and Implications Segregated early weaning (SEW) works well with pasture-farrowed pigs. The SEW pasture-farrowed pigs weighed about the same as conventionally weaned pigs at 9 weeks of age with lower death losses (about 2% less). For the period 5Ð9 weeks of age the SEW pigs gained more rapidly and were more efficient converting feed to live gain than pigs weaned at 5 weeks of age and moved to an...

The time at pasture of dairy cows is often restricted in the context of extending the grazing season in autumn or at the end of winter. The objective of our study was to evaluate the effects of a restriction of time at pasture on milk production, herbage intake and feeding behaviour in dairy cows according to feeding regime. The four treatments consisted of 4 h or 8 h of time at pasture per day...

Koa (Acacia koa A. Gray) is an endemic Hawaiian hardwood tree of high ecological, cultural and economic value. Despite its multiple values, research on the silviculture of koa has been minimal until recently because the preferred land-use was pasture for livestock, and logging was done mainly to facilitate and reduce the costs of conversion. This study examined growth response of selected poten...

SUMMARY A small remnant of native forest and scrub located in the upper East Branch of the Tokomairiro River is described and assessed for ecological significance. Vegetation grades from pasture on rolling ridges through bracken, Himalayan honeysuckle, gorse and broom scrub on upper gully slopes, to a mosaic of forest types characterised by kanuka, common broadleaved species, or narrow-leaved l...

The ongoing destruction of old-growth forests puts tropical forest species under great pressure because of the resulting habitat loss. A pre-requisite for the maintenance of a viable metacommunity in a fragmented landscape is the connectivity between habitable patches. We experimentally studied four vital steps of epiphyte dispersal in different habitat types in western Panama. (i) Seed falling...

Control of nematode parasites with reduced reliance on the use of anthelmintics was studied in 16 ewes with suckling twin lambs on contaminated pasture in Denmark. Ewes and lambs were treated with albendazole at turn-out 3 May. Ewes were removed from the groups on 26 July, and lambs were slaughtered on 11 October. The animals were allocated to 4 groups of 8 lambs and their 4 ewes. Group TS was ...

With high dry matter yields of high quality forage, high soluble carbohydrate levels and a suitability for harvest by cutting and removing, the forage legume sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) has the potential to be an important silage crop in New Zealand. In three experiments the ensiling potential of sulla was compared with conventional pasture using a mini-silo system which allows for rapid evalu...

Land use changes in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) of south Florida may alter microbial activity and organic matter decomposition and ultimately influence the fate of P in soil. The objectives of this study were to determine effects of long-term cultivation and fertilization on microbial activity and P dynamics for contrasting land uses in the EAA. Soils (0-15 cm) under pasture for 100 ...

Changes of land use/land cover have a significant impact on runoff by altering the surface evaporation, soil moisture conditions and the amount of trapped ground cover, which directly impact the sustainable development of the watershed ecology. In this paper, based on remote sensing images, we simulate runoff of land-use changes of different slopes using GIS technology and SWAT model in Erhai w...

We studied nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes and soil nitrogen (N) cycling following forest conversion to pasture in the central Amazon near Santarém, Pará, Brazil. Two undisturbed forest sites and 27 pasture sites of 0.5 to 60 years were sampled once each during wet and dry seasons. In addition to soil-atmosphere fluxes of N2O we measured 27 soil chemical, soil microbiological and soil physical varia...