Search Results (3)

Litter-inhabiting fungi drive organic matter mineralization, regulate nutrient cycling, and support ecosystem stability. Understanding their dynamics in unique geological habitats is essential for predicting ecological recovery on volcanic landforms. Using high-throughput ITS sequencing and physicochemical analyses, we investigated litter-inhabiting fungal communities across four stand types on the Jingpo Lake lava plateau—shrub forest (SF), deciduous broad-leaved forest (DB), coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest (CB), and coniferous forest (CF)—at the early (t₁) and late (t₂) stages of decomposition. The results showed significant differences in litter physical and chemical properties among forest stand types (p < 0.05). Regarding community composition, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota dominated throughout, and the core genera were primarily unclassified_o__Helotiales, Mortierella, and unclassified_k__Fungi. Alpha diversity analysis showed that DB had the highest Shannon and Pielou-e indices at stage t₁, while CB exhibited higher OTUs and Chao1 indices at stage t₂. Beta diversity showed that SF communities were significantly separated between the two stages. Co-occurrence networks showed the highest connectivity in CF with pronounced modularity. Notably, LEfSe analysis revealed that DB had the fewest biomarkers, suggesting matrix heterogeneity suppresses single-taxon dominance. Functionally, saprotrophs dominated initially but transitioned toward complex soil saprotroph and endophyte assemblages over time. Redundancy analysis (RDA) identified litter moisture content (LMC) and carbon (C) content as primary drivers, orchestrating a systematic shift in community assembly from “moisture-driven colonization” at t₁ to “carbon quality screening” at t₂. These findings provide a microecological basis for understanding plant-litter-microorganism coupling mechanisms and guiding ecological restoration in lava plateau ecosystems. Full article

High litter moisture content (LMC) in poultry houses is a primary driver of footpad dermatitis, elevated ammonia emissions, and bacterial proliferation. These conditions directly compromise broiler welfare and productivity. Existing monitoring methods, including oven-drying, contact-based sensors, and near-infrared spectroscopy, suffer from invasiveness, single-point limitation, or surface-only measurement. This study investigates ultra-wideband (UWB) impulse radar as a non-contact sensing modality for estimating the LMC of cedar wood shaving bedding under controlled laboratory conditions. A four-phase experimental program was conducted. Phases 1–3 characterized signal–moisture relationships across 0–50% LMC, manure simulant contamination, and bedding structural changes (loose, compacted, caked). Phase 4 tested whether UWB radar can estimate litter LMC when a stationary broiler body obstructs the beam under combined contamination and structural conditions. A progressive feature engineering approach and an SVC-gated mixture-of-experts regression architecture were used to address each confounding factor. Full technical details are provided in the Methods Section. Under clean conditions, the baseline model achieved $R^2=0.97$ and RMSE = 2.48% LMC. Under combined realistic conditions (manure contamination, caked bedding, centered carcass), the full pipeline achieved $R^2=0.91$ and RMSE = 4.53% LMC, with 98.8% bird detection accuracy from the radar signal alone. These laboratory findings suggest that the UWB radar can sense litter moisture through a stationary broiler body. The results support its potential as the sensing core of a non-contact monitoring system for precision poultry farming. Full article

The welfare of laying hens in conventional caged houses has become an increased public concern, leading primary food chains, restaurants, and grocers in the United States to pledge to source only cage-free (CF) eggs by 2025 or 2030. Cage-free housing systems have been considered as a more humane alternative; however, they still come with certain challenges. One of the primary challenges with CF housing is the poor indoor air quality due to the high levels of ammonia (NH₃) and particulate matter (PM). Despite the importance of air quality in animal welfare, most studies have focused on the egg-laying stage, thereby leaving a significant knowledge gap in the pullet phase. Addressing this gap is essential to ensure the well-being of laying hens in CF housing and to help producers and researchers identify effective strategies to mitigate the impact of poor indoor air quality on the bird’s health and welfare. Therefore, the objective of this study was to (a) examine the effect of the pullets’ age on NH₃ and PM levels, and (b) find the effect of housing, litter moisture content (LMC), and relative humidity (RH) on air pollutant concentrations. The results show that the PM levels of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and total suspended particles (TSP) increased significantly with the growth of birds from 1 to 16 weeks of age (WOA) (p < 0.01). For instance, PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and TSP levels were measured at 0.023 ± 0.003, 0.031 ± 0.004, and 0.058 ± 0.013 mg m⁻³ in the first week, and these levels increased to 1.44 ± 0.58, 2.723 ± 1.094, and 6.39 ± 2.96 mg m⁻³, respectively, by 16 WOA. In addition, PM levels measured near the perch were found to be three times higher than other locations inside the rooms (e.g., between the feeder and drinker or near the exhaust fan) (p < 0.01), as perching is one of the primary reasons for dust generation. Furthermore, a significant interaction between the age of the pullets and PM levels was found (p < 0.01), as the litter quality and the behaviors of birds were changing over time. For NH₃ levels, average daily concentrations were lower than 1 ppm at 16 WOA for all rooms due to dry litter conditions (i.e., 9–10% LMC). Additionally, RH has been shown to have a significant effect on air pollutant concentration. Overall, the results indicate that the bird’s age significantly affects PM generation and PM variation within the rooms. The variation of PM was directly affected by RH inside the house. Therefore, this research will provide valuable information for both researchers and producers to control air pollutant emissions from the pullet stage in CF housing to ultimately improve the health and welfare of hens. Full article