Questions Does restoration management of a formerly afforested blanket bog lead to the vegetation, and the environmental conditions it indicates, becoming similar to intact bog? Location A 147‐ha blanket bog in Scotland's Flow Country, afforested in the 1980s but undergoing restoration since 1998. Methods Vegetation in the restoration area was surveyed in nine, 1.6–6.4‐ha plots, in 1998, 2003 and 2011. Each plot was matched to nearby plots that were either intact bog or remained afforested. Principal Response Curves were used to highlight the main axes of vegetation variation and test whether plant community trajectories in the restoration area differed from intact bog. The following restoration outcomes were assessed: floristic similarity to bog vegetation; and moisture, fertility and acidity, as inferred from vegetation using Ellenberg indicator values. Results In the 6 years after restoration began, vegetation developed towards bog‐like conditions. In the subsequent 8 years, overall vegetation change stalled, and spatial variability increased, reflecting diverging trajectories in wetter and drier parts of the site. Ellenberg's F‐values implied significant re‐wetting in the restoration area, reaching moisture levels similar to intact bog. Other restoration outcomes progressed in wetter microsites and areas (furrows and flat ground), but stalled in drier locations (plough‐ridges and steeper slopes). Conclusions Overall moisture conditions, as indicated by plants, have recovered. However, restoration progress has stalled in drier areas, where additional management may be needed. Long‐term vegetation monitoring has helped clarify barriers to recovery and the management needed to overcome them. The value of such monitoring schemes in guiding restoration should be reflected in their wider implementation, within an adaptive management framework.

This study analyses the influence of chronic occupational stress on cardiovascular reactivity (heart rate [HR] and blood pressure [BPI elevation from baseline to maximal challenge) during a standard mental stress test (modified version of the STROOP colour word interference test). The test was applied to a sample of 190 healthy male blue-collar workers at the end of a regular working day. Our research hypothesis was based on the assumption that sustained autonomic activation due to chronic occupational stress may reduce cardiovascular responsiveness to challenge: workers defined by high level of chronic occupational stress exhibited lower maximal HR and BP elevations under challenge as compared to workers with low levels of stress. Three distinct indicators of occupational stress were derived from structured interviews: 'cumulative workload', 'worsening of job conditions', and 'high demand and low job security'. Statistical analysis, using ANOVA, showed that all main effects of chronic stress were in the expected direction (6 of 9 effects were statistically significant a t the 0.05 level). These effects remained stable after adjusting for age, hypertensive status, physiological baseline level, cigarette smoking, test performance, and individual style of coping. In sutnmary, cardiovascular reactivity under experimental challenge is modulated by an individual's experience of chronic occupational stress.

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The influence of two different harvest times (optimal and 4 days earlier) on thirty flavour compounds, titratable acid and sugars as well as consumer acceptance of four old and endangered tomato cultivars ('Ananas', 'Auriga', 'Green Zebra' and 'Lukullus') was analysed. In most cases, cultivar type had a greater effect on the volatiles profile than harvest times. Sugar contents were mostly higher at optimal harvest compared with early harvest, whereas acid content was in most cases not affected by harvest time. Consumers perceived differences in several visual and sensory aspects between cultivars as well as harvest times. The optimal harvest was regularly preferred to or at least regarded as equal to the early-harvest time. Sensory evaluation was poorly related to the aroma volatile profile and only partly to the acid and reducing sugar contents of tomatoes. This was probably owing to the special external characteristics of the tomatoes: differing in size, shape and colour from the 'normal' red types.

Afforestation of formerly open landscapes can transform mammalian predator communities, potentially impacting prey species like ground-nesting birds. In Scotland's Flow Country, a globally important peatland containing many forestry plantations, earlier studies found reduced densities of breeding waders on open bogs, when forestry plantations were present within 700 m. One plausible explanation for this pattern is mammalian predation. We tested whether mammalian predator indices, based on scats (feces), differed between (1) open bog, forestry plantations, and former plantations being restored as bog ("restoration" habitats); (2) restoration habitats of different ages; and (3) open bogs with differing amounts of nearby forestry. We measured summer scat density and size over 14 years in 26 transects 0.6-4.5 km in length, collecting data during 93, 96, and 79 transect-years in bog, forestry, and restoration habitats respectively. In forestry, scat density increased eightfold, reaching values~6 times higher than those of bogs. On open bogs with over 10% forestry within 700 m, scat densities were 2.9 times higher than on open bogs with less forestry nearby. Results support the hypothesis that mammalian predators might be responsible for the low densities of breeding waders close to forests, on adjacent open bogs. In restoration habitats, scat densities rose 6-10 years after felling but fell to levels similar to open bogs in older restoration habitats, supporting restoration management as a means of reducing mammalian predator activity/abundance. We urge caution around decisions to establish forestry plantations in open landscapes of high biodiversity importance.

Broiler productivity is dependent on a range of variables; among them, the rearing environment is a significant factor for proper well-being and productivity. Behavior indicates the bird’s initial response to an adverse environment and is capable of providing an indicator of well-being in real-time. The present study aims to identify and characterize the sequential pattern of broilers’ behavior when exposed to thermoneutral conditions (TNZ) and thermal stress (HS) by constant heat. The research was carried out in a climatic chamber with 18 broilers under thermoneutral conditions and heat stress for three consecutive days (at three different ages). The behavior database was first analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Tukey test by age, and Boxplot graphs, and then the sequence of the behaviors was evaluated using the generalized sequential pattern (GSP) algorithm. We were able to predict behavioral patterns at the different temperatures assessed from the behavioral sequences. Birds in HS were prostrate, identified by the shorter behavioral sequence, such as the {Lying down, Eating} pattern, unlike TNZ ({Lying down, Walking, Drinking, Walking, Lying down}), which indicates a tendency to increase behaviors (feeding and locomotor activities) that guarantee the better welfare of the birds. The sequence of behaviors ‘Lying down’ followed by ‘Lying laterally’ occurred only in HS, which represents a stressful thermal environment for the bird. Using the pattern mining sequences approach, we were able to identify temporal relationships between thermal stress and broiler behavior, confirming the need for further studies on the use of temporal behavior sequences in environmental controllers.

Estimates of peatland carbon fluxes based on remote sensing data are a useful addition to monitoring methods in these remote and precious ecosystems, but there are questions as to whether large-scale estimates are reliable given the small-scale heterogeneity of many peatlands. Our objective was to consider the reliability of models based on Earth Observations for estimating ecosystem photosynthesis at different scales using the Forsinard Flows RSPB reserve in Northern Scotland as our study site. Three sites across the reserve were monitored during the growing season of 2017. One site is near-natural blanket bog, and the other two are at different stages of the restoration process after removal of commercial conifer forestry. At each site we measured small (flux chamber) and landscape scale (eddy covariance) CO2 fluxes, small scale spectral data using a handheld spectrometer, and obtained corresponding satellite data from MODIS. The variables influencing GPP at small scale, including microforms and dominant vegetation species, were assessed using exploratory factor analysis. A GPP model using land surface temperature and a measure of greenness from remote sensing data was tested and compared to chamber and eddy covariance CO2 fluxes; this model returned good results at all scales (Pearson's correlations of 0.57 to 0.71 at small scale, 0.76 to 0.86 at large scale). We found that the effect of microtopography on GPP fluxes at the study sites was spatially and temporally inconsistent, although connected to water content and vegetation species. The GPP fluxes measured using EC were larger than those using chambers at all sites, and the reliability of the TG model at different scales was dependent on the measurement methods used for calibration and validation. This suggests that GPP measurements from remote sensing are robust at all scales, but that the methods used for calibration and validation will impact accuracy.

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