In this report we describe how the tactile smoothness of shaven beards depends on the distribution of the stubble lengths remaining after shaving and on various skin parameters like coarseness and scaliness. To this end, we set up two experiments on perceived smoothness with blinded human judges. In the first experiment we used artificial beards with various stubble length distributions and stu...

Browse and cereal stubble represent the two most important resources for grazing small ruminants in dry Mediterranean areas. The purpose of the present review is to provide updated information regarding their nutritional value. In a mixed Mediterranean environment, browse represents at least 40% of goat’s diet. Most browse species in the Mediterranean are rich in tanniferous phenolic substances...

Soil erosion is a growing challenge for agricultural production in Northern China. To explore the effect of variation in stubble height and mulching biomass on soil erosion caused by wind, we conducted a field experiment using a quadratic rotation combination design. Results showed that the quantity of straw mulch was the dominant factor affecting soil erosion, and stubble height was of seconda...

Maintaining winter stubble for the conservation of steppe passerines is widely implemented under the regional agrienvironmental program in Spanish dry lands. The adequacy of such measures was assessed in terms of bird density on different soil cover types in central Spain. Highest bird densities were found in ploughed, sown and fallow plots. Stubble plots were poorly used by wintering passerine...

Standards for the height of herbaceous vegetation remaining in meadows at the end of the growing season have been, and continue to be, implemented on public grazing lands throughout the Sierra Nevada. Although supporting research is limited, stubble height standards are intended to benefit riparian resources by limiting grazing pressure. This study illustrates how the timing and intensity of de...

Dynamics of cropland soil organic carbon (SOC) in response to different management practices and environmental conditions across North China Plain (NCP) were studied using a modeling approach. We identified the key variables driving SOC changes at a high spatial resolution (10 km × 10 km) and long time scale (90 years). The model used future climatic data from the FGOALS model based on four fut...

A field experiment was performed in Southwest Germany to examine the effects of long-term reduced tillage (2000–2012). Tillage treatments were deep moldboard plow: DP, 25 cm; double-layer plow; DLP, 15 + 10 cm, shallow moldboard plow: SP, 15 cm and chisel plow: CP, 15 cm, each of them with or without preceding stubble tillage. The mean yields of a typical eight-year crop rotation were 22% lower...

A series of 10 aircraft flights was conducted over agricultural fields to evaluate relationships between observed surface soil moisture and soft moisture predicted using passive microwave sensor observations. An a pr/or/ approach was used to predict values of surface soil moisture for three types of fields: tilled corn, no-till corn with soybean stubble, and idle fields with corn stubble. Accep...

In recent years, Fusarium head blight (FHB) outbreaks have occurred much more frequently in China. The reduction of burning of the preceding crop residues is suggested to contribute to more severe epidemics as it may increase the initial inoculum. In this study, a large number of Fusarium isolates was collected from blighted wheat spikes as well as from rice stubble with perithecia originating ...