Feeding behavior of feedlot lambs fed diets containing levels of cassava wastewater

In this study, we evaluated the effects of including cassava wastewater in the diet on the feeding behavior of feedlot lambs in 35 male uncastrated Santa Inês × Dorper crossbred lambs at an approximate age of 3 months, with an average live weight of 20.0?±?3.4 kg. Diets were formulated with hay of cassava shoots (roughage) and a concentrate based on corn and soybean, with a roughage:concentrate ratio of 50:50, plus inclusion of cassava wastewater at the levels of 0, 12, 24, 36, or 48 g/kg of the total diet. Feeding behavior was evaluated between the 46th and 52nd days of the experiment. Increasing cassava wastewater levels in the diet reduced (P?<?0.05) the intakes (kg/day) of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber as well as the efficiency of rumination (g/cud and g/h) of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber. The other behavioral parameters were not affected by wastewater inclusion in the diet. Therefore, the inclusion of up to 48 g/kg of cassava wastewater on fresh matter of diets is not recommended for feedlot lambs.     

The impact of truncating data on the predictive ability for single‐step genomic best linear unbiased prediction

Simulated and swine industry data sets were utilized to assess the impact of removing older data on the predictive ability of selection candidate estimated breeding values (EBV) when using single‐step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP). Simulated data included thirty replicates designed to mimic the structure of swine data sets. For the simulated data, varying amounts of data were truncated based on the number of ancestral generations back from the selection candidates. The swine data sets consisted of phenotypic and genotypic records for three traits across two breeds on animals born from 2003 to 2017. Phenotypes and genotypes were iteratively removed 1 year at a time based on the year an animal was born. For the swine data sets, correlations between corrected phenotypes (Cp) and EBV were used to evaluate the predictive ability on young animals born in 2016–2017. In the simulated data set, keeping data two generations back or greater resulted in no statistical difference (p‐value > 0.05) in the reduction in the true breeding value at generation 15 compared to utilizing all available data. Across swine data sets, removing phenotypes from animals born prior to 2011 resulted in a negligible or a slight numerical increase in the correlation between Cp and EBV. Truncating data is a method to alleviate computational issues without negatively impacting the predictive ability of selection candidate EBV.     

Comparative ecologies of domestic and naturalised rainbow trout in northern Lake Huron

Northern Lake Huron (Ontario, Canada) supports the largest concentration of freshwater salmonid cage culture farms in Canada and receives inputs of domestic‐strain rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) through escapement. We assessed the potential effects of these domestic fish on the naturalised rainbow trout of this ecosystem by comparing their respective ecologies. Mature adults were sampled from spawning tributaries, primarily in spring, and to a lesser extent in fall. Fish of domestic origin comprised ~80% of rainbow trout sampled from sites near cage culture facilities but <20% of rainbow trout sampled from more distant sites. Domestic adults in spawning condition (gametes free‐flowing) were present in the spawning tributaries in both spring and fall sampling seasons, whereas naturalised fish in spawning condition were only observed in the spring. Domestic adults were younger and smaller (in length), appeared to have shorter lifespan and had a higher male to female ratio compared with their naturalised counterparts. Growth rates (change in length with age) of naturalised and domestic females in the wild were similar, but domestic males grew more slowly than naturalised males. Domestic females also produced smaller eggs than naturalised females. Food web positions (inferred from δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of domestic and naturalised fish were very similar but varied more strongly with body size in the former. Domestic‐strain rainbow trout of cage culture origin can survive, grow and attempt to spawn in northern Lake Huron and have the potential to compete for food, mates and spawning habitat with naturalised rainbow trout.     

Flow alteration and thermal pollution depress modelled growth rates of an iconic riverine fish,the Murray cod Maccullochella peelii

The serial discontinuity concept (SDC) proposes that hypolimnetic‐releasing impoundments cause major disruptions to the naturally occurring physical, chemical and biological gradients of rivers but that this impact diminishes with distance downstream. Such a gradient in discharge, flow velocity and temperature regime occurs below a large hypolimnetic‐releasing impoundment, the Hume Dam, on the River Murray in south‐eastern Australia. To examine the effects of this disturbance gradient on a warm‐water large‐bodied freshwater fish, the Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii), a bioenergetics model was developed and calibrated to explore energy expended under differing water velocities and temperature regimes. Model simulations predicted negative growth of juveniles directly downstream of the impoundment, due largely to the energetic costs associated with active and, to a lesser extent, standard metabolism outweighing the achievable energetic gains through food consumption. As flow velocity and temperature regimes became more favourable downstream, so did the simulated growth of the species. It was not until +239 km downstream of the impoundment that the model predicted that flow velocity and temperature regimes were suitable for greater weight gains. The modelled growth responses of juvenile Murray cod are consistent with the predictions of the SDC, emphasising that changes in the bioenergetics of individuals are likely to be reflected in reduced growth rates under the changed flow velocity and temperature regimes imposed by disturbance gradients. This research represents a valuable step in the biological understanding of Murray cod within variable riverine environments and emphasises the urgency required to mitigate impacts associated with hypolimnetic impoundments.