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Many populations of consumers consist of relatively specialized individuals that eat only a subset of the foods consumed by the population at large. Although the ecological significance of individual-level diet variation is recognized, such variation is difficult to document, and its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Optimal foraging theory provides a useful framework for predicting how individuals might select different diets, positing that animals balance the “opportunity cost” of stopping to eat an available food item against the cost of searching for something more nutritious; diet composition should be contingent on the distribution of food, and individual foragers should be more selective when they have greater energy reserves to invest in searching for high-quality foods. We tested these predicted mechanisms of individual niche differentiation by quantifying environmental (resource heterogeneity) and organismal (nutritional condition) determinants of diet in a widespread browsing antelope (bushbuck, Tragelaphus sylvaticus) in an African floodplain-savanna ecosystem. We quantified individuals’ realized dietary niches (taxonomic richness and composition) using DNA metabarcoding of fecal samples collected repeatedly from 15 GPS-collared animals (range 6–14 samples per individual, median 12). Bushbuck diets were structured by spatial heterogeneity and constrained by individual condition. We observed significant individual-level partitioning of food plants by bushbuck both within and between two adjacent habitat types (floodplain and woodland). Individuals with home ranges that were closer together and/or had similar vegetation structure (measured using LiDAR) ate more similar diets, supporting the prediction that heterogeneous resource distribution promotes individual differentiation. Individuals in good nutritional condition had significantly narrower diets (fewer plant taxa), searched their home ranges more intensively (intensity-of-use index), and had higher-quality diets prediction that animals with greater endogenous reserves have narrower realized niches because they can invest more time in searching for nutritious foods. Our results support predictions from optimal foraging theory about the energetic basis of individual-level dietary variation and provide a potentially generalizable framework for understanding how individuals’ realized niche width is governed by animal behavior and physiology in heterogeneous landscapes.

Cross-sectoral cooperation (CSC) has gained recognition as the key to achieving sustainable development goals within a locality. However, existing studies focused on sustainable local development (SLD) initiatives resulting from CSC remain sparse. This article aims to review the CSC–SLD literature, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. Research questions were constructed using the PICOC (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes, and context) structure. The identification of scientific works occurred through the search of relevant keywords, which resulted in a final set of 38 peer-reviewed manuscripts, from 1994 to 2021. First, the main driving forces for adopting CSC, to achieve SLD, which are dispersed at multiple levels, were captured and contextualised into the micro-, meso-, macro- and mega-framework. Second, salient aspects addressed in the literature for effective CSC implementation were identified and classified into approaches, governance, structure, key actors, psychological and social aspects, and experiences themes. This resulted in a consolidated guiding principles framework for implementing CSC, to pursue SLD. Additionally, the use of theories in different aspects of CSC–SLD initiatives was discussed. This study informs the practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers the fundamentals that need to be considered when planning, designing, and implementing effective CSC interventions for SLD.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyze the hotel Instagram posts that were posted on the social network, to verify people reactions as well as understand their content in terms of sustainability. Also, explore the opinions about the posts they did and understand if people can perceive the sustainability work looking at these posts. The article's object of analysis is the Aqua Village Health Resort & SPA hotel unit, a luxury hotel structure that advertises itself as sustainable, with a strong connection to the environment, endogenous and water resources.   Design/Methodology/Approach: Authors used a mix approach, with netnography and survey quantitative analysis. Authors used netnography, counting and analyzing the 89 posts that the company made on Instagram, during seven months, between June and December 2022, to verify the types of posts and the reactions they provoked, as well as to assess their content in terms of sustainability. To complementing this analysis, surveys were carried out to test what the first and last post of each of the months under analysis transmits or makes them feel.   Findings: The paper provide empirical insights about how to promote a sustainable Hotel on Instagram. Looking at the major conclusions, the paper provide information about the importance of Instagram posts and information about how a hotel can be sustainable and communicate that through social networks. With these results authors can conclude that the hotel does not use Instagram to be promoted as a sustainable player.   Research, Practical & Social Implications: Authors suggest future research on how to use social media to promote sustainability.   Originality/Value: This paper allows to understand the importance of promote a sustainable business using Instagram.

Montesinho Natural Park is one of the largest Portuguese natural protected areas, presenting good biodiversity and a cultural heritage with a strong connection to the territory and its people. It constitutes a low-density territory, characterized by a human and social landscape based on community practices, such as joint aid and the community use of goods and means of agricultural production, which have contributed to the construction of the “transmontana” identity and to the richness of the habitats. The promotion of the sustainable development of this low-density rural region demands the understanding of its specificities and an appropriate approach to grasp its challenges and develop effective management tools, allowing to preserve and exploit the region’s potential from various perspectives. The purpose of this article is to develop an analytical model using a literature review and a survey of the region’s specificities. This analytical model intends to provide the basis for designing and assessing sustainable development solutions, increasing local entrepreneurship and community empowerment through regional dynamism, with a focus on environment and heritage preservation, universal tourism accessibility, collective memory and endogenous product development. The suggested model adopts an interdisciplinary perspective and stresses that, in order to ensure that the new initiatives will contribute to the territory’s sustainable development, they should be scrutinized by asking four main questions: Is the initiative promoting the rural development of the territory through the creation of synergies between agroforestry and tourism activities? Is the initiative promoting an inclusive and sustainable tourism that is based on the territory’s resources? Are heritage and collective memory being preserved and valued through the initiative? Is the initiative promoting the empowerment of local communities?

In the modern state, the role and importance of communes is growing. They can carry out their tasks when equipped with stable and efficient sources of income. Financial resources are the basis for the operation and implementation of current and development tasks. Their analysis makes it possible to assess the budget structure and provides information on the state of the local economy or endogenous growth potentials. The aim of the article is to assess the diversity of the financial situation of rural communes using a synthetic measure. In addition, using the econometric models, the impact of socio-economic factors on the diversity of the measure of synthetic financial situation was examined. In order to build synthetic measures, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution method and based on distance in real space with Euclidean metrics were used. The aggregated value of the synthetic variable facilitates the comparison of objects in multidimensional spaces, but also makes it possible to order them due to the examined phenomenon. Empirical data were collected in spatial terms of 484 rural communes in the Eastern Poland region. In the case of municipalities, the choice of variables was largely determined by the availability of secondary data collected in a municipal system at the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office for 2009–2018. The analysis showed that the rural communes of eastern Poland are characterized by significant disproportions in terms of financial standing. Rural communes with the best financial condition were characterized by a higher share of own revenues in total revenues, a higher level of income from local taxes and obtained from the share in the tax on natural and legal persons. It seems that the main reason for the relatively small impact of financial conditions on economic and social development is their strong dependence on transfer revenues transferred from the state budget and the amount of current expenditure. The above circumstances stiffen and stabilize the financial economy, making it relatively less susceptible to the influence of other factors. The obtained results may constitute for the local authorities an important source of information on the disproportions occurring between units on setting out potential directions for optimizing the structure of local finances.

IntroductionIn recent years, birch sap has gained attention due to its applications in different sectors. However, the ecological impact of sap extraction and its implications for ecosystem sustainability remain insufficiently explored. This study focuses on the sustainable management of Betula celtiberica sap extraction in the Reserva de la Biosfera de los Valles de Omaña y Luna (RBVOyL).MethodsThe effects of sap extraction on tree physiology were assessed by measuring water potential and chlorophyll fluorescence. In parallel, the biochemical composition of the sap was analyzed to characterize its biocompounds and evaluate their potential commercial uses. Practices for sustainable and responsible sap collection were also considered.ResultsSap extraction did not produce negative effects on tree physiological status, as neither water potential nor chlorophyll fluorescence showed adverse responses 1 month after extraction. In addition, the volume of sap obtained and the concentrations of biocompounds detected support its potential use as a food and cosmetic resource.DiscussionBirch sap could represent a viable, sustainable and natural product for small-scale production in the study region, contributing to the diversification of local economic activities. Nevertheless, further research is required to assess the long-term effects of sap extraction and its broader potential as a forest resource.

Based on an exploratory research, this study highlights the role of pure rural entrepreneurship towards rural development of an inland and mountainous area of Portugal—Montemuro. Thanks to the Institute of Cultural Affairs and the energy of the rural communities, some people of the rural area have been stimulated thirty years ago to develop endogenous, entrepreneurial and innovative initiatives in the countryside. The benefits of all these rural entrepreneurial and endogenous initiatives are visible nowadays. Some villages of the rural area have more people, socio-economic dynamics were revitalize and some job opportunities were created. Therefore, in a context of depopulation and crisis of peripheral and interior areas, our study demonstrates that rural entrepreneurship and innovation based on endogenous resources are key for the welfare of the rural society.

The sustainable development of the Romanian countryside follows strategies outlined in the Common Agricultural Policy. This policy aims to ensure the sustainability of agricultural and non-agricultural businesses, improving inhabitants’ quality of life. Achieving sustainable development is the objective of every rural locality in Romania. This is accomplished by determining the state of endogenous resources and identifying potential conservation and sustainable exploitation alternatives by developing relevant strategic options. The purpose of this research is to develop relevant strategic options for the sustainable rural development of Gușoeni Commune, Vâlcea County, by using the case study methodology and involving stakeholders and community members. In this study, we develop an integrated and dynamic model based on information from a secondary analysis of statistical data and the specialized literature, with the help of the PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, ecological, legislative), SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), problem tree, objective tree, and DFPSIR (drivers, pressure, status, impact, response) diagnostic models.

This study aims to investigate one of the most traditional Peruvian income generators: the agricultural sector, addressing specifically endogenous fruits. Based on sales data related to local and external markets, it is shown that nowadays farmers from several regions and towns have changed the practice of sowing endogenous fruits for the trading of lands and the sowing of other types of products. This has caused the farmer’s economic and social recoil within the agricultural sector. We restrict our study to the case of lucuma (Pouteria Lucuma), an endogenous fruit possessing excellent nutritional properties and exotic flavor that can be used for the production of a variety of products. These features make it an exportable product with great acceptance in international markets, but mainly in its dehydrated form. Therefore, in order to stimulate farmers’ exporting opportunities, it is necessary to transform their products by employing clean technologies that, at the same time, reduce production costs. In this sense, we propose a set of strategies to revitalize the sowing of lucuma in regions where it used to be cultivated, as well as to promote a sustainable business program based on the use of an innovative proposal for hybrid solar dehydration process (dehydration process that preserves the organoleptic properties, which is different from other processes). This will assist the commercialization of farmers’ products in local and international markets, as well as complying with the quality standards required for agro-export.

This study focuses on exploring the sustainability characteristics of the regional produce, which comes from the Beiras region of Portugal to support new differentiation claims and forecast its effect on a global mass-market. Considering a Multiple Helix approach, this study aims to examine the role and perception of local academia in relation to this new premise to enhance the dynamic and competitive positioning of such regional produce. To this end, several in-depth interviews were conducted with local researchers and decision-makers, allowing the significance and potential of the proposed green claims to be discussed. Several insights into the subject were developed and new directives were presented. Nonetheless, complementary research may still be necessary to assess the remaining multiple helix actors of the local ecosystem in order to identify and develop the most promising strategies to effectively promote local endogenous produce to a global market.