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Topic Review
Road Mortality for Hedgehogs
Transport infrastructure is a pervasive element in modern landscapes and continues to expand to meet the demands of a growing human population and its associated resource consumption. Road-induced mortality is often thought to be a major contributor to the marked declines of European hedgehog populations. This review synthesizes available evidence on the population-level impacts of road mortality and the threat to population viability for the five hedgehog species in Europe. Local and national studies suggest that road mortality can cause significant depletions in population sizes, predominantly removing adult males. Traffic collisions are a probable cause of fragmentation effects, subsequently undermining ecological processes such as dispersal, as well as the genetic variance and fitness of isolated populations. Further studies are necessary to improve population estimates and explicitly examine the consequences of sex- and age-specific mortality rates. Hedgehogs have been reported to use crossing structures, such as road tunnels, yet evaluations of mitigation measures for population survival probability are largely absent. This highlights the need for robust studies that consider population dynamics and genetics in response to mitigation. In light of ongoing declines of hedgehog populations, it is paramount that applied research is prioritised and integrated into a holistic spatial planning process.
  • 511
  • 14 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Ring-Tailed Cat
The ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a mammal of the raccoon family native to arid regions of North America. It is widely distributed and well adapted to disturbed areas. It has been legally trapped for its fur. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is also known as the ringtail cat, ring-tailed cat, miner's cat or bassarisk, and is sometimes called a cacomistle, though this term seems to be more often used to refer to Bassariscus sumichrasti.
  • 1.4K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Red Wood Ants
The consequences of anthropogenic climate change are one of the major concerns of conservation biology. A cascade of negative effects is expected to affect various ecosystems, one of which is Central European coniferous forests and their unique biota. These coniferous forests are the primary habitat of many forest specialist species such as red wood ants. Climate change-induced rising of temperature allows trees to skip winter hibernation, making them more vulnerable to storms that cause wind felling, and in turn, promotes bark beetle infestations that results in unscheduled clear-cuttings. Red wood ants can also be exposed to such habitat changes. We investigated the effects of bark beetle-induced clear-cutting and the absence of coniferous trees on colonies of Formica polyctena, including a mixed-coniferous forest as a reference. Our aim was to investigate how these habitat features affect the nest characteristics and nesting habits of F. polyctena. Our results indicate that, in the absence of conifers, F. polyctena tend to use different alternatives for nest material, colony structure, and food sources. However, the vitality of F. polyctena colonies significantly decreased (smaller nest mound volumes). Our study highlights the ecological flexibility of this forest specialist and its potential to survive under extreme conditions.
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Pseudorabies Virus
Pseudorabies, or Aujeszky’s disease, is a notifiable worldwide infection of domestic and feral swine that causes economic losses for the swine industry. In domestic pigs, the virus is responsible for nervous and/or respiratory symptoms; in pregnant sows, it is one of the major causes of stillbirth, mummification, embryonic death, and infertility (SMEDI). It is known that PRV infection in wild boar is associated with low pathogenicity and attenuated or absent symptomatology, but limited information is available about the ability of the virus to infect the foetuses of infected wild boar pregnant sows. Due to scarce information about the reproductive consequences, we investigate the possible intrauterine vertical transmission of the virus in wild boar pregnant sow living in a highly infected area. A number of 54 hunted wild boar were sampled during 2018–2019, and blood, genital and nasal swabs, placenta, and fetuses were collected for serological and molecular investigations. A seroprevalence of 74% (40/54) was detected, while 1/24 pregnant sow and 1/24 pooled foetuses tested positive by PCR (gene gB). This is the first evidence of viral detection in foetuses from seropositive pregnant wild boar. This finding suggests the possible pathogenetic role of PRV on pregnancy in wild boar and the existence of an additional transmission route.
  • 913
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Proteomic Technologies in Pork Products
This entry deals with the productive (breed, diet, stress) and technological (aging, cooking) factors that affect fresh pork and elaborates the quality of products by using proteomic tools. These technologies are a relevant approach in the meat science field to decipher the underlying mechanisms and post-mortem changes in the muscle and biofluids proteome of pigs because their study will allow better management of the outcomes such as meat quality variation and defects. In general, these new developments in molecular techniques can help researchers to control and assess this quality through biomarkers. Additionally, as food safety and pork product authentication/adulteration to avoid fraud can be evaluated with these high-throughput proteomic tools. Overall, this review describes the current and emerging proteomics studies dealing with raw pork and pork products from the farm to fork. 
  • 506
  • 13 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Probiotics in Poultry Nutrition
Probiotics are live bacteria, fungi, or yeasts that supplement the gastrointestinal flora and help to maintain a healthy digestive system, thereby promoting the growth performance and overall health of poultry.
  • 1.3K
  • 06 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Preservation Technologies of Meat
Preservation of foods modifies their composition. These changes are reflected in organoleptic characteristics and nutritional value. Knowing these changes helps to anticipate the consumer’s response. In the particular case of meat different preservation methods are applied. Among the novel preservation methods highlight smart packaging technologies and use of natural antioxidants. These  preservation techniques leads to physicochemical changes in meat which favorable impact the sensory and nutritional attributes of meat derivatives. This entry describes the effects of preservation technologies on sensory and nutritional quality of meat products. 
  • 1.5K
  • 03 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Poultry Litter
Poultry litter is a combination of aviary excreta and bedding materials such as wood shavings, sawdust, peanut hulls, shredded sugar cane, straw, or other dry, absorbent, uneaten feed, broken eggs, dead birds, bird feathers and low-cost organic material [1].
  • 1.1K
  • 27 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Poultry Diet
The poultry diet is balanced for metabolizable energy and protein through the incorporation of several ingredients and additives.
  • 686
  • 22 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Porcine Stroke Models
In the search of animal stroke models providing translational advantages for biomedical research, pigs are large mammals with interesting brain characteristics and wide social acceptance. Compared to rodents, pigs have human-like highly gyrencephalic brains. In addition, increasingly through phylogeny, animals have more sophisticated white matter connectivity; thus, ratios of white-to-gray matter in humans and pigs are higher than in rodents. Swine models provide the opportunity to study the effect of stroke with emphasis on white matter damage and neuroanatomical changes in connectivity, and their pathophysiological correlate.
  • 689
  • 23 Sep 2020
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