Water scarcity is a major constraint to livestock production in tropical and semi-arid environments, necessitating the identification of breeds with superior adaptive capacity. This study evaluated the effects of graded water restriction (WR) on growth performance, morphometric traits, and serum biochemical responses of indigenous South African goat breeds. Thirty-six female Nguni and Xhosa goats were assigned to three water intake levels: ad libitum (W0; control), 70% (W70), and 50% (W50) of ad libitum intake in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. Growth performance, body measurements, and serum biochemical parameters were assessed over 75 days. Water restriction significantly reduced growth performance in both breeds (p < 0.05), with more pronounced effects under severe restriction (W50). However, Nguni goats maintained higher final body weight and experienced smaller reductions in average daily gain than Xhosa goats. Morphometric traits were generally less affected by WR, although Nguni goats consistently exhibited greater rump width. Biochemical responses revealed higher concentrations of sodium, chloride, alkaline phosphatase, and creatinine (p < 0.05) in Nguni goats, whereas Xhosa goats showed higher concentrations of urea and globulin. The findings demonstrate distinct breed-specific adaptive mechanisms to water stress, with Nguni goats exhibiting greater physiological resilience.
The growing relevance of the Purebred Spanish horse has driven the extensive use of assisted reproductive technologies to preserve elite stallion genetics. Optimal reproductive performance is intrinsically linked to systemic health and high semen quality. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of body condition on the stallion's metabolic and endocrine profiles and their seminal parameters. Semen and blood samples were collected from 26 stallions (February-May in 2024-2025) whose body condition score (BCS) was assessed using the Henneke scale. They were classified into two groups, low BCS with a score range of 4-6 (n = 14) and high BCS with a score range of 7-8 (n = 12). The low BCS is regarded as a normal condition, whereas the high BCS is regarded as obesity. Metabolic and endocrine parameters and semen quality variables were analyzed using ANOVA, and principal component analyses (PCA). Stallions with high BCS showed significantly increased insulin and triglycerides concentrations (p = 0.0263 and p = 0.0046, respectively), with a positive correlation between BCS and insulin levels (r = 0.576, p = 0.04), as well as between BCS and triglyceride levels (r = 0.525, p = 0.0049). A significantly lower sperm count was observed in stallions with high BCS (p < 0.0001), together with lower total sperm motility (p = 0.0055), when compared to stallions with low BCS. PCA of blood parameters revealed the first component (PC1) associated with glucose, insulin, triglycerides, and cholesterol. In semen's PCA, PC1 was associated with quality parameters, while PC2 was influenced by total sperm count. No direct correlation was found between PCA components and BCS. However, integration of both PCA showed that increased insulin, triglycerides, and cholesterol were significantly associated with a reduced total sperm count. These findings suggest that reproductive changes in stallions with high BCS are primarily mediated by metabolic and endocrine dysfunction rather than adiposity per se.
Illegal wildlife trade contributes to biodiversity loss, but trade in forest-dependent parrots is often examined through disconnected evidence streams, including field observations, declared trade records, seizures, online advertisements, and animal-welfare cases. Macaws provide a useful focal group because many species combine high market visibility with delayed maturity, long life spans, low reproductive output, and dependence on suitable nesting cavities. This structured narrative review synthesizes 80 sources, including peer-reviewed studies, CITES resources, official reports, policy documents, and the conservation literature. Sources were coded by taxonomic focus, geographic region, trade-chain level, source type, risk domain, and monitoring method and classified as direct macaw evidence, transferable parrot evidence, or broader wildlife-trade evidence. Direct studies, including long-term research from Peru, show that extraction may interact with habitat loss, nest-site limitation, chick survival, recruitment constraints, and population structure, although species-specific estimates of illegal extraction remain limited. Peruvian market studies further demonstrate the importance of domestic trade outside international reporting systems. CITES and seizure records can identify declared trade patterns and enforcement contacts but cannot provide complete measures of illegal activity. Captive-bred claims require documentary, biological, and, where appropriate, genetic verification, while digital markets disperse trade signals across public listings, seller networks, temporary posts, and private communication. The review proposes a multiscale adaptive monitoring framework connecting ecological evidence, trade and enforcement records, digital-market observations, source verification, and management response. Available evidence supports treating illegal and poorly regulated macaw trade as a plausible conservation stressor, but stronger species-specific datasets are needed to estimate prevalence, demographic effects, and intervention outcomes.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an elevation of 4000 m above sea level, is rich in biological resources, and all the native creatures are exposed to extremely inhospitable environmental challenges. However, the detailed adaptation mechanisms of the native organisms to such an environment are still unclear. In this study, in-depth high-throughput RNA-Seq sequencing and metabolome data were deployed to depict the transcription and metabolism landscape of pikas living at 4630 and 2600 m altitude to elucidate the multilayer adaptation mechanisms of pikas to the environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We identified significant variations in transcription and metabolism between pikas from 4630 and 2600 m. Various genes functioned in inflammatory-related pathways, including inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels and GnRH/HIF-1/p53/TNF signaling pathways, which were more active in pikas from 4630 m. Immune-response-related genes were overall downregulated in high-altitude pikas (e.g., genes for pro-inflammatory mediator synthesis and immune cell recruitment); this may represent a potential adaptive immunomodulatory mode in response to hypoxic stress. The expression of genes involved in cardiac muscle contraction and oxidative phosphorylation pathways was lower in pikas from 4630 m, leading to advantages for pikas in obtaining sufficient oxygen. Pikas from 4630 m have a more active metabolism relevant to amino acids and lipids, which provides energy for pikas to adapt to a high-altitude environment. Metabolome results reach a consensus with metabolic analysis from the transcriptome that pikas from 4630 m contain high levels of various amino acids and lipids. Overall, our study reveals multi-layer adaptive signatures in the left ventricle of plateau pikas at both transcriptional and metabolic levels, advancing our understanding of how Ochotona curzoniae adapts to high-altitude hypoxia on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
Environmental temperature significantly influences the evolutionary adaptation of poultry, while abdominal fat deposition represents a crucial economic trait affecting feed conversion efficiency and carcass quality. However, reports on the genetic mechanisms governing their co-evolutionary trade-offs remain scarce. This study employed whole-genome resequencing data from 469 chickens across 31 varieties. Through comparative analyses of heat- versus cold-adapted groups and high- versus low-fat groups, structural variations (SVs) were utilized as genetic markers. Selection signatures were identified via the population differentiation index (FST) and nucleotide diversity ratio (π ratio). We identified 103 overlapping genes located within significantly differentiated SVs at the intersection of temperature adaptation and fat deposition. Pathway analysis revealed significant enrichment in the thyroid hormone signaling pathway, pinpointing MED17 as a key selection target. Further validation via PCR genotyping in the heat-tolerant Wenchang chicken revealed that individuals harboring the MED17 mutation exhibited significantly higher abdominal fat deposition than those without. These results suggest that MED17 is associated with fat deposition in heat-tolerant Wenchang chickens, serving as a potential candidate gene for this trait, providing robust molecular markers for breeding novel strains with both thermotolerance and superior carcass traits.
