BACKGROUND Current plant--herbivore interaction models and experiments with mammalian herbivores grazing plant monocultures show the superiority of a maximizing forage quality strategy (MFQ) over a maximizing intake strategy (MI). However, there is a lack of evidence whether grazers comply with the model predictions under field conditions. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS We assessed diet selection of sh...

Nicole C. Roy1,2,3, Nadja Berger1,2,3, Emma N. Bermingham1,3, Warren C. McNabb2,3,4 and Janine M. Cooney3,5 1Food Nutrition & Health Team, AgResearch Grasslands, Palmerston North 2The Riddet Institute, Massey University, Palmerston North 3Nutrigenomics New Zealand 4AgResearch Grasslands, Palmerston North 5Biological Chemistry & Bioactives, Food Innovation, Plant & Food Research Ruakura, Hamilto...

Mountains, ocean currents, forests, and swamps have played an important role in regulating global climate for hundreds of millions of years, but the truly novel event of the Cenozoic was the evolution and expansion of grasslands, with their uniquely coevolved grasses and grazers. Neogene expansion of the climatic and geographic range of grasslands at the expense of woodlands is now revealed by ...

Leaching losses of nitrogen (N) from soil and atmospheric N deposition have led to widespread changes in plant community and microbial community composition, but our knowledge of the factors that determine ecosystem N retention is limited. A common feature of extensively managed, species-rich grasslands is that they have fungal-dominated microbial communities, which might reduce soil N losses a...

condition of contour lines in topographic maps, explains more geomorphologic issues such as effective processes in the land forms found in nature. change in the curvature of the transverse profile of a valley in mountainous areas, the peak of the mountain range, also reflect the geomorphologic features and expresses the tectonic events and climate changes occurring in the region. these changes ...

in order to study adapatability and yield stability of irrigated bread wheat cultivars alvand, alamout, zarrin, navid, azar 2, sabalan, omid and bezostiya this experiment was conducted in rcbd during three cropping seasons (2007-2010) in six cities. simple anova and combined analysis of variance for three years in every location and also combined analysis of variance for three years and six loc...

the short arm of rye 1r chromosome (1rs) carries genes for resistance to diseases and pests. the presence of the 1rs arm also enhance adaptation, stress tolerance and yield potential of bread wheat. in the present study 17 bread wheat cultivars were screened to identify 1bl.1rs translocation (t1bl.1rs) by isoelectric focusing, c-banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization (fish) methods. iso...

The present study was carried out to assess and document ethnobotanical knowledge of the plants of Sabalan district in Ardabil Province, as the area has diverse flora and high ethnobotanical potential. Medicinal plants of Sabalan were studied through collections of plant specimens and by interviewing local informants from several villages. For Each plant species the scientific and vernacular na...