Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp., Verocytotoxic Escherichia coli,and Antibiotic Resistance in Indicator Organisms in Wild Cervids

Faecal samples were collected, as part of the National Health Surveillance Program for Cervids (HOP) in Norway, from wild red deer, roe deer, moose and reindeer during ordinary hunting seasons from 2001 to 2003. Samples from a total of 618 animals were examined for verocytotoxic E. coli (VTEC); 611 animals for Salmonella and 324 animals for Campylobacter. A total of 50 samples were cultivated from each cervid species in order to isolate the indicator bacterial species E. coli and Enterococcus faecalis/E. faecium for antibiotic resistance pattern studies. Salmonella and the potentially human pathogenic verocytotoxic E. coli were not isolated, while Campylobacter jejuni jejuni was found in one roe deer sample only. Antibiotic resistance was found in 13 (7.3%) of the 179 E. coli isolates tested, eight of these being resistant against one type of antibiotic only. The proportion of resistant E. coli isolates was higher in wild reindeer (24%) than in the other cervids (2.2%). E. faecalis or E. faecium were isolated from 19 of the samples, none of these being reindeer. All the strains isolated were resistant against one (84%) or more (16%) antibiotics. A total of 14 E. faecalis-strains were resistant to virginiamycin only. The results indicate that the cervid species studied do not constitute an important infectious reservoir for either the human pathogens or the antibiotic resistant microorganisms included in the study.     

三种优良禾本科牧草与本地品种生长性状对比分析

分析了三种引进优良禾本科牧草与一种当地禾本科牧草的生长性状，结果表明：三种引进禾本科牧草的鲜重均比当地禾本科优良牧草垂穗披碱草高，种植第三年引进牧草品种的鲜草产量为无芒雀麦19316kg／hm^2，达乌里披碱草16457kg／hm^2，猫尾草15754kg／hm^2。引进的三种牧草品种表现出较好的抗逆性，推广价值较高，适宜在高寒地区种植。     

辽宁海洋牧场建设的金融投入研究

辽宁省海洋资源丰富,渔业产业基础雄厚,具有发展海洋牧场的巨大潜力。辽宁海洋牧场的技术密集型和资金密集型特征,需要构建有力、有效的金融服务体系。为此,需要发挥政策金融的引领作用,突出商业金融的中坚作用,注重合作金融的普惠作用,形成整体合力。     

青海扁茎早熟禾混播草地生产性能与种间关系的研究

为了探究早熟禾混播草地种间关系与生产特征,使用‘青海’中华羊茅（Festuca sinensis ‘Qinghai’）、'青牧1号’老芒麦（Elymus sibiricus ‘Qingmu No.1’）、‘同德’小花碱茅（Puccinellia tenuiflora ‘Tongde’）分别与‘青海’扁茎早熟禾（Poa pratensis var. anceps Gaund.‘Qinghai’）混播,在海北州西海镇开展了植株形态特征、生物量积累和分配、混播草地养分特征等研究。结果表明：使用老芒麦与早熟禾混播具有较高的生产性能。该处理相较于老芒麦单播草地的粗蛋白与总磷含量,分别提高7.51%与14.50%。相对饲用价值较早熟禾单播草地提高34.12%。因此,为解决青海扁茎早熟禾单播草地生产力不足的问题可以选用老芒麦与早熟禾进行混播。使用碱茅与早熟禾混播具有较高的种间相容性,因此碱茅与早熟禾混播具有较高的群落稳定性与产量稳定性。选用碱茅与早熟禾进行混播可以用于建植以生态治理为目的的混播草地。     

Forage legumes in grass pastures in tropical Brazil and likely impacts on greenhouse gas emissions: A review

Beef cattle producers seldom use fertilizers for their pastures in tropical regions of Brazil. Slowly, this is changing but because of the need for repeated applications, N fertilizer is rarely applied. The introduction of a forage legume is an appropriate solution for this problem, but until recently adoption has been very low as the legumes generally have not persisted in the sward. We report research on how grazing management can affect the persistence of stoloniferous legumes in pastures of Brachiaria spp. and the problems of establishing and maintaining crown-forming legumes such as Stylosanthes spp. With suitable management, milk or bovine carcass yields can be equal or greater from mixed than from grass-alone pastures fertilized with 120 or 150 kg Nha^-1 year⁻¹. In addition to savings in CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels for the production and distribution of N fertilizers, nitrous oxide emissions from cattle excreta and legume residues are lower than those from N-fertilized brachiaria grass monocultures. Other studies indicate that enteric methane emissions from cattle may be mitigated when forage legumes are included in their diet. The use of forage legumes in mixed pastures for tropical regions is emerging as a feasible strategy to keep meat and milk production at acceptable levels with reduced greenhouse gas emission rates.     

驯鹿生长素Ghrelin cDNA的克隆

从驯鹿皱胃组织中提取总RNA,根据已发表的驯鹿生长素Ghrelin基因序列设计并合成引物,通过反转录-聚合酶链式反应(RT-PCR)进行cDNA扩增,获得了300 bp的片段,重组到pBlueselect T载体,经限制性内切酶谱分析和DNA序列测定分析,确认PCR产物为Ghrelin cDNA,为进一步研究Chrelin在驯鹿体内的分布及营养因素等对其基因表达的影响奠定基础。     

Performance of simple irrigation scheduling calendars based on average weather data for annual ryegrass

Poor irrigation management in pastures can lead to yield and quality reduction as well as loss of income through extra pumping and leaching of nitrate fertiliser. A number of irrigation scheduling techniques of varying levels of sophistication have been developed over the years to address limited irrigation water availability and maximise productivity. Despite this, the adoption of irrigation scheduling tools by farmers remains low. The objective of this study was to assess the use of simple irrigation scheduling calendars based on average weather data to improve irrigation management in ryegrass. The calibrated Soil Water Balance (SWB) model was used to generate simple irrigation calendars and assess effectiveness for different scenarios by mechanistically simulating water dynamics and pasture growth. Scheduling irrigation using the calendars gave similar irrigation applications, water losses and yields compared to a more scientific real-time scheduling (in response to soil water depletion by the crop). While site-specific irrigation scheduling calendars can easily be generated by consultants and irrigators, even simpler monthly estimates of average daily water use can also be useful. Application of calendars by farmers is encouraged to improve water and nutrient use efficiency of irrigated pastures, if real-time irrigation scheduling is not employed.     

Energy expenditure in Awassi sheep grazing wheat stubble in the northern Negev Desert of Israel

In semi-arid Mediterranean areas, small grain aftermath stubble represents an important summer source of food for grazing flocks of small ruminants. Wheat stubble is a mediocre source of forage and flocks are grazed in summer under harsh conditions of temperature and air dustiness. However, stubble grazing procedures are changing, water and shading are more frequently available between grazing sessions (“improved management”), and the biological soundness of this ancestral practice needs to be re-visited. The present study was aimed at evaluating the cost in energy of “improved” wheat stubble grazing, compared with feeding a similar diet indoors. The intake of stubble was first quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated in Awassi sheep. Ewes consumed daily 980 ± 100 g day^− 1 of wheat stubble. Ewes were then housed and fed diets consisting of wheat hay, straw and grain formulated to be iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous to diets consumed from wheat stubble. The average intake of ME was similar during the confinement and the pasture periods (6.4 ± 0.5 and 7.6 ± 0.8 MJ day^− 1of ME, respectively). During 2 days of each period, animals were fitted with external electrodes and data loggers of heart rate and skin temperature. Energy expenditure (EE) was calculated from oxygen consumption estimated as the product of heart beats rate measured for the two days by the amount of oxygen delivered to body tissues at each heart beat (O₂ pulse). The O₂ pulse was determined by simultaneously measurement of oxygen consumption and HR twice daily on two occasions, while grazing stubble and indoors. Energy expenditure and energy balance were not different in sheep while grazing wheat stubble (11.1 and − 3.5 MJ day^− 1) or fed indoors (11.1 and − 4.8 MJ day^− 1). Our data show that stubble did not cover nitrogen and energy requirements for maintenance, and that the cost of summer stubble grazing carried out under conditions described here is less than thought before.     

内蒙古荒漠草原优势牧草营养价值评价

通过测定内蒙古荒漠草原26种优势牧草的常规养分含量、纤维组成、两极离体消化率,分析了不同牧草对放牧内蒙古白绒山羊的营养价值,同时应用随意采食量、静能估测模型计算了荒漠草原优势牧草的分级指数（GI值）,对牧草进行了综合评价。结果表明：（1）用营养成分和消化率指标评定,紫花苜蓿和五星蒿的营养价值最高,其次为中间锦鸡儿、圆头藜,最次为驼绒藜;（2）紫花苜蓿、五星蒿、中间锦鸡儿、圆头藜、碱蓬、全叶马兰、蒺藜草、沙打旺、阿尔泰狗娃花9种牧草GI值较高,牛枝子、甘草、猪毛蒿、松叶猪毛菜、软毛虫实、小针茅居中,灰绿藜、冷蒿、中亚狼尾草、针茅、无芒隐子草、西藏锦鸡儿、驼绒藜、黑沙蒿、刺叶柄棘豆、芨芨草、差巴嘎蒿11种牧草的GI值较低。     

Soil S availability in upland pastures of NE Scotland: relationship of extractable soil S and soil respiration to soil and site characteristics

Abstract. The mean extractable sulphur (S) concentration in 315 upland topsoil samples collected in 1988/89 from beneath pasture in NE Scotland was 13 μg S g⁻¹ (range 2–77 μg S g⁻¹). More than two thirds of the samples had S concentrations less than that acceptable for productive soils. Continued decreases in atmospheric S inputs may have increased this proportion subsequently. The analysis of herbage S also indicated that two-thirds of the samples were below 0.2% S. A 'respirometric index', namely CO₂ produced during cellulose decomposition without added S as a percentage of that produced with added S, was significantly less than 100% in a quarter of the soils. Results of three different extraction procedures suggested that sulphate in the soils was present mainly as free plus adsorbed rather than precipitated forms. Soil extraction identified a significant non-sulphate S fraction, presumably organic S. The variability in extractable S stemmed from a combination of geographical, depositional and local site and soil factors. Extractable S was significantly correlated with soil organic matter content and inversely with soil pH and together these factors explained 37% of the variability. While significant differences in mean concentrations between geographical area, soil association and drainage status were evident, no trends could be observed between the major soil subgroups or with altitude.