Fat and cholesterol content and fatty acid composition of mares' colostrums and milk during five lactation months

In this study, the effect of the lactation stage on changes in the fat and cholesterol content and fatty acid composition of colostrum and milk of Wielkopolska mares' was investigated. Colostrum and milk samples from 10 lactating mares were collected at the beginning of lactation, on the 1st and 2nd day after foaling and then, starting from the first month of lactation, at 4 weeks' intervals up to the fifth month of lactation. Statistically significant differences were found between mares' colostrum and milk in the fat and cholesterol content as well as in the percentage rate of total fatty acids which occurred in significant quantities. Together with the lengthening of the lactation time, the content of fat and cholesterol in the mares' milk was observed to decrease. The authors also found a significant impact of the lactation period on changes in the ratio of polyenoic fatty acids from the n-6 to n-3 family. Bearing in mind the fat and cholesterol content and a more favourable (from the nutritional point of view) ratio of fatty acids from the family of n-6 to n-3, it is recommended to collect milk from mares in the 4th and 5th month of lactation.     

Effect of lactation stage, season and parity on milk cortisol concentration in Holstein cows

This experiment was designed (1) to study the effects of lactation stage, season, and parity on milk cortisol concentrations in Holstein cows, and (2) to elucidate the relationships between milk yield, quality, and milk cortisol concentration. Subjects of this study were 24 dairy cows kept in a free stall barn. Milk samples were taken on test day in May, August, November, and February. Data of milk yield, quality, and cortisol concentration were collected. Random effects of animals and fixed effects of lactation stage, test day, and parity on milk yield, quality, and cortisol concentration were analyzed using mixed models. We estimated the best linear unbiased prediction of each trait (BLUP) which was an animal-specific value. Correlation among milk yield, quality, and cortisol concentration was calculated using raw data and BLUP. The effect of the lactation stage on milk cortisol concentration was significant: the value observed in early lactation was higher than in other stages. However, the correlation between milk yield and cortisol concentration was low. The beginning of lactation might be a strong stressor for every cow. Calculated with raw data, milk cortisol concentration had respectively significant negative correlation with milk protein contents and solid not-fat contents. Calculated with BLUP, milk cortisol concentration showed a significant and negative correlation with milk protein contents. The lactation stage and milk protein contents should be considered for measurement of milk cortisol concentrations.     

Inter‐annual variability in amphibian assemblages: implications for diversity assessment and conservation

• 1. Diversity assessments and conservation management should take into account the dynamic nature of populations and communities, particularly when they are subject to highly variable and unpredictable environmental conditions.
• 2. This study evaluates the inter‐annual variability in the assemblage composition (temporal turnover) of an amphibian community breeding in a highly dynamic habitat, a Mediterranean temporary pond system, during a 4‐year period.
• 3. A comprehensive framework is provided to evaluate temporal turnover from data of a differing nature (species richness, presence/absence and relative abundance) and, especially, to discern variation in richness (species loss) from changes in the identity or abundance of species (species replacement).
• 4. Results show that the pond amphibian assemblages in Doñana National Park exhibited high inter‐annual variability during the study period, both in the number of species, species identity and their relative abundance. This result provides evidence for the inadequacy of surveys conducted only in one breeding season to characterize the species assemblage associated with a given pond. Besides, it suggests that a given pond offers different breeding opportunities over time, being suitable for different species depending on the year. This alternation will contribute to the medium‐term preservation of all species in the assemblage.
• 5. It is highly relevant to preserve the natural dynamism and spatial variability of temporary pond systems, which will favour the conservation of populations through their intrinsic variability. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

不同光强和温度对长石莼（缘管浒苔）光合作用和叶绿素荧光参数的影响

利用脉冲振幅调制叶绿素荧光仪对不同光照和温度条件下长石莼（缘管浒苔）光合作用和培养条件进行了优化。结果表明,长石莼（缘管浒苔）在25 ℃和72 μmol/(m2·s)条件下,其F_v/F_m、F_m、F_v和α值最高,分别高达0.74、4 567、3 406和0.305,低于该点为光不饱和,高于该点为光抑制,偏离越大,下降越显著（P<0.01）,其中在5 ℃和35 ℃时最小,分别是25 ℃最高值的32.24%~64.88%和22.99%~53.44%;光强为18 μmol/(m²·s)和216 μmol/(m²·s)时最小,其F_v/F_m、F_m、F_v和α值分别是25 ℃和72 μmol/(m²·s)条件下最高值的44.94%~82.62%和51.82%~76.72%。F₀变化不太明显,5~30 ℃为先上升后下降或再上升变化趋势,35 ℃为先下降后上升变化趋势。拟合参数α显示,长石莼（缘管浒苔）在达到光饱和点前通过增加光能吸收来增强光合作用,在光抑制后则迅速减少。rETR_maxDuncan检验表明,高温/低温和高光强对长石莼（缘管浒苔）光合作用影响显著（P<0.01）。总体上看,长石莼（缘管浒苔）光合作用和生长适宜条件为15~25 ℃和54~72 μmol/(m²·s),过高或过低均不适宜。且温度排序为25>20>15>30>10>5>35 ℃,光照强度排序为72>54/108>36/162>18/216 μmol/(m²·s)。     

Joint action of natural and synthetic photosystem II inhibitors

The inhibitory action on photosystem II of four sorgoleone analogues, isolated from Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench, and two synthetic inhibitors, diuron and bentazone, was tested by measuring oxygen evolution of thylakoid membranes. The inhibition of oxygen evolution for mixtures of inhibitors was compared with the Additive Dose Model (ADM). ADM assumes that, at a defined response level, the effect of a mixture of inhibitors can be unambiguously expressed by the potency of either of the inhibitors applied separately. The slope of the logistic dose-response curves differed between the inhibitors; sorgoleone analogues had the steepest and bentazone the shallowest slope. The difference in slopes makes the interpretation of the isoboles less general and may reflect the differences in the interaction between the natural and the synthetic inhibitors with the binding site. The results suggest that there may be some limitation to ADM, namely that compounds with the same site of action might have different response curves if their mechanism of binding is different. The joint action of inhibitors follows ADM at I₅₀ . Therefore, the inhibitors can replace each other in any mixture ratio, based on the relative potencies of the pure inhibitors, without changing each other's effect on oxygen evolution. The joint action at I₂₀ and I₈₀ sometimes diverged from ADM. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Simulating bimodal tall fescue growth with a degree‐day‐based process‐oriented plant model

Plant growth simulation models have a temperature response function driving development, with a base temperature and an optimum temperature defined. Such models function well when plant development rate shows a continuous change throughout the growing season. This approach becomes more complex as it is extended to cool‐season perennial grasses with a dormant period and bimodal growth curves. The objective of this study was to develop such a bimodal growth model for tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort) in the Midwest USA based on multiyear measurement trials. Functions for bimodal growth were incorporated into the ALMANAC model and applied to tall fescue using published tall fescue yields for a variety of sites and soils. Fields of cultivars “Kentucky 31” and “BarOptima Plus E34” were divided into paddocks and sampled weekly for dry‐matter accumulation. These biomass estimates were used to derive weekly growth values by differences between sequential weekly samplings. The measured values were compared to a single tall fescue simulation each year on one soil. Using these results, the ALMANAC model was modified and tested against mean reported tall fescue yields for 11 sites, with one to three soils per site. When we introduced midsummer dormancy into ALMANAC, we assumed dormancy began on the longest day of the year and lasted until the photoperiod was 0.68 hr shorter than the longest. ALMANAC simulated previously reported tall fescue yields well across the range of sites. Thus, ALMANAC shows great promise to simulate bimodal growth in this common cool‐season grass.     

九寨沟沉水杉叶藻的叶绿素荧光参数日变化研究

以来源于九寨沟芳草海、箭竹海和五花海3个湖泊的优势沉水植物杉叶藻(Hippuris vulgaris)为试材,利用Junior-PAM调制叶绿素荧光仪,在夏季对其快速光响应曲线和最大光化学效率(Fv/Fm)日变化动态进行测定,以揭示杉叶藻的光合特征及其与主要环境因子的关系。结果显示:3个湖泊光合有效辐射强度(PAR)日平均值之间无显著差异,五花海的水温(Tw)日平均值极显著高于芳草海和箭竹海。沉水杉叶藻的最大相对电子传递速率(r ETRmax)和半饱和光强(Ek)的日变化在箭竹海和五花海均呈双峰曲线,在芳草海呈单峰曲线;3个湖泊沉水杉叶藻光能利用效率一天中均呈早晚高、中午低的近"V"形曲线。五花海沉水杉叶藻的r ETRmax和Ek日平均值极显著高于箭竹海和芳草海,r ETRmax、Ek在箭竹海和芳草海之间无显著性差异,说明五花海沉水杉叶藻有更强的光合能力和对强光的耐受能力。3个湖泊沉水杉叶藻Fv/Fm日变化都呈"V"形曲线,五花海沉水杉叶藻Fv/Fm恢复速度大于芳草海和箭竹海。研究表明,不同的环境因子,特别是Tw,会导致沉水植物杉叶藻的叶绿素荧光参数在3个湖泊之间存在显著差异,即Tw是九寨沟沉水植物杉叶藻光合作用的主要影响因子,12℃为光合最适温度。     

土壤水高矿化度对粉质黏土水力特性的影响

为获取高矿化度土壤水条件下的水力特征参数,并比较不同处理的影响,实验测定淡水、30、100及250g/L土壤水矿化度处理土样脱湿过程的水分特征曲线,并利用RETC软件进行模型参数拟合。结果表明,粉质黏土条件下,van Genuchten-Burdine模型可拟合各不同处理土壤水分特征曲线。各组实测曲线形态显示,在吸力较大阶段,当土壤水吸力增大到一定程度时含水率才发生变化,二者呈多值对应关系。TDS-30处理对应的残余体积含水率θr最大,α、n值最小,非饱和水力传导度K值衰减最快;中等大小孔隙的变化对非饱和水力传导度影响较为显著。研究成果可为深入开展矿化度潜水蒸发数值计算提供支持。     

Cost-effectiveness of conservation strategies implemented in boreal forests: The area selection process

To protect land from commercial exploitation is a common conservation practice. However, this requires large financial resources and it is therefore important to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of different strategies used in the selection of these conservation areas. In this study we compare four strategies and relate the differences in cost-effectiveness to differences in the selection process. We measure conservation benefits both as the amount of three tree structures and as the number of species in three species groups. We also estimate both the information cost associated with selecting conservation areas and the opportunity cost. We found the key habitat strategy to be the over-all most cost-effective. In this strategy, the areas have a flexible size and are selected by the authorities in a national field survey. The least cost-effective strategy was one where the selection was based only on forest classes in a satellite map. Intermediate were the retention group strategy, where small areas are left by the forest owner at harvesting, and the nature reserve strategy, where large areas are selected by the authorities. We emphasize that the differences we found are associated with the selection process and that other aspects, such as long-term survival of species, may rank the strategies differently. We conclude that the cost-effectiveness of a selection strategy depends on the size of the planning area for selection of conservation areas, the size of the conservation areas, the objective of the agent making the selection, and the amount and type of information on which the selection is based.     

Fit of Wood's function to daily milk records and estimation of environmental and additive and non-additive genetic effects on lactation curve and lactation parameters of crossbred dual purpose cattle

The objectives of this study were to estimate the environmental and additive and non-additive genetic effects on lactation curve and lactation parameters of crosses of Holstein (H), Brahman (B) and Brown Swiss (BS) in Olancho region in Honduras. The data consisted of 54,517 milk yield records from 192 dual-purpose crossbred cows lactating from 2000 to 2005 at the Universidad Nacional de Agricultura de Honduras (UNA). The lactation curve and lactation parameters of interest were the scaling factor to represent yield at the beginning of lactation (a), the factor associated with the inclining (b) and declining (c) slopes of the lactation curves, and the milk yield at initial day of lactation (MY₂₀), peak milk yield (MY_max), day at peak milk yield (t_max), and the total milk yield (TM) per lactation, respectively. The incomplete gamma function (Wood function) was used to estimate lactation curve and lactation parameters from daily milk records of H × B, H × BS and BS × B crossbred cows. The environmental, additive and non-additive genetic effects on lactation curve and lactation parameters were estimated using Dickerson and Kinghorn models. The coefficients of determination of fitness of Wood's function (R²) ranged from 80% to 97% with an average of 93%. The lactation curve of the crossbred cows was similar to those reported for dairy cows grazing in the tropics. Lactation parameters such as MY_max, t_max and TM were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by environmental sources of variation suggesting the necessity of differential management strategies. The moderate to large positive phenotypic correlation of MY_max and TM indicate that one of the milk yield parameters could be used as a selection criterion to improve either one or both traits. Despite the fact that both genetic models showed similar patterns, the absolute value of the parameters varied. For both models, individual additive genetic breed effect for H breed were significant (P < 0.05) and contributed more to TM than the BS breed. In the Dickerson model, highly positive significant (P < 0.01) effect on TM for H×BS and BS×B crosses was found. The Kinghorn model did not show significant effects of dominance on this parameter. The estimate of recombination effect for all crosses involving B breed were negative and significant (P < 0.05) for positive correlated lactation curve parameters. Although the inclusion of non-additive effects on crossbreeding genetic effects were not all significant for lactation curve and lactation parameters, non-additive effects should be taken into account to improve the Honduran dairy cattle production management.