The daily BW gain of stocker steers grazing tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) S.J. Darbysh. = Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.]-based pastures typically declines during summer. To avoid these declines, in part to mitigate the effects of tall fescue toxicosis, it is commonly advised to move cattle to warm-season forage during this period. A 3-yr (2006, 2007, and 2008) grazing ...

Overgrazing is considered one of the key disturbance factors that results in alpine grassland degradation in Tibet. Grazing exclusion by fencing has been widely used as an approach to restore degraded grasslands in Tibet since 2004. Is the grazing exclusion management strategy effective for the vegetation restoration of degraded alpine grasslands? Three alpine grassland types were selected in T...

Concentrations and loadings (output, number day-' km-2) of fecal coliform (FC) indicator bacteria were measured from 1979 through 1984 in streamflow from 13 forested watersheds under the following range management strategies: (A) no grazing; (B) grazing without management for livestock distribution; (C) grazing with management to obtain livestock distribution, and (ID) grazing with management t...

A 4-yr study was conducted to determine the effects of two grazing methods (GM) at two stocking rates (SR) on alfalfa pasture plant productivity and animal performance and to ascertain the effect of grazing systems on subsequent performance of steers fed a high-concentrate diet. Eight pasture plots (.76 ha) were seeded in 1988 with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. var. WL225) and divided into two bl...

Different grazing strategies impact grassland plant production and may also regulate the soil carbon formation. For a site in semiarid temperate steppe, we studied the effect of combinations of rest, high and moderate grazing pressure over three stages of the growing season, on the process involved in soil carbon sequestration. Results show that constant moderate grazing (MMM) exhibited the hig...

Grazing on ultraplankton by the sponge partner of an invertebrate/algal symbiotic association can provide enough particulate organic nitrogen to support the nitrogen needs of both partners. The previously unknown natural diet of the sponge in the Haliclona-Ceratodictyon association consists of bacteria and protozoans, which are rich sources of nitrogen. Retention of ultraplankton varied with se...

World-wide population declines have sharpened concern for amphibian conservation on working landscapes. Across the Sierra Nevada's national forest lands, where almost half of native amphibian species are considered at risk, permitted livestock grazing is a notably controversial agricultural activity. Cattle (Bos taurus) grazing is thought to degrade the quality, and thus reduce occupancy, of me...

Due to economic, environmental and animal-welfare constraints, it is envisaged that in the future a larger proportion of the milk produced in temperate regions will be produced from grazed pasture. However, with the selection of modern higher-production dairy cows, increased emphasis on product quality and issues associated with nitrogen leaching, soil compaction, greenhouse-gas emissions and a...

As the number of horses is steadily increasing in Cantabrian less-favoured areas, mostly occupied by nutritionally poor heathland communities, the objective of this research was to study and compare diet selection and performance of crossbred horses and beef cattle (Asturiana de los Valles breed) grazing these areas during the summer. A total of 20 cows (seven lactating their calves and thirtee...