New Zealand Journal of Ecology (1998) 22(1): 87-93 ©New Zealand Ecological Society As part of a larger study on the biophysical indicators of sustainability in pastoral ecosystems (Lambert et al., 1996) earthworm numbers have been measured in pastures with differing managements. The native New Zealand earthworm Octochaetus multiporus (Beddard, 1885) was commonly found during the routine winter ...

Small mammals can be an important bioindicator of ecosystem health. They serve as both predator and prey in many ecosystems. By means of live trapping and nest monitoring, we studied the ecological relationships between small mammals, avian nest survival, and vegetation composition and structure on six private ranches in the Sandhills of Nebraska during 2004. Our study documented six species (1...

Measurements of rain attenuation over an earth-space path at Kolkata (22°34' N, 88°29' E), India, have been carried out since June 2004 by receiving a Ku-band signal from the satellite NSS-6 (geostationary at 95 E). The instantaneous attenuations are estimated from the point rain rates measured with an optical raingauge and using the Simple Attenuation Model (SAM). The estimated values closely ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether sheep grazing communal alpine pastures with cattle can transmit Border disease virus (BDV) to cattle. A total of 1170 sheep and 923 cattle were tested for BDV using RT-PCR (sheep) and for pestivirus antibodies using an ELISA (cattle), respectively, before being moved to one of 4 pastures (A, B, C and D). Eight sheep from pasture C were viraem...

The objective of this study was to compare summer annuals for fall and winter grazing on irrigated pastures in the Intermountain West. The cool desert areas of this region have short growing seasons (≤120 d) with high daytime temperatures and cool nights resulting in sufficent growing degree days, but impaired production on cool season forages during late summer. Five species were planted in Ca...

Wild geese foraging on farmland cause increasing conflicts with agricultural interests, calling for a strategic approach to mitigation. In central Norway, conflicts between farmers and spring-staging pink-footed geese feeding on pastures have escalated. To alleviate the conflict, a scheme by which farmers are subsidized to allow geese to forage undisturbed was introduced. To guide allocation of...

according to statistics released by agricultural insurance fund (aif) less than 4 million acres out of 90 million acres has been covered by pastures insurance. this observation along with several facts motivated authors to study possible barriers which pastures insurance has been encountered in practice. the research population included all the experts in agricultural insurance fund. small popu...

A year-round grazing system for springand fall-calving cows was developed to compare animal production and performance, hay production and feeding, winter forage composition changes, and summer pasture yield and nutrient composition to that from a conventional, or minimal land system. Systems compared forage from smooth bromegrass-orchardgrass-birdsfoot trefoil pastures for both systems in the ...

Amazonia holds the largest continuous area of tropical forests with intense land use change dynamics inducing water, carbon, and energy feedbacks with regional and global impacts. Much of our knowledge of land use change in Amazonia comes from studies of the Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for two thirds of the region. Amazonia outside of Brazil has received less attention because of the diffi...