The responses of tallgrass prairie plant communities and ecosystem processes to fire and grazing are well characterized. However, responses of invertebrate consumer groups, and particularly soil-dwelling organisms, to these disturbances are not well known. At Konza Prairie Biological Station, we sampled soil macroinvertebrates in 1994 and 1999 as part of a long-term experiment designed to exami...

Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata wyomingensis A. t. Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle and Young) communities provide structure and forbs and insects needed by greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) for growth and survival. We evaluated forb, insect, and soil responses at six mowed and 19 prescribed burned sites compared to 25, paired and untreated reference sites. Sites were cl...

To improve the efficiency of chromium (Cr) phytoextraction by Leersia hexandra Swartz, effects mowing on Cr accumulation in L. were investigated using hydroponic experiments. Mowing heights (0, 5, and 10 cm), interval (30, 60, 90 120 days), frequencies (1, 2, 3 times) optimized. at cm above roots significantly increased shoot biomass (32.9 g/pot). The days achieved highest (62.8 with thrice (67...

Working on new equipments to increase agricultural productivity and safety, reducing human action hardness , Cemagref and Lasmea have developed an help guidance system for agricultural vehicles. The aim of this system is to help the operator to guide the machine in order to give more attention to the order task. To reach this goal, we use a visual perception of the environment because this sens...

Companies are used to bringing in customers to participate in focus groups, usability laboratories, and market research surveys in order to help in the development of new products and services. And for improving products that customers know well, those tools are highly sophisticated. For example, knowledgeable customers are adept at identifying the specific scent of leather they expect in a lux...

Vineyards are amongst the most intensive forms of agriculture often resulting in simplified landscapes where semi-natural vegetation is restricted to small scattered patches. However, a tendency toward a more sustainable management is stimulating research on biodiversity in these poorly investigated agro-ecosystems. The main aim of this study was to test the effect on plant diversity of managem...

BACKGROUND Feral populations of cultivated crops can pose challenges to novel trait confinement within agricultural landscapes. Simulation models can be helpful in investigating the underlying dynamics of feral populations and determining suitable management options. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We developed a stage-structured matrix population model for roadside feral alfalfa populations o...

Stampfli A. 1992. Effects of mowing and removing litter on reproductive shoot modules of some plant species in abandoned meadows on Monte San Giorgio. Bot. Helv. 102: 85-92. Reproductive shoot modules have been counted in a permanent plot experiment on Monte San Giorgio (Southern Switzerland) since 1988. The 8 species presented here, including the dominant grass (Molinia arundinacea) and seven ...

alfalfa and maize are important agricultural plants for animal consumption. in this survey, accumulation quantity of heavy metals (fe,zn,mn,cd,pb,ni,cr) in plants irrigated by sewage and well water were compared statistically together and with normal or standard(permeable) limits in plants or foraging, during 2005. the results were as following 1-maize: the value of accumulation in maize irriga...

Stampfli A. 1992. Effects of mowing and removing litter on reproductive shoot modules of some plant species in abandoned meadows on Monte San Giorgio. Bot. Helv. 102: 85-92. Reproductive shoot modules have been counted in a permanent plot experiment on Monte San Giorgio (Southern Switzerland) since 1988. The 8 species presented here, including the dominant grass (Molinia arundinacea) and seven ...