The extent and structure of pig rearing system in urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati

Livestock is common in Indian cities and contribute to food security as well as livelihoods. Urban livestock keeping has been neglected, and in India, little is known about the topic. Therefore, urban and peri-urban pig farms of Guwahati, Assam, India, were surveyed in order to understand more about the pig rearing systems and risks of diseases. A total of 34 urban and 66 peri-urbanpig farms were selected randomly. All reared cross-bred pigs. Free-range pig rearing was common in both urban (58.8%) and peri-urban (45.45%) farms. Artificial insemination was used by around half of the pig farmers. Disinfection in pig farms was practiced in 26.5% of urban and 28.8% of peri-urban farms. More urban pig farms were observed to be moderately clean in (82.4%) compared to peri-urban (69.7%). However, more urban (67.7%) than peri-urban farms (57.6%) reported ahighrodent burden. Pig sheds were mostly basic, with bricked floors in 18.2% farms in peri-urban areas, and more than 80% had corrugated iron roofing sheets. In conclusion, free-roaming pigs in both urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati can contribute to disease transmission, and the low standard of hygiene and buildings may further increase the risk of diseases.

Different effects of alpine woody plant expansion on domestic and wild ungulates

Changes in land-use and climate affect the distribution and diversity of plant and animal species at different spatiotemporal scales. The extent to which species-specific phenotypic plasticity and biotic interactions mediate organismal adaptation to changing environments, however, remains poorly understood. Woody plant expansion is threatening the extent of alpine grasslands worldwide, and evaluating and predicting its effects on herbivores is of crucial importance. Here, we explore the impact of shrubification on the feeding efficiency of Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra p. pyrenaica), as well as on the three most abundant coexisting domestic ungulate species: cattle, sheep and horses. We use observational diet composition from May to October and model different scenarios of vegetation availability where shrubland and woodland proliferate at the expense of grassland. We then predicted if the four ungulate species could efficiently utilize their food landscapes with their current dietary specificities measuring their niche breath in each scenario. We observed that the wild counterpart, due to a higher trophic plasticity, is less disturbed by shrubification compared to livestock, which rely primarily on herbaceous plants and will be affected 3.6 times more. Our results suggest that mixed feeders, such as chamois, could benefit from fallow landscapes, and that mountain farmers are at a growing economic risk worldwide due to changing land-use practices and climate conditions.