Rehabilitation of degraded dry heather [Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull] moorland by controlled sheep grazing

Many areas of heathland in Europe have seen a decline in the area and condition of Calluna vulgaris (heather)-dominated vegetation, with subsequent declines in the associated faunal interest. Grazing, alongside burning, is still the predominant means of managing heathland vegetation, and, therefore, it is by manipulating this management that cost-effective improvements in vegetation condition can be made. This paper investigates the suitability of different grazing treatments for rehabilitating degraded ‘dry heath’. Treatments varied in the intensity (0-1.9 sheep ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) and timing (summer vs. winter) of sheep grazing. These treatments were compared with the behaviour of vegetation outside the fenced area kept under the previous management (open access all year round). As rabbits were common on the site, fences were erected to prevent access to the sheep grazed plots. Vegetation composition remained stable outside the fenced area, whilst all the fenced treatments showed a decrease in heather utilisation and an increase in the relative frequency of heather over the 5 years of the experiment. The increase was in proportion to the reduction in stocking rate, with only slow increases in relative frequency observed in the high grazing treatments (winter and summer). Other species that benefited from reducing grazing included Empetrum nigrum and Vaccinium myrtillus, whilst declines were observed for Agrostis capillaris and total monocotyledonous species. Only small overall differences were observed between the winter low, summer low and no sheep grazing treatments. However, a difference in response was present between the sheep exclosures and the sheep+rabbit exclosures, indicating that rabbits were having a noticeable effect on heather recovery at this site. On this degraded ‘dry heath’ system, imposing a reduction in stocking density improved the condition of the dwarf shrubs present and reduced the grass component of the vegetation. There was little effect of the timing of grazing, such that a reduction in sheep numbers to 0.8/0.9 sheep ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, to give utilisation levels of below 20%, can achieve the desired result of improving vegetation condition whilst still achieving some economic return from grazing. However, the wide range of ‘sustainable’ stocking densities for different heathland systems highlights the need to base effective management on measured utilisation rather than on stock numbers.     

Potential use of rare earth oxides as tracers of organic matter in grassland

Tracing organic matter (OM) in soil is challenging, because runoff and leaching processes are interrelated and have multiple sources. Therefore, multiple tracers with low background concentrations such as rare earth element oxides (REOs) are necessary to delineate the origin of sources of the organic materials in groundwater, rivers or in catchments. The main objective of this study was to examine the potential use of REOs as a tracer in various forms of OM (1) whole slurry, (2) solid, and (3) liquid phase of cattle slurry after mechanical separation. A laboratory experiment was carried out using five REOs (La, Gd, Sm, Pr, and Nd oxides) mixed directly into soil or mixed with various fractions of cattle slurry and then applied to the soil surface. In the additional grassland experiment, Gd oxide was spiked with soil and cattle slurry and then applied to the soil surface. The mineral N in the liquid phase (urine) of the slurry in the grassland experiment was labelled with ¹⁵N urea (16 atom%). In the laboratory experiment, results showed that the five REOs concentration of soil in 0–1 cm soil section after the rainfall simulation was still up to 20 times more than the background values. In 1–2 cm soil section, the concentration of only Gd (two fold higher) and La oxides (50% higher) were significantly higher than the soil background values. Therefore, we hypothesized that Gd and La oxides were associated also with relatively finer organic particles in slurry, thus 1–2 cm soil section were enriched with these oxides. The five REOs concentration below 2 cm soil depth were similar to the background values in all treatments. In line with the laboratory experiment, Gd concentrations in the deeper soil layers (2–4 and 4–8 cm) in the grassland experiment were not significantly affected by any treatment. Both in grassland and laboratory experiment, solid phase of the slurry (dung) was collected from the soil surface after rainfall simulation. Here, about 56% of REOs were measured on the solid phase of the slurry which indicates the strong binding potential of REOs on slurry OM. The present novel study, where REO tagged slurry was uniquely tested to study geochemical cycle of organic fertilizers, clearly highlighted the potential for their use as multiple‐tracers of (animal derived‐) OM in agricultural soils.     

ULTRASONIC DETERMINATION OF KIDNEY VOLUME IN THE DOG

Canine kidney measurements were obtained in vivo using ultrasound before and after anesthesia and were compared with direct caliper measurements at laparotomy. Following excision, the kidney dimensions were also measured ultrasonically in a water bath and the results were used to calculate kidney -volume by a modified parallel planimetric method and three variations of a prolate ellipsoid method. The calculated volume was compared with actual kidney volume determined by volume displacement. All methods were found to underestimate actual volume so that a linear correction of ultrasonically calculated volume was required to predict actual volume. The modified parallel planimetric method and a prolate ellipsoid method using height and width determinations cranial and caudal to the renal pelvis were the best models. The prolate ellipsoid model was chosen for subsequent kidney volume calculations because of its simplicity. The noninvasive calculation of kidney volume using ultrasound was sufficiently accurate to be clinically useful, particularly when serially evaluating kidney size changes in the same dog.     

ESTIMATION OF PORTAL BLOOD FLOW USING DUPLEX REAL-TIME AND PULSED DOPPLER ULTRASOUND IMAGING IN THE DOG

A duplex ultrasound system incorporating a pulsed wave Doppler ultrasound probe with conventional B-mode real-time imaging was used to evaluate portal vein blood flow in eight normal dogs. Adequate visualization of the cranial abdominal vessels was obtained from the right lateral 11th or 12th intercostal space. Doppler spectral analysis showed non-pulsatile flow with a wide range of linear flow velocities across the vessel lumen typical of laminar blood flow. Results for portal vein blood flows were 49.8 ± 13.5 ml/min/kg body weight (mean ± SD) with a range of 37.8 - 76.8 ml/min/kg body weight. These values overestimate portal blood flow by approximately 2 times when compared with published studies using invasive techniques. This overestimation is primarily due to the use of the maximal flow velocity in the blood flow calculations.     

Production of delayed ataxia by carbamate acid esters

Thirty-eight carbamates and thiocarbamates were evaluated for the production of delayed neurotoxicity in the mature White Leghorn hen. Several thiocarbamates including phenyl-N-ethylthiocarbamate and s-2,3-dichloroallyl diisopropylthiocarbamate (diallate) produced symptoms of severe delayed neurotoxicity following repeated oral administration. The results of these experiments do not preclude the possibility that neurotoxic carbamates and organophosphorous compounds may share a common site of action.     

Competition effects between fruit trusses of the tomato plant

There were 6 treatments in each of 2 series covering the range from 1–6 fruit trusses per plant. The terminal growing-points were removed 2 leaves above the last inflorescence of each treatment in the “limited-stem” series, and 2 leaves above inflorescence 6 with inflorescences removed as necessary in the “full-stem” series.The yield of trusses 2–5 in the “full-stem” and of truss 2 in the “limited-stem” series was reduced by the presence of subsequent trusses. Similar trends were apparent with trusses 3–5 of the “limited-stem” series. It was suggested that the reduction in yield was due to competition between trusses for assimilates resulting in smaller and/or fewer fruit per truss.Data is presented to suggest that the net assimilation rate in the tomato plant can be reduced due to lack of fruit load and that fruit yield can be limited simultaneously by lack of both source and sink strength.     

THE EFFECTS OF INTRA-ARTICULAR ANESTHESIA ON SOFT TISSUE-AND BONE-PHASE SCINTIGRAPHY IN THE HORSE

Soft tissue- and bone-phase scintigrams were acquired from 4 normal horses before and over a 14-day period after metacarpophalangeal, antebrachiocarpal, tarsocrural and tarsometatarsal joint blocks. Images were evaluated subjectively and quantitatively for increased activity in these regions. The antebrachiocarpal block resulted in obvious focal accumulation of activity on soft tissue-phase scintigrams. This increased activity was greatest 2 to 4 days postanesthesia and persisted up to 14 days postanesthesia. On quantitative analysis of soft tissue-phase images, similar trends were noted after the metacarpophalangeal and tarsocrural blocks, but these increases were relatively mild and were not evident on subjective evaluation of the images. Abnormal soft tissue-phase activity was not associated with the tarsometatarsal block. On bone-phase scintigrams, increased activity was not present following any of these joint blocks.