1. Full understanding of the dynamics of host–parasite interactions requires elucidation of the principles governing host colonisation. With respect to mobile parasites, little is known about their ...dispersal behaviour and the factors affecting host colonisation success.
2. Here, the effect of parasite density manipulations on the colonisation success of the carnid fly Carnus hemapterus, an avian ectoparasite, was experimentally explored.
3. Most host nests were colonised within the same breeding season, but the abundance of flies colonising the nests varied broadly both within and between years.
4. Experimental increase in the density of carnid flies in the vicinity of host nests did not result in higher parasite abundance in these nests. Host colonisation success in terms of parasite abundance was not related to indices of parasite density around host nests.
5. Parasite abundance in colonised host nests was positively related to host density and brood mass and negatively related to date. Host nests in trees held fewer carnid flies than those on cliffs and farmhouses.
6. The dispersal ability of C. hemapterus is apt for rapid colonisation of new host nests, but it is unable to explain the broad heterogeneity in parasite abundance between host nests.
High colonisation success in terms of prevalence was detected in an actively dispersing ectoparasite.
Increase of local abundance of dispersing parasites did not result in higher colonisation success in terms of parasite abundance.
Host density (but not parasite density), nest‐site type, and brood mass shaped colonisation success in terms of parasite abundance.
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Human activities and biological invasions have caused unprecedented biodiversity loss over the past 500 years. Proximity to humans drives the spatial distribution of species toward less disturbed ...habitats. Invasive species can competitively exclude native species, but species may coexist due to different habitat preferences. Here, we investigated how proximity to farms and the presence of the non‐native European hare (Lepus europaeus) influence the habitat use by the Brazilian cottontail (Sylvilagus minensis) in southeastern Brazil. We found that the probability of cottontail site use increased with native forest cover and decreased with farmhouse proximity, ranging from 0.05 (SE = 0.02) at sites close to farmhouses (≅900 m) with no native forest to 0.70 (SE = 0.15) at sites far from farmhouses (≅2500 m) dominated by native forest. Higher risk of harassment and predation by free‐roaming dogs and cats may explain the negative effect of farmhouse proximity on cottontail habitat use. We found little evidence for competitive exclusion by the European hare. Instead, our results suggest that the two species spatially segregate due to different habitat preferences. While the European hare more likely uses farmland in its native and non‐native range, our results suggest that the Brazilian cottontail is a forest dweller. Although we found only weak evidence of competitive exclusion, we advise caution because invasive species may delay the onset of detrimental effects due to initial low population densities in newly invaded areas as is the case of the European hare in southeastern Brazil.
in Portuguese is available with online material.
As atividades humanas e as invasões biológicas têm causado uma perda sem precedentes da biodiversidade ao longo dos últimos 500 anos. A proximidade com os humanos direciona a distribuição espacial das espécies para habitats menos perturbados. Espécies invasoras podem excluir competitivamente espécies nativas, mas as espécies podem coexistir devido a diferentes preferências de habitats. Aqui, investigamos como a proximidade de residências rurais e a presença da lebre europeia não nativa (Lepus europaeus) influenciam o uso do habitat pelo tapeti (Sylvilagus minensis) no sudeste do Brasil. Descobrimos que a probabilidade de uso do habitat pelo tapeti aumentou com a cobertura de floresta nativa e diminuiu com a proximidade de residências rurais, variando de 0.05 (EP = 0.02) em locais próximos a residências rurais (≅900 m) e sem floresta nativa para 0.70 (EP = 0.15) em locais distantes de residências rurais (≅2500 m) dominados por floresta nativa. Maior risco de perseguição e predação por cães e gatos domésticos pode explicar o efeito negativo da proximidade de residências rurais no uso do habitat do tapeti. Encontramos poucas evidências de exclusão competitiva pela lebre europeia. Em vez disso, nossos resultados sugerem que as duas espécies segregam espacialmente devido a diferentes preferências de habitats. Enquanto a lebre europeia tem maior probabilidade de usar áreas agrícolas em sua área nativa e não nativa, nossos resultados sugerem que o tapeti é uma espécie florestal. Embora tenhamos encontrado apenas evidências fracas de exclusão competitiva, aconselhamos cautela, pois espécies invasoras podem postergar o início de efeitos prejudiciais devido a densidades populacionais inicialmente baixas em áreas recém‐invadidas, como é o caso da lebre europeia no sudeste do Brasil.
Probability of Brazilian cottontail using sites increases with native forest cover and decreases with farmhouse proximity. Increased human proximity to tropical forests and tropical deforestation are currently more relevant threats to the conservation of the Brazilian cottontail in southeastern Brazil than the European hare invasion.
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In 2021, the authors performed a series of field surveys in Podlaskie region, northeastern Poland, looking for culturally significant specimens of vernacular architecture. The search in Brańsk ...commune (gmina Brańsk) have resulted with fin-ding a small but extremely interesting farmhouse, built some 80 years ago, i.e. in the early 1940s, with the use of locally obtained materials. In this article the authors present their findings; namely, they have documented the unique history and essential features of this farmhouse in terms of its construction, materials, layout, architectural form and adornment. All these aspects also witness a tangled history of the village and its surroundings, as well as intricacies of the local culture. An observed accumulative nature of the house and the uniqueness of its long history attribute the house with moral values of commemoration. Both that reason and the recently-observed rapid deterioration of the house compose a rationale for its documenting.
Rapid urbanization in China has led to the increasing scarcity of land suitable and available for construction. Concurrently, rural depopulation has resulted in many vacant properties, including ...farmhouses and buildings. In order to address this issue, a national land transfer policy has been implemented since the early 2000s in which vacant rural properties are returned to agriculture in return for similar areas of peri-urban land being released for construction. While there have been many different approaches to policy implementation, most commentators agree that successful schemes are characterized by the involvement of local people. As yet, however, there has been little research into how such local collective action is organized, and whether it is really possible to address top-down policies through local, bottom-up, action. Based on a case study of the earliest pilot program in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, we seek to demonstrate that the top-down nature of China’s land transfer policy does not mean that it is necessarily best implemented in a top-down manner. Indeed, we suggest that effective collective action is crucial to the realization of such policies. In particular, the case study indicates that with the empowerment of villagers to participate in the policy process it is possible to achieve a broad consensus on the best approach to addressing the problems, with community interests protected and properly monitoring. In offering a new way of understanding collective action, we conclude that even in cases where a top-down approach is imposed, communities can be empowered to act collectively in implementing the policy from the bottom-up.
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Abstract
Vernacular houses constructed using local woods contain information about forest‐resource use. To clarify how timber was used to construct wooden farmhouses, we identified the timber species ...composition of 11 houses built between 1845 and about 1940 in Tadami, a snowy rural area in northeastern Japan, and interviewed 70 residents. We recorded 2004 timber parts (99–308 parts per house) and 171.2 m
3
(1828 parts) of known species (14 taxa).
Cryptomeria japonica
(cedar) and
Pinus parviflora
var.
pentaphylla
(white pine) were used for all essential structural parts and accounted for 44% and 39% of the total timber volume, respectively.
Fagus crenata
(beech) was the third most commonly used species (7%), for roof supports, beams, and girders. The interviews revealed that the timber was typically sourced from local private or common woodlands within 1 km and that local craftsmen selected and hauled the trees. Considering the region's unique and complex vegetation, as land‐cover distribution is strongly influenced by frequent avalanches, the timber was likely managed within local stands of tall trees, and the most available species would have been cedar (although whether native or planted is unknown), followed by native white pine on mountain ridges around settlements. In comparison, beech stands that could supply sufficient amounts of timber might have been limited. Based on the characteristics of the trees used as house timber in Tadami, we conclude that despite the surrounding harsh, snowy conditions, locally available species of tall trees were historically selected for timbers.
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The use of traditional techniques when restoring a masia is always the primary consideration in the preliminary phase of the project and during the site work. The virtues of traditional techniques ...compared to industrial production systems are described from multiple points of view: as a sustainable contemporary strategy, as generators of healthy spaces , as virtues of social and territorial scale, as a better formal contextualisation due to the limitations of pre-industrial materials. These are virtues that the industrial system has forgotten. The purpose of the Can Buch project (a masia in Northen Catalonia, Spain) was to restore the main house, some sheds and a barn, to enable rural ecotourism and to create a residence for the owner and future manager of the property. The promoter of the project intended to apply the values of permaculture. Maximising the use of Km0 materials from the start emphasised this intention. If we understand the traditional farmhouse as the site's resource map, applying this reality to the present work means recovering original representative principles. Currently, the project is in the last phase of works, but the results of applying this philosophy are already visible. It is intended to demonstrate the advantages of this self-limitation on a sustainable, environmental, territorial and compositional level.
The main objective of this article is the measurement of the passive hygrothermal behaviour and indoor comfort in the traditional Basque architectural model as it has developed and evolved since the ...15th Century. For that purpose, the traditional farmhouse architecture in the River Lea valley, located in the Historical Territory of Bizkaia (Basque Country, Spain) and characterized by a temperate-humid climate, was studied and evaluated.
Since the origin of the Basque farmhouse as an « architectural model» in the 15th Century, not only have its construction system, structure, architectural composition and construction materials evolved, but also the indoor hygrothermal variables, the Operative Temperature °C and Relative Humidity % have gradually evolved. In order to obtain the base behaviour diagnosis, computational models have been developed using Design Builder v.5.0.1.024 simulation programme. In addition, based on Olgyay's, Givoni's and ASHRAE's Standard 55–2013 conditions, three hygrothermal comfort ranges have been defined to determine the relationship between the two hygrothermal variables and indoor human well-being.
As a result, it is concluded that the evolution of the construction of the architectural farmhouse model has had a hidden or unknown but significant influence on the hygrothermal performance of the buildings and, therefore, on the level of human comfort; through their evolution they have become more comfortable buildings.
•From the 15th to 19th Century the indoor hygrothermal variables gradually evolve.•The adaptation of the construction has had an unknown and positive influence.•They have become more temperate and comfortable buildings through their adaptation.•Indoor human comfort level is low if compared to actual regulative conditions.•Summer period is in comfort zone and no cooling strategies are needed.
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Transmission of leishmaniasis in endemic areas is characterized by microfocality related to the presence of the vector. Most entomological studies in southwestern Europe have focused on sylvatic ...areas and town outskirts, very few have sampled town or urban centres, and no survey has investigated inside households. The aim of this study was to determine the sand fly species diversity and vector density in the surroundings of human leishmaniasis cases compared with environments in which there was no association. Sand flies were captured in 26 households associated with recently treated leishmaniasis patients, 15 neighbouring houses without associated cases, and in others environments. Overall 7495 sand flies belonging to six species were captured. The highest sand fly density was found in farmhouses where there is a great availability of blood sources and breeding sites. In the environment of human leishmaniasis cases, Sergentomyia minuta was the most prevalent species followed by Phlebotomus perniciosus. Nevertheless, lower Leishmania infantum infection rates and lower intensity of infection were detected in S. minuta sand flies than in P. perniciosus. The density of P. perniciosus in households with recently treated leishmaniasis patients varies between 0 and 108 sand flies per light trap/night, with the maximum values corresponding to farmhouses. This species appears to be adapted to both indoors and outdoors domestic biotopes, including urban households.
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There is still room for further studies analyzing the long-term health impact of specific dietary patterns observable in regions belonging to the Mediterranean area. The aim of the study is to ...evaluate how much a diet practiced in southern Italy is associated to a risk of mortality. The study population included 2472 participants first investigated in 1985, inquiring about their frequencies of intake of 29 foods using a self-administered questionnaire covering the previous year. The population was followed up for mortality until 31 December 2017. Cox-based risk modeling referred to single foods, food groups, the results of principal component analysis (PCA), and a priori indexes. Single food analysis revealed eggs, fatty meat, and fatty/baked ham to be inversely associated with mortality. Furthermore, one of the 5 PCA derived dietary patterns, the "Farmhouse" pattern, showed a higher hazard ratio (HR), mostly driven by dairy products. In subsequent analyses, the increased risk of mortality for fresh cheese and decreased risk for fatty ham and eggs were confirmed. The a priori diet indexes (Italian Meddiet, Meddietscore, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet (MIND) indexes) showed borderline inverse relationships. In a Mediterranean population with an overall healthy diet, foods such as eggs and fatty meat, reflecting dietary energy and wealth, played a role in prolonging the life of individuals. Our study confirms that some dairy products might have a detrimental role in mortality in the Mediterranean setting.
Summary
A renewable energy based integrated system is developed to meet the total energy demands of a house located off‐grid, and a thermodynamic analysis through energy and exergy methodologies is ...conducted for analysis, evaluation, and performance assessment. The present novel multigeneration system is mainly driven through the animal residues produced at the farm house. The proposed novel system is composed of nine main units namely, a biomass combustor, photovoltaic (PV) panels, parabolic solar trough collectors, thermoelectric generators, organic Rankine cycle, electrolyzer, homogeneous charged compression ignition (HCCI) engine, absorption chiller, and reverse osmosis (RO) unit. Biomass combustor runs an organic Rankine turbine for additional power during peak loads. The exhaust of gas turbine generates cooling to meet the cooling demand of the residential area of the farm house. PV panels are incorporated to generate hydrogen through electrolyzer. A HCCI engine generates power to compensate peak load as well as charging the farming vehicles of the farm house. The RO unit with energy recovery Pelton turbine produces fresh water for farming and residential use. The advanced integration of subsystems, thermoelectric generators and efficient utilization of waste, improves significant amount of energetic and exergetic efficiencies of overall multigenerational system. The energy and exergy efficiencies are enhanced in the order of 4.8% and 6.3%, respectively, after incorporating innovative cooling system to the PV modules. The overall energy and exergy efficiencies of the proposed multigeneration system with and without thermoelectric are found to be 67.6% and 57.1%, and 68.9% and 58.4%, respectively.
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