Dry-aged beef provides superior qualities and a unique taste experience due to its exceptional sensory attributes, including tenderness, juiciness, and flavor, compared to traditional beef. Our study focused on the factors that impact consumers' intention to consume and willingness to pay for dry-aged beef. We implemented an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model that contains a measure of meat-eater identity to analyze the intention to consume and the willingness to pay a premium for dry-aged beef steak that has undergone 21-30 days of aging. An online survey was conducted with a stratified sample of Italian respondents (n = 944). The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The TPB's effectiveness was enhanced by adding the meat-eater identity construct to the model. Specifically, it was found that the participants' meat-eater identity significantly influenced their intention to consume. The results also revealed that the most critical impact of identity comes from the mediated influence of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Finally, the intention to consume strongly influenced the willingness to pay for a dry-aged beef steak.

Enhancing the willingness to eat edible offal can be a valuable strategy to mitigate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to growing meat production and to provide food with high protein content to a growing global population. Although some edible offal is considered delicacies, we hardly find such foods in Western countries' everyday diet, and their human consumption has decreased during the last decades. This study analyses the consumer purchase intention of BEEF edible offal using an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), where food neophobia and food disgust sensitivity play an essential role in determining consumers' willingness to eat beef edible offal. An online survey was conducted among a sample of Italian adult regular meat eaters (n = 720), stratified by age, gender, education and residence. The results showed a direct negative impact of food neophobia on the intention to consume offal. Further, we were able to quantify a negative indirect impact of food neophobia on intention through the mediation of food disgust sensitivity and attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, which all exert an essential role in determining the willingness to consume beef edible offal. We found that the mediated impact of food neophobia on the intention to consume beef offal is much higher than the direct impact. In conclusion, recommendations and implications, such as promoting cooking shows with celebrity chefs, new products or new packaging of edible offal, were developed based on the results to increase edible beef consumption.

ABSTRACT: Studies that have investigated soil carbon dynamics under Mediterranean conditions are scarce and fragmented and contrasting results have often been reported. This study aimed to fill some gaps in our knowledge by: (i) determining annual dynamics of total (RS) and heterotrophic (RH) soil respiration; (ii) estimating annual cumulative RS and RH; and (iii) investigating the relationships between RS and RH and soil temperature and water content. The study was carried out in central Italy, for a plain and a hilly site, with the focus on two main cropping systems: an alfalfa-based forage system and a wheat-based rotation system. RS and RH showed different dynamics, with spatial and temporal variability across these sites. Estimated annual cumulative RS fluxes were 8.97 and 7.43 t C ha–1 yr–1 for the plain and hilly alfalfa-based sites, respectively, and 4.67 and 5.22 t C ha–1 yr–1 for the plain and hilly wheat-based sites, respectively. The RH components of RS were 4.26 and 3.52 t C ha–1 yr–1 for the plain and hilly alfalfa-based sites, respectively, and 3.89 and 2.45 t C ha–1 yr–1 for the plain and hilly wheat-based sites, respectively. A model with a combination of soil temperature and soil water content explained 43 % to 49 % and 33 % to 67 % of the annual variation of RS and RH, respectively. These findings help to extend our knowledge of Mediterranean cropping systems, although further studies are needed to clarify the effects of management practices on the modelling of soil respiration efflux.

Permanent grasslands provide a wide array of ecosystem services. Despite this, few studies have investigated grassland carbon (C) dynamics, and especially those related to the effects of land-use changes. This study aimed to determine whether the land-use change from permanent grassland to arable lands resulted in variations in the soil C stock, and whether such variations were due to increased soil respiration or to management practices. To address this, seasonal variations of soil respiration, sensitivity of soil respiration to soil temperature (Q10), and soil C stock variations generated by land-use changes were analyzed in a temperate mountain area of central Italy. The comparisons were performed for a permanent grassland and two adjacent fields, one cultivated with lentil and the other with emmer, during the 2015 crop year. Soil respiration and its heterotrophic component showed different spatial and temporal dynamics. Annual cumulative soil respiration rates were 6.05, 5.05 and 3.99 t C ha−1 year−1 for grassland, lentil and emmer, respectively. Both soil respiration and heterotrophic soil respiration were positively correlated with soil temperature at 10 cm depth. Derived Q10 values were from 2.23 to 6.05 for soil respiration, and from 1.82 to 4.06 for heterotrophic respiration. Soil C stock at over 0.2 m in depth was 93.56, 48.74 and 46.80 t C ha−1 for grassland, lentil and emmer, respectively. The land-use changes from permanent grassland to arable land lead to depletion in terms of the soil C stock due to water soil erosion. A more general evaluation appears necessary to determine the multiple effects of this land-use change at the landscape scale.

Soil CO2 emissions are critical for climate change modelling. Although there is a consensus about the linear or exponential relations between soil respiration and climate factors, some works have shown this abstraction to be invalid under arid and semiarid conditions, especially those in the Mediterranean-type climate. In this work, the latest empirical models were tested on previously published data from three sites representing different agricultural areas under Mediterranean conditions and contrasting soil uses. Soil heterotrophic respiration, soil temperature and volumetric water content were monitored on average every two weeks in each site over at least one year. With the findings in the three sites in Spain and Italy, it can be concluded that soil temperature was the main driver of soil respiration, as in temperate sites. However, owing to the extreme variability in climate variables, soil moisture modulates the response of soil respiration to temperature changes, and is thus another key for modelling soil respiration in Mediterranean conditions. Irrigation practices with high water inputs also substantially modify the soil respiration pattern, causing it to become similar to temperate soils. Finally, the results indicate that annual extreme values may be especially relevant in the relationship between climate variables and soil CO2 emissions.

Mediterranean wooded grasslands that emerge from silvopastoral activities are multifunctional systems that result in high biodiversity and offer ecosystem services such as forage production and soil carbon sequestration. During 3 years, ten grazed wooded grassland fields were studied in the Berchidda–Monti long-term observatory, located in NE Sardinia, Italy, with the aim of exploring the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and selected ecosystem services. Positions below and outside the canopy of three cork oak trees in each field were randomly selected to compare seasonal pasture production, pasture utilization rate by animals, botanical composition, biodiversity indicators (Shannon index and plant species richness) and soil organic carbon. In autumn, dry matter production of pasture was similar in the two positions; in two winters out of three it was greater below the trees than outside, and in spring it was greater outside than below the trees. While plant species richness and Shannon index were not significantly influenced by the position, the overall wooded grassland plant species richness was 31% higher than that outside of the tree crown. The soil organic carbon content in the 0–40-cm soil layer was also higher below the trees. Our findings highlight that if the main purpose of the wooded grasslands is to provide forage for grazing animals rather than conserving and/or enhancing plant diversity and soil fertility, the presence of trees constrains the overall forage productivity, although the greater forage availability in winter under the trees can contribute to improve the seasonal distribution of forage production.

Grasslands play important roles in agricultural production and provide a range of ecosystem services. Modelling can be a valuable adjunct to experimental research in order to improve the knowledge and assess the impact of management practices in grassland systems. In this study, the PaSim model was assessed for its ability to simulate plant biomass production, soil temperature, water content, and total and heterotrophic soil respiration in Mediterranean grasslands. The study site was the extensively managed sheep grazing system at the Berchidda-Monti Observatory (Sardinia, Italy), from which two data sets were derived for model calibration and validation respectively. A new model parameterization was derived for Mediterranean conditions from a set of eco-physiological parameters. With the exception of heterotrophic respiration (Rh), for which modelling efficiency (EF) values were negative, the model outputs were in agreement with observations (e.g., EF ranging from similar to 0.2 for total soil respiration to similar to 0.7 for soil temperature). These results support the effectiveness of PaSim to simulate C cycle components in Mediterranean grasslands. The study also highlights the need of further model development to provide better representation of the seasonal dynamics of Mediterranean annual species-rich grasslands and associated peculiar Rh features, for which the modelling is only implicitly being undertaken by the current PaSim release.

Under Mediterranean conditions, the impacts of both organic and mineral N fertilization on soil Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission can be controversial. The aim of this study was to assess the soil GHG emissions and the net Global Warming Potential (GWP) in a Mediterranean irrigated forage system under different fertilization treatments. Three N fertilization options were compared for two years in a double-crop rotation of silage maize and Italian ryegrass for hay: cattle slurry (SL), solid fraction of slurry (SO) and mineral fertilizer with a nitrification inhibitor (MI). The soil CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes were highly influenced by the interaction between treatment and date. The maximum values of GHG emissions were observed after fertilizations, to a different extent depending on the fertilizer. In the net GWP reference year, soil respiration (SR) was higher in SO (46.26 +/- 3.26 Mg ha(-1) yr(-1) of CO2) than SL (30.03 +/- 0.40 Mg ha(-1) yr(-1)) and MI (23.71 +/- 0.57 Mg ha(-1) yr(-1)). However, the C sequestration was higher in SO than in the other treatments. The N2O fluxes were higher in SL (11.5 +/- 5.2 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) of N2O) than in SO (3.4 +/- 1.8 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)), while the MI had intermediate values (6.5 +/- 1.4 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)). No differences were observed in cumulative CH4 emissions. The SO resulted as a net GWP sink (-9.86 +/- 3.05 Mg yr(-1) of CO(2)eq based on SR), while the SL and MI (9.79 +/- 1.41 and 1.34 +/- 1.87 Mg yr(-1), respectively, based on SR) resulted as a source. The SO seemed to have a higher potential in terms of reducing GHG emissions by maintaining adequate levels of agronomic efficiency. This study put in evidence how different organic fertilizers can have contrasting impacts on GHG emissions providing some insights on their different potential mitigation roles under Mediterranean conditions.

Arable soils are a large source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and several factors may affect the processes responsible of its production (nitrification and denitrification). In particular, forage crop systems for dairy farming are among the cropping systems with highest N input, mainly because they are based on high yielding forage grasses such as maize. A number of options have been explored to decrease the emissions but they remain site specific and are related to climatic, soil and local availability of management options. Moreover, guidelines for estimating N2O emission from agricultural soils does not take into account different crops, soils, climate and management, all of which are known to affect nitrification-denitrification and N2O production and emission.Process-based models represent a promising route to capture the spatial and temporal variability of N2O emissions, along with the effects of crop management. Nevertheless, the testing and comparison of these models have been limited to only a few works, with studies mainly based on biogeochemical models rather than process-based crop models. Furthermore, a multi-model ensemble analysis, which proved to be the best option for crop system analysis, has not been done extensively for the simulation of N2O emissions to addressing the various options for mitigations practices related to maize crop fertilization systems.Our objective is to evaluate the performances of several process-based models in simulating N2O emissions under different type, amount, rate of N fertilizer, i) quantify N2O emission, as a function of nitrogen inputs, across a wide range of soil types and environmental contexts; ii) assess the uncertainty in simulating N2O emissions, and iii) identify efficient mitigation of N-fertilized maize systems.

The aim of this study was to assess the role of cork oak (Quercus suber L.) trees on the small-scale variation of soil organic matter (SOM) pools in an agro-silvo-pastoral system under Mediterranean semi-arid conditions in northeastern Sardinia, Italy. Six cork oak trees were selected in a wooded grassland (30% tree ground cover). For each tree, and along two opposite transects (NE and SW), floor litter and soil (20-cm depth) were sampled at five points starting next to the trees' trunk and ending beyond the tree crown projection. Soil organic matter quality was characterized by measuring the content of water extractable organic matter (WEOM), free particulate SOM (POMf), occluded aggregates particulate SOM (POMo), and mineral-associated SOM (MOM). Carbon (C) input from floor litter was larger in the sampling points under the tree crown projection than in those beyond the tree crown. The C content of SOM pools differed among sampling positions regardless of the transect orientation, decreasing from the trunk to the positions beyond the tree crown projection, from 24.1 to 15.7gCkg−1 for MOM, and from 9.9 to 5.7gCkg−1 for the sum of WEOM, POMf and POMo. The C in MOM next to the tree trunk was above the saturation level sensu Hassink and Whitmore (1997), but below saturation beyond the tree crown projection. The nitrogen (N) distribution showed a similar trend. These results indicate that in these agro-silvo-pastoral systems, oak trees generate hot spots of soil C storage, by controlling the rate of C inputs via litterfall. Hence, conservation strategies designed to maintain cork oak trees in grasslands will also contribute to maintain a high stock of C stored and a resilient, multipurpose system.

Agronomic research is important to identify suitable options for improving soil carbon (C) sequestration and reducing soil CO2 emissions. Therefore, the objectives of this study were i) to analyse the on-farm effects of different nitrogen fertilization sources on soil respiration, ii) to explore the effect of fertilization on soil respiration sensitivity to soil temperature (T) and iii) to assess the effect of the different fertilization regimes on the soil C balance. We hypothesized that i) the soil CO2 emission dynamics in Mediterranean irrigated cropping systems were mainly affected by fertilization management and T and ii) fertilization affected the soil C budget via different C inputs and CO2 efflux. Four fertilization systems (farmyard manure, cattle slurry, cattle slurry+mineral, and mineral) were compared in a double-crop rotation based on silage maize (Zea mays L.) and a mixture of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) and oats (Avena sativa L.). The research was performed in the dairy district of Arborea, in the coastal zone of Sardinia (Italy), from May 2011 to May 2012. The soil was a Psammentic Palexeralfs with a sandy texture (940gsandkg−1). The soil total respiration (SR), heterotrophic respiration (Rh), T and soil water content (SWC) were simultaneously measured in situ. The soil C balance was computed considering the Rh C losses and the soil C inputs from fertilizer and crop residues. The results showed that the maximum soil CO2 emission rates soon after the application of organic fertilizer reached values up to 12μmolm−2s−1. On average, the manure fertilizer showed significantly higher CO2 emissions, which resulted in a negative annual C balance (−2.9tha−1). T also affected the soil respiration temporal dynamics during the summer, consistently with results obtained in other temperate climatic regions that are characterized by wet summers and contrary to results from rainfed Mediterranean systems where the summer SR and Rh are constrained by the low SWC. The sensitivity of soil respiration to temperature significantly increased with C input from fertilizer. In conclusion, this research supported the hypotheses tested. Furthermore, the results indicated that i) soil CO2 efflux was significantly affected by fertilization management and T, and ii) fertilization with manure increased the soil respiration and resulted in a significantly negative soil C budget. This latter finding could be primarily explained by a reduction in productivity and, consequently, in crop residue with organic fertilization alone as compared to mineral, by the favourable SWC and T for mineralization, and by the sandy soil texture, which hindered the formation of macroaggregates and hence soil C stabilization, making fertilizer organic inputs highly susceptible to mineralization.

Since adaptation to climate changes has become a major challenge for the scientific communities, provisioning Ecosystem Services as Climate Regulation are growing in research interest. Greenhouse gasses are widely considered drivers of climate change and it has been demonstrated how different agro-ecosystems can influence the climate by either taking or realising greenhouse gases. Land use change does affect the soil C pool and many authors showed how the conversion of permanent vegetation (forests or grasslands) to cultivated crops led to a loss of soil C. On the contrary, many researches highlighted how croplands re-converted in grasslands ensure a soil C increment. Central Italy cropping system is characterised by rainfed winter cereals in rotation with preparative crops in the hilly areas and with high value crops (mainly, horticultural crops or vegetables) in the river valleys. Within this system, the presence of transhumant sheep farms allowed the conversion of annual crops in long lasting alfalfa grasslands (up to 10 years) grazed by flocks during the winter period. In this paper, we compared two conventional crop fields with a five-years lasting alfalfa grassland analysing heterotrophic soil respiration effluxes and soil C stock. Results suggest that transhumant system is able to increase the soil C sequestration.

Mediterranean wooded grasslands are multipurpose systems that support high plant and animal diversity levels and are habitats of European importance (i.e., 6310 - Dehesas with evergreen Quercus spp.). Moreover, these systems offer a number of agro-ecosystem services such as forage production, soil carbon sequestration, nutrient recycling and soil protection. The scattered trees enhance the ecological complexity of grassland influencing the soil properties, the herbaceous layer diversity and composition and the soil communities. Understanding how isolated trees influence the other components of the system is essential to comprehend their role supporting high levels of above and below ground biodiversity and ecosystem services.In the present study, we present a hypothetical framework of the effects of isolated trees on soil properties, plant and soil fauna assemblages, the latter here represented by the class Collembola. The floor litter and the associated input of organic matter to the soil was a key factor linking the components of the tree-soil-biodiversity system in a Mediterranean cork oak wooded grassland.Topsoil C increased by +50% under the tree canopy in comparison with the areas beyond the tree canopy. Plant diversity was lower under tree canopy, but contributed to enhance the total species richness of the grassland. Collembolan diversity was higher under the peculiar conditions beneath the tree canopy. Relationships between plant and collembolan species emerged.The findings of this study suggest that isolated trees have direct and indirect effects on soil properties, plant and collembolan assemblages, hence they can influence the ecological processes of wooded grasslands, with implications for food webs, nutrient cycling and productivity of the agro-ecosystem. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mixtures of grasslands and perennial woody crops or vineyards represent a major source of potential carbon storage or release. Understanding the spatial variability of soil properties in these ecosystems is important in determining soil constraints related to the management of soil resources. The aims of the study were 1) to explore the spatial variability associated to the trees for soil C storage and its components and reactivity; and 2) to assess the similarities between microenvironments in terms of microbial functional diversity. Eight microenvironments characterized by different long-term soil management practices and different positions with respect to woody plant canopy soil vertical projections were selected in a Mediterranean agropastoral system. Four management types were considered: pasture, hay crop, grass-covered vineyard, and tilled vineyard. Soil organic C, microbial biomass, and respiration were measured to assess C storage and dynamics, while functional diversity was determined by means of soil enzyme activities. The results showed that the microenvironmental variation of soil organic C and functional microbial diversity generated by the tree canopies in the wooded grassland can be very relevant for an accurate assessment of soil organic C content and its dynamics. The same was not applicable to vineyards, where the spatial variation of both soil organic C and functional diversity was negligible, independently of the soil management practices. These results suggest that in such systems the microscale spatial variability generated by the trees is worth of further investigation for improving our understanding of the long-term management effects on soil C dynamics.

We report the results of a study that aimed to assess the dynamics of total and heterotrophic soil respiration and its relationships with soil temperature or soil moisture of an Italian ryegrass haycrop managed with different nitrogen (N) fertilizer sources. The field experiment was carried out in the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone of the dairy district of Arborea, a reclaimed wetland in central-western Sardinia, Italy. This is an area characterized by sandy soils, shallow water table and intensive dairy cattle farming systems. Italian ryegrass is grown for hay production in the context of a double cropping rotation with silage maize. We analyzed the effects of N fertilizer treatments on soil carbon dioxide (CO2) efflux, soil water content and soil temperature: i) farmyard manure; ii) cattle slurry; iii) mineral fertilizer; iv) 70 kg ha-1 from slurry and 60 kg ha-1 from mineral fertilizer that corresponds to the prescriptions of the vulnerable zone management plan. During the monitoring period, soil water content never fell below 8.6% vol., corresponding to approximately -33 kPa matric potential. Total and heterotrophic soil respiration dynamics were both influenced by soil temperature over winter and early spring, reaching a maximum in the first ten days of April in manure and slurry treatments. In the last 30 days of the Italian ryegrass crop cycle, total soil respiration decreased and seemed not to be affected by temperature. The analysis of covariance with soil temperature as covariate showed that average respiration rates were significantly higher under the manure treatment and lower with mineral fertilizer than the slurry and slurry+mineral treatments, but with similar rates of respiration per unit increase of soil temperature for all treatments. The average soil respiration rates were significantly and positively related to the soil carbon (C) inputs derived from fertilizers and preceding crop residuals. We concluded that: i) the fertilizer source influenced soil CO2 efflux of the winter haycrop according to the amount of C input; and ii) that the temporal dynamics of soil respiration can be explained by soil temperature regime only in winter and early spring. These findings suggest that further studies are needed to analyze the role of soil biological factors controlling soil respiration dynamics of intensive forage cropping systems under Mediterranean conditions.

Five soils characterised by different agro-forest managements, typical of Mediterranean environment and with increasing human impact were chosen in Sardinia (Italy): two vineyards with different management systems, a rotation hay crop-pasture and a forest ( Quercus suber L.). The study aimed to investigate the relationships between C storage and microbial functionality in soil under different managements. Pools of total organic C and microbial biomass C were determined, as well as the loss of organic C due to microbial respiration (basal and cumulative) and several microbial indices (metabolic, mineralization, and microbial quotient) as indicators of the microbial efficiency in the use of energy and the degree of substrate limitation for soil microbes. Enzymes were chosen on their relevance in the C (β-cellobiohydrolase, N -acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, β-glucosidase, α-glucosidase), N (leucine aminopeptidase), S (arylsulphatase) and P (acid phosphatase) cycling and were used as indicators of functional diversity in soil. Organic C pools and enzyme activities on average increased noticeably in soils with a lower human impact showing the highest values in forest and the lowest in the vineyards, following the trend of organic matter availability. The trend in functional diversity reflected the increase of microbial pool and organic C availability: the vineyards showed a lower Shannon’s diversity index, whilst pasture and forest sites reached the maximum levels of functional diversity. These soils showed an increase of microbial efficiency in the use of available resources and the decrease of substrate limitation for soil microbes.