Effect of timing and type of supplementary grain on herbage intake,nitrogen utilization and milk production in dairy cows grazed on perennial ryegrass pasture from evening to morning

The present study aimed to clarify the effect of timing and type of supplementary grain in grazing dairy cows on herbage dry matter intake (HDMI), nitrogen utilization and milk production. Eight lactating cows were allowed to graze from evening to morning during three seasonal periods (spring, summer, autumn). They were randomly allocated to four treatments (timing: pre‐ (Pre) or post‐grazing (Post), for large grain allotments consisting of 75% of daily grain offered; grain type: barley or corn) in 4 × 4 Latin square designs in each period. In the spring period, HDMI was greater for cows fed corn than those fed barley (P = 0.005), whereas cows in the Pre treatment had a similar HDMI, higher (P = 0.049) urinary purine derivative concentration and greater (P = 0.004) milk yield compared with cows in the Post treatment. In the summer and autumn periods, timing treatments did not affect HDMI, nitrogen utilization or milk production, but cows supplemented with barley had higher urinary purine derivatives concentration (P < 0.05) and milk yield (P < 0.05) compared with those supplemented with corn. The results indicate that large grain allotments immediately before evening grazing during early grazing seasons increased ruminal microbial protein synthesis and milk production without reducing HDMI regardless of grain type.     

A Hierarchical Perspective to Woody Plant Encroachment for Conservation of Prairie-Chickens

Encroachment of Great Plains grasslands by fire-sensitive woody plants is a large-scale, regional process that fragments grassland landscapes. Using prairie grouse (Tympanuchus spp.) of conservation concern, we apply hierarchy theory to demonstrate how regional processes constrain lower-level processes and reduce the success of local management. For example, fire and grazing management may be locally important to conservation, but the application of fire and grazing disturbances rarely cause irreversible fragmentation of grasslands in the Great Plains. These disturbance processes cause short-term alterations in vegetation conditions that can be positive or negative, but from a long-term perspective fire maintains large tracts of continuous rangelands by limiting woody plant encroachment. Conservation efforts for prairie grouse should be focused on landscape processes that contribute to landscape fragmentation, such as increased dominance of trees or conversion to other land uses. In fact, reliance on local management (e.g., maintaining vegetation structure) to alter prairie grouse vital rates is less important to grouse population persistence given contemporary landscape level changes. Changing grass height, litter depth, or increasing the cover of forbs may impact a few remaining prairie-chickens, but it will not create useable space at a scale relevant to the historic conditions that existed before land conversion and fire suppression.     

Analysis of the Relativity Between the Nutrient Content of Pasturage and the Relative Frequency of Feeding in Leizhou Goat Grazing on Natural Grassland

In order to understand the correlation between the grazing behavior of Leizhou goat and natural meadow nutrient content, the pasture behavior of Leizhou goats were tracked and recorded for 7 consecutive days, then the grass samples were collected according to the feeding conditions. The results showed that the relative feeding frequency of Pharbitis nil, Eleusine indica, Isachne globosa and Imperata cylindrica for Leizhou goats were 55.51%,28.70%, 8.13% and 1.18%,respectively.Among the determinated pastures, the contents of dry matter (DM)(P < 0.05),neutral detergent fiber (NDF)(P < 0.05) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) in Imperata cylindrica were the highest; Bidens pilosa had the highest contents of crude protein (CP)(P < 0.05),calcium (Ca)(P < 0.05),phosphorus (P)(P < 0.05), crude ash (ASH) and crude fat (EE);The crude fiber (CF) content in Isachne globosa was the highest. The correlation coefficient between the content of grass CP,CF,ADF,NDF,Ca as well as P and relative feeding frequency was 0.793(P < 0.05),-0.813(P < 0.05), -0.328(P > 0.05), -0.945(P < 0.01),0.804(P < 0.05),0.735(P < 0.05),respectively. In conclusion, there were significant positive correlation between the relative feeding frequency of Leizhou goats and the cotent of CP, Ca and P in native grass, and had a significant or extremely significant negtive correlation with CF and NDF content.     

Assessing the impacts of human activities and climate variations on grassland productivity by partial least squares structural equation modeling(PLS-SEM)

The cause-effect associations between geographical phenomena are an important focus in ecological research. Recent studies in structural equation modeling(SEM) demonstrated the potential for analyzing such associations. We applied the variance-based partial least squares SEM(PLS-SEM) and geographically-weighted regression(GWR) modeling to assess the human-climate impact on grassland productivity represented by above-ground biomass(AGB). The human and climate factors and their interaction were taken to explain the AGB variance by a PLS-SEM developed for the grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China. Results indicated that 65.5% of the AGB variance could be explained by the human and climate factors and their interaction. The case study showed that the human and climate factors imposed a significant and negative impact on the AGB and that their interaction alleviated to some extent the threat from the intensified human-climate pressure. The alleviation may be attributable to vegetation adaptation to high human-climate stresses, to human adaptation to climate conditions or/and to recent vegetation restoration programs in the highly degraded areas. Furthermore, the AGB response to the human and climate factors modeled by GWR exhibited significant spatial variations. This study demonstrated that the combination of PLS-SEM and GWR model is feasible to investigate the cause-effect relation in socio-ecological systems.     

Simple prediction of crude protein content in vegetation growing on abandoned cultivated land

The accuracy of two simple methods was compared for the prediction of crude protein (CP) content of above‐ground plant material of mixed‐species composition on abandoned cultivated land in Japan. The first method is based on standard CP values (in g kg^?1 dry matter) for individual species (STV method) as listed in the literature. The second procedure (GLM method) was an application of the generalized linear model using the relative above‐ground biomass of monocots and legumes, total herbage mass, and day of year. Predictions were made at the quadrat scale, and for surveyed sites based on average of values for five or six quadrats in a single survey. A ‘leave‐site‐out’ method was adopted for model validation of the generalized linear model. The observed values of CP content ranged between 21·5 and 161·9 g kg^?1 dry matter (DM). With the STV method, the values of root mean square error (RMSE indicates average estimation error) were 50·9 at the quadrat level and 53·8 at the surveyed‐site level (both g kg^?1 DM). When a ‘leave‐site‐out’ validation was carried out, the RMSE‐values for the GLM method were 23·2 at the quadrat level and 13·2 at the surveyed‐site level (both g kg^?1 DM). We therefore propose adoption of the GLM method for the purpose of estimating the CP content in herbage on abandoned sites.     

禁牧休牧对藏北高寒草甸物种多样性和生物量的影响

通过对藏北高寒草甸禁牧3a(JM3)、禁牧5a(JM5)、禁牧7a(JM7)、休牧5a(XM5)和自由放牧(FM)等不同管理措施样地的植物群落物种多样性、群落高度、群落盖度、地上生物量和地下生物量的实地调查与分析,探讨了禁牧和休牧对藏北高寒草甸物种多样性和生物量的影响。结果表明,禁牧样地的群落丰富度指数、多样性指数均显著高于休牧和自由放牧样地,而禁牧3a和5a显著高于禁牧7a;禁牧3a的均匀度指数显著低于禁牧5a和7a,其禾草和莎草的重要值则高于其他样地;禁牧5a样地地上生物量最高,为84.2 g/m2,并且其地下生物量与地上生物量的比值最小。在藏北地区,禁牧5a不仅可维持较高的高寒草甸物种多样性,而且还能够明显提高高寒草甸可利用生物量,但是禁牧5a以上将不利于维持较高的物种多样性和草地可利用生物量。     

农村居民点复垦潜力估算及分区研究

有效、合理地估算农村居民点复垦潜力是顺利开展农村居民点复垦的重要环节。因此,以永川区为例,从人均农村居民点用地标准和当地农户意愿的角度,综合考量区域其他自然、社会和经济因素,并结合信息熵法、AHP法、最小信息熵原理以及综合评价法对永川区的农村居民点复垦潜力进行了估算。研究结果表明,到2020年,永川区农村居民点复垦理论潜力为7 806.055 hm2,综合潜力为2 997.283hm2,基于农户意愿复垦潜力为1 727.197hm2。该方法估算的农村居民点复垦潜力较复垦理论潜力和综合潜力而言,更符合永川区的实际,具有现实可行性。最后,在量化区域土地资源承载力的基础上,结合复垦潜力系数,运用层次筛选法将永川区划分为4类复垦区,分别为优先复垦区、重点复垦区、一般复垦区和适度复垦区。该研究可为区域土地整治规划以及确定和实施农村居民点复垦项目提供决策依据。     

半干旱沙地草场地面节肢动物群落对封育措施的响应

以宁夏盐池国家级草原资源生态监测站为依托,选择荒漠草原典型冰草植被类型的封育(5年)与未封育样地对地面节肢动物、植物以及土壤性质进行了调查,同时分析了地面节肢动物对封育后植物和土壤变化的响应。结果表明,封育对地表植被和土壤性质均产生了明显的影响,尤其是植物个体数、高度和盖度以及生物量封育样地显著高于未封育样地(P<0.05)。调查样地共捕获地面节肢动物7目26科28个类群;封育围栏内外共有的优势类群为拟步甲科琵甲属,共有的常见类群有13个类群,共有类群数占总类群数的50%。并且,地面节肢动物对封育亦产生了积极的响应,动物群落个体数、类群数和多样性封育样地均高于未封育样地,但均没有达到显著水平(P>0.05),说明荒漠草原短期封育(5年)对地表植被和地面节肢动物具有不同的生态效应。相关分析表明,地面节肢动物类群数和Shannon指数均与土壤容重呈显著负相关(P<0.05),而优势度指数与土壤容重呈显著正相关(P<0.05)。表明土壤容重是地面节肢动物群落结构封育内外差异的主要影响因素,而且不同地面节肢动物类群对封育内外生境的选择性而表现出不同的响应特征。     

Dietary habits of grazers influence their suitability as biological controls of fouling macroalgae in ex situ mariculture

The dietary habits of the sea urchin Salmacis sphaeroides and the gastropod Trochus maculatus in ex situ mariculture were examined. Fouling algal assemblages on terracotta tiles were exposed to the grazers and compared. Except for Day 0, the assemblages on Days 2, 13 and 27 differed significantly across treatments. S. sphaeroides rapidly consumed most algae, leaving an assemblage dominated by turf algae and bare tile. T. maculatus primarily fed on green filamentous algae, resulting in an even distribution of other algal functional groups, while control tiles were dominated by green filamentous algae. Using three representative fouling algae species (Bryopsis corymbosa, Hypnea spinella and Lobophora variegata), the consumption rates of both grazers and dietary preferences of S. sphaeroides were examined through a single‐diet and a choice experiment respectively. The single‐diet experiment revealed differential algal consumption rates for S. sphaeroides (H. spinella = B. corymbosa > L. variegata) and T. maculatus (B. corymbosa > H. spinella = L. variegata). The choice experiment showed that S. sphaeroides preferred H. spinella over the other two species. These experiments highlighted the importance of understanding the dietary habits of grazers as this has direct implications on their effectiveness as biological controls of fouling macroalgae in mariculture.     

Grazing intensity effects on the vegetation in desert rangelands of Southern Tunisia

@Mouldi GAMOUN$Laboratory of Range Ecology, Arid Regions Institute (IRA)!Medenine 4119, Tunisia