Prescribed fires are used to manipulate and manage rangelands, but effective monitoring techniques are needed to ensure that management goals and objectives are being met. The application of an effective fire program on rangelands is not a simple task. Overgrazing by livestock since the early development of the livestock industry has altered the vegetative complex on most rangelands with an inc...

As savannas are widespread across northern Australia and provide northern rangelands, the sustainable use of this landscape is crucial. Both fire and grazing are known to influence the tree-grass character of tropical savannas. Frequent fires open up the tree layer and change the ground layer from perennials to that dominated by annuals. Annual species in turn produce copious quantities of high...

Switchgrass is a warm-season perennial grass native to much of the United States. Over the last few years, switchgrass has received renewed interest as a renewable fuel source, since it produces large amounts of cellulose that can be digested and converted to ethanol. The high yields and environmental adaptability of switchgrass make it an excellent choice for biofuel feedstock production. Whil...

Forage-animal production agriculture is implementing infrastructure changes and management strategies to adjust to increased energy-related costs of fuel, feed grains, fertilizers, and seeds. The primary objectives of this position paper are to assess future research and extension scientific needs in forage utilization, financial support for the discipline, and changing status and number of sci...

BACKGROUND The availability of feedstock options is a key to meeting the volumetric requirement of 136.3 billion liters of renewable fuels per year beginning in 2022, as required in the US 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. Life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of sorghum-based ethanol need to be assessed for sorghum to play a role in meeting that requirement. RESULTS Multiple sor...

During spring migration, herbivorous waterfowl breeding in the Arctic depend on peaks in the supply of nitrogen-rich forage plants, following a "green wave" of grass growth along their flyway to fuel migration and reproduction. The effects of climate warming on forage plant growth are expected to be larger at the Arctic breeding grounds than in temperate wintering grounds, potentially disruptin...

S, POSTERS AND O PRESENTATIONS Altay, F, S Gunasekaran. 2005. Effect of drying temperature on gelation of corn starch (Abstract 71D-29). Annl Mtg Inst Food Technologists, Technical Program Abstracts, New Orleans, LA, July 16-20. Altay, F, S Gunasekaran, S Kasapis. 2005. Viscoelasticity of gelation gels in mixture with high levels of sugar (Abstract 36D-33). Annl Mtg Inst Food Technologists, Tec...

Northern ungulates acclimatize to winter conditions with restricted food supply and unfavorable weather conditions by reducing energy expenditure and voluntary food intake. We investigated in a study on red deer whether rates of peptide and glucose transport in the small intestines are also reduced during winter as part of the thrifty phenotype of winter-acclimatized animals, or whether transpo...