The livestock sector is facing increasing pressure to develop more 'climate-smart' methods that can be used to prevent the onset of major diseases, whilst also monitoring the efficiency and environmental impact of livestock production. Advances in precision livestock farming provides a comprehensive review of recent advances in the development of precision livestock technologies to monitor the health and welfare of animals as well as key areas of production such as housing and feed efficiency. The collection includes chapters on monitoring key health issues such as mastitis, lameness and fertility together with areas such as milking and grazing management. Edited by a leading researcher in the field, Advances in precision livestock farming will be a standard reference for livestock scientists in universities and research centres, precision farming manufacturers, and government and private sector agencies involved in the regulation of new technologies to improve the health and welfare of livestock.

The Lavras do Abade research is a multiple perspective archaeological study about the environmental impacts of a gold mining village in Mid-Western Brazil that was destroyed by neighboring villages at the end of the nineteenth century. According to local narratives, the conflict was the consequence of a dispute about the control and use of natural resources, such as water. However, this investigation reveals that the conflict was caused also by economic and political disputes between the villages in the region. In this work, each stage of investigation is presented in separate chapters. Research was conducted to validate hypotheses and to combine different approaches to each element that compounds this mosaic of information. The result of this work is a combination of various complementary investigations into the same object, and is a theoretical and methodological referential that establishes the Lavras do Abade case study as an original bridge to understanding many "Water Wars" in the modern world today.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on sensor technologies in livestock monitoring. The first chapter considers the development of on-animal sensors as a means of monitoring an array of livestock species, as well as the challenges which arise with their deployment in commercial livestock management operations. The second chapter reviews the utilisation of wearable technologies to monitor the welfare of poultry, including accelerometers. The chapter also considers the effects of these sensors on bird welfare and behaviour. The third chapter provides a detailed overview of recent advances in techniques for monitoring dairy cow health and welfare. The chapter reviews the development of diagnostic tools and sensor technologies which enable automated, continuous monitoring of livestock. The fourth chapter reviews the potential of precision livestock farming (PLF) technology to monitor dairy cattle welfare in line with the Five Domains framework. The chapter explores how PLF can positively impact each of the five domains: nutrition, environment, health, behaviour and mental state. The final chapter reviews recent advances in technologies for monitoring key indicators of pig welfare by considering good feeding, good housing, good health and appropriate behaviour.