Tropical beef cattle production involving animals grazing in a shaded and biologically diverse environment, surrounded by high-quality edible biomass, is achievable through silvopastoral systems (SPSs). However, it necessary to assess the effects of presence trees on forage animal performance over time. In Brazilian Cerrado, we evaluated 2 densities eucalyptus SPSs (8 years age - SPS22: 227 tre...

To test flying fox adaptations to a habitat mosaic with extreme deforestation, the abundance, habitat choice and feeding behavior of the Pacific flying fox, Pteropus tonganus, were investigated across 16 islands of the Yasawa archipelago, Fiji. The habitat mosaic is formed by 4.3 percent tropical dry forest and 3.3 percent farmland, leaving exotic grasslands and stands of Leucaena leucocephala ...

The soluble, total-bound and ®bre-bound condensed tannins (CT) in Cassia rotundifolia (cassia), Lablab purpureus (lablab) and Macroptilium atropurpureum (siratro) grown in tropical and subtropical regions were determined by the butanol±HCl method. Cassia had the highest total CT content of 29.5 g/kg DM than that of lablab, 16.9 g/kg DM which was intermediate while that of siratro, 12.4 g/kg DM,...

Decreased solar radiation due to cloud cover or shading by plantation crops or associatedass can severely limit the production of tropical forage legumes. We therefore evaluated the response of six legumes (three replicated and three not replicated) to four radiation regimes (100, 70, 45, and 27% of unshaded solar radiation, hereafter termed "full sun") with polypropylene netting in the field. ...

Soil waterlogging reduces gas exchange between the soil and the atmosphere, leading to oxygen deprivation in the rhizosphere. Brachiaria spp. are the most widelysown forage grasses in tropical America. Among commercial Brachiaria grasses, B. humidicola shows superior tolerance to waterlogged soils based on maintenance of growth and reduced leaf chlorophyll loss and senescence. However, little i...

Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of cattle age and dietary forage level on the utilization of corn fed whole or ground to feedlot cattle. In Exp. 1, 16 steers were used to investigate the effects of cattle age and corn processing on diet digestibility. Two cattle age categories were evaluated (weanling [254 +/- 20 kg BW] and yearling [477 +/- 29 kg BW]; eight steers per...

The goats raised in the barn are usually fed on fresh grass. As dry forage can be stored for long periods in large amounts, dry forage feeding makes it possible to feed large numbers of goats in barns. This review explains the physiological factors involved in suppressing dry forage intake and the cause of drinking following dry forage feeding. Ruminants consume an enormous amount of dry forage...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of forage level and oil supplement on selected strains of rumen bacteria believed to be involved in biohydrogenation (BH). A continuous culture system consisting of four fermenters was used in a 4×4 Latin square design with a factorial arrangement of treatments, with four 10 d consecutive periods. Treatment diets were: i) high forage diet ...