Search Results (869)

The orbital glands are part of the ocular surface protective system, but their morphology and secretory profiles remain poorly documented in small wild bovids. This preliminary descriptive study examined nine young animals: four Kirk’s dik-diks (Madoqua kirkii) and five red forest duikers (Cephalophorus natalensis). All animals underwent gross anatomical examination, and bilateral Harderian glands (HGs), lacrimal glands (LGs), and superficial glands of the third eyelid (SGTE) were examined histologically, histometrically, and histochemically. No inferential statistical comparisons between species were performed. In both groups, the HG was located medioventrally, the LG dorsolaterally, and the SGTE medially near the third eyelid. The glands showed compound tubuloacinar or predominantly acinar organization. Descriptive variation involved capsule thickness, septal development, lobular arrangement, secretory epithelial appearance, and plasma cell and lymphocyte distribution. Histochemical reactions demonstrated mixed secretory profiles containing neutral glycoconjugates and acidic mucosubstances consistent with sulfated and/or carboxylated components. Their relative proportions varied among glands and between groups. These findings provide preliminary anatomical and microscopic reference data for rarely examined wild bovids. Because of the small sample sizes, the observations should not be interpreted as definitive species-level differences. Full article

Agricultural carbon emissions represent a major source of greenhouse gases and play a critical role in achieving global climate mitigation and sustainable agricultural development targets. In China, the rapid transformation of agricultural production systems has led to substantial spatial heterogeneity in emission patterns and driving mechanisms of agricultural carbon emissions, while the underlying processes at the county scale remain insufficiently understood. This study investigated the spatiotemporal evolution and potential influencing factors of agricultural carbon emissions at the county level from 2000 to 2022 in Guangdong Province, China. First, agricultural carbon emissions were estimated based on a multi-source accounting framework covering land management, crop cultivation, animal production, and straw burning based on internationally recognized emission accounting methods and IPCC global warming potentials. Then, spatial clustering characteristics were analyzed using local spatial autocorrelation (LISA) to identify heterogeneous emission patterns. Finally, an interpretable machine learning framework combining Random Forest (RF) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) was employed to quantify the nonlinear effects and relative contributions of multiple socioeconomic and agricultural drivers. The results showed that agricultural carbon emissions in Guangdong Province exhibited a fluctuating but overall decreasing trend, declining from 50.89 Mt CO₂-eq in 2000 to 39.24 Mt CO₂-eq in 2022, with an overall reduction of 22.9%. High-emission clusters were primarily concentrated in western and northern Guangdong, while low-emission areas were mainly located in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The RF models demonstrated satisfactory predictive performance, with spatial cross-validated R² values ranging from 0.75 to 0.91 across different years. SHAP analysis suggested that ploughing area, fertilizer and pesticide usage, agricultural machinery power, and primary industry GDP were the dominant factors associated with agricultural carbon emissions, whereas urbanization consistently showed a negative association. Furthermore, these drivers exhibited pronounced nonlinear responses and distinct regional heterogeneity, particularly between the PRD and the western and northern parts of Guangdong Province. These findings suggested that agricultural carbon emissions are jointly influenced by agricultural production intensity, mechanization, and socioeconomic transition and can provide a scientific basis for developing region-specific low-carbon agricultural policies and promoting the sustainable transformation of agricultural systems. Full article

Large sensor arrays are an increasingly popular sampling method among ecologists. To last in the field, sensor housing needs to be resistant to damage from both weather and animals. The popular AudioMoth acoustic recorder does not have integral weather-resistant housing and is deployed by users in a wide variety of protective cases. One inexpensive way to protect AudioMoths is to deploy them in plastic bags, which offer moderate weather resistance but are susceptible to chewing damage from small mammals. In this study, we test the effectiveness of commercially available mammal deterrents in preventing such chewing damage. We deployed 115 treatment-control pairs across two grids in temperate forests in Pennsylvania. Bag treatments consisted of Liquid Fence, Bonide, and a cayenne and Vaseline mixture. For all deterrents, there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion or severity of mammal chewing damage between treatments and controls. Counter to expectations, for all three treatments, more of the bags treated with a deterrent were damaged by mammal chewing than the paired control bags. Our results strongly suggest that single applications of these three deterrents have no useful effect on preventing mammal chewing damage to sensor housing in the field. Full article

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a common opportunistic pathogen in companion animals and a leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Despite its clinical relevance, the genomic determinants underlying pathogenicity and the transition from commensal carriage to invasive infection remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify the genomic determinants of SSTI pathogenic potential in S. pseudintermedius and to determine whether pathogenicity is driven by single, major-effect virulence genes or by polygenic genome-wide genetic architecture. Using accessory gene-based and unitig-based genome-wide association studies (GWASs), employing a linear mixed model, across a genetically diverse collection of S. pseudintermedius isolates spanning multiple phylogenetic clades, we found that disease and carriage isolates showed no phylogenetic clustering. SSTI pathogenicity exhibited high narrow-sense heritability. Surface-associated LPXTG-anchored proteins, particularly spsF, harbored the strongest associations, with additional signals in iron metabolism (narH, sufB) and oxidative stress tolerance (ahpC). Random Forest classification validated GWAS signals. SSTI pathogenicity in S. pseudintermedius reflects a polygenic architecture driven by cumulative variation across surface-associated, metabolic, and stress-response loci, shifting focus from single virulence genes to genome-wide genetic variation. Full article

Biogeographic barriers are well known to structure animal and plant diversity, but whether they are associated with variation in host-associated microbiomes, especially in tropical pollinators, remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated gut bacterial community variation in the stingless bee Tetragonula laeviceps (Apidae: Meliponini) collected from Bali and Lombok, two Indonesian islands situated on opposite sides of the Wallace Line. Using 16S rRNA gene V3–V4 amplicon sequencing, we analyzed 12 colony-level samples collected from forest and agroforestry habitats on both islands. Alpha-diversity analysis revealed variation in bacterial richness and diversity among colonies and sampling groups, with the highest richness observed in the Lombok agroforestry group. The gut microbiota was dominated by Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota and Bacteroidota, with several bee-associated genera, including Lactobacillus, Bombilactobacillus, Apilactobacillus, Bombella, Commensalibacter, Snodgrassella, Bifidobacterium and Bartonella, varying in relative abundance among island and habitat groups. Beta-diversity analyses showed significant group-associated differentiation in bacterial community composition (ANOSIM R = 0.444, p = 0.001), indicating that gut microbiome structure differed across the sampled island–habitat groups. Differential-abundance analyses identified candidate bacterial taxa associated with specific groups, suggesting that microbiome divergence was driven mainly by shifts in the relative abundance of shared bacterial lineages rather than complete replacement of dominant taxa. Predicted functional profiling further indicated that the taxonomic variation was accompanied by differences in putative functional potential. These findings suggest that the gut microbiota of T. laeviceps carries a detectable island and habitat-associated signal and highlight host-associated microbial communities as an underexplored dimension of tropical island biogeography. Because island identity and position relative to the Wallace Line are not independent in this design, these results should be interpreted as island associated microbiome variation within a Wallace Line context, not as direct evidence of a causal Wallace Line effect. Full article

Unsustainable forest management in the past and current climate change are altering the species composition and spatial structure of forest vegetation. As a result of these transformations affecting the entire forest ecosystem, both the quality and quantity of animal communities are also being modified. Insects are especially sensitive to environmental changes, and among them, carabid beetles (Carabidae) are widely regarded as model organisms. The aim of this study was to examine alterations in the structure of carabid beetle assemblages found in coniferous (CON) and deciduous (DEC) forests. The study was carried out in north-eastern Poland in four forest habitat types: deciduous fresh forest (Df), deciduous mixed fresh forest (DMf), coniferous mixed fresh forest (CMf), and coniferous fresh forest (Cf). Carabid beetles were captured using pitfall traps from May to October in 2013 and 2014. A total of 20,125 individuals representing 79 Carabidae species were collected. The recorded carabid beetles showed high ecological plasticity. Most species were distributed across both forest types despite differences in structure and environment, including vegetation characteristics and microclimatic conditions. No significant differences were observed between coniferous and deciduous forest assemblages in terms of carabid beetle abundance, species richness, or diversity. The differences observed between deciduous and coniferous forests were primarily related to species composition and the ecological structure of Carabidae. Unexpectedly, most of the distinguished ecological groups differed from the established pattern found in the literature, which states that deciduous forest communities are the primary refuge for forest carabid beetles. The similar species richness and diversity levels observed in both groups, together with the balanced distribution of predatory, winged and open-habitat carabid beetles across forest types, suggest the presence of detrimental ecological processes. Forest management is known to homogenize the qualitative, quantitative, and spatial structure of vegetation, which, along with climate change, may result in negative transformations reflected in carabid beetle assemblages. Therefore, maintaining structurally diverse forest stands and supporting habitat continuity may be important for biodiversity conservation, and incorporating biodiversity indicators such as carabid beetles into forest monitoring may support the long-term sustainability and resilience of forest ecosystems. Full article

The Upper Niger National Park (UNNP) is the oldest park and one of the most promising conservation areas in Guinea; yet, its mammalian fauna remains poorly documented. Camera trapping has become an essential tool for revealing the diversity and assemblage structure of such communities. This study employed camera traps to improve knowledge about terrestrial and semi-terrestrial mammals with body mass > 0.5 kg (Sciuridae and heavier) in the Mafou Fully Protected Area (Mafou FPA), the principal core zone of the UNNP. The survey was conducted during the dry season, from January to May 2025. Sampling targeted animal trails within forest habitats in the Mafou FPA and involved the deployment of 53 camera traps with an average inter-trap distance of 2 km. Across 4239 camera-days of sampling effort, we collected 10,334 usable images and videos, yielding 2634 independent detection events. Thirty taxa across 15 families and five orders, including six species of high conservation concern according to the IUCN Red List (version 2025-1) were recorded. The mammal assemblage consists of species from the three known trophic levels (prey, mesopredators, and apex predators), with predominance of medium-sized prey species. Our results demonstrate a remarkable richness in frugivorous seed-dispersing species, ecosystem-engineering species, and the presence of a megaherbivore, which all contribute to its ecological dynamics. Despite a notable human activity index of 0.42, occupancy models revealed broad spatial distribution of medium-sized mammals within this protected area. The occupancy patterns demonstrated that occurrence of some species might be sensitive to human disturbances in the area. These findings are an important contribution to Guinean and West African biodiversity assessments. They highlight the critical conservation value of the UNNP within the subregion. Full article

Precision livestock farming requires monitoring approaches that extend beyond static activity thresholds to enable dynamic, animal-level decision support. A time-aware machine learning framework was developed to transform RFID-derived goat activity records into an interpretable behavioral monitoring system. Time-stamped activity data were processed into temporal features such as lagged activity, rolling mean, activity change, and elapsed-time variables to capture short-term behavioral history. The framework integrated latent-state discovery, fuzzy-uncertainty analysis, transition modeling, supervised classification, short-horizon forecasting, and dashboard-based alert visualization within a predictive dashboard-based monitoring framework. Four latent behavioral clusters were identified, with the dominant cluster representing a stable low-activity baseline and accounting for 77.88% of observations. Boundary-zone analysis indicated that 7.30% of observations were in transitional regions, while fuzzy clustering classified 21.42% as uncertain or mixed-state points, suggesting gradual shifts in activity. Transition analysis revealed greater persistence in baseline states and lower persistence in high-activity/non-baseline states, which exhibited the highest volatility and entropy. Using nested time-blocked validation, Random Forest predicted future high-activity/non-baseline onset with AUC values of 0.869 and 0.841 for 5 and 10 min horizons, respectively. These results demonstrate that activity instability can be detected and forecasted over short horizons, supporting behavior-based monitoring. However, external biological validation is still required before implementation as a health- or disease-detection system. Full article

Background/Objectives: Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) is often associated with hypertension, necessitating treatment with combinations of medications that address both glycemic control and blood pressure. Whether commonly co-prescribed antihypertensives modify the glycemic efficacy of a sulfonylurea remains insufficiently characterized in controlled preclinical models. Methods: One hundred adult male Wistar rats were allocated to ten parallel groups (n = 10): healthy and diabetic untreated controls; glimepiride, bisoprolol or amlodipine monotherapy (in healthy and diabetic animals); and the diabetic combinations glimepiride+bisoprolol and glimepiride+amlodipine. T2DM was induced with a high-fat diet plus low-dose streptozotocin (35 mg/kg, i.p.) and confirmed by fasting blood glucose ≥ 200 mg/dL. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was measured weekly for 11 weeks. Non-parametric inference (Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn’s with Bonferroni correction, Mann–Whitney U, Wilcoxon signed-rank) was complemented by Random Forest regression and PCA/K-means clustering. Results: Week-11 HbA1c differed markedly across groups (Kruskal–Wallis H = 94.3, p < 0.001). Glimepiride + bisoprolol achieved near-normal control (4.37% ± 0.15), statistically indistinguishable from healthy groups (p ≥ 0.33), and was the only diabetic regimen with a declining trajectory (−0.66 percentage points; Wilcoxon p = 0.004). Adding either antihypertensive to glimepiride did not worsen glycemic control. Amlodipine monotherapy did not attenuate hyperglycemia (8.47% ± 0.20), approaching that of untreated diabetic controls (9.31% ± 0.18), consistent with the absence of intrinsic glucose-lowering activity. All agents showed pronounced disease-state dependence (healthy–diabetic divergence 2.33–3.13 points). Random Forest prediction was accurate (R² = 0.985), and unsupervised clustering separated effective from ineffective regimens, corroborating the statistical findings. Conclusions: In this model, bisoprolol co-administration enhanced and amlodipine co-administration preserved glimepiride-mediated glycemic control. Glimepiride+bisoprolol emerged as the most effective regimen, supporting cardioselective β-blockade as a metabolically favorable antihypertensive partner for sulfonylurea therapy and warranting clinical confirmation. More broadly, these results provide a preclinical, evidence-based rationale for selecting metabolically favorable antihypertensives in patients with coexisting T2DM and hypertension, with the potential to improve glycemic outcomes and reduce the risk of adverse drug–disease interactions during combination therapy. Full article

We investigated the association between farm animal welfare (FAW) concern and self-classified meat consumption behavior and consumers’ socio-demographic, animal-contact-related, and ideological background factors. Covariate analyses and a machine-learning algorithm, Random Forest, were used to analyze complex, non-linear relationships between the data from 2116 Dutch households. FAW concern often turns out to be moderate to strong but is not simply associated with reduced meat consumption. Political orientation showed the strongest association with FAW concern and diet. Left-wing orientation is positively associated with FAW concern and less frequent or no meat consumption. Christian affiliation does the opposite, while non-Christian religious affiliation is weakly associated with vegetarian or vegan diets. Men more likely report an omnivorous diet and less FAW concern, while women report a vegetarian or vegan diet and higher concern. Voting left or center, Christian affiliation, and higher education are linked to a flexitarian diet. Lower education is associated with an omnivorous diet. In both rural and urban regions, income and household composition have little to no associations with both dietary self-classification and FAW concern. Respondents with regular animal contact show relatively strong FAW concern but no association with self-identified diet. Our results suggest that reducing or abstaining from meat is most strongly associated with ideological orientations. FAW concern alone is not expressed in diet. Full article

Hoof slipping in dairy cows is a subtle, transient hoof motion event distinct from lameness or falling, with short duration, limited displacement, and close resemblance to normal gait, making automated detection particularly challenging; relevant methods remain scarce. This study proposes a cascaded detection framework based on improved DeepLabCut and NeuFlow v2 for automated hoof-slipping detection and distance estimation in Holstein dairy cows. The four-stage framework covers hoof key point localization, pixel-level optical flow fusion, motion parameter curve feature extraction, and Random Forest classification. The framework was developed on Dataset 1, which contained 115 single-cow side-view videos. Of these, 31 contained slipping events and 84 were normal walking. It was further assessed on a smaller second-farm dataset of 17 single-cow videos (Dataset 2). ResNet-50 with a Coordinate Attention mechanism was adopted as the backbone, reducing mean four-hoof localization RMSE to 2.80 pixels across five independent training runs, showing a 15.2% improvement over the baseline, and outperforming YOLOv8s-Pose. NeuFlow v2 was applied to extract the localized optical flow from hoof regions, yielding velocity and directional curves from which slipping features were derived. The Random Forest classifier achieved an accuracy of 98.9%, precision of 93.3%, recall of 90.3%, F1 score of 91.8%, and AUC of 0.995, outperforming MViT, SlowFast, and STME. The slipping distance estimation RMSE was 1.22 pixels. With the localisation model retrained on new farm frames, the method reached comparable performance on the second farm, suggesting preliminary cross-farm generalisability that warrants larger-scale validation. The proposed framework provides a non-invasive basis for early hoof-health monitoring and welfare-oriented farm management. Full article

Background: The Gansu Heihe Provincial Nature Reserve harbors rich plant and animal resources, yet its coleopteran fauna has remained taxonomically and ecologically uncharacterized. To address this gap, we conducted the first systematic survey of beetle diversity across four representative transects—Youcaigou (I), Zhugou (II), Loufangya (III), and Sigou (IV)—and assessed variation in community structure using the Shannon–Wiener diversity index, Margalef richness index, Berger–Parker dominance index, Pielou evenness index, and Jaccard similarity coefficient. Results: A total of 131 species belonging to 108 genera and 22 families were identified, establishing a comprehensive baseline of beetle diversity for the reserve. Cerambycidae was the most species-rich family (27 species), while Lampyridae, Staphylinidae, and Anobiidae were each represented by only a single species, reflecting marked unevenness in family-level composition. Diversity and community structure differed substantially among transects: Transect II showed the highest Shannon–Wiener diversity index and Pielou evenness, Transect III the lowest diversity, and Transect IV the greatest dominance by a few species, while species richness declined in the order I > II > III > IV. Zoogeographic analysis revealed that widely distributed (Cosmopolitan) species predominated (83 species; 63.36%), with Palaearctic (21 species; 16.03%) and Oriental (27 species; 20.61%) elements also well represented, underscoring the reserve’s position at a key biogeographic transition zone. Within China, North China faunal elements were most prevalent (75.94%), with the North China–Northeast China distribution group alone accounting for 54.20% of species, whereas nationally widespread species comprised only 9.16%. Conclusions: This study provides the first systematic record of coleopteran diversity in the Gansu Heihe Provincial Nature Reserve, enriching the region’s biodiversity inventory and offering reference data for future insect monitoring and forest conservation. Further multi-seasonal, method-diversified surveys are needed to achieve a complete faunal inventory. Full article

Whole-plant soybean (WPS) is a high-protein forage resource, but its natural ensiling is often unsatisfactory due to low water-soluble carbohydrate content and high buffering capacity. This study investigated the effects of exogenous melatonin (ME) at 0 (CK), 5 (ME1), 10 (ME2), and 20 (ME3) mg/kg fresh matter on fermentation quality, chemical composition, in vitro rumen fermentation, and bacterial community structure of WPS silage. ME2 and ME3 had lower pH values and higher lactic acid contents than CK, with both treatments achieving pH values below 4.2. Crude protein concentration increased from 15.42% in CK to 19.96% in ME3, while neutral detergent fiber was lower in all ME treatments, and acid detergent fiber was lower in ME2 and ME3 than in CK. At 36 h, no overall treatment effect was detected for cumulative gas production, whereas in vitro dry matter digestibility differed only between ME2 and ME3. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that ME altered the bacterial community, with community-weighted rrn copy number elevated in ME2 and ME3. Random forest analysis identified Enterococcus as the genus with the highest importance for treatment classification, and functional predictions indicated higher predicted abundances of amino acid biosynthesis pathways in ME treatment groups. These results indicate that ME has potential as an additive for improving WPS silage fermentation, but practical dosage recommendations require further validation through aerobic stability, animal performance, economic, and safety assessments. Full article

Equids, primarily horses, are mostly used for recreational purposes, although in some rural areas they also serve as working animals, maintaining close and frequent contact with humans. Their risk of exposure to vector-borne and zoonotic pathogens can be affected by host-related factors, management practices and environmental conditions. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence and associated risk factors for infections by Babesia caballi, Toxoplasma gondii, Coxiella burnetii, and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in equids from Southwestern Greece. A total of 159 equids were tested using commercial serological assays. Weighted prevalence estimates were applied to account for unequal sampling. Associations were assessed using chi-square tests and logistic regression. Ecological niche modelling was employed to evaluate geographic patterns and environmental correlates. Seroprevalence was highest for B. caballi (8.81%), followed by T. gondii (7.55%) and C. burnetii (1.26%). No seropositive animals were detected for B. burgdorferi sensu lato. Ecological niche modelling showed acceptable predictive performance for B. caballi, with BIO14 and BIO6 emerging as the main environmental predictors. In contrast, the T. gondii model exhibited unacceptable predictive performance, and its environmental associations should therefore be interpreted cautiously. Complementary Random Forest analyses yielded comparable environmental rankings but showed higher classification performance for T. gondii than for B. caballi. Overall, the findings contribute to understanding pathogen exposure patterns in equids and underscore the importance of integrating epidemiological and environmental data in surveillance efforts. Full article

Studies on chimpanzees suggest that some plants are consumed for their biological properties. Low frequency of consumption, small ingested quantities, complex food processing for a low nutritional value, and local ecological knowledge from human populations can serve as useful indicators for detecting self-medicative behavior. Since 2008, wild chimpanzees have been monitored in Sebitoli, Kibale National Park, Uganda. This study focuses on a plant locally called “Angel’s trumpet,” selectively consumed by chimpanzees but previously botanically unidentified. Across 890 observation days, 25 consumption events were recorded involving 18 chimpanzees, each ingesting about 10 g of pith. The plant was botanically identified as Acnistus arborescens, a species native to Central and South America and not previously reported in Africa. The plant is known to contain withanolides particularly studied in mice and humans for their anxiolytic effects. Chemical analysis of leaves and pith conducted during this survey revealed diverse withanolides and cinnamides, with some compounds unique to the pith. This finding highlights a chimpanzee-guided discovery of a non-native plant with known bioactive properties. This study opens avenues for further research on its distribution, potential invasiveness, and potential uses for its biological effects by both humans and wildlife in Africa. Full article