protein-rich hydrolysate from feather waste was obtained using a mixed culture of selected thermophilic actinomycete strains, and was tested for possible application as soil amendment and biological control agent. for this purpose, a 4 months laboratory experiment was carried out using two types of urban soils (sofia, bulgaria): native park soil and anthropogenic soil. the effect of the obtain...

Submergence stress can cause the death of grass plants. Identification of the association between molecular markers and submergence tolerance-related traits facilitates an efficient selection of the tolerant cultivars for commercial production. A global collection of 99 diverse perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) accessions was evaluated for submergence tolerance and analyzed with 109 simple...

Fermentation in the rumen of cattle produces methane (CH4). Methane may play a role in global warming scenarios. The linking of grazing management strategies to more efficient beef production while reducing the CH4 emitted by beef cattle is important. The sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique was used to determine the effects of best management practices (BMP) grazing compared with continu...

Non-native plant species can provide native generalist insects, including pests, with novel food and habitats. It is hypothesized that local and landscape-level abundances of non-native plants can affect the population size of generalist insects, although generalists are assumed to be less sensitive to habitat connectivity than specialists. In a heterogeneous landscape in Japan, the relationshi...

In this study we simultaneously manipulated the patchiness of complex organic resources and the composition of microfaunal populations (protozoa and nematodes) in soil, to influence microbial mineralization processes and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of nutrient acquisition from decomposing plant residues by ryegrass plants. Hotspot treatments of decreasing patchiness were established ...

Perennial ryegrass is an important pasture grass in temperate regions. As a forage biomass-generating species, plant architecture-related characters provide key objectives for breeding improvement. In silico comparative genomics analysis predicted colocation between a previously identified QTL for plant type (erect versus prostrate growth) and the ortholocus of the rice OsABCG5 gene (LpABCG5), ...

A bioassay arena was developed to test the response of the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), to various plant-derived factors that may influence the selection of oviposition sites. In choice experiments with natural and artificial plant cues, females preferred to lay eggs in ryegrass rather than in artificial resources. Artificial grass stems received more eg...

Concentrations of selected macro minerals (Ca, P, Na, K, and Mg) were determined from coolseason annual grass pasture forages over four consecutive late fall-winter-spring grazing seasons (2001-2005). Forage samples were taken from eight experimental pastures used in beef cattle grazing trials. Two, 2-yr experiments were conducted; animal and pasture data were reported previously (Myer and Blou...

• Four different straw rates were incorporated for four decades. Minor effects on spring barley yields and N uptake in grain found. Grass-clover cover crops improved yield quality. Ryegrass had a small but negative impact yield. Straw incorporation cropping are important measures reducing loss of nitrate by leaching supporting soil quality cereal systems. However, also represents an source bioe...