Tag: horticulture

Typically, they allow for endogenous structural adjustments in land use, management, commodity production, and consumption in response to exogenous scenario drivers . However, with several components of productivity parameters endogenously determined, it can be difficult to isolate the potential role of livestock efficiency changes due to technological breakthroughs or policy incentives. For example, as production decreases due to decreasing demand, so could productivity. In this case, a design feature can be a design faw for sensitivity analysis and policy assessment focused on individual key system parameters, even if model results can be further decomposed to disentangle endogenous and exogenous productivity contributions . Accounting-based land sector models, such as the FABLE Calculator, which we also employ in this current study, can offer similarly detailed sector representation, without the governing market mechanisms, thus allowing fully tunable parameters for exploring policy impacts . This feature facilitates quantifying uncertainty and bounding estimates through sensitivity analyses. The FABLE Calculator is a sophisticated land use accounting model that can capture several of the key determinants of agricultural land use change and GHG emissions without the complexity of an optimization based economic model. Its high degree of transparency and accessibility also make it an appealing tool to facilitate stakeholder engagement.This paper explores the impacts of healthier diets and increased crop yields on U.S. GHG emissions and land use,dutch buckets as well as how these impacts vary across assumptions of future livestock productivity and ruminant density in the U.S. We employ two complementary land use modeling approaches.

The first is the FABLE Calculator , a land use and GHG accounting model based on biophysical characteristics of the agricultural and land use sectors with high agricultural commodity representation. The second is a spatially-explicit partial equilibrium optimization model for global land use systems . The combination of these modeling approaches allows us to provide both detailed representation of agricultural commodities with high flexibility in scenario design and a dynamic representation of land use in response to known economic forces , qualities that are difficult to achieve in a single model. Both modeling frameworks allow us to project to 2050 U.S. national scale agricultural production, diets, land-use, and carbon emissions and sequestration under varying policy and productivity assumptions. Our work makes several advances to sustainability research. First, using agricultural and forestry models that capture market and intersectoral dynamics, this is the first non-LCA study to examine the sustainability of a healthier average U.S. diet . Second, using two complementary modeling approaches, this is the first study to explore the GHG and land use effects of the interaction of healthy diets and agricultural productivity. Specifically, we examined key assumptions about diet, livestock productivity, ruminant density, and crop productivity. Two of the key production parameters we consider—livestock productivity and stocking density—are affected by a transition to healthier diets but have not been extensively discussed in the agricultural economic modeling literature. Third, we isolate the effects of healthier diets in the U.S. alone, in the rest of the world, and globally, which is especially important given the comparative advantage of U.S. agriculture in global trade.To model multiple policy assumptions across dimensions of food and land use and have full flexibility in terms of parameter assumptions and choice of underlying data sets, we customized a land use accounting model built in Excel, the FABLE Calculator , for the U.S. Below we describe the design of the Calculator, but for more details we direct the reader to the complete model documentation .

The FABLE Calculator represents 76 crop and livestock products using data from the FAOSTAT database. The model first specifies demand for these commodities under selected scenarios , the Calculator computes agricultural production and other metrics, land use change, food consumption, trade, GHG emissions, water use, and land for biodiversity. The key advantages of the Calculator include its speed, the number and diversity of scenario design elements , simplicity, and its transparency. However, unlike economic models using optimization techniques, the Calculator does not consider commodity prices in generating the results, does not have any spatial representation, and does not represent different production practices. The following assumptions can be adjusted in the Calculator to create scenarios: GDP, population, diet composition, population activity level, food waste, imports, exports, livestock productivity, crop productivity, agricultural land expansion or contraction, reforestation, climate impacts on crop production, protected areas, post-harvest losses, bio-fuels. Scenario assumptions in the Calculator rely on “shifters” or time-step-specific relative changes that are applied to an initial historic value using a user-specified implementation rate. The Calculator performs a model run through a sequence of steps or calculations, as follows: calculate human demand for each commodity; calculate livestock production; calculate crop production; calculate pasture and cropland requirements; compare the land use requirements with the available land accounting for restrictions imposed and reforestation targets; calculate the amount of feasible pasture and cropland; and calculate the feasible crop and livestock production; calculate feasible human demand; calculate indicators . See Figure S1 in the Supplementary Materials for a diagram of these steps. Using U.S. national data sources, we modified or replaced the US FABLE Calculator’s default data inputs and growth assumptions based on Food and Agriculture Organization data.

Specifically, we used crop and livestock productivity assumptions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture , grazing/stock intensity using literature from U.S. studies, miscanthus and switch grass bio-energy feed stock productivity assumptions from the Billion Ton study , updated beef and other commodity exports using USDA data, and created a “Healthy Style Diet for Americans” diet using the 2015–2020 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans . See SM Table S6 for all other US Calculator data and assumptions. We used these U.S.-specific data updates to construct U.S. diet, yield, and livestock scenarios and sensitivities . See for a full description of the other assumptions and data sources used in the default version of the FABLE Calculator.As a complement to the FABLE Calculator’s exogenously determined trade flows, we used GLOBIOM [a widely used and well-documented global spatially explicit partial equilibrium model of the forestry and agricultural sectors. Documentation can be found at the GLOBIOM github development site to capture the dynamics of endogenously determined international trade. Unlike the FABLE Calculator, GLOBIOM is a spatial equilibrium economic optimization model based on calibrated demand and supply curves as typically employed in economic models. GLOBIOM represents 37 economic production regions, with regional consumers optimizing consumption based on relative output prices, income, and preferences. The model maximizes the sum of consumer and producer surplus by solving for market equilibrium and using the spatial equilibrium modeling approach described in McCarl and Spreen and Takayama and Judge . Product-specific demand curves and growth rates over time allow for selective analysis of preference or dietary change through augmenting demand shift parameters over time to reflect differences in relative demand for specific commodities . Production possibilities in GLOBIOM apply spatially explicit information aggregated to Simulation Units, which are aggregates of 5 pixels of the same altitude, slope, and soil class, within the same 30 arcmin pixel, and within the same country. Land use, production and prices are calibrated to FAOSTAT from the 2000 historic period. Production systems parameters and emissions coefficients for specific crop and livestock technologies are based on detailed biophysical process models,grow bucket including EPIC for crops and RUMINANT for livestock . Livestock and crop productivity changes are reflected by both endogenous and exogenous components. For crop production, GLOBIOM yields can be shifted exogenously to reflect technological or environmental change assumptions and their associated impact on yields. Exogenous yield changes are accompanied by changes in input use intensity and costs .A similar approach has been applied in other U.S.-centric land sector models, including the intertemporal approach outlined in Wade et al. . Furthermore, reflecting potential yield growth with input intensification per unit area is consistent with observed intensification of some inputs in the U.S. agricultural system. This includes nitrogen fertilizer intensity , which grew approximately 0.4% per year from 1988 to 2018 .

Higher prices can induce production system intensification or crop mix shifts across regions to exploit regional comparative advantages. GLOBIOM accounts for several different crop management techniques, including subsistence-level , low input, high input, and high input irrigated systems. The model simulates spatiotemporal allocation of production patterns and bilateral trade fows for key agriculture and forest commodities. Regional trade patterns can shift depending on changes in market or policy factors that Baker et al. and Janssens et al. explore in greater detail in addition to providing a more comprehensive documentation of the GLOBIOM approach to international trade dynamics, including cost structures and drivers of trade expansion or contraction, or establishing new bilateral trade flows. This approach allows for flexibility in trade adjustments at both the intensive and extensive margins given a policy or productivity change in a given region. GLOBIOM has been applied extensively to a wide range of relevant topics, including climate impacts assessment , mitigation policy analysis , diet transitions , and sustainable development goals . We designed new U.S. and rest-of-the world diet and yield scenarios , and ran all scenarios at medium resolution for the U.S. and coarse resolution for ROW. We chose Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2 macroeconomic and population growth assumptions for all parameters across all scenarios when not specified or overridden by scenario assumptions .We aligned multiple assumptions in the FABLE Calculator with GLOBIOM inputs and/or outputs to isolate the impacts of specific parameter changes in livestock productivity and ruminant density. Specifically, we used the same set of U.S. healthy diet shifters in both models, but aligned the US FABLE Calculator’s crop yields and trade assumptions with GLOBIOM outputs to isolate the effects of increasing the ruminant livestock productivity growth rate and reducing the ruminant grazing density using the Calculator . While we developed high and baseline crop yield inputs for GLOBIOM, actual yields are reported because of the endogenous nature of yields in GLOBIOM. This two model approach allows us to explore the impact of exogenous changes to the livestock sector that cannot be fully exogenous in GLOBIOM. Subsequent methods sections describe each of these scenarios and sensitivity inputs in greater detail.We constructed a “Healthy U.S. diet” using the “Healthy U.S.-style Eating Pattern” from the USDA and US Department of Health and Human Services’ 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans . We use a 2600 kcal average diet. This is a reduction of about 300 kcal from the current average U.S. diet given that the current diet is well over the Minimum Dietary Energy Recommendations of 2075 kcal, computed as a weighted average of energy requirement per sex, age, and activity level and the population projections by sex and age class following the FAO methodology . The DGA recommends quantities of aggregate and specific food groups in units of ounces and cup-equivalents on a daily or weekly basis. We chose representative foods in each grouping to convert volume or mass recommendations into kcal/day equivalents and assigned groupings and foods to their closest equivalent US Calculator product grouping . For DGA food groups that consist of more than one US Calculator product group, e.g., “Meats, poultry, eggs”, we used the proportion of each product group in the baseline American diet expressed in kcal/day and applied it to the aggregated kcal from the DGA to get the recommended DGA kcal for each product group . We made one manual modification to this process by increasing the DGA recommendation for beef from a calculated value of 36 kcal/day to 50 kcal/day, since trends in the last decade have shown per capita beef consumption exceeding that of pork . This process led to a total daily intake of 2576 kcal for the healthy U.S. diet . The Baseline, average U.S. diet is modeled in the US FABLE Calculator using FAO reported values on livestock and crop production by commodity in weight for use as food in the U.S., applying the share of each commodity that is wasted, then allocating weight of each commodity to specific food product groups , converting weight to kcal, and finally dividing by the total population and days in a year to get per capita kcal/day. See the Calculator for more details and commodity specific assumptions . This healthy U.S. diet expressed in kcal was used directly in the Calculator as a basis for human consumption demand calculations for specific crop and livestock commodities.

Previous studies have shown that SL promotes photomorphogenesis by increasing HY5 level . However, the molecular links from SL signaling to HY5 regulation have remained unclear. Our results show that BZS1 mediates SL regulation of HY5 level and photomorphogenesis. Similar to hy5-215, BZS1-SRDX seedlings are partially insensitive to GR24 treatment under light , which indicates that BZS1 plays a positive role in SL regulation of seedling morphogenesis. Actually, BZS1 is the only member in the subfamily IV of B-box protein family that is regulated by SL , suggesting that BZS1 plays a unique role in SL regulation of photomorphogenesis. As BZS1 increases HY5 level, SL activation of BZS1 expression would contribute, together with inactivation of COP1 , to the SL-induced HY5 accumulation. On the other hand, the BZS1-SRDX plants showed normal branching phenotypes , which suggests that BZS1 is only involved in SL regulation of HY5 activity and seedling photomorphogenesis but not shoot branching. Our finding of BZS1 function in SL response further supports a key role for BZS1 in integration of light, BR and SL signals to control seedling photomorphogenesis . To generate 15N-labeled seeds, Arabidopsis plants were grown hydroponically in diluted Hoagland solution containing 10 mM K15NO3 . One eighth diluted Hoagland medium was used at seedling stage and 1/4 Hoagland medium was used when plant started to bolt. After the siliques were fully developed, 1/8 Hoagland medium was used till seeds were fully mature. For SILIA-IP-MS assay,strawberry gutter system the 14N- or 15N-labeled seeds were grown on Hoagland medium containing 10 mM K14NO3 or K15NO3, respectively, for 5 days under constant white light.

The seedlings were harvested and ground to fine powder in liquid nitrogen. Five grams each of 14N-labeled BZS1-YFP or YFP and 15N-labeled wild-type tissue power were mixed and total proteins were extracted using extraction buffer . After removing the cell debris by centrifugation, 20 μL GFP-Trap®_MA Beads were added to the supernatant and then incubated in the cold room for 2 h with constant rotating. The beads were washed three times with IP wash buffer . The proteins were eluted twice using 50 μL 2 × SDS sample loading buffer by incubating at 95°C for 10 min. The isotope labels were switched in repeat experiments. The eluted proteins were separated by NuPAGE® Novex 4–12% Bis-Tris Gel . After Colloidal Blue staining , the gel was cut into five fractions for trypsin digestion. In-gel digestion procedure was performed according to Tang et al. . Extracted peptides were analyzed by liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry . The LC separation was performed using an Eksigent 425 NanoLC system on a C18 trap column and a C18 analytical column . Solvent A was 0.1% formic acid in water, and solvent B was 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile. The flow rate was 300 nL/min. The MS/MS analysis was conducted with a Thermo Scientific Q Exactive mass spectrometer in positive ion mode and data dependent acquisition mode to automatically switch between MS and MS/MS acquisition. The identification and quantification were done by pFind and pQuant softwares in an open search mode. The parameters of software were set as follows: parent mass tolerance, 15 ppm; fragment mass tolerance, 0.6 Da. The FDR of the pFind analysis was 1% for peptides. Arabidopsis TAIR10 database was used for data search. Three-day-old Arabidopsis seedlings expressing BZS1-YFP or YFP alone were grown under constant light and used for BZS1-COP1 co-immunoprecipitation assay. For the BZS1, HY5 and STH2 co-immunoprecipitation assay, about one-month-old healthy Nicotiana benthamiana leaves were infiltrated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101 harboring corresponding plasmids.

The plants were then grown under constant light for 48 h and infiltrated leaves were collected. Total proteins from 0.3 g tissue powder were extracted with 0.6 mL extraction buffer . The lysate was pre-cleared by centrifugation twice at 20,000 g for 10 min at 4°C, and then diluted with equal volume of extraction buffer without Triton X-100. Twenty microliter of Pierce Protein A Magnetic Beads coupled with 10 μg anti-GFP polyclonal antibody were added to each protein extract and incubated at 4°C for 1 h with rotation. The beads were then collected by DynaMag™-2 Magnet and washed three times with wash buffer . The bonded proteins were eluted with 50 μL 2 × SDS loading buffer by incubating at 95°C for 10 min. For western blot analysis, proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and transferred onto a nitrocellulose membrane by semi-dry transfer cell . The membrane was blocked with 5% none-fat milk followed by primary and secondary antibodies. Chemiluminescence signal was detected using SuperSignal™ West Dura Extended Duration Substrate and FluorChem™ Q System . Monoclonal GFP antibody was purchased from Clontech, USA. Myc antibody and ubiquitin antibody were from Cell Signaling Technology, USA.HY5 and COP1 antibodies were from Dr. Hongquan Yang’s lab. Secondary antibodies goat anti-mouse-HRP or goat anti-rabbitHRP were from Bio-Rad Laboratories. Arundo donax is a tall grass that is native from the lower Himalayas and invaded the Mediterranean region, prior to its introduction in the America’s . It is suspected to first have been introduced to the United States in the 1700’s, and in the Los Angeles area in the 1820’s by Spanish settlers . Its primary use was for erosion control in drainage canals.

A number of other uses for Arundo have been identified. It is the source of reeds for single reed wind instruments such as clarinet and the saxophone . In Europe and Morocco Arundo is used for waste water treatment , such as nutrient and heavy metal removal, and water volume evapotranspiration. The high rate of evapotranspiration by stands of this species, used as a benefit in these countries, is one of the characteristics that is detrimental in the California ecosystems invaded by Arundo. By the 1990’s Arundo has infested tens of thousands of acres in California riparian ecosystems, and these populations affect the functioning of these systems in different ways. It increases the fire hazard in the dry season . The regular fires promoted by the dense Arundo vegetation, are changing the nature of the ecosystem from a flood-defined to a fire-defined system . During floods, Arundo plant material can accumulate in large debris dams against flood control structures and bridges, and interfere with flood water control management , and bridges across Southern California rivers. It can grow up to 8-9 m tall, and its large leaf surface area can cause the evapotranspiration of up to 3 x the amount of water that would be lost from the water table by the native, riparian vegetation . Displacement of the native vegetation results in habitat loss for desired bird species, such as the federally endangered Least Bell’s Vireo and the threatened Willow Flycatcher . Due to the problems listed above, removal of Arundo from California ecosystems has been one of the priorities of a variety of organizations and agencies involved in the management of the state’s natural resources, such as the California Department of Fish & Game, a number of resource conservation districts. In the practice of Arundo control,grow strawberry in containers both mechanical and chemical methods of Arundo control are applied, sometimes in combination , the choice of their use depending on timing, terrain, vegetation, and funding. The risks, costs, and effects of the different control methods were listed in the most recent Arundo and saltcedar workshop by . The timing of the eradication effort can be affected by a number of factors other than the biology of the target species, such as limitations due to bird nesting season, and funding availability. Ideally, the timing of any eradication effort, chemical or mechanical should be determined by the ecophysiology of the target species, in this case Arundo donax, rather than the calendar year. For chemical eradication, this has been recognized for a while, as stated by Nelroy Jackson of Monsanto, at the first Arundo workshop: “Timing of application for optimal control is important. Best results from foliar applications of Rodeo© or Roundup© are obtained when the herbicides are applied in late summer to early fall, when the rate of downward translocation of glyphosate would be greatest.” A similar statement has not yet been made for the timing of mechanical eradication methods, nor had the effect of timing on the effectiveness of mechanical eradication been identified. Mechanical eradication of Arundo can be attempted in many different manners. The most frequently used method is the cutting of the above ground material, the plant’s tall stems. Another method of mechanical eradication is digging out the underground biomass, the rhizomes. The cutting of stems can occur before and after herbicide applications.

The large amount of standing above ground biomass, up to 45 kg/m2 impedes the removal of the cut material, because the costs will be too high. The costs associated with the removal of the large biomass of the stems, has led to the use of “chippers” that will cut the stems into pieces of approximately 5 – 10 cm in situ. After these efforts, the chipped fragments are left in place. A small fraction of the fragments left behind after chipping will contain a meristem. The stem pieces of these fragments may have been left intact, or split lengthwise. In the second case the node at which the meristem at located will have been split as well. On many pieces with a meristem, the meristem itself may still be intact. These stem fragments might sprout and regenerate into new Arundo plants . If stems are not cut into small pieces, or removed after cutting, the tall, cut stems can be washed into the watershed during a flood event. This material can accumulate behind bridges and water control structures with possible consequences as described in the introduction. Meristems on the stems can also sprout, and lead to the establishment of new stands of Arundo at the eradication project site, or down river . A. donax stands have a high stem density. The outer stalks of dense stands will start to lean to the outside because the leaves produced during the growing season push the stems in the stand apart. After the initial leaning due to crowding, gravity will pull the tall outside stems almost horizontal . Throughout this report these outside hanging stems will be referred to as “hanging stems”. The horizontal orientation causes hormonal asymmetry in these stems. The main hormones involved are IAA , GA and ethylene . The unusual IAA and GA distributions cause the side shoots developing on these hanging stems, to grow vertically. IAA also plays an important role in plant root development , and may therefore have a stimulative effect on root emergence from the adventious shoot meristem on fragments that originated from hanging stems, that would be absent in stem fragments from upright stems. In a preliminary experiment comparing root emergence between stem fragments from hanging and upright stems, 38% of the hanging stemstem fragments developed roots, while none of the upright stem-stem fragments showed root emergence . These results indicated the need for further study into the possibility that new A. donax plants can regenerate from the stem fragments with shoot meristems that might be dispersed during mechanical Arundo removal efforts. In order to apply herbicides at that time that the rate of downward translocation of photosynthates and herbicide would be greatest, this time period has to be established. Carbohydrate distribution and translocation within indeterminate plants, such as Arundo, results from the balance between the supply of carbon compounds to and the nitrogen concentration in the different plant tissues. Carbon and nitrogen are the most important elements in plant tissues. Due to different diffusion rates of NO3 – and NH4 + in soil water versus that of CO2 in air, and differences in plant N and C uptake rates, plant growth will earlier become nitrogen limited than carbon limited. During plant development tissue nitrogen concentrations are diluted by plant growth , which is mainly based on the addition of carbohydrates to the tissues. When plant growth becomes nitrogen limited, the tissue will maintain the minimum nitrogen content needed for the nucleic acids and proteins that maintain metabolic function. At this low tissue nitrogen content, there is not enough nitrogen in an individual cell to provide the nucleic acids and proteins to support the metabolism of two cells, therefore the cells cannot divide. This means that the tissue cannot grow anymore , until it receives a new supply of nitrogen.

The results suggest that SA responses in tomato play a less important role in defense against Phytophthora capsici than to Pst. The impact of SA and plant activators on ABA accumulation was measured in tomato roots and shoots.However, ABA accumulation in non-stressed TDL and BTH treatments trended higher than those observed in salt-stressed plants that did not receive a plant activator treatment . Protection by TDL against Pst is likely the result of a triggered SAR response and not the result of an antagonistic effect on ABA levels. The efficacy of plant activators depends on the specific diseases targeted and the environmental context, which may present additional stressors to confound defense network signaling in the plant. A challenge for successful deployment of plant activators in the field is to manage the allocation, ecological and fitness costs that are associated with induced defenses . These costs can be manifested by reduced growth and reproduction, vulnerability to other forms of attack, and potential interference with beneficial associations . It would seem that the severity of these costs is conditioned in part by the milieu of abiotic stressors operative at any given time. Reactive oxygen species contribute to the initiation of SAR , are induced by SA and BTH , and are essential co-substrates for induced defense responses such as lignin synthesis . ROS also are important in modulating abiotic stress networks, for example in ABA signaling and response . The potential compounding effect of ROS generated from multiple stressors presents a dilemma in that the plant must reconcile these to adapt or else suffer the negative consequences of oxidative damage for failure to do so . Paradoxically, SA and BTH also are reported to protect plants against paraquat toxicity, blueberry grow pot which involves ROS generation for its herbicidal action . How plants balance ROS’s signaling roles and destructive effects within multiple stress contexts is unresolved and a critically important area of plant biology with relevance for optimizing induced resistance strategies in crop protection .

Although our experiments were conducted under highly controlled conditions, the results with TDL are encouraging and show that chemically induced resistance to bacterial speck disease occurs in both salt-stressed and non-stressed plants and in plants severely compromised in SA accumulation. Future research with plant activators should consider their use within different abiotic stress contexts to fully assess outcomes in disease and pest protection.These syntenies of wheat and rye chromosomes permit the formation of compensating translocations of wheat and rye chromosomes. A compensating translocation is genetically equivalent to either of the two parental chromosomes; that is, it carries all relevant genes, but not necessarily in the same order. On the other hand, homoeology between wheat group 1S and rye 1S arms permitted induction of homoeologous genetic recombination, thus the development of recombinants of much smaller segments of rye 1RS to wheat than the entire arm. Many of the present wheat cultivars developed by breeding for disease resistance carry a spontaneous centric rye-wheat translocation 1RS.1BL that has been very popular in wheat breeding programs . This translocation contains a short arm of rye chromosome 1, and the long arm of wheat chromosome 1BL . It must have occurred by misdivision of centromeres of the two group 1 chromosomes, and fusion of released arms and first appeared in two cultivars from the former Soviet Union, Aurora and Kavkaz. Rye chromosome arm 1RS in the translocation contains genes for resistance to insect pest and fungal disease but as it spread throughout wheat breeding programs it became apparent that the translocation was also responsible for a yield boost in the absence of pests and disease . Besides the presence of genes for resistance and yield advantage on 1RS, there is a disadvantage of 1RS in wheat due to the presence of the rye seed storage protein secalin, controlled by the Sec-1 locus on 1RS, and the absence of the wheat loci, Gli-B1 and Glu-B3, on the 1RS arm. Lukaszewski modified the 1RS.1BL translocation by removing the Sec-1 locus and adding Gli-B1 and Glu-B3 on the 1RS arm. Lukaszewski developed a set of wheat−rye translocations, derived from ‘Kavkaz’ winter wheat that added 1RS to wheat arms 1AL, 1BL, and 1DL in spring bread wheat ‘Pavon 76’, a high yielding spring wheat from CIMMYT.

Studies showed that the chromosomal position of 1RS in the wheat genome affected agronomic performance as well as bread-making quality . Using the 1RS translocation, Lukaszewski developed a total of 183 wheatrye short arm recombinant lines for group 1 chromosomes in a near-isogenic background of cv. Pavon 76 bread wheat. Out of 183 recombinant chromosomes, 110 were from 1RS- 1BS combinations, 26 from 1RS-1AS and 47 from1RS-1DS combinations. Mago et al. used some of these lines to link molecular markers with rust resistance genes on 1RS. These recombinant brea kpoint populations provide a powerful platform to locate region specific genes. Wheat roots have two main classes, seminal roots and nodal roots . Seminal roots originate from the scutellar and epiblast nodes of the germinating embryonic hypocotyls, and nodal roots, emerge from the coleoptiler nodes at the base of the apical culm . The subsequent tillers produce their own nodal roots, two to four per node and thus contribute towards correlation of root and shoot development . The seminal roots constitute from 1-14% of the entire root system and the nodal roots constitute the rest . Genetic variation for root characteristics was reported in wheat and other crop species . Genetic variability for seedling root number was studied among different Triticum species at diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid level and it was found to be positively correlated with seed weight . In a hydroponic culture study in winter wheat, Mian et al. found significant genotypic differences in root and shoot fresh weights, number of roots longer than 40 cm, longest root length and total root length. Wheat genotypes with larger root systems in hydroponic culture were higher yielding in field conditions than those with smaller root systems . Also, wheat yield stability across variable moisture regimes was associated with greater root biomass production under drought stress . Studies in other cereal crops associated quantitative trait loci for root traits with the QTL for grain yield under field conditions. Champoux et al. provided the first report of specific chromosomal regions in any cereal likely to contain genes affecting root morphology. They reported that QTL associated with root traits such as root thickness, root dry weight per tiller, root dry weight per tiller below 30 cm,hydroponic bucket and root to shoot ratio shared common chromosomal regions with putative QTL associated with field drought avoidance/tolerance in rice. Price and Tomos also mapped QTL for root growth using a different population than that used by Champoux et al. in rice.

In a field study of maize recombinant lines, QTL for root architecture and above ground biomass production shared the same location . Tuberosa et al. reported the overlap of QTL for root characteristics in maize grown in hydroponic culture with QTL for grain yield in the field under well-watered and droughted regimes occurred in 8 different regions. They observed that QTL for weight of nodal and seminal roots were most frequently and consistently overlapped with QTL for grain yield in drought and well watered field conditions. Also, at four QTL regions, increase in weight of the nodal and seminal roots was positively associated with grain yield under both irrigation regimes in the field. There are a few reports on QTL studies for root traits in durum wheat but none has been reported in bread wheat. Kubo et al. studied root penetration ability in durum wheat. They used discs of paraffin and Vaseline mixtures as substitute for compact soil. Later, a QTL analysis was done for the number of roots penetrating the poly vinyl disc, total number of seminal and crown roots, root penetration index and root dry weight . The QTL for number of roots penetrating the poly vinyl disc and root penetration index was located on chromosome 6A and a QTL for root dry weight was located on 1B. Wang et al. demonstrated significant positive heterosis for root traits among wheat F1 hybrids. They showed that 27% of the genes were differentially expressed between hybrids and their parents. They suggested the possible role of differential gene expression in root heterosis of wheat, and possible other cereal crops. In a recent molecular study of heterosis, Yao et al. speculated that up-regulation of TaARF, an open reading frame encoding a putative wheat ARF protein, might contribute to heterosis observed in wheat root and leaf growth. Rye, wheat and barley develop 4-6 seminal roots which show a high degree of vascular segmentation . Feldman traced files of metaxylem to their levels of origin in maize root apex and showed their differentiation behind the root apex in three-dimensional model. In drier environments, Richards and Passioura demonstrated that genotypes, when selected for narrow root xylem vessels as against unselected controls, yielded up to 3%-11% more than the unselected controls depending upon their genetic background. This yield increase in the selections with narrow root vessel was correlated with a significantly higher harvest index, also higher biomass at maturity and kernel number. Huang et al. indicated the decrease in diameter of metaxylem vessel and stele with increase in temperature which resulted in decreased axial water flow in wheat roots. The decrease in axial water flow is very critical in conserving water during vegetative growth and making it available during reproductive phase of the plant. In a recent study on root anatomy, QTL for metaxylem were identified on the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 10 of rice . In another comparative study of rye DNA sequences with rice genome, the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 10 of rice showed synteny to the 1RS chromosome arm . The 1RS.1BL chromosome is now being used in many wheat breeding programs. Rye has the most highly developed root system among the temperate cereals and it is more tolerant to abiotic stresses such as drought, heat, and cold than bread wheat .

Introgression of rye chromatin into wheat may enlarge the wheat root system. Manske and Vlek reported thinner roots and higher relative root density for 1RS.1BL translocations compared with their non-translocated bread wheat checks in an acid soil, but not under better soil conditions. Repeated studies with the 1RS translocation lines of Pavon 76 have demonstrated a consistent and reproducible association between root biomass and the presence and position, of the rye 1RS arm . The increased grain yield of 1RS translocations under field conditions observed and reported earlier may be due to the consistent tendency of 1RS to produce more root biomass and also to the higher transpiration rate measured .Those authors have shown a significant increase of root biomass in wheat lines with 1RS translocations, and a positive correlation between root biomass and grain yield. All translocations of 1RS: with 1A, 1B, and 1D chromosomes have shown increased root biomass and branching as compared to Pavon 76 and there was differential expression for root biomass among these translocation lines with ranking 1RS.1AL > 1RS.1DL > 1RS.1BL > Pavon 76. In Colorado, the 1RS.1AL translocation with 1RS from Amigo showed 23% yield increase under field conditions over its winter wheat check, Karl 92 . Many present day bread wheat cultivars carry a centric rye-wheat translocation 1RS.1BL in place of chromosome 1B . Originally the translocation was thought to have been fixed because the 1RS arm of rye carries genes for resistance to various leaf and stem fungal diseases and insects . However, the translocation increased grain yield even in the absence of pathogens . It has been shown recently that this yield increase may be a direct consequence of a substantially increased root biomass . Studies by Ehdaie et al. 2003 showed a significant increase of root biomass in wheat lines with 1RS translocations and a positive correlation between root biomass and grain yield. In sand cultures, all three 1RS translocations on 1AL, 1BL, and 1DL in ‘Pavon 76’ genetic background showed clear position effects with more root biomass and root branching over Pavon 76 .

A previous study about the response of different Andean and Mesoamerican common-bean cultivars to AlT showed that Andean genotypes are more tolerant to this abiotic stress, as compared to Mesoamerican genotypes . Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that all the Andean genotypes present a deleted version of the MIR1511 that would result in the absence of functional mature miR1511 . Previous work from our group showed that common-bean miR1511 expression responds to AlT stress . Here we analyzed the regulation of miR1511 and ALS3, as well as the early effects of AlT in roots of common-bean plants from the Mesoamerican BAT93 genotype vs. Andean G19833 genotype, with a deleted MIR1511 . Common-bean plantlets from BAT93 and G19833 genotypes were grown in hydroponic conditions either in control or AlT treatments, for up to 48 hrs. First, we performed the expression analysis of miR1511 and ALS3 target gene, using qRT-PCR . In AlT-stressed BAT93 plants, the transcript accumulation level of mature miR1511 gradually decreased, reaching more than half at 24 hours post-treatment , while at 48 hpt it returned to values close to those of time 0 . As expected, G19833 plants did not express mature miR1511 .The ALS3 transcript accumulation was significantly higher in G19833 roots, which lack miR1511, compared to BAT93 roots . At 6 hpt, ALS3 expression in G19833 roots almost doubled and remained unchanged up to 48 hpt, when transcript accumulation in BAT93 and G1988 roots reached similar levels . To further study the role of miR1511/ALS3 in the physiological reaction of common-bean plants to high Al levels, nft hydroponic system we aimed to over express the miR1511 precursor in transgenic roots.

As long as stable transformation of Phaseolus vulgaris plants is, to date, nearly impossible, we chose to use BAT93 and G19833 composite plants -with untransformed aerial organs and transgenic roots . As long as common bean is recalcitrant to stable transformation, this method is an alternative to demonstrate miRNA functionality . The miR1511-overexpressing composite plants as well as control plants, transformed with empty vector , were grown in AlT and control treatments. The expression level of miR1511 and ALS3 were determined by qRT-PCR in roots from composite plants harvested at 48 hpt . A two-fold accumulation of miR1511 transcript was observed in BAT93 OE1511 roots from plants grown in either treatment, compared to EV . In G19833 EV roots, the absence of miR1511 was confirmed, however a significant accumulation of miR1511 mature transcript was observed in OE1511 roots, albeit at lower levels than the level from BAT93 OEmiR1511 roots . In control treatment, both genotypes showed lower expression level of ALS3 in OEmiR1511 vs. EV roots. In addition, increased ALS3 transcript levels were observed in AlT stressed roots from both genotypes, as compared to control treatment . The primary and earliest symptoms of plants subjected to AlT stress is an inhibition of lateral root formation and root growth due to the alteration of root cell expansion and elongation, inhibiting cell division . On this basis, we analyzed the root architecture phenotype of BAT93 and G19833 OEmiR1511 and EV plants, grown under AlT or control treatments for 48 h . The growth rate of root length, width and area as well as the number of lateral roots, was calculated from the difference of each value at 48 hpt vs. time 0. The BAT93 EV plants under AlT showed decreased rates of each root parameter , thus indicating the drastic effect of high Al on root development. In contrast, G19833 EV plants showed higher tolerance to AlT evidenced by similar rate of the root length, area, width and lateral root number in stress vs control treatments .

These results are in agreement with those previously reported indicating a higher tolerance to AlT of Andean common-bean genotypes compared to Mesoamerican genotypes . Surprisingly, in G19833 plants genetically engineered for the expression of mature miR1511, the effect of root phenotype was evident. The rate of root length, area, width and lateral root number of G19833 OEmiR1511 AlT-stressed plants significantly decreased ascompared to EV plants, showing reduced levels similar to those from BAT93 stressed plants . In A. thaliana, primary root growth inhibition under phosphate limitation or AlT is mediated by ALS3 and LPR1, a ferroxidase . LPR1 acts downstream of ALS3 and its expression is epistatic to ALS3 expression . To determine if LPR1 could be involved in the different response to AlT of BAT93 vs. G19833 plants, we measured the accumulation of LPR1 transcripts in similar AlT conditions as those from Figure 4. The transcript level of LPR1 gene decreased in AlT treatment. In AlT BAT93 roots, the transcript level of LPR1 gradually decreased reaching half of the initial expression at 48 hpt. In AlT G19833 roots, the LPR1 expression was significantly lower compared to BAT93 roots from 6 hpt to 24 hpt . At 48 hpt, LPR1 transcript reached similar levels in roots from both genotypes . The LPR1 expression pattern was opposite to the ALS3 expression profile in AlT-stressed roots , indicating an epistatic relation between these two genes and the possible participation of LPR1 together with ALS3 in the control of common-bean root growth under AlT. In order to determine if miR1511 indirectly controls LPR1 expression via the regulation of ALS3 transcript, we evaluated the LPR1 transcripts accumulation in transgenic roots from OEmiR1511 and EV composite plants, growing in Alt vs control conditions. In both BAT93 and G19833 roots, a significant increase of LPR1 transcript accumulation was observed in OEmiR1511 roots from plants grown in either treatment, compared to EV roots . In AlT treatment, roots from both genotypes showed significant lower LPR1 transcript level compared to roots from control condition.

Again, LPR1 expression pattern was the opposite compared to that of ALS3 in the same transgenic root samples , thus indicating the probable epistatic relationship between these two genes and the indirect regulation of miR1511 on LPR1 expression. In plants, microRNA genes have a higher birth and death rates than protein-coding genes . For various authors, the miRNAs’ evolution rate generates a reservoir of adaptability for gene regulation . Due to this high evolutionary turnover rate, new miRNA families and members emerge, while others lose their regulatory role and disappear from genomes of phenotypically close species or genotypes. In soybean, MIR1511 is subjected to this mechanism. Htwe et al.,reported two altered versions of MIR1511 alleles in some annual wild soybean genotypes,hydroponic nft system whereas no deletion was found in G. max and perennial wild soybean MIR1511. Here, we report a similar phenomenon for P. vulgaris MIR1511 genotypic variations. Only part of the MW1 subgroup of P. vulgaris Mesoamerican genotypes and all the Andean genotypes analyzed displayed a 58 bp-deletion in the miR1511 precursor gene compared to the corresponding sequence of P. dumosus, P. coccineus, the PhI gene pool and the rest of P. vulgaris Mesoamerican genotypes . As MIR1511 is present in non-legume species, the most parsimonious hypothesis to explain the evolution process associated with this event is to consider a deletion of part of miR1511 precursor sequence. In contrast to soybean, where probably two deletion events were required for the generation of two alternative MIR1511 alleles, our results suggest a single deletion event in the common ancestor of a part of MW1 Mesoamerican subgroup and the Andean genotypes for the generation of a different allele of miR1511 precursor gene. This single MIR1511 deletion event hypothesis supports the Mesoamerican model proposed by Ariani and colleagues where the Mesoamerican gene pool is the ancestral population from which the other gene pools have derived. The fact that the PhI gene pool contains an untruncated version, as do the other closely-related Phaseolus species included in this analysis, further confirms the sister-species status of the PhI gene pool, now known as P. debouckii . P. debouckii also contains ancestral, i.e., non-derived, sequences for phaseolin seed protein and chloroplast DNA . Based on the MIR1511 phylogenetic history presented here , we propose an addendum to this model where AW gene pool genotypes derived from one, or more, member of the MW1 Mesoamerican subgroup. A clear distinct geographical distribution pattern was observed among the P. vulgaris genotypes featuring the MIR1511 deletion and the ones with an unaltered allele . MIR1511 deletion occurred in genotypes originating from the northern and southern extreme limits of the common-bean distribution in Latin American area. Such distribution pattern correlates with the annual precipitation pattern reported for the American continent , indicating that genotypes with MIR1511 deletion originated from areas with significantly less precipitation as compared to areas where genotypes with unaltered MIR1511 originated . Drought makes soil not suitable for agriculture; it tends to increase soil concentration of different compounds that would result in plant toxicity, including aluminum toxicity, which is an important plant growth-limiting factor . The harsh soil conditions of areas where P. vulgaris genotypes lacking of MIR1511 originated probably forced these common-bean populations to adapt and favored selection of genotypes with higher AlT tolerance. In this work, we showed the experimental validation of a target gene for P. vulgaris miR1511. We validated the miR1511-induce cleavage of ALS3 transcript, an ABC transporter participating in Al detoxification in plants . However, additional action of miR1511 by translation repression of ALS3 cannot be excluded. Other proposed target genes for P. vulgaris miR1511 are not related to plants AlT response and show high binding-site penalty score, thus improbable to be considered as functional in the AlT response. Here we provided evidence of the role of the miR1511/ALS3 node in the common-bean response to AlT .

We interpret that the MIR1511 deletion resulting in lack of mature miR1511 allowed common-bean adaptation to high Al in the soils by eliminating the negative regulation of ALS3 transcript and the accumulation of LPR1, in the first 48 hpt, thus increasing its tolerance to AlT and favoring plant growth. Interestingly, similar characteristics hold for the soybean MIR1511-deletion case where the origin of soybean genotypes featuring a MIR1511-altered allele is geographically correlated with areas susceptible to high Al concentration in soil due to presence of drought in these regions .High aluminum levels in soil mainly affect plant roots; aluminum can be allocated to different subcellular structures thus altering the growth of the principal root and the number of lateral roots . In this sense, it has been observed that AlT-stressed plants favor the transport of chelated Al to vacuoles and from roots, through the vasculature, to aerial tissues that are less sensitive to Al accumulation . In Arabidopsis and other plants, ALS1 and ALS3, from the ATP-binding cassette transporter family, are involved in Al detoxification and enhance tolerance to AlT . ALS3 is located in the tonoplast, the plasma membrane of root cortex epidermal cells, and in phloem cells throughout the plant . It has been shown that Arabidopsis als3 mutants are more sensitive to AlT exhibiting extreme root growth inhibition, compared to wild type plants . Recent studies on the role of Arabidopsis ALS3 in root growth inhibition revealed its regulation via the inhibition of the STOP1-ALMT1 and LPR1 pathways, which indirectly control ROS accumulation in roots via the modulation of Fe accumulation . Furthermore, Arabidopsis ALS3 expression is induced by excess Al , a phenomenon we observed in common-bean plants as well . Common-bean ALS3 expression doubled after 6 hours under AlT in roots from G19833 plants, while in stressed roots from BAT93 plants a similar level was reached only after 48 h of treatment . The opposite expression profile was found for the ALS3-epistatic gene LPR1, in the same samples . Our data on the different ALS3 and LPR1 expression level from both genotypes indicate that the absence of the negative regulator miR1511 in G19833 plants allows a faster response to AlT. Although the level of mature miR1511 decreased in BAT93 roots up to 24 h of after exposure to high Al, this level seems sufficient to induce degradation of ALS3 transcript, which showed reduced levels compared to G19833 roots, and an increase of LPR1 expression . Our analysis of root architecture in common-bean plants showed that G19833 Andean genotype plants are more tolerant to AlT as compared to Mesoamerican BAT93 plants . These data agree with those reported by Blair et al. .

Resilience refers to the capacity of social-ecological systems to fulfil their function in changing conditions, thus withstanding disturbances and being able to adapt and transform while delivering on their main goal . Although resilience is sometimes portrayed as stability, resilient systems can—and should be able to—transform. The strategies through which a social-ecological system may retain its resilience can be characterised in terms of persistence or robustness, adaptability, and transformability . Robustness refers to the capacity of the system “to withstand stresses and anticipated shocks” . Adaptability, in turn, entails “the capacity of actors in a system to influence resilience” by, for example, changing “the composition of inputs, production, marketing and risk management in response to shocks and stresses but without changing the structures and feedback mechanisms of the farming system” . Lastly, transformability is about “the capacity to create a fundamentally new system when ecological, economic, or social structures make the existing system untenable” . Such changes can imply a changing function of the farming system . A farm system may employ different resilience strategies over time. The food system and the embedded farm systems are in a flux of constant interaction: the dynamics on both levels condition each other. The employed resilience strategy depends on the transformative capacities of the farm and the farmer—what they can do with the resources they have. This makes resilience a question of agency and power. In a situation where the regime is strongly locked-in, farmers’ choice space becomes substantially limited .

The pressures are manifest in how farmers are acting mostly as price-takers and carry the responsibility for mitigating environmental impacts in the food system . However,flower pot not all farmers are similarly affected by transition processes, which calls for analyses of the transformation pathways accessible to farms. Agency and power are longstanding areas of research in social sciences. Agency can be seen as the actors’ capacity to act, and it constitutes power, intentionality, freedom of choice and reflexivity . Power, in turn, is understood here as “the capacity of actors to mobilise resources and institutions to achieve a goal” . When resilience is understood as the capacity of a system to achieve its goal, the notion of power in achieving that goal is central to the analysis of resilience. Resilience requires adaptive capacity, which refers to the potential of system agents to fulfil their goals, act independently, and exert their own agency . As such, the concept of adaptive capacity is practically identical to the concept of social power. Analyses of resilience and adaptive capacity at the level of farm systems require identifying the kinds of goals farmers hold regarding food production, the resources available, as well as the capacities to utilise them to achieve those goals . Thus, even though the concept of resilience has sometimes been used without being attentive to the societal context, questions of regime reproduction, or social power , it holds potential in analysing questions of agency, power, and social justice related to systemic transformations As systems may employ very different strategies to retain their resilience, it is presumed that system actors also employ different capacities in accordance with their resilience strategy. Avelino argues that transformative capacities are different from capacities that reproduce the existing structures, as in the case of persistent or adaptive versus transformative types of resilience.

According to Patterson et al. , “Transformative adaptation approaches take as a starting point that power relations condition the options available to marginal and vulnerable groups to shape their own desirable futures, thus requiring keen attention to issues of social difference, power, and knowledge.” Tribaldos and Kortetm¨ aki see capacity development as a criterion for a just transition in the sense of whether food system actors can respond to transition pressures. Thus, resilience capacities depend on what people can do and be with those resources and goods they possess or have access to . How farmers as system actors employ their capacities is a function of their internal goals and the external conditions defined by the food system . When the distributive effects of external conditions fall unequally upon the food system actors, restorative justice can reveal new perspectives on mitigating these effects. Restorative justice approach is traditionally understood as a non-adversarial response to harm and conflict that derives from violations of law, rules, ethics, or a general sense of moral obligation . The concept originates from criminal justice studies seeking to repair the damage and restore the dignity and well-being of all those involved in causing harm . However, restorative justice has increasingly been acknowledged in the field of sustainability, particularly from the perspective of energy transition, nature conservation, food transition and human rights . The common characterisations of restorative justice emphasise face-to-face dialogue between different parties configured as offenders or perpetrators of harm and the subjects-of-harm . The latter is often conceptualised as a “victim”, a condition under which agency and relationship with offenders are to be transformed. The process of restorative justice involves a reactive mechanism to address the damage already done. In other words, the process seeks to restore justice within the structures of the existing system. Accordingly, the individual is expected to undergo a transformation process while the surrounding system does not change.

Recent proactive approaches to restorative justice have emphasised more anticipatory elements of restorative justice. This means involving a range of actors and adopting a forward-looking approach that is both preventive and strategic . However, to be genuinely proactive and transformative, justice cannot be achieved by restoring the status quo ex ante . We further argue that the main challenge of restorative justice during systemic changes is that the transformation is not only about individuals but the system itself. Thus, individuals cannot be easily ‘restored’ with the logic of a system on the move. In systemic transitions, this would mean that those at risk of becoming ‘transition victims’ should also have the opportunity not to become ones. However, the application of the restorative approach to sustainability transition is not unproblematic, as the actors who fall victim to the transition processes have at the same time contributed to the problems that call for a transition in the first place. To what extent this contribution can be credited to the deliberate choices of the actors or just to them operating by the rules of the game remains debated. However, the current financial position of farmers suggests that the system itself is the most crucial factor in delimiting their choice space. The just food transition poses a fundamental challenge to restorative justice; the food system itself is enduring a major transformation which is also expected from the actors within the system. We argue that a genuinely transformative and proactive approach to restorative justice should aim at resilience and capacity building not only in terms of the existing system, but also in terms of the systemic transformation. We now move on to examine farmers’ transformative capacities and then discuss our findings from the perspective of restorative justice. The research area in Eastern Finland comprises three provinces: North and South Savo and North Karelia . The area is characterised by a sparse settlement structure and rather unfavourable socio-economic development patterns. The area adds up to 18% of the total area in Finland and 10% of the total population, with 557,000 inhabitants.

On average, the farms in Eastern Finland are smaller than the national average, and the fields tend to be fragmented into small plots. The share of utilised agricultural area in Eastern Finland is 5% of the total area in comparison with the Finnish average of 7.4% . The climatic conditions and soil properties are particularly suitable for grass production, and consequently, the role of cattle production is pronounced with 33% of all farms in Eastern Finland being cattle farms in comparison with the Finnish average of 20% . A significant share of the yields produced on crop farms are used for feed on cattle farms in the area . Regarding farm sales,berry pots in Eastern Finland 68% comprises animal products in comparison with the 58% average of mainland Finland . This study is based on survey data collected during the mid-term evaluation of the 2014–2020 Rural Development Program of Eastern Finland . The programme addresses a wide range of social, economic, and environmental issues of farms and rural areas by channelling the funds of the second pillar of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy for farmers, rural firms, and non-profit organisations. A survey request was sent to all farmers in Eastern Finland who had received agricultural support from the programme and who had registered an email address in the IACS farm register . All active farmers in Eastern Finland with at least 5 hectares of arable land are entitled to LFA support, and in Finland, the support encompasses nearly all agricultural land . As a result, 577 responses were retrieved, with a response rate of 9% despite several requests to fill out the questionnaire. The low response rate was partly due to unfavourable timing of the survey at the beginning of spring but is in line with many recent farmer surveys conducted in Finland. The survey addressed issues related to the farm and its production activities, the farmer and the farming family, farming as a livelihood, environmental aspects related to farm management, and the main types of subsidies received and their perceived effectiveness. The basic characteristics of the surveyed farms are presented in Appendix 1 in comparison with all farms in Eastern Finland and all farms in mainland Finland. The survey respondents farmed slightly larger farms than farmers in the area on average but were broadly representative of farmers in the area.

Most of the survey respondents were cattle farmers , followed by other crops and cereal production . Garden crops, especially strawberry and currant, are typical crops in eastern Finland and had a share of 9% in the dataset. We operationalised the concept of resilience according to the three dimensions of resilience: persistence, adaptability, and transformability. In addition, we also identified a non-resilient group. The operationalisation strategy was based on three variables: 1) the future strategic orientation stated by the farmer , 2) an additional open question related to the farmer’s strategic orientation asking the respondent to specify his or her plans, and 3) freely expressed goals for farming . Out of the 577 responses, 575 were analysable in terms of resilience; thus, the final dataset consisted of 575 responses. Coding farm resilience was an iterative process between the three variables. Table 1 presents the coding principles for each resilience group. In short, a farm was coded as persistent when the farmer aimed at business-as-usual and did not indicate development intentions. Those farms that aimed at developing the farm within the existing operations were coded as adaptable. Transformable farms indicated a deliberate search for a new direction for the farm business by diversifying the farm operations or doing something new in comparison with the existing operations. Non-resilient farms aimed to quit farming by retirement or moving into another business; they did not have successors and their intention was to lease or afforest the fields. The resulting four farm groups with diverging resilience orientations were profiled in terms of variables concerning the farm and its production activities , the farmer and the farming family , farming as a livelihood , environmental aspects related to farm management , and the main types of subsidies received and their perceived effectiveness , adoption of agri-environmental contracts, investment support, organic farming, extension support. These variables reflect the availability of resources, as well as how farmers make use of them and how they relate to environmental management at the farm level, reflecting the mobilisation of environmental values and motivations. A complete list of the variables included in the analysis is given in Appendix 2. To determine whether the differences between the resilience groups were statistically significant, ANOVA tests were performed for continuous variables for the comparison of means, and contingency tests were performed for categorical and dummy variables for comparison of the distributions.

With average costs of roughly 1.50€ per each tag, it is the cheapest method among the three. However, it suffers from one disadvantage which could lead to several problems. Its application to the ear lobe of the sheep increases its possibility to be lost due to entanglement in bushes, trees fences, etc. Another problem has to do with the ease of removal of the tag, a practice used in various fraudulent activities regarding animal identifications and could be avoided using irremovable animal tagging systems. In case of tag losses, new tags are to be applied, which not only causes additional administrative work but also impacts the welfare of the sheep which have to undergo another piercing of the ear.In this case, the EID is enclosed in a ceramic bolus, which is then inserted into the sheep’s rumen using a designated tool . Although having a slightly higher cost of about 4–5€, its main advantage is its permanence and very low malfunction and loss rate. Boluses have widespread use and are currently applied routinely in many commercial farms. It is however a more complicated EID to insert, with sheep needing to reach a certain age in order to safely receive the bolus. Size reduction and proper insertion by trained personnel mitigate these problems, with the bolus total size and length being a key factor. As shown by Hentz et al. , smaller boluses could be inserted safely and efficiently to smaller ewes while retaining the internal positioning and reliability.Widely used in house pets and horses for animal identification, its use in livestock although permitted is very limited . The main reason for its limited use is the difficulty to remove the EID in the abattoir,and the tendency of early models to migrate from the original region of injection.Different studies however show limited migration patterns of modern glass and silicone enclosed injectable EIDs during their use in field conditions.A particular advantage of injectable EID is the possibility of it being used not only as passive information storage but also as a sensor for physiological parameters.

The use of temperature detecting injectable passive RFID/ EIDs is widespread in the management of smaller laboratory animals and was tested on bigger farm animals under different conditions . Its use in sheep has been shown to provide highly correlating data to that of core temperature measured via rectal thermometry. This concept is, however, stackable flower pots still in the experimental stage and its future applications are uncertain.Sensors applied on the individual animal are one of the key principles of PLF with tools such as pedometers and rumination tags are well known to dairy cattle farmers. They provide information on animal’s physiological conditions whether in real time or via data loggers downloading in key passages . These sensors collect data from the animal and translate it into physiologic status such as ovulation or lameness relevant to farm management . In case of extensive sheep farming, wearable sensors have been experimented in small-scale-controlled conditions as well as experimental farms . The main objectives of these sensors are to evaluate grazing and resting behaviours, which provide information regarding grazing patterns and feed intake as well as animal position and movement of the flock . Currently, two main types of technology are being tried in this field: accelerometers, especially the tri-axial type, and GPS systems. The third use of active sensors is in the case of social networks and behaviour such as heat and mating identification. Being a seasonal breeding species, a big focus in Mediterranean production is dedicated to out of the season mating in order to maintain constant milk production in contrast to the sheep’s natural cycle . Currently, a common practice is the use of a harness on the flock rams with colour for visual identification of covered ewes; however, the use of electronic activity logger is being tested .A system that measures movement in terms of the direction and speed of the sensor is attached to the foot, neck or head of the sheep. Evaluated by the software first, data are provided to the producer to assist in decision making .

The most useful data come from three axial accelerometers which record movement in a three-dimensional pattern. Field trials confirm the ability of such accelerometers to register movement patterns linked to behaviours such as resting, grazing, moving and running/playing or lameness . Even though accelerometers could be considered technologically matured, data interpretation and validation is still a subject for field research . Meanwhile, the collection and management of the data as well as energy supply to systems in the field present a big challenge for a widespread application. In recent years, the amount of research put into this system is growing increasingly especially in attempt to take a research ready prototype into commercial production . Therefore, accelerometers could represent in the near future a viable product.Especially when paired with geographic information system , it provides information on animal movement and disposition in certain geographical areas. Such a system could help evaluate the movement of sheep in a vast grazing area, between water sources, low and high land and in response to the presence of predators or wild herbivores . In the work of de Virgilio et al. , combined use of accelerometers and GPS/GIS was proposed as a PLF option for sustainable range land management. Such systems, however, are not yet operational in commercial farming due to relative high cost of each sensor and the need for high energy supply . Also, information gathered by the systems still needs interpretation and given the right value in a decision-making process.In a recent study by Mozo et al. , tri-axial was used accelerometer with specific software to detect rams’ mating activity providing a possible tool to measure service capacity of rams. A more mature system is the electronic Alpha-Detector which includes a harness for the ram with an active reader and transmitter which detects the ewes’ EID and transmits the data to a centralized computer. The transmitted data could be interpreted for frequency of mating, true and false coverings and the number of ewes covered. This system has currently passed the research phase and is being tried in field conditions for commercial production .

Other technologies include a concept produced by Laca regarding extensive management of animals which incorporates GPS, satellite communication of data from ‘mother collars’, short distance communication between the animals’ collars and feed management based on the elaborated data. The system is very complex and requires both costly technologies and knowledge of the herd dynamics for the identification of key individuals in their respective groups . The feasibility of such system is becoming widespread in Mediterranean dairy sheep farming due to cost and complexity, but may be relevant for other types of extensive farming that use larger grazing areas , or less contact with the animal . Other sensors include microphone and sound analysis of chewing sheep and monitoring urination in sheep and cattle in order to determine liquid and nitrogen emissions. However, the systems were only described as an experimental process and not yet ready for field implementation.Stationary sensors are another key element in the PLF concept, with different types of sensors such as temperature sensors, cameras, weights and automatic feeders are placed in key locations of a barn . These sensors collect data and usually communicate with the animals’ EIDs, providing real-time data for each single animal to feedback systems . In extensive sheep farming, there are several stationary tools such as AD, weighting crates or a walk over weight system. Although the systems are extensively tested and reached advanced stages of development, they are not yet accepted by dairy sheep farmers for widespread commercial use .An AD, in simple terms, is an automat system centred around a selective gate with the ability to distinguish and direct the passage of animals. Most of the AD systems are based on the recognition of animals’ EIDs as the selective criteria. In extensive sheep farm, ADs and EIDs could be used together not only for data collection and feeding control but also as a tool to reduce manual labour for the flock . Animal selection is one of the most labour intensive activities on the farm, especially in events such as sheering, parasite treatments and selection for sale.

Automatic drafters could also be coupled with weighting systems in order to measure the condition of a single sheep, directing lower weight animals towards supplemented feeding areas accordingly .Originally developed for grazing cattle, both systems were consequently adopted and modified of sheep farming as well. The WOW was tried in field conditions where it proved its efficiency, consequently expanding its use to sheep management . The system includes a one-way passage leading to a key stimulant which the animals are forced to pass through. The weighting platform is placed in this corridor, and it communicates with the animals’ EIDs on each passage. Data regarding each single sheep are stored and could be matched against similar passages in a single day creating a more reliable result. When used by itself, the WOW system helps to reduce labour with fewer personal needed for animal sorting activity while pairing it with AD systems can allow better control on supplementation feeding . This combination has been proven to be efficient in several studies as presented by a recent review by Rutter and by Gonzalez-Garcia et al. , making it a viable instrument for farm management. The WC on the other hand is used by actively separating single animal by operator closing doors in a passage corridor. This way, each animal is weighted standing still and isolated from others. In the WC, the RFID identification could be done both by handheld transponders or by fixed reading antennas,flower pots for sale consequentially allowing the analysation of data in real time. Commercial models are already available on the market . The collected data could be used for various purposes such as ensuring lambs are ready for sale or anthelmintic treatments. The last use is of particular importance considering the growing awareness to the amount of anthelmintic resistant parasites in grazing sheep and the health implications derived from it . For this purpose, coupling the WC with a self-dosing fluid dispenser is a currently viable option with commercial products already on the market such as Te Pari fluid dispenser .

Virtual fencing is an innovative method for extensive animal management that replaces physical barriers with electronically placed boundaries. Animals are prevented from passage by a system of visible and/or audible cues combined with electric stimulus. Although VF is not able to provide a full sealing of an area, its flexibility and potential applications has attracted a growing amount of researches as well as stimulating commercial development with products such as BoviGuard, NoFence and eShepherd™. The main advantage of such a system is not the complete exclusion of animals from certain areas, but rather the possibility VF provides to guide and move the animals according to pasture availability . However, VF cannot completely replace all fences, as the hermetic exclusion of animal is impossible without physical barrier. Therefore, due to security reasons and property rights , the external fences of the pasture remain necessary. By using visible and audio cues prior to the electric stimulus VF systems are aiming to condition the animals to understand the limits of their area. Although there is a variability among the individual animals in understanding these limits, as a group the herd maintains its position . There are several factors however, which limit the adoption of VF systems on commercial farms. The first is its cost, although the cost of the system was estimated in 200 000 £ for 100 animals in UK, its difference is not as big in comparison with traditional fencing costs in the same country . However, VF cannot completely replace traditional fencing and a combined use will be always needed . Another weakness is the lack of technological infrastructure in sheep farms ; this includes network coverage and IT-related skills and understanding. Without this, farmers may find it difficult to trust hi-tech systems .