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Understanding variation in the diet of widely distributed species can help us to predict how they respond to future environmental and anthropogenic changes. We studied the diet of the red fox Vulpes vulpes, one of the world’s most widely distributed carnivores. We compiled dietary data from 217 studies at 276 locations in five continents to assess how fox diet composition varied according to geographic location, climate, anthropogenic impact and sampling method. The diet of foxes showed substantial variation throughout the species’ range, but with a general trend for small mammals and invertebrates to be the most frequently occurring dietary items. The incidence of small and large mammals and birds in fox diets was greater away from the equator. The incidence of invertebrates and fruits increased with mean elevation, while the occurrence of medium-sized mammals and birds decreased. Fox diet differed according to climatic and anthropogenic variables. Diet richness decreased with increasing temperature and precipitation. The incidence of small and large mammals decreased with increasing temperature. The incidence of birds and invertebrates decreased with increasing mean annual precipitation. Higher Human Footprint Index was associated with lower incidence of large mammals and higher incidence of birds and fruit in fox diet. Sampling method influenced fox diet estimation: estimated percentage of small and medium-sized mammals and fruit was lower in studies based on stomach contents, while large mammals were more likely to be recorded in studies of stomach contents than in studies of scats. Our study confirms the flexible and opportunistic dietary behaviour of foxes at the global scale. This behavioural trait allows them to thrive in a range of climatic conditions, and in areas with different degrees of human-induced habitat change. This knowledge can help place the results of local-scale fox diet studies into a broader context and to predict how foxes will respond to future environmental changes. Castañeda et al. 2022 Mammal Review (Variation in red fox Vulpes vulpes diet in five continents)

Within an overall project to assess the ability of the agricultural sector to contribute to bioenergy production, we set out here to examine the economic and technological viability of a bioenergy facility in an uncertain economic context, using the stochastic viability approach. We consider two viability constraints: the facility demand for lignocellulosic feedstock has to be satisfied each year and the associated supply cost has to be lower than de profitability threshold of the facility. We assess the viability probability of various supplying strategies consisting in contracting a given share of the feedstock demand with perennial dedicated crops at the initial time and then in making up each year with annual dedicated crops or wood. The demand constraints and agricultural prices scenarios over the time horizon are introduced in an agricultural and forest biomass supply model, which in turns determines the supply cost per MWh and computes the viability probabilities of the various contract strategies. A sensibility analysis to agricultural prices at initial time is performed. Results show that when they are around or under the median (of the 1993–2007 prices), the strategy consisting in contracting 100% of the feedstock supply with perennial dedicated crops is the best one.

The present paper tries to address up to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) might advance socio-ecological sustainability of the products with a geographical indication (GI), mainly in developing countries. To this end it would be addressed how agricultural firms became financialized in recent decades. It would be then presented how CSR practices have recently emerged to address this issue and whether they have been successful or not. Finally, it would be highlighted the potential of GI certification practices as part of CSR practices that could potentially boost sustainability for agricultural firms in developing countries.

D'ici 2050, l'agriculture devra répondre à une augmentation de la demande alimentaire, due à une augmentation de la population qui devrait atteindre alors les 9 milliards. A l'échelle nationale, cela représente des enjeux de compétitivité et de croissance économique. Par ailleurs, afin d'assurer cette augmentation de la production, il y a deux solutions : augmenter la proportion des terres agricoles au détriment des écosystèmes naturels; et augmenter la productivité agricole. A travers une revue d'articles agronomiques et économiques, nous montrons l'importance de considérer la qualité du sol dans la productivité et la durabilité des exploitations agricoles. Cependant les pratiques agricoles préservant la qualité du sol ne sont pas largement adoptées, ce particulièrement en France. Une analyse économique de ces enjeux permet d'appréhender le processus de décision des agriculteurs, et de déterminer quelles sont les stratégies optimales permettant de répondre à ces enjeux. Nous proposons un modèle de contrôle optimal qui illustre les liens entre les pratiques agricoles et la qualité du sol, quand la qualité du sol est considérée comme un facteur de production endogène. L'intérêt et l'originalité de cet article est d'associer différentes disciplines pour étudier le rôle de la qualité du sol dans la durabilité et la rentabilité des exploitations. Agriculture is facing an expected increase in food production demand, caused by an increased global population of 9 billion people by the middle of this century. At national scale, competitiveness and economic growth issues are at stake. To insure this increase in production, there are two solutions: extend the proportion of agricultural lands at the expense of natural ecosystems; and increase agricultural productivity. Through a review of agronomic and economic articles, we show the importance of considering soil quality in the productivity and sustainability of farms. However, farming practices preserving soil quality are not widely adopted, particularly in France. An economic analysis of these issues provide an understanding of farmers' decision making process, and indicate what the optimal strategies can be to cope with these challenges. We propose an optimal control model that illustrates the links between farming practices and soil quality when soil quality is considered as an endogenous production factor. The interest and originality of this article is to associate different disciplines to investigate the role of soil quality in the sustainability and profitability of farms.

In the proposed paper, data and expertise were collected to provide information and arguments about several issues: about the main criteria of good bread in terms of environmental, nutritional, sensory and sanitary aspects; then, about ways to achieve them in the wheat-to-bread chain, while maintaining affordable prices. Computation for determining the best compromise between the various desired criteria is a challenge, since not all of them are compatible. Several scenarios are explored to highlight tensions between desired criteria, problem formulation and solution analysis such as best- and worst-case scenarios. Hence the approach demonstrates the interest of information systems and computational methods for decision support in agricultural and food policies.

Agroforestry systems (AFS) are complex to model mainly due to the high spatial variability induced by the shade trees. Recently, the microclimate and lighf heterogeneity issue in AFS has been addressed using the 30 ecophysiological process-based model MAESPA (Charbonnier et al., 2013; Vezy et al., 2018). MAESPA surpassed the classical sun/shade dichotomy in AFS (Charbonnier et al., 2014) and provided continuous maps of e.g. available light, light-use~ fficiency and canopy temperature within Coffea Agroforestry Systems (GAS). A step further was to design a crop model for Coffea grown under agroforestry that would benefit from this continuum to estimate ecosystem services on the long term and under climate change scenarios. We designed DynA_Cof, a new process-based growth and yield model to compute plot-scale net and gross primary productivity, carbon allocation, growth, yield, energy, and water balance of GAS according to shade tree species and management, while accounting for fine-scale spatial effects using MAESPA metamodels (Figure 1). DynA_Cof satisfactorily simulated the daily plot-scale gross primary productivity (RMSE= 1.69 gc m-2 d-1 on 1562 days) and the energy and water balances (RMSE: AET = 0.63 mm d-1 , H= 1.27 MJ m-2 d-1, Rn= 1.98 MJ m-2 d-1) compared to measurements from an eddy-flux tower in Aquiares (Costa Rica) and also the NPP for above and below-ground organs, coffee bean yield and shade tree wood production compared to a comprehensive database from this site.

Climate change is a pervasive global issue that threatens the livelihoods and wellbeing of billions living globally. Climate change is a risk multiplier impacting all ecosystems, society, and sectors of the economy. The agriculture sector is one such sector that is highly vulnerable to changes in climate. In a country like Nepal where rainfed agriculture is a dominant occupation and a key pillar of the country’s economy, climate change brings risks and negative consequences for on-farm production, farmers' livelihoods as well as on the country’s development. The impacts of climate change including rising temperatures, an increase in the frequency or intensity of extreme weather events such as drought, and shifts in the rainfall seasonality, can cause a decline in food production and threaten the quality of food supplies, leading to reduced food security. The rise in the global population will increase global demand for food which implies that agriculture needs to boost production and increase yields, among other things. The unprecedented risks posed by climate change potentially undermine the ability of farms and farm holders to grow adequate and quality food. The severity of these risks varies due to a range of underlying factors including low economic development, their location, existing biophysical and socioeconomic conditions, and institutional arrangements. While the impacts of climate change on food production as well as agricultural practices in Nepal have been documented, there is a dearth in scholarly literature that has assessed the impacts of climate change on household food security in Nepal incorporating farmers’ perspectives and in particular smallholder subsistence farmers. Furthermore, there is only modest literature that has examined geographical variations in those experiences and understandings. This PhD study aimed, therefore, to investigate the effects of climate change on agricultural practices and food security, with a focus on subsistence smallholder farmers in three main agro- ecological zones of Nepal known as The Mountains, Hills, and the Terai. The study aimed to respond to the primary research question: How are Nepalese farming communities being impacted by climate change and how are they responding to ensure their continued food security? To answer this main research, question the study posed the following secondary research questions: Q1. How is climate changing and how is it impacting subsistence agriculture? Q2. What are the farmers experiencing and what is their understanding? a. Are there gender differences in understanding and experiencing? Q3. What is the state of food insecurity among these farmers? a. How is it being impacted by climate change? Q4. What adaptation strategies have been adopted by smallholder farmers to address threats to agricultural practices and food security from climate change and other pressures? Both the qualitative and qualitative data were collected using multiple methods to address the identified research questions. Methods included a narrative literature review, systematic review, face to face interviews with farmers, individual interviews with key informants and focus groups with the women's group. Climate data on temperature between 1971-2013 and rainfall between 1967-2013 were analysed. Additionally, secondary data on crop yield from 1980 to 2016 were also analysed to gain a better empirical understanding of the relations between climate change and yield pattern and to triangulate and validate the findings from the interviews. Quantitative data on cereal crop yields and climate data were systematically tabulated and further statistically analysed using software R. This study employed the Bayesian approach to statistical modelling. Besides, this study undertook an integrated risk assessment of food insecurity using the Bayesian Belief Network model to reflect how the risk of food insecurity is influenced under two scenarios: (1) current climate conditions and (2) the influences of different adaptation strategies employed. NVivo was used for content analysis for qualitative data obtained from the key informant interview and focus group data and analysis of transcripts from farmers' structured interviews. The findings showed that agricultural practices have undergone various changes over the past 30 years. Climate change impacts were experienced by farmers in all three agro-ecological zones of Nepal. However, the impacts varied between these zones in terms of frequency and intensity. The effect of climate change was highly pronounced in the Mountains zone followed by the Hills and the Terai. The results confirmed that rural subsistence smallholder farmers dependent on rainfed agriculture are vulnerable to climate change impacts. Moreover, it disproportionately affects the poor farmers whose income hinges solely on agriculture and associated activities. Boosting agricultural production and empowering these smallholders is key to enhancing their food security. The experiences reported by farmers are well aligned with the trend of the climatic variables obtained from climate data analysis, highlighting the importance of perception-based survey in complementing climate research. The study demonstrated both the climatic and non-climatic factors are affecting agricultural practices as well as household food security of these farming communities. It is, therefore, difficult to isolate the influence of any of these factors. This was supported by the findings from the risk assessment undertaken by Bayesian modelling. Based on Bayesian modelling, the smallholder farmers mainly at the Mountain zone were at the risk of food insecurity. The measures to increase the adaptive capacity of these smallholders were found to help them manage the risk of food insecurity. Addressing the complicated and multifaceted concerns of climate change and food security needs multidisciplinary and multisectoral adaptation interventions acknowledging underlying biophysical, social, economic, geographical and environmental circumstances. Farmers have taken some actions to adapt and reduce the worsening impacts of climate change. Nevertheless, farmers encountered several barriers in effectively adapting to climate change. This study concluded there is an urgent need for a transformative level of intervention that warrants a coordinated action and collaboration between relevant stakeholders working in this field, including governments and non-governmental organizations, to target the most vulnerable and the needy smallholder farmers addressing the constraints and pressures they face. Policy and decision-makers should work extensively and sensitively with smallholders to ensure the maintenance of their livelihood and to guarantee their food security. Combining local and scientific knowledge is needed to help direct research and tailor adaptation solutions that meet local conditions and needs.

Description of the subject. Extracellular enzymes from filamentous fungi are increasingly used in eco-friendly biotransformation processes. Their relevant technological role and their stability towards extreme process conditions make of them the first sustainable solution for the elaboration of bio-based products from biomass conversion. Objectives. This paper describes the isolation of filamentous fungi from decaying plant material in the region of Meknes (northern central Morocco) and the assessment of their ability to breakdown lignocellulose. The objective is to select performant fungi with enzymatic machinery adapted to local environment and with potential for the breakdown of the regional specific lignocellulosic by-products into potentially high-value molecules. Method. Cereals, decaying wood, olive-pomace and -pulp and their composts were used to isolate lignocellulolytic fungi. One hundred twenty-seven pure strains were isolated and screened at 25 °C on selective media with cellulose or lignin as the sole carbon source. Performant strains were validated for the production of ligno-cellulolytic enzymes and identified using molecular technique. Results. Twenty-eight fungi had mycelial diameter on cellulose ≥ 6 cm and cellulolytic index ≥ 0.9. Twenty-two strains had the same profile on lignin medium. The production of endoglucanase, lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase enzymes was confirmed in performant strains using qualitative assay and molecular identification revealed that the best performing fungi were Mucor circinelloides, Mucor racemosus, Penicillium brasilianum, Penicillium crustosum, Paecilomyces sp., Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Aspergillus fischeri, Curvularia spicifera, Humicola grisea, Trichoderma atroviride and Cosmospora viridescens. Measurement of ligno-cellulolytic activities revealed that Penicillium and Fusarium strains mainly from wood decay and compost had the best profiles among performing strains. Conclusions. Isolated fungi are high decomposers of biomass and represent a prominent solution to develop green bioprocesses in the region.