OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to report the impact of production practices and sanitary management on the prevalence of Neospora caninum (N caninum) and bluetongue virus (BTV) in Creole goats from the tropical dry forest of Utcubamba, Peru. METHODS: 354 blood samples were obtained from male and female goats of diverse ages reared under an extensive productive system. The diagnosis of N caninum and BTV was conducted through a commercial ELISA kit (iD.vet) with readings taken on a Bio-Rad iMark microplate reader at 450 nm. Additionally, a survey was conducted with 18 goat producers to categorize them based on social, technical (production, health, reproduction, nutrition, and infrastructure), environmental, and economic factors. RESULTS: The overall seroprevalence of N caninum and BTV in goats was 6.21% and 7.06%, respectively, Notably, group II farmers had the highest prevalence rates at 7.69% for N caninum and 23.08% for BTV. This group comprises producers with fewer than 21 goats, while group III includes 14.3% of producers with over 60 goats and better infrastructure. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the presence of N caninum and BTV in goats of Utcubamba, Peru. Group II displayed the highest prevalence rates, suggesting that herd size and management infrastructure influence disease prevalence. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In the tropical dry forest of Utcubamba, inadequate management of N caninum carrier agents (eg, nondewormed dogs) heightens transmission risk, while the tropical climate supports BTV vectors. Effective diagnosis and health management strategies, including vector control and biosecurity practices, are crucial for ongoing herd health monitoring.

Honey bees (Apis mellifera), depend on the availability and diversity of floral resources within the landscape for their survival and productivity. This study characterized the floristic composition, richness and diversity of vegetation in a beekeeping area of the Peruvian Amazon in order to evaluate its potential to provide forage resources for honey bees. Vegetation was surveyed within a circular area of 28.3 km² centered on an apiary, where 24 quadrats were distributed along four transects. Species composition analyses were conducted for the general floristic composition and for species with bee foraging potential, followed by PERMANOVA and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses. A total of 124 plant species belonging to 103 genera were recorded. Among them, 90 species belonging to 75 genera were identified as bee forage species, of which 23% were classified as pollen sources, whereas 77% provided both nectar and pollen. Both the general floristic composition and the bee forage species assemblage were dominated by the low vegetation stratum (≥86%), indicating a high prevalence of herbaceous species. Shannon, Simpson, evenness, and Berger–Parker dominance indices for the general floristic composition were 2.05 (0.38), 0.81 (0.08), 0.79 (0.09), and 0.32 (0.11), respectively, with no significant differences among land-cover types, transect orientations, or distances from the apiary, except for the Berger–Parker dominance index, for which distance had a significant effect. PERMANOVA revealed significant differences in species composition among land-cover types and transects (p < 0.05) for both the general floristic composition and bee forage species, which was further supported by NMDS analysis (stress = 0.16). The high proportion of plant species with documented floral resources and the heterogeneous landscape indicate substantial potential floral resource availability. These findings provide a baseline for understanding the floral resources supporting beekeeping in the study area and highlight the need for future validation through honey bee visitation, palynological, phenological, and resin-resource studies.

Background and Aim: Creole goats (Capra hircus) constitute an important genetic resource in tropical production systems; however, their morphostructural characterization in the Peruvian Amazonian remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate the morphological and morphometric characteristics, body indices, and multivariate structure of Creole goats to identify patterns of phenotypic variability and functional adaptation under extensive systems. Materials and Methods: A total of 149 adult Creole goats were evaluated across three districts (Bagua Grande, Cumba, and El Milagro). 15 qualitative traits and 31 morphometric variables were recorded using standardized protocols. Six ethnological indices; body index (BI), cephalic index (CI), facial index (FI), thoracic index (TI), pelvic index (PI), and proportionality index (PrI), and nine productive indices; thoracic metacarpus index (TMI), costal metacarpus index (CMI), posterior podal index, relative thoracic depth index (RTDI), transverse pelvic index, longitudinal pelvic index, compactness index (CoI), relative cane thickness index, and cane load index, were calculated. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test, Z-test, Mann–Whitney U test, Student’s t-test, and Welch’s t-test. Relationships among indices were assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multivariate structure was explored using principal component analysis (PCA). Results: Significant sexual dimorphism was observed, with males showing higher body weight, greater skeletal robustness, and higher FI, TMI, and CoI, whereas females exhibited higher TI and distinct mammary traits. Ecotype differentiation revealed that longilinear goats had elongated conformations with lower PrI values, while brevilinear goats exhibited compact and robust structures with higher TMI, CMI, and cane load index values. Strong correlations were identified between BI and FI, as well as among productive indices such as TMI, RTDI, and CoI (p ≤ 0.001). PCA explained 57.4% of total variability, with body weight and thoracic-related measurements contributing most to the first component, confirming their importance in morphostructural differentiation. Conclusion: Creole goats in the Peruvian Amazonian exhibit high phenotypic variability and clear morphostructural differentiation influenced by sex, ecotype, and environment. Body measurements and indices provide reliable tools for field-based selection and characterization. The integration of morphometric and multivariate approaches offers a robust framework for genetic improvement, conservation, and sustainable management of goat populations in tropical production systems. Keywords: animal genetic resources, body indices, Creole goats, morphometric analysis, multivariate analysis, phenotypic characterization, principal component analysis, tropical production systems.

Paredes-Chocce M, Sessarego E, Tafur L, Temoche V, Salinas J, Acosta I, Ruiz J, Cruz J, Trillo F. 2025. Short Communication: Prediction of body weight using morphometric measurements in Creole goats from Peru. Biodiversitas 26: 3193-3198. Goats are an important component of smallholder family farms along the coast and highlands of Peru. The weight of an animal is an important indicator of the production and economy of farmers in rural areas. Therefore, this study aimed to develop predictive models for Body Weight (BW) using Morphometric Measurements (MM) of Creole goats (Capra hircus) in Perú. BW and five MM were collected from 356 goats from the coast and highlands of Peru. Variables were analyzed using correlation and stepwise regression analysis to select the best model based on the coefficient of determination (r2), adjusted r2, Residual Standard Error (RSE), and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) using the RStudio statistical software. The highest correlation was found between BW and TG (0.76), followed by RW (0.67), and RH (0.65). The combinations of MM selected as predictors of BW by stepwise regression were TG, RH, and RW, with r2: 0.640. The selected candidate model met all established tests and, upon validation, reached an r2 of 0.66 (p<0.001), indicating that the model can adequately predict the BW of Peruvian Creole goats and serve as a practical tool to support selection programs, feeding strategies, and market decision-making in smallholder systems.