Dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a nutrient‐dense food rich in proteins and minerals. Although a dietary staple in numerous regions, including Eastern and Southern Africa, greater utilization is limited by its long cooking time as compared with other staple foods. A fivefold genetic variability for cooking time has been identified for P. vulgaris, and to effectively incorporate the cooking time trait into bean breeding programs, knowledge of how genotypes behave across diverse environments is essential. Fourteen bean genotypes selected from market classes important to global consumers (yellow, cranberry, light red kidney, red mottled, and brown) were grown in 10 to 15 environments (combinations of locations, years, and treatments), and their cooking times were measured when either presoaked or unsoaked prior to boiling. The 15 environments included locations in North America, the Caribbean, and Eastern and Southern Africa that are used extensively for dry bean breeding. The cooking times of the 14 presoaked dry bean genotypes ranged from 16 to 156 min, with a mean of 86 min across the 15 production environments. The cooking times of the 14 dry bean genotypes left unsoaked ranged from 77 to 381 min, with a mean cooking time of 113 min. The heritability of the presoaked cooking time was very high (98%) and moderately high for the unsoaked cooking time (~60%). The genotypic cooking time patterns were stable across environments. There was a positive correlation between the presoaked and unsoaked cooking times (r = .64, p < 0.0001), and two of the fastest cooking genotypes when presoaked were also the fastest cooking genotypes when unsoaked (G1, Cebo, yellow bean; and G4, G23086, cranberry bean). Given the sufficient genetic diversity found, limited crossover Genotype × Environment interactions, and high heritability for cooking time, it is feasible to develop fast cooking dry bean varieties without the need for extensive testing across environments.

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-The diet composition of the European otter Lutra lutra was assessed using spraint analysis in the Hampshire Avon, a lowland chalk stream in Southern England, over an 18-month period. Small cyprinid fishes were the main prey item taken in all seasons, with bullhead Cottus gobio and stone loach Barbatula barbatula also important; there were relatively few larger fishes of interest to fisheries found. There were significant seasonal differences in diet composition by season, with signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus only being prominent prey items in warmer months and amphibians in winter, revealing that non-fish resources were seasonally important dietary components. Reconstructed body lengths of prey revealed the only species present in diet >350 mm was pike Esox lucius. These dietary data thus provide important information for informing conservation conflicts between otters and fishery interests.Keywords: otter spraint / Barbus barbus / angling / conservation conflict Résumé -Importance des petits poissons et des écrevisses envahissantes dans le régime alimentaire de la loutre Lutra lutra dans une rivière calcaire anglaise. La composition du régime de la loutre Lutra lutra a été évaluée à l'aide d'une analyse des épreintes dans le Hampshire Avon, un cours d'eau calcaire de plaine dans le sud de l'Angleterre, sur une période de 18 mois. Les petits poissons cyprinidés ont été les principales espèces de proies prises en toutes saisons, avec le chabot Cottus gobio et la loche franche Barbatula barbatula également fréquents ; il y avait relativement peu de plus grands poissons d'intérêt pour les pêcheries. Il y avait des différences saisonnières significatives dans la composition de régime, avec l'écrevisse signal Pacifastacus leniusculus n'étant qu'une proie fréquente pendant les mois les plus chauds et les amphibiens en hiver, révélant que les ressources autres que le poisson étaient des composants alimentaires saisonnièrement importants. Des longueurs de proies reconstituées ont révélé que la seule espèce de taille >350 mm présente dans le régime était le brochet Esox lucius. Ces données alimentaires fournissent donc des connaissances importantes pour informer les conflits de conservation entre les loutres et les intérêts de pêche.

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