With or without you: does partner satisfaction and partner-directed violence influence the presence of a partner on women's Facebook cover profile photographs?

Social network sites (SNSs) provide new opportunities for online self-presentation of millions of users. The cover profile photograph (CPP) along with written information regarding relationship status is a central component of online self-presentation, although their associations with actual romantic relationships are not clear. We investigated relationships between the presence of a current romantic partner on the CPP and the displayed relationship status and partner satisfaction, partner-directed violence and women's intrasexual competition with peers. A total of 28 % of the 158 women with a Facebook profile and being involved in a romantic relationship had their romantic partners on their CPP. As predicted, women with their partners on the CPP were more satisfied with their romantic relationship than others. Furthermore, women who did not have their partner on the CPP tended to conceal or lie in their displayed mating status suggesting that this may be a strategy how to attract another potential mate. The partner-directed violence and intrasexual competition hypotheses were not supported. Overall, the CPP and an honestly displayed relationship status is an expression of relationship satisfaction amongst women.

Assessment of grazing selectivity in relation to land cover: a comparison between sheep and goats

Portugal’s Northeast production of sheep and goats are based on the exploitation of landscape by-products such as spontaneous native vegetation and agriculture leftovers. Shepherds tend the flocks throughout grazing itineraries every day, crossing a mosaic of patches of varied land uses. During the journey, the shepherd acts together with the sheep and goats to select each patch in creating an ordered sequence of land uses. The focus of the research is on the land-use composition of the grazing itineraries; determinate how they depend on the patterns of the landscape mosaic. It is utilized a data set of 26 monthly herd’s itineraries, 13 of sheep and 13 of goats, to investigate the relationship of the land uses crossed by the flocks and the land uses of the landscape, evaluating the land-use preferences and selectivity of the sheep and goats. It is utilized the divergences in the time spent and distance travelled by the herds and the area of the land uses in the landscape, the chi-square test to relate the preferred land used and the season, and the discriminate analysis to distinguish the preferences and the selectivity of the herd of sheep and the herd of goats. The herds of the sheep and the goats presented different land-use preferences over the seasons and the discriminant analysis shows that they have different landscape preferences. The herd of sheep has the highest selectivity indexes for the annual irrigated crops, the agricultural complex systems and the agroforestry land uses. The highest selectivity indexes for the herd of goats were found for the deciduous forest, the agriculture with natural and semi-natural spaces and the shrublands land uses. It was concluded that the landscape management for sheep and goats herding has to be different: the agricultural land uses are essential to the flocks of sheep and the forest land uses are decisive to the flocks of goats.

Federal Crop Insurance Program Expands in 2016 and 2017 to Cover More Organic Crops

Organic agriculture represents one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture (USDA-RMA). With this in mind, the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) continues to expand crop insurance options for organic growers. In 2016 and 2017, organic producers in Maryland will see additional crops with organic crop insurance options. Increasing crop insurance options will allow this segment of producers new opportunities to manage their risks.

NITROUS OXIDE EMISSIONS IN COVER CROP-BASED CORN PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas; the majority of N2O emissions are the result of agricultural management, particularly the application of N fertilizers to soils. The relationship of N2O emissions to varying sources of N (manures, mineral fertilizers, and cover crops) has not been well-evaluated. Here we discussed a novel methodology for estimating precipitation-induced pulses of N2O using flux measurements; results indicated that short-term intensive time-series sampling methods can adequately describe the magnitude of these pulses. We also evaluated the annual N2O emissions from corn-cover crop (Zea mays; cereal rye [Secale cereale], hairy vetch [Vicia villosa], or biculture) production systems when fertilized with multiple rates of subsurface banded poultry litter, as compared with tillage incorporation or mineral fertilizer. N2O emissions increased exponentially with total N rate; tillage decreased emissions following cover crops with legume components, while the effect of mineral fertilizer was mixed across cover crops.

Comparing global land cover datasets through the Eagle matrix land cover components for continental Portugal

Global land cover maps play an important role in the understanding of the Earth's ecosystem dynamic. Several global land cover maps have been produced recently namely, Global Land Cover Share (GLC-Share) and GlobeLand30. These datasets are very useful sources of land cover information and potential users and producers are many times interested in comparing these datasets. However these global land cover maps are produced based on different techniques and using different classification schemes making their interoperability in a standardized way a challenge. The Environmental Information and Observation Network (EIONET) Action Group on Land Monitoring in Europe (EAGLE) concept was developed in order to translate the differences in the classification schemes into a standardized format which allows a comparison between class definitions. This is done by elaborating an EAGLE matrix for each classification scheme, where a bar code is assigned to each class definition that compose a certain land cover class. Ahlqvist (2005) developed an overlap metric to cope with semantic uncertainty of geographical concepts, providing this way a measure of how geographical concepts are more related to each other. In this paper, the comparison of global land cover datasets is done by translating each land cover legend into the EAGLE bar coding for the Land Cover Components of the EAGLE matrix. The bar coding values assigned to each class definition are transformed in a fuzzy function that is used to compute the overlap metric proposed by Ahlqvist (2005) and overlap matrices between land cover legends are elaborated. The overlap matrices allow the semantic comparison between the classification schemes of each global land cover map. The proposed methodology is tested on a case study where the overlap metric proposed by Ahlqvist (2005) is computed in the comparison of two global land cover maps for Continental Portugal. The study resulted with the overlap spatial distribution among the two global land cover maps, Globeland30 and GLC-Share. These results shows that Globeland30 product overlap with a degree of 77% with GLC-Share product in Continental Portugal.

Soil chemical attributes and leaf nutrients of Pacovan banana under two cover crops.

Banana is one of the most consumed fruits in the world, which is grown in most tropical countries. The objective of this work was to evaluate the main attributes of soil fertility in a banana crop under two cover crops and two root development locations. The work was conducted in Curaçá, BA, Brazil, between October 2011 and May 2013, using a randomized block design in split plot with five repetitions. Two cover crops were assessed in the plots, the cover 1 consisting of Pueraria phaseoloid es, and the cover 2 consisting of a crop mix with Sorghum bicolor, Ricinus commun is L., Canavalia ensiform is, Mucuna aterrima and Zea mays, and two soil sampling locations in the subplots, between plants in the banana rows (location 1) and between the banana rows (location 2). There were significant and independent effects for the cover crop and sampling location factors for the variables organic matter, Ca and P, and significant effects for the interaction between cover crops and sampling locations for the variables potassium, magnesium and total exchangeable bases. The cover crop mix and the between-row location presented the highest organic matter content. Potassium was the nutrient with the highest negative variation from the initial content and its leaf content was below the reference value, however not reducing the crop yield. The banana crop associated with crop cover using the crop mix provided greater availability of nutrients in the soil compared to the coverage with tropical kudzu.

Bioecology of Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1757) in different cover crops.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the biological variables of Spodoptera frugiperda on species of cover crops. The experiments were conducted in laboratory and greenhouse using the following species: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea), brachiaria (Urochloa decumbens e Urochloa ruziziensis), millet (Pennisetum americanum), black oat (Avena stringosa), white lupin (Lupinus albus), forage turnip (Rafanus sativus) and maize (Zea mays). In laboratory the S. frugiperda larval survival varied from 57%, on L. albus, to 93% on H. annuus and the survival of the pre-imaginal phase varied from 45% on U. decumbens to 81.6% on Z. mays. On C. juncea the larval biomass was lower and the development period of the young and larval stage was higher. The adaptation index was less on C. juncea in greenhouse and laboratory. In greenhouse the larval survival at 14 days was similar for all plants and at 21 days was the lowest on C. juncea. There was less accumulation of biomass at 14 days on C. juncea and at 21 days on C. juncea and A. stringosa. Regarding damage, C. juncea presented less susceptibility to Spodoptera frugiperda attack, which together with the other evaluated parameters, indicated this plant as the most appropriate for soil cover before cultivation of maize.

High spatial resolution land use and land cover mapping of the Brazilian Legal Amazon in 2008 using Landsat-5/TM and MODIS data.

Understanding spatial patterns of land use and land cover is essential for studies addressing biodiversity, climate change and environmental modeling as well as for the design and monitoring of land use policies. The aim of this study was to create a detailed map of land use land cover of the deforested areas of the Brazilian Legal Amazon up to 2008. Deforestation data from and uses were mapped with Landsat-5/TM images analysed with techniques, such as linear spectral mixture model, threshold slicing and visual interpretation, aided by temporal information extracted from NDVI MODIS time series. The result is a high spatial resolution of land use and land cover map of the entire Brazilian Legal Amazon for the year 2008 and corresponding calculation of area occupied by different land use classes. The results showed that the four classes of Pasture covered 62% of the deforested areas of the Brazilian Legal Amazon, followed by Secondary Vegetation with 21%. The area occupied by Annual Agriculture covered less than 5% of deforested areas; the remaining areas were distributed among six other land use classes. The maps generated from this project ? called TerraClass - are available at INPE?s web site (http://www.inpe.br/cra/projetos_pesquisas/terraclass2008.php)

Buckwheat as a Cover Crop in Florida: Mycorrhizal Status, Soil Analysis, and Economic Assessment

This thesis analyses buckwheat as a cover crop in Florida. The study was designed to demonstrate: soil enrichment with nutrients, mycorrhizal arbuscular fungi interactions, growth in different soil types, temperature limitations in Florida, and economic benefits for farmers. Buckwheat was planted at the FIU organic garden (Miami, FL) in early November and harvested in middle December. After incorporation of buckwheat residues, soil analyses indicated the ability of buckwheat to enrich soil with major nutrients, in particular, phosphorus. Symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased inorganic phosphorus uptake and plant growth. Regression analysis on aboveground buckwheat biomass weight and soil characteristics showed that high soil pH was the major limiting factor that affected buckwheat growth. Spatial analysis illustrated that buckwheat could be planted in South Florida throughout the year but might not be planted in North and Central Florida in winter. An economic assessment proved buckwheat to be a profitable cover crop.

IMPACTS OF ENHANCED TEMPERATURE AND SNOW DEPOSITION ON SENESCENCE DATE, VEGETATION COVER, AND CO2 EXCHANGE IN A CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC MESIC ECOSYSTEM

Arctic regions are expected to experience an increase in both temperature and precipitation over the coming decades, which is likely to impact vegetation dynamics and greenhouse gas exchange. To test this response, an experiment was installed at the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory, on Melville Island, NU, in 2008 as part of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). Snow fences and open top chambers (OTCs) were used to manipulate snow depth and air temperature, respectively. Unlike most ITEX sites to date, enhanced temperature and snowfall were combined here in a factorial design with eight replicates. As an added control, four plots were established well outside the enhanced snow area. Senescence date was recorded at the end of the season, and at the peak of the growing season a vegetation survey was conducted within each plot in order to determine the total percent cover of each plot, as well as the percent cover of individual species. Carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange was also measured within each plot throughout the growing season. The date of senescence occurred significantly earlier in plots which had not been manipulated in any way, compared to all other treatments for all species. Salix arctica showed the greatest increase in cover over time at the species level. Lichen cover increased significantly in the deepened snow plots, and in general there were significant increases in percent cover in some functional groups over time. During June and into July the net CO2 flux was to the atmosphere. It was not until July 27 that these ecosystems became net carbon sinks. However, warming alone resulted in the ecosystem acting as a significant net carbon sink for the entire growing season. Plots exposed to warming alone were estimated to have removed approximately 19.94 g C m-2 from the atmosphere, whereas all other treatments were very similar to one another and estimated to have added approximately 3.12 g C m-2 to the atmosphere. Active layer depth and soil temperatures suggest that plots within the ambient snow zone may be receiving some additional snow due to their proximity to the fences. CO2 fluxes measured within the outer control plots suggest that the effect of warming alone could lead to this ecosystem being an even stronger net C sink under truly ambient snow conditions.

Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy annual progress report. Reporting period: June 1, 2015 through May 30, 2016. Appendix C. 2015 Iowa cover crop user survey.

Appendix to 2015/16 annual report.