Fresh forages are an important natural source of vitamins and fatty acids in ruminant diets, and their concentrations in forage species are important for the quality of animal-derived foods such as dairy and meat products. The aims of this study were to obtain novel information on vitamins and fatty acids (FA) in a variety of forage legumes and non-legume forb species compared to a grass-clover...

1. Restoration of semi-arid shrub ecosystems often requires control of invasive grasses but the effects of these grass-control treatments on native and exotic forbs have not been investigated adequately to assess long-term stability. In southern California, coastal sage scrub (CSS) vegetation is one semi-arid shrub community that has been invaded extensively by both exotic grasses and exotic fo...

Abstract Vineyards can be valuable habitats for biodiversity conservation. For example, in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany) over a third of the state’s critically endangered Woodlark ( Lullula arborea ) population breeds vineyards along western margin Upper Rhine Valley. We here aim to elucidate how local ground cover management, food availability and proximity settlements affect territory select...

The effects of exotic species invasions on biodiversity vary with spatial scale, and documentation of local-scale changes in biodiversity following invasion is generally lacking. Coupling long-term observations of local community dynamics with experiments to determine the role played by exotic species in recruitment limitation of native species would inform both our understanding of exotic impa...

This study was conducted to determine the fatty acid (FA) content in pasture grasses, legumes, and non-leguminous forbs northeast West Virginia. Grass, legume, forb plant material were collected from rotationally stocked pastures analyzed for crude protein (CP), linoleic (C18:2), α-linolenic (C18:3), total FA content. Species within botanical classes varied Forbs had highest (C18:2) followed by...

Precipitation change and grazing are the main factors influencing vegetation structure dynamics in semi-arid grassland. However, effects of precipitation variation livestock trampling on seedling emergence patterns plants remain largely unknown. In this study, an experiment with four gradients (no-trampling, light, moderate, heavy) three treatments (ambient precipitation, +30% −30% precipitatio...