The nutritional effects of sulla (Hedysarum coronarium L.) forage containing condensed tannins (CT) on growth of lambs, and carcass and meat quality were investigated. Thirty-two male Comisana lambs aged 100 ± 8 days weighing 19.0 ± 2.8 kg were fed fresh forage of sulla or CT-free annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam. subsp. Wersterwoldicum) for 49 days until slaughter; in addition, each lam...

The effects of condensed tannins (CT) extracted from seven forages on the motility of the economically important nematode, Trichostrongylus colubriformis (Giles, 1892), were evaluated by using a larval migration inhibition (LMI) assay. The assay involved incubation of third stage (L3) exsheathed T. colubriformis larvae with CT extracted from Lotus pedunculatus, Lotus corniculatus, sulla (Hedysa...

1. Natural variation in life history provides the opportunity to examine its correlated population performance. Alpine systems are considered to be vulnerable to climate change as high-altitude conditions are predicted to become more similar to those at low altitude. Comparing natural populations that exhibit variation in life history across altitude can provide information on how life history ...

In semiarid drylands water shortage and trampling by large herbivores are two factors limiting plant growth and distribution. Trampling can strongly affect plant performance, but little is known about responses of morphological and mechanical traits of woody plants to trampling and their possible interaction with water availability. Seedlings of four shrubs (Caragana intermedia, Cynanchum komar...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Distinguishing the contributions of phenotypic plasticity vs. population differentiation to variation in the life history of plants throughout their range is important for predicting their performance after dispersal or their responses to environmental change. In Erysimum capitatum, plants in alpine environments are iteroparous perennials, but those below tree line are seme...