Aim We investigate the distribution of dispersal modes — endozoochory (via animal ingestion), synzoochory (via animal seed accumulation) and anemochory (via wind)—and seed mass of woody plants across Brazilian ecosystems, testing whether their relative abundance in local plant communities could be predicted by climate, edaphic factors and dispersal agents (e.g., the main vectors moving seeds). We expected climate to be the mai...

This study evaluated partially mixed ration (PMR) silages based on banana leaves alone (BL-PMR) or combined with tomato agro-industrial residue (BLTR-PMR) in diets of lambs managed under semi-arid conditions. Twenty-seven female lambs were assigned to three treatments during a 52-day trial (12 days adaptation; 40 days data collection): control (concentrate), BL-PMR, or BLTR-PMR. Animals grazed deferred pasture from 09:00 to 15...

Key message Incorporating feature-engineered environmental data into machine learning-based genomic prediction models is an efficient approach to indirectly model genotype-by-environment interactions. Abstract Complementing phenotypic traits and molecular markers with high-dimensional data such as climate and soil information is becoming a common practice in breeding programs. This study explored new ways to combine non-geneti...

Orchid bee species are important pollinators in the Neotropics. While male orchid bees are known to have a close interaction with odor-rewarding flowers, orchid bee females are often pollen generalists. In the current study, we investigated differences in the pollen diet diversity of orchid bees in various vegetation types and across sites with varying levels of forest cover by means of an analysis of the frass pellets of the...