Less is more: Little seed processing required for direct seeding in seasonal tropics     

Correia  Matheus Rezende de Mesquita  Ferreira  Maxmiller Cardoso  Alves  Monique  Consolaro  Hélder Nagai  Vieira  Daniel Luis Mascia 《New Forests》2022,53(4):695-719

Seed processing and dormancy break treatments are recommended for rendering seeds restoration-ready. Conversely, fruit structures and seed coats may protect seeds from environmental harm in the field. We evaluated the effects of seed processing (by either keeping fruit structures or extracting seeds) and/or scarification (of physically dormant seeds) on the seedling emergence and establishment of 10 legume tree species from tropical forests and savannas of Central Brazil. We sowed seeds in a greenhouse for reference and in a field experiment conducted in tilled ready-to-seed sites. We monitored seedling emergence and survival for a year. We calculated the costs of harvesting, processing, and pretreating seeds, and considered the final cost of a 1-year-old seedling. Seed extraction resulted in lower emergence for most species in the greenhouse and in the field. It also accelerated emergence of three and four species in the greenhouse and the field, respectively. Scarification resulted in lower seedling emergence in the field for half of the species, while it increased emergence of three species in the greenhouse. Most species presented accelerated emergence both in the greenhouse and the field. The seedling cost was 1.6 to 74.6 times higher when seeds were processed, and 1.3 to 6.0 times when seeds were scarified, except for one species. Keeping fruit structures and seed coats reduced the costs of seeds and increased the success of direct seeding.

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Effects of Artemisia annua and Foeniculum vulgare on chickens highly infected with Eimeria tenella (Phylum Apicomplexa)     

Liviu Dr?gan  Adriana Gy?rke  Jorge FS Ferreira  Ioan A Pop  Ioan Dunca  Maria Dr?gan  Viorica Mircean  Iosif Dan  Vasile Cozma 《Acta veterinaria Scandinavica》2014,56(1):22

Background

Intensive poultry production systems depend on chemoprophylaxis with anticoccidial drugs to combat infection. A floor-pen study was conducted to evaluate the anticoccidial effect of Artemisia annua and Foeniculum vulgare on Eimeria tenella infection. Five experimental groups were established: negative control (untreated, unchallenged); positive control (untreated, challenged); a group medicated with 125 ppm lasalocid and challenged; a group medicated with A. annua leaf powder at 1.5% in feed and challenged; and a group treated with the mixed oils of A. annua and Foeniculum vulgare in equal parts, 7.5% in water and challenged. The effects of A. annua and oil extract of A. annua + F. vulgare on E. tenella infection were assessed by clinical signs, mortality, fecal oocyst output, faeces, lesion score, weight gain, and feed conversion.

Results

Clinical signs were noticed only in three chickens from the lasalocid group, six from the A. annua group, and nine from the A. annua + F. vulgare group, but were present in 19 infected chickens from the positive control group. Bloody diarrhea was registered in only two chickens from A. annua group, but in 17 chickens from the positive control group. Mortality also occurred in the positive control group (7/20). Chickens treated with A. annua had a significant reduction in faecal oocysts (95.6%; P = 0.027) and in lesion score (56.3%; P = 0.005) when compared to the positive control. At the end of experiment, chickens treated with A. annua leaf powder had the highest body weight gain (68.2 g/day), after the negative control group, and the best feed conversion (1.85) among all experimental groups.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that A. annua leaf powder (Aa-p), at 1.5% of the daily diet post-infection, can be a valuable alternative for synthetic coccidiostats, such as lasalocid.  相似文献   

Effects of road transportation or droving on the weight and metabolism of young bulls   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Marcella Cândia D’Oliveira  Maria Inês Lenz Souza  Ruy Alberto Caetano Corrêa Filho  Maria da Graça Morais  Camila Celeste Brandão Ferreira Ítavo  Gumercindo Loriano Franco 《Tropical animal health and production》2014,46(8):1447-1453

This study evaluated the effects of the mode of transportation on weight and metabolism of young bulls, which are generally transported by two systems: droving and truck. This experiment consisted of two phases: transportation and refeeding and involved transportation by droving and truck. Fifty young Nellore bulls were separated in equal numbers in both groups, droving group and truck group. In the transportation phase, animals were moved, in a 640-km journey. The refeeding phase consisted of 84 days and commenced after the animals arrived at the fattening farm. The effect of the transportation system on animals’ weight, metabolic hormones, and serum biochemistry was assessed after 28, 56, and 84 days. During the transportation phase, animals in the droving group lost 10.11 kg and animals in the truck group gained 13.1 kg. The truck group showed 20.5 kg of weight gain at the end of the refeeding phase. The highest triiodothyronine (T₃) and thyroxine (T₄) concentrations were observed on days 0 and 60 in the transportation phase in both droving and truck groups. The serum cortisol concentration was higher in the droving group than in the truck group on day 56 of the refeeding phase. The IGF-I concentrations were higher during the refeeding phase in the droving group than in the truck group. Our results showed that transportation by droving leads to increased weight loss and reduced further weight gain compared to transportation by truck and that serum concentrations of T₄, cortisol, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) hormones are altered by the transportation system.  相似文献   

Effect of the replacement of Tifton 85 with maniçoba hay on the performance of Morada Nova hair sheep     

Dorgival Morais de Lima Jr.  Francisco Fernando Ramos de Carvalho  Maria Norma Ribeiro  Ângela Maria Vieira Batista  Bárbara Ferraz Ferreira  Paulo de Barros Sáles Monteiro 《Tropical animal health and production》2014,46(6):995-1000

The use of native and adapted forages is an alternative for sustainable production systems in northeast Brazil. The goal of this study was to evaluate the substitution of Tifton 85 by maniçoba hay on the performance and carcass traits of Morada Nova hair sheep. The 16 lambs that were used in this study initially weighed 19.36?±?1.48 kg, were housed in individual pens, and were slaughtered at 58 days of confinement. The dry matter intake (839.84 g/day and 3.81 % WB) was higher (P?<?0.05) in sheep fed maniçoba hay. The feed conversion was 7.39 for sheep fed maniçoba hay. The empty body weight (21.61 kg) and cold carcass weight (11.40 kg) did not differ (P?>?0.05) between sheep fed different hay types. The replacement of Tifton 85 by maniçoba hay did not influence the loin eye area (cm²) or carcass compactness index (kg/cm). The replacement of Tifton 85 by maniçoba hay in Morada Nova sheep diet did not affect the weight gain or carcass characteristics. The maniçoba hay can be considered a forage resource for feeding sheep in Brazilian semiarid tropics.  相似文献   

Prevalence and risk factors associated with goat gastrointestinal helminthiasis in the Sertão region of Paraíba State,Brazil     

Vanessa Diniz Vieira  Thais Ferreira Feitosa  Vinícius Longo Ribeiro Vilela  Sérgio Santos Azevedo  João Leite de Almeida Neto  Dayana Firmino de Morais  Ana Raquel Carneiro Ribeiro  Ana Célia Rodrigues Athayde 《Tropical animal health and production》2014,46(2):355-361

Gastrointestinal helminthiasis represents an obstacle to goat raising, causing severe damage to herds such as growth retardation, weight loss, and even death. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated to goat gastrointestinal helminthiasis in the Sertão region of Paraíba State, Brazil. A total of 256 goats from 54 farms were systematically sampled. Blood and fecal samples were collected from each animal for egg per gram (EPG), larval culture, and packed cell volume (PCV) analyses. We found that 79.3 % of the goats investigated were parasitized with gastrointestinal helminths. Significant correlation (p?=?0.004) was observed between the EPG and PCV of the animals studied, and it was observed that the EPG increases as the PCV decreases. In the larval culture, the most prevalent helminth was Haemonchus sp. (83.2 %). Age and sex were significant variables (p?≤?0.20) for the development of gastrointestinal helminths: 86.8 % of animals over 36 months of age and 81.7 % of females were infected. The variable type of animal exploitation was also significant, with 90.3 % (p?≤?0.20) of the animals presenting double suitability (milk and meat). The Sertão region of Paraíba State presents high prevalence of gastrointestinal helminthiasis in goats, and age and type of animal exploitation are the most relevant risk factors to the development of these parasites.  相似文献   

MALDI‐MS Lipid Profiles of Oocytes Recovered by Ovum Pickup from Bos indicus and 1/2 indicus × taurus with High vs Low Oocyte Yields     

KC Silva‐Santos  CR Ferreira  GMG Santos  MN Eberlin  LS Siloto  CO Rosa  TN Marcantonio  MM Seneda 《Reproduction in domestic animals》2014,49(5):711-718

The aim of the present study was to compare the lipid profile in oocytes of indicus and 1/2 indicus × taurus cows with high and low antral follicle count (AFC)/oocyte yields. After an OPU procedure (D0), antral follicles ≥3 mm were counted by ultrasonography (D4, 19, 34, 49, 64), and cows were assigned to groups with either high AFC (≥30 follicles; indicus, NH group; 1/2 indicus × taurus, AH group) or low AFC (≤15 antral follicles; indicus, NL group; 1/2 indicus × taurus, AL group). The lipid profiles of the oocytes were determined by MALDI‐MS. For GI, GII and GIII oocytes, the indicus samples tend to cluster separately from the 1/2 indicus × taurus samples. The lipid species [PC (P‐38:5) + H]⁺ and/or [PC (P‐36:2) + Na]⁺, [PC (38:2) + H]⁺, [PC (38:5) + Na]⁺ and [TAG (60:8) + NH⁴]⁺ were more abundant in indicus (NH and NL groups) than 1/2 indicus × taurus. The higher lipid content in the indicus oocytes likely reflects differences in the rate of lipid metabolism and may contribute to oocyte competence and embryo development.  相似文献   

Comparative digestibility of low‐quality grass hay by two breeds of cattle differing in mature live weight     

A. L. Lourenço  A. Dias‐da‐Silva  A. S. Santos  M. A. M. Rodrigues  J. W. Cone  L. M. M. Ferreira 《Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition》2014,98(3):453-457

The digestive capacity of the Portuguese native breed of Barrosão cattle and the Holstein–Friesian breed was measured when fed meadow hay (72–74 g CP and 641–671 g NDF/kg dry matter), offered either alone or supplemented with soya bean meal (150 g/kg dry matter), at maintenance level. Four mature cows of each breed were used. Average initial live weight (LW) was 457 and 635 kg for the Barrosão and the Holstein–Friesian cows respectively. The organic matter digestibility (OMD) of the meadow hay was higher in Holstein–Friesian than in Barrosão cows (p < 0.08) whether supplemented or not. The neutral detergent fibre digestibility of the hay was also higher in Holstein–Frisian when the hay was fed alone (p < 0.08). The soya bean meal supplementation increased the OMD and the NDFD digestibility of the total diet (p < 0.05), but not the OMD digestibility of the hay (p > 0.05). The results obtained in this study suggest a higher ability to digest fibre in the large dairy breed than in the small native breed. This suggestion is also supported by previous findings with sheep breeds largely differing in mature live weight.  相似文献   

The relative influence of catchment and site variables on fish and macroinvertebrate richness in cerrado biome streams     

Diego R. Macedo  Robert M. Hughes  Raphael Ligeiro  Wander R. Ferreira  Miriam A. Castro  Nara T. Junqueira  Deborah R. Oliveira  Kele R. Firmiano  Philip R. Kaufmann  Paulo S. Pompeu  Marcos Callisto 《Landscape Ecology》2014,29(6):1001-1016

Landscape and site-scale data analyses aid the interpretation of biological data and thereby help us develop more cost-effective natural resource management strategies. Our study focused on environmental influences on stream assemblages and we evaluated how three classes of environmental variables (geophysical landscape, land use and cover, and site habitat), influence fish and macroinvertebrate assemblage richness in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. We analyzed our data through use of multiple linear regression (MLR) models using the three classes of predictor variables alone and in combination. The four MLR models explained dissimilar amounts of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa richness (geophysical landscape R ² ≈ 35 %, land use and cover R ² ≈ 28 %, site habitat R ² ≈ 36 %, and combined R ² ≈ 51 %). For fish assemblages, geophysical landscape, land use and cover, site habitat, and combined models explained R ² ≈ 28 %, R ² ≈ 10 %, R ² ≈ 31 %, and R ² ≈ 47 % of the variability in fish species richness, respectively. We conclude that (1) environmental variables differed in the degree to which they explain assemblage richness, (2) the amounts of variance in assemblage richness explained by geophysical landscape and site habitat were similar, (3) the variables explained more variability in macroinvertebrate taxa richness than in fish species richness, and (4) all three classes of environmental variables studied were useful for explaining assemblage richness in Cerrado headwater streams. These results help us to understand the drivers of assemblage patterns at regional scales in tropical areas.  相似文献   

Degradation of the crocodile population in the Olifants River Gorge of Kruger National Park,South Africa     

Sam M. Ferreira  Danie Pienaar 《水产资源保护:海洋与淡水生态系统》2011,21(2):155-164

• 1. Top predators such as crocodiles often reflect ecosystem degradation. The recent spate of close to 200 Nile crocodile deaths may reflect the ecosystem state of the Olifants–Letaba River system in the Kruger National Park. This paper investigates whether the crocodile deaths were indeed the consequence of a rare and perhaps acute event given the variability in annual population growth rates of crocodilians.
• 2. Spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based surveys designed to correct for availability and detectability bias were used to estimate population sizes of crocodiles from 2008 to 2010 in and around the Olifants River Gorge, the focal area of crocodile deaths.
• 3. Correction factors derived from individually observed crocodiles for both spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based counts were lower than those typically used for Nile crocodiles as well as other crocodile species. Even so, corrected spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based estimates were comparable and the number of crocodiles in the focal study area declined significantly from 780 (95% CI: 637–1222) to between 460 (spotlight estimate, 95% CI 375–665) and 505 (aerial estimate, 95% CI: 559–1746) during the period of crocodile deaths. The average annual decline of 35% was at the lower end of the distribution of annual population growth rates across the rivers of Kruger National Park.
• 4. The crocodile deaths reflect a possible rare event that suggests a degraded crocodile population, possibly the consequences of broad‐scale cascades of environmental deterioration of the Olifants–Letaba River system.
• 5. Even so, the potential risk of local demise of the population in the focal study area in the short term may be diminished through evolutionary, demographic and spatial resilience inherent within crocodiles that can accommodate the as yet unknown disease dynamics of pansteatitis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Biodiversity,ecology, fisheries,and use and trade of Tetraodontiformes fishes reveal their socio‐ecological significance along the tropical Brazilian continental shelf     

Leandro Nole Eduardo  Arnaud Bertrand  Thierry Frdou  Alex Souza Lira  Rayssa Siqueira Lima  Beatrice Padovani Ferreira  Frdric Menard  Flvia Lucena‐Frdou 《水产资源保护:海洋与淡水生态系统》2020,30(4):761-774

1. Tetraodontiformes fishes play a critical role in benthic and demersal communities and are facing threats due to anthropogenic impacts and climate change. However, they are poorly studied worldwide. To improve knowledge on the socio‐ecological significance and conservation of Tetraodontiformes a review of literature addressing the diversity, ecology, use and trade, conservation, and main threats of Tetraodontiformes combined with a comprehensive in situ dataset from two broad‐range multidisciplinary oceanographic surveys performed along the Tropical Brazilian Continental Shelf was undertaken.
2. Twenty‐nine species were identified, being primarily found on coral reefs and algal ecosystems. At these habitats, tetraodontids present highly diversified trophic categories and might play an important role by balancing the marine food web
3. Coral reef ecosystems, especially those near to the shelf break, seem to be the most important areas of Tetraodontiformes fishes, concentrating the highest values of species richness, relative abundance and the uncommon and Near Threatened species.
4. Ninety per cent of species are commonly caught as bycatch, being also used in the ornamental trade (69%) and as food (52%), serving as an important source of income for artisanal local fisheries.
5. Tetraodontiformes are threatened by unregulated fisheries, overexploitation, bycatch, and habitat loss due to coral reef degradation and the potential effects of climate change. These factors are more broadly impacting global biodiversity, food security, and other related ecosystem functions upon which humans and many other organisms rely.
6. We recommend the following steps that could improve the conservation of Tetraodontiformes along the tropical Brazilian Continental shelf and elsewhere: (i) data collection of the commercial, incidental, ornamental and recreational catches; (ii) improvement of the current legislation directed at the marine ornamental harvesting; (iii) increase efforts focused on the education and conservation awareness in coastal tourism and communities; and, most important, (iv) creation of marine reserves networks in priority areas of conservation, protecting either the species and key habitats for its survival.

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