic regulator content, heavy metal accumulation, and antioxidative enzymes were investigated. Concentrations of trace elements in sunflower seedlings grown in PG-amended soil were considerably lower than ranges considered phytotoxic for vascular plants. The 5 % PG dose inhibited shoot extension and accumulation of biomass and caused a decline in total protein content. However, chlorophyll, lipid peroxidation, proline and sugar contents, and activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase increased. Collectively, these results strongly support the hypothesis that enzymatic antioxidation capacity is an important mechanism in tolerance of PG salinity in sunflower seedlings.