Tiller population density and tillering dynamics in marandu palisade grass subjected to strategies of rotational stocking management and nitrogen fertilization

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate tiller population density and the dynamics of the tillering process in marandu palisade grass subjected to strategies of rotational stocking management and nitrogen fertilization. Treatments corresponded to combinations between two targets of pre-grazing conditions (sward surface height of 25 and 35 cm) and two rates of nitrogen application (50 and 200 kg ha-1 year-1), and were allocated to experimental units according to a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement in a randomised complete block design, with four replications. The following response variables were studied: initial (TPDi), intermediate (TPDm) and final (TPDf) tiller population density as well as the rates of tiller appearance (TAR) and death (TDR) and the tiller population stability index (SI). TPDi was similar to all treatments, with differences in tiller population density becoming more pronounced as the experiment progressed, resulting in larger TPDf on swards managed at 25 cm pre-grazing height. Tiller death was larger on swards managed at 35 cm, with differences in tiller appearance being recorded only from February 2010 onwards. Stability of tiller population was higher on swards managed at 25 cm pre-grazing height. Overall, there was no effect of nitrogen on the studied variables, and the most adequate grazing strategy corresponded to the pre-grazing height of 25 cm, regardless of the nitrogen application rate used.

Morphogenesis in guinea grass pastures under rotational grazing strategies

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the morphogenetic and structural characteristics of guinea grass cv. Mombasa under three post-grazing heights (intense - 30 cm, lenient - 50 cm and variable - 50 in spring-summer and 30 cm in autumn-winter) when sward light interception reached 95% during regrowth. Post-grazing heights were allocated to experimental units (0.25 ha) in a completely randomized block design with three replications. Post-grazing heights affected only leaf elongation rate and the number of live leaves. Pastures managed with variable post-grazing height showed higher leaf elongation rate in the summer of 2007. This management strategy also resulted in a higher number of live leaves. During the spring of 2006, plants showed lower leaf elongation rate, leaf appearance rate and number of live leaves, and greater phyllochron and leaf lifespan. In contrast, during the summer of 2007, the leaf appearance rate, leaf elongation rate, number of live leaves, and final leaf length were greater while phyllochron, stem elongation rate, and leaf senescence rate were lower. The management of the guinea grass cv. Mombasa with intense or variable post-grazing height throughout the year seems to represent an interesting management target, in terms of leaf appearance rate and number of live leaves.

Root system of Panicum maximum Jacq. cv. IPR-86 Mil(e)over-capnio fertilized with nitrogen and submitted to rotational stocking

The effect of nitrogen on the root system of the species Panicum maximum Jacq. cv. IPR-86 Mil (e) over cap nio, under grazing, was evaluated. The N rates were 0; 150; 300 and 450 kg/ha. year. The root density was evaluated during pregrazing at five years of successive N application, in three depths (0-10; 10-20 and 20-40 cm) and the root growth at 7, 14, 21, and 35 days after grazing. The grazing method adopted was rotational stocking. Root length and root mass densities in pre-and post-grazing presented maximum values at rates 204, 206, 192, and 197 kg/ha of N, respectively. The root growth (in root length density) increased, on average, until 29 days after grazing at rates 0, 150, and 300 kg/ha; at 450 kg/ha N rate, the increase was linear. Independently of N rates, around 60 and 25% of IPR-86 Mil (e) over cap nio cultivar root system was concentrated in 0-10 and 10-20 cm depth, respectively.

Evaluation of Hay-Type and Grazing Tolerant Alfalfa Hybrids in Season-Long or Complementary Rotational Stocking Systems for Beef Cows

Pastures containing hay-type and grazing tolerant alfalfa hybrids were grazed in a season-long or complementary rotational stocking system with Nfertilized smooth bromegrass. The pastures were stocked at a seasonal density of .8 cow-calf pairs per acre for 120 days in 1998 and 141 days in 1999. Pastures were intensively managed by daily stripstocking with the assumptions that 50% of live forage was available and daily live dry matter consumption of each cow-calf pair was 3.5% of the cow’s body weight. First-cutting forage was harvested as hay from 40% of the pasture acres to remove excess forage growth early in the grazing season. Grazing occurred on the remaining 60% of each pasture for the first 44 and 54 days and 100% of each pasture after days 45 and 55 in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Proportions of ‘Amerigraze’ and ‘Affinity’ alfalfa in the live forage dry matter decreased by 70% and 55% in pastures stocked season-long and by 60% and 42% in pastures used for complementary stocking (alfalfa type, p<.05; grazing management, p<.05) in 1998, but decreased by a mean of 72% and was unaffected by hybrid or stocking system in 1999. Cows grazing either alfalfa hybrid by either grazing system had greater weight gains during the breeding and overall grazing seasons and greater increases in body condition score pre-breeding and during the breeding season than the cows that grazed smooth bromegrass for the entire season in 1998. Also, cows grazing either alfalfa hybrid in the season-long system had greater breeding season increases in body condition score than cows grazing alfalfa in the complementary system with smooth bromegrass in 1998. Cows grazing in the season-long alfalfa system had greater prebreeding season weight (p<.10) increases and condition score (p<.05) increases than cows grazing alfalfa in the complementary system in 1999. Daily and seasonal body weight gains of calves were not affected (p>.10) by the presence of alfalfa in 1998 or by alfalfa type and grazing management in 1998 and 1999. Total animal production (cow and calf) in 1998 was greater (p<.10) from the season-long alfalfa pastures compared with the complementary stocked pastures. Total (p<.10) and live (p<.05) forage masses, estimated by monthly clippings, were greater in September of 1998 from the season-long alfalfa pastures than pastures using alfalfa for complementary stocking. Total (p<.10) and live (p<.05) forage masses were greater in August of 1999 from season-long alfalfa pastures than pastures using alfalfa for complementary stocking.

Evaluation of Hay-Type and Grazing Tolerant Alfalfa Hybrids in Season-Long or Complementary Rotational Stocking Systems for Beef Cows

Pastures containing hay-type and grazing tolerant alfalfa hybrids were grazed in a season-long or complimentary rotational stocking system with Nfertilized smooth bromegrass. The pastures were stocked at a seasonal density of .8 cow-calf pairs per acre for 120 days. Pastures were intensively managed by daily strip-stocking with the assumptions that 50% of live forage was available and daily live dry matter consumption of each cow-calf pair was 3.5% of the cow’s body weight. First-cutting forage was harvested as hay from 40% of pasture acres to remove excess forage growth early in the grazing season. Forage was grazed from the remaining 60% of each pasture for the first 44 days of the experiment and then from the entire pasture thereafter. Live forage yields, estimated by monthly clippings, were greater in May and September on the season-long alfalfa pastures compared with the complementary pastures and on the alfalfa pastures compared with the N-fertilized smooth bromegrass pastures. The proportions of legumes in the live dry matter in pastures with grazing tolerant and hay-type alfalfas in the season-long grazing systems declined by 70% and 50%, respectively, in the 120 day trial. The proportions of legumes in the live dry matter in pastures with grazing tolerant and the hay-type alfalfas in the complementary grazing system declined 60% and 42%, respectively, in the 120 day trial. Cows grazing either alfalfa hybrid by either management system had greater weight gains during the breeding and grazing seasons and greater increases in body condition score prebreeding and during the breeding season than the cows that grazed N-fertilized smooth bromegrass for the entire season. Also, cows grazing either alfalfa in the season-long system had greater breeding season increases in body condition score than cows grazing alfalfa in the complementary system with N-fertilized smooth bromegrass. Daily gains and seasonal gains of calves from cows grazing the alfalfa pastures tended to be greater than those grazing N-fertilized smooth bromegrass. Within alfalfa treatments, calves of cows grazing alfalfa pastures in the season-long system tended to produce more pounds per acre than those of cows grazing alfalfa in the complementary systems.

The Effects of Smolt Stocking Strategies on Migratory Path Selection of Adult Atlantic Salmon in the Penobscot River, Maine

Understanding the homing behavior of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar is vital to the restoration program employed on the Penobscot River, Maine. To produce significant adult returns, managers currently stock hatchery-raised smolts in specific river sections, providing smolts the opportunity to imprint on chemical signals and enabling their return to productive spawning and rearing habitat as adults. In this study, we used observational evidence from passive integrated transponder telemetry to determine whether adults returning from smolt stockings behaved in a way that suggested strong homing to smolt stocking locations. Adults returning from smolt stocking locations located in or at the mouth of the Piscataquis River were more likely to be detected as entering the Piscataquis River than were adults returning from the upper Penobscot River smolt stocking locations. In general, returning adult Atlantic salmon that had been stocked near or in tributaries as smolts chose a path more quickly than those that had been stocked in more downstream or main-stem locations. These results suggest that Atlantic salmon smolts should be stocked at specific sites with superior habitat for spawning kind juvenile survival to capitalize on the strong homing tendency in adults. This technique call also be utilized to allow for natural selection and the development of localized stocks.

Influence of climate variability and stocking strategies on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), production and profit of a northern Queensland beef cattle herd

Previous studies of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) from beef production systems in northern Australia have been based on models of ‘steady-state’ herd structures that do not take into account the considerable inter-annual variation in liveweight gain, reproduction and mortality rates that occurs due to seasonal conditions. Nor do they consider the implications of flexible stocking strategies designed to adapt these production systems to the highly variable climate. The aim of the present study was to quantify the variation in total GHGE (t CO2e) and GHGE intensity (t CO2e/t liveweight sold) for the beef industry in northern Australia when variability in these factors was considered. A combined GRASP–Enterprise modelling platform was used to simulate a breeding–finishing beef cattle property in the Burdekin River region of northern Queensland, using historical climate data from 1982–2011. GHGE was calculated using the method of Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Five different stocking-rate strategies were simulated with fixed stocking strategies at moderate and high rates, and three flexible stocking strategies where the stocking rate was adjusted annually by up to 5%, 10% or 20%, according to pasture available at the end of the growing season. Variation in total annual GHGE was lowest in the ‘fixed moderate’ (~9.5 ha/adult equivalent (AE)) stocking strategy, ranging from 3799 to 4471 t CO2e, and highest in the ‘fixed high’ strategy (~5.9 ha/AE), which ranged from 3771 to 7636 t CO2e. The ‘fixed moderate’ strategy had the least variation in GHGE intensity (15.7–19.4 t CO2e/t liveweight sold), while the ‘flexible 20’ strategy (up to 20% annual change in AE) had the largest range (10.5–40.8 t CO2e/t liveweight sold). Across the five stocking strategies, the ‘fixed moderate’ stocking-rate strategy had the highest simulated perennial grass percentage and pasture growth, highest average rate of liveweight gain (121 kg/steer), highest average branding percentage (74%) and lowest average breeding-cow mortality rate (3.9%), resulting in the lowest average GHGE intensity (16.9 t CO2e/t liveweight sold). The ‘fixed high’ stocking rate strategy (~5.9 ha/AE) performed the poorest in each of these measures, while the three flexible stocking strategies were intermediate. The ‘fixed moderate’ stocking strategy also yielded the highest average gross margin per AE carried and per hectare. These results highlight the importance of considering the influence of climate variability on stocking-rate management strategies and herd performance when estimating GHGE. The results also support a body of previous work that has recommended the adoption of moderate stocking strategies to enhance the profitability and ecological stability of beef production systems in northern Australia.

Predicting Growth of Panicum maximum: An Adaptation of the CROPGRO-Perennial Forage Model

Warm-season grasses are economically important for cattle production in tropical regions and tools to aid in management and research on these forages would be highly beneficial both in research and the industry. This research was conducted to adapt the CROPGRO-Perennial Forage model to simulate growth of the tropical species guineagrass (Panicum maximum Jacq. cv. 'Tanzania') and to describe model adaptation for this species. To develop the CROPGRO parameters for this species, we began with values and relationships reported in the literature. Some parameters and relationships were calibrated by comparison with observed growth, development, dry matter accumulation, and partitioning during a 17-mo experiment with Tanzania guineagrass in Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. Compared with starting parameters for palisadegrass [Brachiaria brizantha (A. Rich.) Stapf. cv. 'Xaraes'], dormancy effects of the perennial forage model had to be minimized, partitioning to storage tissue or root decreased, and partitioning to leaf and stem increased to provide for more leaf and stem growth and less root. Parameters affecting specific leaf area and senescence of plant tissues were improved. After these changes were made to the model, biomass accumulation was better simulated, mean predicted herbage yield was 6576 kg ha(-1), averaged across 11 regrowth cycles of 35 (summer) or 63 d (winter), with a RMSE of 494 kg ha(-1) (Willmott's index of agreement d = 0.985, simulated/observed ratio = 1.014). The model also gave good predictions against an independent data set, with similar RMSE, ratio, and d. The results of the adaptation suggest that the CROPGRO model is an efficient tool to integrate physiological aspects of guineagrass and can be used to simulate growth.

Grazing impacts on the susceptibility of rangelands to wind erosion: The effects of stocking rate, stocking strategy and land condition

An estimated 110 Mt of dust is eroded by wind from the Australian land surface each year, most of which originates from the arid and semi-arid rangelands. Livestock production is thought to increase the susceptibility of the rangelands to wind erosion by reducing vegetation cover and modifying surface soil stability. However, research is yet to quantify the impacts of grazing land management on the erodibility of the Australian rangelands, or determine how these impacts vary among land types and over time. We present a simulation analysis that links a pasture growth and animal production model (GRASP) to the Australian Land Erodibility Model (AUSLEM) to evaluate the impacts of stocking rate, stocking strategy and land condition on the erodibility of four land types in western Queensland, Australia. Our results show that declining land condition, over stocking, and using inflexible stocking strategies have potential to increase land erodibility and amplify accelerated soil erosion. However, land erodibility responses to grazing are complex and influenced by land type sensitivities to different grazing strategies and local climate characteristics. Our simulations show that land types which are more resilient to livestock grazing tend to be least susceptible to accelerated wind erosion. Increases in land erodibility are found to occur most often during climatic transitions when vegetation cover is most sensitive to grazing pressure. However, grazing effects are limited during extreme wet and dry periods when the influence of climate on vegetation cover is strongest. Our research provides the opportunity to estimate the effects of different land management practices across a range of land types, and provides a better understanding of the mechanisms of accelerated erosion resulting from pastoral activities. The approach could help further assessment of land erodibility at a broader scale notably if combined with wind erosion models.

Morfogênese, características estruturais e acúmulo de forragem em pastos de capim-Tifton-85 manejados com diferentes IAF residual

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Características estruturais do dossel, produção de forragem e desempenho de cordeiros em pastos de tifton 85 sob lotação intermitente

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FCAV

Comparing fixed and flexible stocking as adaptations to inter-annual rainfall variability in the extensive beef industry of northern Australia

Many beef producers within the extensive cattle industry of northern Australia attempt to maintain a constant herd size from year-to-year (fixed stocking), whereas others adjust stock numbers to varying degrees annually in response to changes in forage supply. The effects of these strategies on pasture condition and cattle productivity cannot easily be assessed by grazing trials. Simulation studies, which include feedbacks of changes to pasture condition on cattle liveweight gain, can extend the results of grazing trials both spatially and temporally. They can compare a large number of strategies, over long periods of time, for a range of climate periods, at locations which differ markedly in climate. This simulation study compared the pasture condition and cattle productivity achieved by fixed stocking at the long-term carrying capacity with that of 55 flexible stocking strategies at 28 locations across Queensland and the Northern Territory. Flexible stocking strategies differed markedly in the degree they increased or decreased cattle stocking rates after good and poor pasture growing seasons, respectively. The 28 locations covered the full range in average annual rainfall and inter-annual rainfall variability experienced across northern Australia. Constrained flexibility, which limited increases in stocking rates after good growing seasons to 10% but decreased them by up to 20% after poor growing seasons, provides sustainable productivity gains for cattle producers in northern Australia. This strategy can improve pasture condition and increase cattle productivity relative to fixed stocking at the long-term carrying capacity, and its capacity to do this was greatest in the semiarid rangeland regions that contain the majority of beef cattle in northern Australia. More flexible stocking strategies, which also increased stocking rates after good growing seasons by only half as much as they decreased them after poor growing seasons, were equally sustainable and more productive than constrained flexibility, but are often impractical at property and industry scales. Strategies with the highest limits (e.g. 70%) for both annual increases and decreases in stocking rates could achieve higher cattle productivity, but this was at the expense of pasture condition and was not sustainable. Constrained flexible stocking, with a 10% limit for increases and a 20% limit for decreases in stocking rates annually, is a risk-averse adaptation to high and unpredictable rainfall variability for the extensive beef industry of northern Australia. © Australian Rangeland Society 2016.

Studies on The Ecology And Production of Algae in Prawn Culture Systems

Existing method of culture were largely based on empirical knowledge. Lacking a scientific basis as such methods did, they were often wasteful and suffered severe limitation. Modern methods of fish and prawn culture based on scientific research, have revolutioned the industry in recent years and not only extended its scope to cover the whole country but led to increased fish and prawn production. An understanding of the biological capability of the water in the perennial and seasonal culture ponds, and the nature and extent of the influence of the abiotic factors on the production of organisms in the primary level of food chain would contribute to effectively implement management measures in the stocking strategies and in the evaluation of economics of production of prawns. It is against this background that the present topic of investigation "Studies on the ecology and production of algae in prawn culture systems” was selected.

Resposta do híbrido de sorgo-sudão à adubação nitrogenada e potássica: composição química e digestibilidade in vitro da matéria orgânica

A pesquisa foi instalada no Setor de Forragicultura da FCAV/UNESP-Jaboticabal, objetivando avaliar a composição química e a digestibilidade in vitro da matéria orgânica (DIVMO) do híbrido de Sorgo-sudão cv. AG 2501C, no outono e inverno. O manejo da pastagem foi conduzido simulando o sistema de lotação intermitente. O experimento foi desenvolvido de março a setembro de 2002. A forrageira foi submetida a nove tratamentos: três níveis de nitrogênio (100, 200 e 300 kg de N/ha) e três níveis de potássio (0, 80 e 160 kg de K2O/ha), em delineamento experimental em blocos casualizados e parcelas subdivididas. A adubação nitrogenada e potássica não foram significativas para a DIVMO. O nitrogênio influenciou a proteína bruta (PB) com valores de 15,1; 16,4 e 15,7 %, a fibra em detergente neutro (FDN) com valores de 65,3; 65,8 e 64,5% e fibra em detergente ácido (FDA) com 35,5; 37,8 e 39,6% para 100; 200 e 300 kg N/ha. O potássio aumentou significativamente a lignina das plantas. O melhor nível obtido foi 100 kg/ha de nitrogênio, sem potássio.

Structural characteristics and forage mass of Tifton 85 pastures managed under three post-grazing residual leaf areas

The experiment was carried out on Cynodon spp cv. Tifton 85 pastures grazed by sheep under rotational stocking, with the objective of evaluating the structural characteristics as well as the forage mass of the pastures subjected to three grazing intensities in successive cycles. Treatments were composed of three residual leaf area indices (rLAI; 2.4; 1.6 and 0.8), allocated in completely randomized blocks with seven replications, totaling 21 experimental units. Tiller population density, pasture height, leaf area index, forage morphological composition and pasture forage mass were evaluated. The rLAI modified the tiller population density, which increased linearly with decrease in the rLAI of the pastures. Dry masses of leaf blade, stem and dead material were inferior when the rLAI imposed were lower, which resulted in differentiated forage production among the treatments. Tifton 85 pastures grazed by sheep in rotational stocking under tropical conditions with different rLAI show a modified sward structure over successive grazing cycles, mainly by alteration in the height and LAI of the plants at pre-grazing and by light interception post-grazing, which change the tiller population density. The residual leaf area index of 1.6 is the most suitable for pasture management for being equivalent to the heights of entrance and exit of animals on and from paddocks of 33 and 19 cm, respectively, which avoid great accumulation of dead material and excessive stem elongation, in addition to ensuring tillering in the sward.