Investments in agroforestry research during the past three decades-albeit modest-have yielded significant gains in understanding the role of trees on farmlands, and the ecological and economic advantages of integrated farming systems. While early research focused mostly on farm or local levels, broader-level ecosystem services of agroforestry systems (AFS) have raised high expectations in recen...

International trade has been incorporating various aspects of environmental issues since 1970. The extent to which environmental problems might affect many facets of trade, or vice versa, has been the subject of considerable debate over these years. In this article we have attempted to establish some of the links between international trade and environmental quality by performing a comprehensiv...

A total of 3 experiments (Exp), in vitro and in vivo, were conducted to investigate the effects of saponin extracts from Quillaja saponaria (QS), Yucca schidigera (YS) and Camellia sinensis (TS) on CH4 emissions from steers. The in vitro Exp was carried out to determine the effects of saponin inclusion on ruminal methanogenesis and fermentation parameters. Two doses (0.5% and 2.0% of substrate ...

Recently, sustainability in software engineering and especially in requirements engineering is an emerging field. Especially, increasing demand for energy and intensive use of software and software-related services are the key motivators for designing software products with environmental requirements. In this study, we identify the software practitioners perception of the energy-related impact ...

This paper asks whether individuals consider the value future generations will receive from environmental quality when deciding what level of environmental protection to provide. Using data on life expectancy, I develop two tests for altruism towards future generations. One, a test for strong altruism, asks whether individual motives are purely altruistic when deciding to provide environmental ...

Idiopathic male infertility may be due to exposure to environmental toxicants that alter spermatogenesis or sperm function. We studied the relationship between air pollutant levels and semen quality over a 2-year period in Los Angeles, California, by analyzing repeated semen samples collected by sperm donors. Semen analysis data derived from 5,134 semen samples from a sperm donor bank were corr...

In order for livestock industries to consistently produce high quality meat, there must be an understanding of the factors that cause quality to vary, as well as the contribution of genetics. A brief overview of meat tenderness is presented to understand how genotype and environment may interact to influence this trait. Essentially, meat tenderness is determined from the contribution of connect...

There are many reasons for believing that the environment exerts an influence (directly or indirectly) on the wellbeing of children and families. However, while clear evidence is available that low socioeconomic status is associated with lower than average levels of wellbeing, especially among adults, the evidence linking the social and emotional adjustment of children with the quality of the e...

The growing concern with environmental protection has manifested itself in both the natural and social sciences in a concerted research effort to extend our understanding of ecological systems and to employ this knowledge in the design of policies for an improved environment. Biologists and chemists have labored, for example, to learn the dynamics of the processes of decay and assimilation of w...

Forage age and maturity generally have a larger influence on forage quality than environmental factors. Plant environment, however, cause deviations in forage quality even when harvested at the same maturity. Temperature usually has greater influence on forage quality than other environmental factors. Although increasing temperature normally hastens maturity, the primary effect may be through i...