Effects of sheep and cattle alternate grazing on sheep parasitism and production     

Mahieu M  Aumont G 《Tropical animal health and production》2009,41(2):229-239

Production of sheep (nursing ewes) grazing alternately with cattle (growing weaned heifers) was compared to the production of sheep or cattle grazing alone (controls). Pasture production and sheep parasitism were also monitored. The herbage allowance was higher for the control heifers than for the alternate heifers, but the leaf to green material ratio (LGMR) was lower, and no difference on heifer growth was revealed (443 vs. 431g.d^-1, P = 0.54). The LGMR was higher for the alternate sheep (+3 points) than for the control sheep, except during the dry season, when the herbage density was lower. The effects of parasitism on the packed cell volume of alternate ewes and lambs were lower than those of control ewes and lambs. However, the infection of sheep by Cooperia sp. (better adapted to cattle) was significantly higher for the alternate sheep than for the controls, and some indication of cattle infection by Haemonchus contortus was suggested. The 70-day lamb weight was higher in the alternate grazing system than in the control (+0.76,+1.11 and+0.61kg for the dry, intermediate and rainy seasons, respectively), and the average 70-day lamb production per ewe exposed was 21.42kg in the alternate grazing system vs. 18.59kg in the control (P = 0.003).  相似文献   

Price integration in the farmed and wild fish markets in Uganda     

James O. Bukenya  Maurice Ssebisubi 《Fisheries Science》2014,80(6):1347-1358

This paper looks at price integration in the aquaculture and wild-harvested African catfish market channels in Uganda. The issue of integration between the two market channels is important because African catfish has become an important traded species in Uganda with exports to regional markets rising even faster than production, yet limited research has been undertaken to understand price formation in the supply chain. The analysis draws on monthly price data from January 2006 to August 2013, and applies threshold autoregressive approaches to test for the existence of a long-run relationship and price asymmetry and to determine the time path needed for shocks to be transmitted from one market channel to the other. The results show that, over the studied period prices in both market channels are linked in the long-run, implying that farm-raised catfish forms part of the same market as wild-harvested catfish in the country. The findings have strong implications for aquaculture producers and artisanal fishers as they can serve as a basis for more efficient farm management and marketing decisions.  相似文献   

Assessing the productivity of indigenous chickens in an extensive management system in southern Nyanza, Kenya   总被引：3，自引：3，他引：0  

Portas Odula Olwande  William O. Ogara  Samwel O. Okuthe  Gerald Muchemi  Edward Okoth  Maurice O. Odindo  Rubin F. Adhiambo 《Tropical animal health and production》2010,42(2):283-288

The present study was conducted to assess the performance of indigenous chickens under extensive system in southern Nyanza, Kenya. The study was carried out in two phases in Komolorume and Kawere villages in Rongo and Rachuonyo districts, respectively. The first phase was a cross-sectional study in 81 farms selected by cluster sampling to get the overview of the indigenous chicken production. A four-month prospective longitudinal study in 60 farms randomly selected from the previous 81 farms followed. Mean flock sizes per household were 20 and 18 birds in Komolorume and Kawere, respectively. Overall mean flock size was 19 birds ranging from 1to 64. The mean clutch size, egg weight and hatchability were 12 eggs, 48 g and 81% respectively in Komolorume and 10 eggs, 45 g and 70%, respectively, in Kawere. The chick survival rates to the age of eight weeks were 13% and 10% in Komolorume and Kawere, respectively. Mean live weights for cocks and hens were 2096 g and 1599 g in Komolorume and 2071 g and 1482 g in Kawere, respectively. The mean household cock to hen ratio was 2:5 and 2:4 for Komolorume and Kawere, respectively. The mean chick to grower to adult ratio per household was 8: 6:6 in Komolorume and 8:4:6 in Kawere. Clutch sizes and hatchability rates were significantly higher in Komolorume village (P?<?0.5). The productivity of the indigenous chickens was shown to be low compared to that of the improved chickens in other parts of the world.  相似文献   

Epiphyte diversity and biomass loads of canopy emergent trees in Chilean temperate rain forests: A neglected functional component     

Iván A. Díaz  Kathryn E. Sieving  Maurice E. Peña-Foxon  Juan Larraín  Juan J. Armesto 《Forest Ecology and Management》2010

We document for the first time the epiphytic composition and biomass of canopy emergent trees from temperate, old-growth coastal rainforests of Chile (42°30′S). Through tree-climbing techniques, we accessed the crown of two large (c. 1 m trunk diameter, 25–30 m tall) individuals of Eucryphia cordifolia (Cunoniaceae) and one large Aextoxicon punctatum (Aextoxicaceae) to sample all epiphytes from the base to the treetop. Epiphytes, with the exception of the hemi-epiphytic tree Raukaua laetevirens (Araliaceae), were removed, weighed and subsamples dried to estimate total dry mass. We recorded 22 species of vascular epiphytes, and 22 genera of cryptogams, with at least 30 species of bryophytes, liverworts and lichens. The dominant vascular epiphytes were Fascicularia bicolor (Bromeliaceae), Raukaua laetevirens, Sarmienta repens (Gesneriaceae), and filmy ferns (Hymenophyllaceae). Epiphyte loads per tree ranged between 134 and 144 kg dry mass, with 60–70% water. The hemi-epiphytic tree R. laetevirens added between 1 and 2.6 t of dry mass to each host tree. A main component of epiphyte biomass, making 70% of the weight, was detritus and roots, while leaves, stems, and fronds made up the remaining 30%. Emergent trees hold a high proportion of the regional diversity of epiphytes: 33% of all flowering epiphytes, and 50% of all filmy ferns described for Chilean temperate forests. Dry epiphyte biomass associated only with the emergent E. cordifolia trees in coastal forests was estimated in 10 t/ha. Epiphyte biomass may store up to 300 l of water in each emergent tree, and add 40–150% of photosynthetic biomass to the tree crowns. Based on this evidence, epiphytes may play key but generally neglected roles in ecosystem carbon uptake, water storage, and nutrient cycling. Moreover, emergent trees represent nuclei of biodiversity and ecosystem functions distributed throughout mature forests. Forest management should recognize large trees as significant management units for the preservation of biodiversity and ecological functions.  相似文献   

Differential response of ants to nutrient addition in a tropical Brown Food Web     

Justine Jacquemin  Mark Maraun  Yves Roisin  Maurice Leponce 《Soil biology & biochemistry》2012

In tropical ecosystems, access to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limits the decomposition rate of leaf-litter. Leaf-litter ants are abundant in this microhabitat and present a wide variety of diets. Our aim was to study the response of various ant trophic groups to an increased nutrient availability which boosts the decomposition of their habitat and selectively affects the abundance of their prey.A 6-month nutrient addition experiment (CN, CNP) was performed in a tropical montane forest of the Ecuadorian Andes. The density of ants, of other predators (e.g. arachnids, beetles) and of their potential prey (mesofauna, ranging from 0.1 to 2 mm) was measured in treatments and control plots.The litter volume in fertilized plots decreased significantly. Collembola and total mesofauna density were enhanced by the CNP addition. Ants responded differentially according to their trophic group: despite increased prey availability, predatory species in general and collembolan hunters in particular were negatively affected by both treatments. Other ant trophic group densities did not change. By contrast, the density of Dermaptera increased with the treatments. A complementary isotopic approach allowed us to trace carbon fluxes through the food web.Our results suggest that the nutrient input enhanced the litter decomposition rate, leading to reduction of habitat size. They also suggest that predatory ants in tropical leaf-litter food webs are limited by habitat size rather than by prey availability, and that these ants are more affected by habitat loss than their prey, other ant trophic groups and other macrofauna taxa.  相似文献   

Glyphosate and glufosinate-based herbicides: fate in soil,transfer to,and effects on land snails     

Coline Druart  Maurice Millet  Renaud Scheifler  Olivier Delhomme  Annette de Vaufleury 《Journal of Soils and Sediments》2011,11(8):1373-1384

Purpose  

The aim of this work was to assess the transfer and effects of two widely used herbicides on the land snail Helix aspersa during long-term exposure under laboratory conditions.  相似文献   

Preliminary study on the molecular mechanism of photoinhibition of rice photosynthesis Chinese Rice Research Newsletter     

ZHANG Deyu  JIAO Demao  Wu Ningyi  DI Lie  Wu Rongsheng  Maurice S.B. KU  XU Xianxiu 《水稻科学》1994,2(3):5

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Major compositional units of the moon: lunar prospector thermal and fast neutrons   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

WC Feldman  BL Barraclough  S Maurice  RC Elphic  DJ Lawrence  DR Thomsen  AB Binder 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1998,281(5382):1489-1493

Global maps of thermal and fast neutron fluxes from the moon suggest three end-member compositional units. A high thermal and low fast neutron flux unit correlates with the lunar highlands and is consistent with feldspathic rocks. The South Pole-Aitken basin and a strip that surrounds the nearside maria have intermediate thermal and fast neutron flux levels, consistent with more mafic rocks. There appears to be a smooth transition between the most mafic and feldspathic compositions, which correspond to low and high surface altitudes, respectively. The maria show low thermal and high fast neutron fluxes, consistent with basaltic rocks.  相似文献   

Lunar Fe and Ti abundances: comparison of lunar prospector and clementine data   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

RC Elphic  DJ Lawrence  WC Feldman  BL Barraclough  S Maurice  AB Binder  PG Lucey 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1998,281(5382):1493-1496

The Lunar Prospector neutron spectrometer data correlate well with iron and titanium abundances obtained through analysis of Clementine spectral reflectance data. With the iron and titanium dependence removed, the neutron spectrometer data also reveal regions with enhanced amounts of gadolinium and samarium, incompatible rare earth elements that are enriched in the final phases of magma crystallization. These regions are found mainly around the ramparts of the Imbrium impact basin but not around the other basins, including the much larger and deeper South Pole-Aitken basin. This result confirms the compositional uniqueness of the surface and interior of the Imbrium region.  相似文献   

Wide circulation of peste des petits ruminants virus in sheep and goats across Nigeria     

Samuel E. Mantip  Anthony Sigismeau  Maurice Nanven  Atuman Joel  Abayomi M. Qasim  Sada Aliyu  Ibrahim Musa  Ogechukwu Ezeanyika  Ibikunle Faramade  Garba Ahmed  Timothy Y. Woma  David Shamaki  Genevieve Libeau  Souaibou Farougou  Arnaud Bataille 《The Onderstepoort journal of veterinary research》2021,88(1)

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