Finishing cattle at pasture at 30 months of age or indoors at 25 months of age: Effects on selected carcass and meat quality characteristics

To examine the effect of a modification of a typically Irish dairy calf-to-beef production system, Charolais × Friesian steers were offered a finishing ration of grass silage ad libitum and 5.6 kg concentrates daily for 174 days prior to slaughter at 25 months of age or grass silage ad libitum for 174 days, followed by pasture for 167 days and slaughter at 30 months of age. Finishing at pasture increased carcass weight (376 vs. 342 kg) but did not affect intra-muscular lipid concentration (28 vs. 24 g/kg). Finishing at pasture decreased Longissimus thoracis et lumborum lightness (35.6 vs. 36.9) and increased shear force of muscle at 2 (8.54 vs 4.32) and 7 days (5.21 vs 3.64 kg) post-mortem but not at 14 days post-mortem (4.45 vs. 3.42 kg). Finishing at pasture did not affect the sensory characteristics of tenderness, juiciness, firmness or chewiness and tended (P < 0.1) to decrease texture and acceptability. It is concluded that modification of this beef production system as described, had minor effects on beef quality which are unlikely to be of commercial significance.     

Changes in the succession and diversity of protozoan and microbial populations in soil spiked with a range of copper concentrations

We studied microbial and protozoan activity, diversity and abundance as affected by Cu²⁺ amendments ranging from 0 to 1000 μg g⁻¹ over a 70-day period. At the end of the experiment the microbial population size, as indicated by substrate-induced respiration, had normalized for all Cu²⁺ concentrations, but 1000 μg g⁻¹. Protozoan abundance was negatively affected by Cu²⁺, although, only in the first few weeks. A more detailed analysis of the individual components that make up the microbial and micro-faunal populations (phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profile and protozoan morphotypes), however, yielded a somewhat more complex picture. For the three highest Cu²⁺ amendments (160, 400 and 1000 μg g⁻¹), there still was a significant reduction in number of differentiable protozoan morphotypes. The bacterial PLFA pattern suggested a shift from Gram-negative towards Gram-positive bacteria for the high amendments, a process where protozoan grazing most likely played a significant role. The ratio of the trans/cis isomers of the 16:1ω7 fatty acid indicated that Cu²⁺, even at low and medium concentrations, induced physiological changes in the microbial population. The relatively slight changes in total microbial and micro-faunal abundance and activity, also at the highest Cu²⁺ concentrations, probably reflected the ability of the community to compensate for loss of taxa by functional substitution.     

放牧强度对混播草地群落数量特征的影响(简报)

放牧强度对人工草地群落数量特征的影响,国内外学者已有报道^[1~2],而有关青藏高原的研究则很少^[3]。Reategui^[4]认为,载畜量增大将使丛生禾草向矮生禾草演替,而导致草地退化。另外,放牧强度对植物群落组成和生物多样性也有很大影响,随着放牧强度的增加,一些适口性高、再生性强、不耐牧的种类减少,而适口性差、耐牧的种类增多^[5]。本试验研究放牧强度对垂穗披碱草(Elymus nutans)/星星草(Puccinellia tenuflora)混播草地群落数量特征的影响,旨在为人工草地的放牧利用提供科学依据。     

放牧对温性荒漠草原植物群落特征与牧草营养品质的影响

为研究放牧对温性荒漠草原植物群落特征和牧草营养品质的影响,本文研究了放牧和围封对温性荒漠草原植物群落特征、牧草营养品质的影响及其相互关系。结果表明：放牧显著降低了植物群落的高度、盖度和生物量,显著增加了物种丰富度指数（P<0.01）;放牧显著增加牧草粗蛋白（Crude protein,CP）、粗脂肪（Crude fat,CF）、消化率（Dry matter digestibility,DMD）和代谢能（Metabolic energy,ME）,显著降低了牧草的中性洗涤纤维（Neutral detergent fibers,NDF）和酸性洗涤纤维（Acid detergent fibers,ADF）（P<0.01）;群落多样性指数与牧草CP,CF,DMD和ME呈显著正相关（P<0.01）,与牧草NDF和ADF呈显著负相关（P<0.01）;牧草CP,CF,DMD和ME与NDF和ADF呈显著负相关（P<0.01）。总之,放牧处理显著增加了物种丰富度指数和牧草营养品质。建议对围封温性荒漠草原进行适度放牧,以充分利用草地资源,保护草地物种多样性。     

高寒地区放牧绵羊应用TIT-双胎苗效果试验

利用中国农科院兰州畜牧所研制生产的TIT-苗应用于青海省海北州绵羊生产中，共选择供试母羊254只，产双羔68对，对照组母羊388只，无一只母羊产双羔，68只产双羔的试验母羊，在断奶时繁活94只羔羊，比产单羔多繁活45只羔羊，254只试验羊净增加收益4892元，经济效益显著。     

放牧率对土壤饱和导水率及其空间变异的影响

本文研究放牧对土壤饱和导水率及其对饱和导水率空间变异的影响。结果表明,在２ｍ及２ｍ以上相邻两点之间土壤饱和导水率相互独立,在各个方向均如此。虽自然对数正态分。放牧对饱和导水率和饱和导水率的标准差有极显著的作用,一元方差分析ｐ＝０．００３和０．００４。随着放牧率的增大,饱和导水率降低,与放牧率呈极显著的回归关系。     

放牧强度和时期对内蒙古草原土壤压实效应的研究

在不同牧压下,测定土壤容重,硬度,孔隙度,毛管持水量等与土壤压实作用的有关物理指标。结果表明,供试放牧强度对土壤容重的影响仅局限于０－１０ｃｍ,其中以０－５ｃｍ最显著。０－１０ｃｍ土壤容重的为ｙ＝１．２３６＋０．５９５ｘ－７．７６４＊１０＾－３ｘ＾２,Ｒ＝０．９７８。相同放牧强度不同放牧时期对土壤容重的表现丰夏季放牧对于土壤的压实作用最轻,秋季最重,春季居中。     

放牧牦牛瘤胃生理指标的测定

在莎草科 禾本科草地上对放牧条件下牦牛瘤胃几种生理指标进行测定。结果表明，在1天中8：00时瘤胃温度显著(P＜0．01)低于20：00时，8：00时瘤胃pH值显著(P＜0．01)高于20：00时，氨氮含量差异不显著。1天中瘤胃pH有两个高峰，分别出现在6：00和10：00，午后转入低谷；瘤胃温度表现为白天高于晚上，最大值出现在12：00；氨氮含量变化波动很大，l天内出现多个峰值，最高峰出现在10：00，也表现出白天高晚上低的趋势。     

冬春放牧及补饲精料促使肉牛生长的试验

试验采用随机区组组合排列方法分为５个处理组，每处理重复了３次，共１５个试验小区，每小区放养婆罗门杂交断阉牛４头，试验期１２６天，每隔２１天称重１次。结果表明：除仅在自然草地放牧，不补饲的阉牛在全试验期减重４ｋｇ外，其他４组试验牛分别增重１９，１５，６５和５２ｋｇ，与第一处理组相比，差异显著（Ｐ＜０．０５）。     

The development of forage production and utilization gradients around livestock watering points

Large herbivores can impose spatial patterns on otherwise homogeneous vegetation, but how these patterns change through time is poorly understood. Domestic livestock pastures are model systems for studying how foraging behavior influences the development of coupled grazing and vegetation patterns. We sampled forage production and utilization by cattle along distance-from-water gradients to provide a snapshot of grazing and vegetation patterns, and then evaluated the ability of simulation models to qualitatively reproduce these patterns. In the field, forage production increased with distance from water, as expected, but utilization peaked at intermediate distances from water in two of three study areas. Likewise, simulations based on a variety of foraging strategies produced gradients in forage production and, after forage availability near water declined sufficiently, peaks in utilization at intermediate distances. Distance-from-water gradients thus represent cumulative but not necessarily present day gradients in grazing intensity. The model with a foraging strategy based on time minimization produced slightly more realistic patterns in forage abundance than a model based on energy maximization, although results were sensitive to the value of the threshold for rejecting sites of low forage biomass. However, all models produced implausible thresholds in grazing and forage distribution, suggesting that factors besides resource distribution influence herbivore distributions. Moreover, different foraging rules produced similar vegetation gradients, especially on point water source landscapes, illustrating the difficulty of inferring foraging processes from vegetation patterns.