Appraisal of the sustainability of dairy goat systems in Southern Spain according to their degree of intensification

This investigation aims to classify, describe and evaluate the sustainability of dairy goat production systems (GPS) in South Spain Sierra de Cadiz. The research took place throughout 25 goat farms during the 2001–2002 campaigns, with the method posed by Masera et al. (1999) [Masera, O., Astier, M., S., López-Ridaura. 1999. Sustentabilidad y manejo de recursos naturales. El marco de evaluación MESMIS (Sustainability and natural resource management. The MESMIS evaluation framework). Mundi-Prensa, S.A., Gira, IE-UNAM, México. 109 pp.] and adapted to animal production systems, as the guideline and framework to evaluate sustainability.

The principal component, namely energy input from grazing (eigenvalue 1.329) which comprises the indicators total area per goat (factorial value 0.664) together with net energy obtained from grazing (factorial value 0.903) allowed to differentiate significantly between semi extensive (SES), semi intensive (SIS) and intensive (IS) goat production systems.

Intensification of the GPS tends to be inefficient, especially in terms of net margin per litre of milk produced (p < 0.05). A higher degree of adaptability of IS (64.8%) derives from a higher investment on new production strategies. Likewise, higher self-management capacity of SES (60.9%) fosters standards of productivity (76.0%) and stability (42.9%). The SIS presented the highest equity values (67.8%).

On the whole, sustainability of GPS tends to decrease as the degree of intensification increases: SES = 57.3%; SIS = 55.7% and IS = 53.1%. The reduction of the dependency on external input alongside with the optimization of natural resources management would surely improve the standard of sustainability.     

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.     

Evaluation of the API 50CH and API ZYM systems for rapid characterization of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus, causal agent of potato ring rot

API 50CH and API ZYM systems were used to characterize fifty-three strains of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus from different geographic locations and several reference strains of the same and different species, including other potato pathogens. Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus strains displayed a high level of homogeneity, both in carbohydrate utilization and in enzymatic activity. Using API 50CH and API ZYM it was possible to differentiate C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus strains from the remaining taxa analysed in this study, which included representative strains of the other subspecies of C. michiganensis as well as other bacterial pathogens affecting potatoes. Therefore, these systems could be used as an effective method to characterize C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus. Such a procedure would constitute an alternative system to the conventional nutritional and physiological identification tests currently included in the official methods employed in the European Union to detect and identify this bacterium. The results obtained with the API systems agreed with the current taxonomic classification of C. michiganensis, clearly separating sepedonicus from the other subspecies belonging to this species.     

Landscape patterns and agriculture: modelling the long-term effects of human practices on Pinus sylvestris spatial dynamics (Causse Mejean, France)

This paper focuses on understanding human impact on landscape. Both ecological and human practices are analysed as interacting processes. An agent-based model integrating biological and historical knowledge is used to analyse the pattern of Scots Pine encroachment in a French Mediterranean upland. In the STIPA model, pine trees are autonomous agents and a cellular automaton simulates land-use. We test the effects of shifting cultivation on tree establishment at the landscape scale. This allows us to understand how agropastoral practices patterned this area from the 17th to 19th century: simulations show the importance of shifting cultivation in limiting woodland progression. Fallow duration linked to environmental heterogeneity is a significant factor for explaining pine dynamics and landscape patterning at the scale of the study region. We put this result in perspective with current rangeland management policies that often consider grazing as the most relevant tool for open landscape maintenance. Our results also show the importance of taking into account time-scale effects when linking landscape patterns to agricultural systems.     

Postcards from the past: charting the landscape-scale conversion of tropical Australian savanna to closed forest during the 20th century

Repeated sequences of digitised and geo-referenced historical aerial photography provide a powerful means of understanding landscape change. We use this method to demonstrate a landscape wide expansion of closed forest (42% increase in total coverage) in the Australian monsoon tropics over the past five decades. Retrospective habitat suitability models (HSI) of closed forest derived using four landscape measures (drainage distance, slope angle, aspect and elevation) for imagery taken in 1947 correctly forecast the subsequent spatial distribution of the expansion, with topographic fire protection primarily determining the closed-forest distribution. The dynamics of the closed forest-savanna boundary were predicted accurately by generalised linear models, with closed-forest expansion in fire-protected sites along forest edges and regression in the more fire-prone areas. Two factors may plausibly explain the expansion of closed forests. First, eco-ethnographic records stress the skilful use of fire by Aboriginal people in protecting isolated and locally resource-rich closed-forest patches. Second, the recent global increase in atmospheric CO₂ may be changing the competitive balance between savanna and forest by enabling C₃ trees to grow fast enough to escape the fire trap presented by flammable C₄ grasses.     

落叶果树无休眠栽培的原理与技术体系

无休眠栽培是指利用一定的措施使具有休眠特性的落叶果树避开休眠继续生长,进而开花结果的一种栽培模式。控制营养生长、保证花芽分化,使树体避开休眠,促进足够多的芽整齐萌发,避免二次休眠的发生是无休眠栽培成功的4项重要保证。温带地区无休眠栽培的研究重点是:自然休眠诱导因子的确定;花芽分化进程及自然休眠进程的精确界定;避免进入深度休眠及促芽整齐萌发的配套技术;无休眠栽培条件下树体的生长发育规律及树体综合管理技术;二次休眠现象发生的原因和克服措施;无休眠品种的选育。     

河北省退化山场土壤系统熵研究

根据耗散结构理论，提出用土壤系统熵来表征退化山场土壤的退化程度，并对退化山场土壤及化肥培肥后的土壤系统熵值进行了计算。提出向退化山场土壤生态系统中引入负熵流是改良土壤，使退化山场土壤生态系统稳定有序的必要条件。     

长江上游流域土地利用对面源污染影响及其差异

基于遥感与地理信息系统技术,对比分析了长江上游流域2000—2006年土地利用变化;利用输出系数模型,计算了土地利用引起的面源污染负荷,并从面源污染TN和TP负荷量、负荷强度和不同来源等角度,综合分析得出长江上游流域土地利用变化对面源污染影响及其差异。2000—2006年,长江上游流域耕地面积减少约1.10×104km2,林地面积增加约1.10×104km2,其他土地利用变化很小,表明西部大开发以来,天然林资源保护、长江防护林和退耕还林等工程实施效果明显。长江上游流域土地利用造成的TN和TP负荷量2000年分别为114.14×104t和3.39×104t,2006年分别为111.21×104t和3.31×104t。四川省西北部雅砻江中游流域、大渡河上游流域、岷江上游流域和贵州省北部乌江中游流域,2000—2006年面源TN和TP负荷显著减少。     

洱海流域北部农田养分平衡及残留特性研究

为减少农田氮磷流失,改善洱海水质、遏制富营养化发展,以洱海流域北部8个乡（镇）为研究区域,采用现场调查与分析测试相结合的方法研究了洱海流域北部10种典型轮作模式的施肥量、作物养分吸收量、农田养分盈余量以及土壤养分残留状况,对不同轮作模式农田养分平衡及残留特性进行了分析评价。结果表明,水稻-大蒜轮作模式下有机肥和氮肥的投入量显著高于其他模式,水稻-蔬菜作物轮作模式的磷肥投入量显著高于其他模式;不同轮作模式间土壤养分残留差异性以硝态氮最为突出：水稻-大蒜轮作条件下土壤硝态氮残留量达43.4mg.kg-1,明显高于其他轮作模式;10种轮作模式均处于养分盈余状态,以水稻-大蒜轮作模式养分盈余量最大,为1258.8kgN.hm-2和1472.7kgP2O5.hm-2;养分盈余量差异主要凸现在小春季作物上;土壤中易流失的硝态氮、铵态氮和速效磷与氮磷肥的投入量和养分盈余均呈显著相关。表明水稻-大蒜和水稻-蔬菜轮作是洱海流域农田环境污染风险较高的种植模式,需要重点防控。     

Seed survival and predation of Anoda cristata in soyabean crops

Anoda cristata is a troublesome annual broad-leaved weed in summer crops in the rolling Pampa in Argentina; seeds are the only source of regeneration of this species. Seed persistence or depletion is the result of survival and loss processes, including predation. The objective of this study was to determine survival at two burial depths in undisturbed soil and predation rates of A. cristata seeds in soyabean crops in different rotations and tillage systems. Survival was discontinuous and decreased to 25% after 35 months, after which no further reduction in survival was observed to the end of the experiment at 96 months. No differences in seed survival between seeds placed on the soil surface and buried 5 cm below the soil surface were found at 80 months, but at later times survival was lower for seeds placed on the soil surface. Predation rates ranged between 0.3% day⁻¹ and 6.7% day⁻¹. Of the models tested, a polynomial regression of the rate of predation with time gave the best representation of seed predation. From January to July, predation was higher in non-tillage plots in the wheat/soyabean rotation. There was no significant difference in predation rates between tillage systems in the soyabean monoculture and no difference between planting densities. Higher crop residue levels in non-tillage plots in the wheat/soyabean rotation was the dominant factor influencing seed predation, probably because such habitat favours the presence of seed predators.