Background Brazil is a low- to medium-income country and has the second largest pet food market in the world with 8% of world pet food consumption. The lowest-income social class spends around 17% of their domestic budget on pet food and other items related to pets. Consumers are frequently misled by advertising as there is no precise information about the main sources of protein, carbohydrates and fat in the labels, and the Brazilian pet food industry can legally claim that their products contain certain items like salmon or beef even if they use just a flavoring compound. Methods The stable isotope methodology compares the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) between source and product. The 13C/12C ratio of a specific product (e.g., dog food) reveals the proportions of C4 (maize) and C3 (soybean, rice and wheat) plants in that product and the 15N/14N ratio reveals the proportion of the compounds derived from animals. With this isotopic data, we used MixSIAR, a Bayesian stable isotope-mixing model, to estimate the proportion of maize, grains, poultry and beef in dog food. Results The δ13C values of dry dog food ranged from −24.2‰ to −12.8‰, with an average (± standard-deviation) of −17.1‰ ± 2.8‰. The δ13C values of wet pet food ranged from −25.4‰ to −16.9‰, with an average (± standard-deviation) of −21.2‰ ± 2.4‰, which was significantly lower (p < 0.01). The δ15N values of the dry and wet food ranged from 1.7‰ to 4.2‰, and from 0.5‰ to 5.5‰, respectively. The average δ15N values of dry food (2.9‰ ± 0.5‰) was not higher than the wet food (2.6‰ ± 1.3‰) (p > 0.01). The output of the MixSIAR showed a low proportion of bovine products in dry dog food samples. On the other hand, poultry was obviously the dominant ingredient present in most of the samples. Maize was the second dominant ingredient. Wet and dry dog food showed similar isotopic analysis results. The only difference was a lower proportion of maize and higher proportion of grains in wet dog food. Discussion The main finding is that dog food in Brazil is mostly made of approximately 60% (ranging from 32% to 86%) animal-based and 40% (ranging from 14% to 67%) plant-based products. Poultry and maize are the main ingredients. Poultry is added as a by-product or meal, which avoids competition between dogs and humans for meat products, while they can compete for maize. On the other hand, a large proportion of plant-based products in dog food decreases the energy and environmental footprint, since plant-based food products tend to be less harmful compared to animal-based products. Labels can mislead consumers by showing pictures of items that are not necessarily part of the product composition and by not showing the detailed information on the proportion of each ingredient. This information would allow customers to make their own choices considering their pet’s nutrition, the competition between animals and humans for resources and environmental sustainability.
SP. mht@usp.br 4 Professor do Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, CENA/USP, Piracicaba -SP. qdjvlier@usp.br Artigo recebido em 13/09/2017 e aceito em 29/03/2018 R E S U M O Diversos fatores atuam nas condições climáticas de uma região, sendo esses classificados de acordo com sua microescala, topoescala ou macroescala. Entretanto, o fato de Cuba e o Brasil possuírem características climáticas semelhantes, e que as bacias selecionadas para o estudo fiquem na mesma faixa latitudinal, não significa que possuirão igual comportamento erosivo das precipitações. Visando aprimorar o conhecimento sobre a erosividade das chuvas em climas tropicais, este trabalho objetivou caracterizar o potencial erosivo das precipitações nas bacias do Rio Mogi Guaçu (Hemisfério Sul, Brasil) e do Rio Cuyaguateje (Hemisfério Norte, Cuba), facilitando a comparação entre climas aparentemente muito semelhantes. Para desenvolver a pesquisa foram utilizados dados de um período de 20 anos (1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999) para cada bacia, sendo dados pluviográficos para a bacia cubana e pluviométricos para a bacia brasileira. Em adição, modelos de erosividade como o fator R de RUSLE e o Índice Modificado de Fournier foram utilizados para determinar a mesma. Os resultados mostram que a bacia do Rio Cuyaguateje apresenta consideravelmente maior erosividade anual variando entre 8294.6 a 18467.0 MJ mm ha -1 h -1 ano -1 , enquanto a bacia do Rio Mogi Guaçu possui erosividade anual variando de 3542.1 a 4461.5 MJ mm ha -1 h -1 ano -1 , demostrando que apesar de ambas bacias possuírem acumulados de precipitações anuais semelhantes, a bacia cubana pode ser considerada mais energizada quando se trata de precipitações. Palavras-chave: Comparações do Clima, Chuva, EI30, Índice de Fournier Modificado. Rainfall erosivity in tropical ecosystems: is there difference within a same climate zone? A B S T R A C TSeveral factors are involved in the formation of climatic conditions within a given region which may be classified according to the microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale effects. Although Cuba and Brazil belong to the same climatic range, and the study basins selected are in the same latitude, it does not mean they have the same pattern in rainfall erosivity. Aiming to enrich the knowledge of rainfall erosivity in tropical climates, the objective of this study is to characterize and compare the erosivity potential of rainfall in the Cuyaguateje (Northern Hemisphere, Cuba) and Mogi Guaçu (Southern Hemisphere, Brazil) basins; areas which have very similar climates. The research considered a 20-year period (1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999), using the pluviographic and pluviometric data for the Cuban and Brazilian basins, respectively. Erosivity potential was calculated according to the R-factor (from RUSLE) and Modified Fournier Index models. The results showed that Cuyaguateje river b...
YELEINE ALMOZA HERNÁNDEZ Stable water isotopes in precipitation over western Cuba Piracicaba 2017 1 YELEINE ALMOZA HERNÁNDEZ Stable water isotopes in precipitation over western Cuba
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