The lower montane zone of northwestern Ecuador, like many parts of the tropics, is undergoing rapid conversion from native forest vegetation to crop and pastureland. The current landscape is a mosaic of agricultural land, forest fragments and secondgrowth vegetation in various stages of development. While there is abundant research documenting the e€ects of land-use change in the lowland tropic...

This study evaluated pasture productivity and nutritional characteristics of Urochloa decumbens in silvopastoral systems (SPS) with different eucalyptus cultivars spatial arrangements providing differing levels shade. SPS were arranged to provide 46 % shade (eucalyptus trees 2 double rows m apart, every 3 each row, 20 between rows), 60 row 9 rows) 57 a single the using ‘GG100’, ‘I144’ or ‘VM58’...

The external cost associated with the spread of pasture weeds such as serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma) is an important economic problem. This problem is complicated in many parts of south-eastern Australia where low rainfall and low soil fertility prevent the economic viability of control of this weed through pasture improvement. A consequence of serrated tussock spread in this region has...

The national herd is important and diverse with an estimated ruminant population of 9 091 000 cattle, 9 278 000 sheep and 13 891 000 goats [2]. Livestock activities are carried out by more than 80% of households who derive all or part of their income [3]. Cattle are the savings account of the family business, while small ruminants constitute the current account that allows smallholder farmers t...

The Amazon rainforest, the largest equatorial forest in the world, is being cleared for pasture and agricultural use at alarming rates. Tropical deforestation is known to cause alterations in microbial communities at taxonomic and phylogenetic levels, but it is unclear whether microbial functional groups are altered. We asked whether free-living nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (diazotrophs) resp...

Meat from pasture-fed cattle can have high contents of α-tocopherol and other anti-oxidants originating from naturally occurring compounds present in grasses. However, meat from pasture-fed cattle may have an increased demand for endogenous anti-oxidants because of its high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which in turn, may affect its colour and lipid stability. In the work described, w...

Thirty Hereford steers were finished either on pasture (n=10) or concentrate (n=20) to determine dietary and antioxidant treatment effects on carcass characteristics, fatty acid composition, and quality of Uruguayan beef. Half of the steers finished on concentrate were supplemented with 1000 I.U. vitamin E head(-1) day(-1) for 100 days. Postmortem vitamin C was added to ground beef (0.05% v/w) ...

As a result of canopy interception and transpiration, trees are often assumed to have negative effects on the local hydrological budget resulting in reduced soil groundwater resources. However, it has also been shown that can positive through reducing surface run-off improving infiltrability recharge, especially many tropical ecosystems characterized by high rain intensity degradation-prone soi...

There is a great need to identify interactions among silvopastoral systems and microclimatic indicators that describe the effect of trees compared conventional pasture without trees. The objective this study was evaluate thermal conditions in system area exposed full sunlight eastern Amazon, Brazil. composed forest tree species Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K., Dipteryx odorata (Aubl.) Willd, Khaya ...

this study proceeded the identity of the shackles of participation pasture manageres about performance projects range- management to central part kohkiloie township. the purpose in this study was to identity of the shackles of participation pasture manageres about performance projects range- management to central part kohkiloie township. the present research is applied research by using descrip...