Ireland’s Rural Environment: Research Highlights from Johnstown Castle

ReportThis booklet gives a flavour of the current research in Teagasc Johnstown Castle Research Centre and introduces you to the staff involved. It covers the areas of Nutrient Efficiency, Gaseous emissions, Agricultural Ecology, Soils and Water quality

Modeling and analyzing the agroecological performance of farms with ECOPATH

Intensive and integrated resource management, where field crops, vegetables, trees, livestock and fish production are combined through efficient reuse of wastes, residues, by-products and external inputs, offers a potential avenue towards a productive and ecologically balanced agriculture. The ECOPATH model software provides important insights into the structure and function of global aquatic ecosystems. The application of the same concept and approach to terrestrial-based culture systems exemplifies a tool which has the potential to improve communication and productivity within research while addressing the issue of sustainable natural resources management.Farming systems, Agricultural ecology, Resource management, Mathemathical models, Monitoring, Modelling

Analysis Of Bakery Properties Of Grain Of New Varieties And Lines Of Wheat Spelts

There were studied technological properties of grain of different varieties and lines of wheat spelt. There were analyzed differences between the quality of bread of flour of the highest sort and wholemeal, demonstrated the topicality of the differentiated approach to technological properties of flour for its production, elucidated the possibility of using wholemeal of wheat spelt for producing bread of the increased biological value.It was experimentally confirmed that a value of gloss of the bread surface and its general assessment is influenced by the protein content in grain. The gluten content influences bread quality parameters a bit less. At the same time, the index of gluten deformation also influences the crust surface, size of pores, general assessment of the bread quality. Its quality is high in all studied samples. The highest general culinary mark is put to bread, obtained from flour of the variety Zorya of Ukraine, LPP 3132, lines NAK34/12-2 and TV 1100.Based on studied of organoleptic, physical-chemical parameters of bread, there was confirmed the possibility of the promising use of wheat spelt grain in the bakery technology for raising the quality of products and widening the assortment

THE AGRICULTURAL ECOLOGY OF HAY MEADOWS WITHlN THE SOMERSET LEVELS AND MOORS ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREA

Ecologicai and productivity responses to agricultural management were studied over eiglit years in species-ricii hay meadows within a Site of Special Scientific Interest on a Somerset peat moor. The vegetation typified that of many wet meadows on the Somerset Levels and elsewhere, definable as MG5 {Cynosurus cristatus-Centaurea nigra meadow) and MG8 {Cynosurus cristatus-Caittia palustris flood pasture) within the National Vegetation Classification. The effects of inorganic fertilizers on species diversity, soil nitrogen loss and agricultural productivity (hay yield and beef production during aftermath grazing), were investigated during 1986-90. These data were subsequently analyzed for the effects of variations in water table depth on productivity and soil N losses. Further studies in 1991-93 covered: (a) soil seed bank composition in relation to above ground vegetation; (b) the effect of different cutting dates on seed rain, vegetation composition and herbage yield and quality; and (c) seed shedding as influenced by hay making operations. The vegetation was sensitive to even small fertilizer inputs, particularly of P and K, both in terms of increased productivity and reduced botanical diversity. Species diversity also declined on unfertilized plots in one experiment, after a change from aftermath grazing to cutting only. Leaching and denitrification of soil N following N application were both high compared with soils elsewhere, due to the high water table. Fertilizers caused a four-fold shift in soil seed bank composition towards nitrophilous species and increased the ratio of short-term to long-term persistent species. Cutting in May or September affected both the total seed rain and the balance of species represented and significantly reduced vegetation diversity, compared with cutting in July or August. The thesis includes an extensive literature review and the results are discussed in the context of (a) current theories on the relationships between species diversity, soil fertility, disturbance and productivity, and (b) hay meadow management within Environmentally Sensitive Areas. It is concluded that production response to fertilizers is not constrained by the species richness of the vegetation, but there is no scope for increasing soil fertility without reducing species diversity. Nitrate leaching risk is increased with N rates above about 75 kg ha'^ year"^ at ambient water table levels, but no N should be applied where high water tables are maintained. Occasional cutting after July is necessary to allow most species to set seed and to maintain a persistent soil seed bank.Institute of Grassland and Environmental Researc

Modelling the ability of legumes to suppress weeds

The ability of different legume cover crops to suppress annual weeds during the early establishment phase was compared using a simulation model of inter-plant competition and field observations. Height, partitioning parameters, extinction coefficients, crop density and time of emergence were recorded for 11 species sown in monocultures. A naturally occurring population of fat hen (Chenopodium album) was present on the experiment. The competition model was run to compare the expected suppressive ability of the different species on this weed. Samples of C. album were also taken from each plot immediately prior to cutting to provide some empirical observations. Predicted suppressive ability was correlated with seed size and height with large seeded, tall species such as white sweet clover being the most competitive. However, these species may recover poorly from mowing compromising their potential to suppress perennial weeds and a mixture of contrasting species may provide the optimum weed control

Ecological Observations on Predatory Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) in Southwestern Michigan

Ecological observations on habitat utilization by thirteen species of predatory Coccinellidae were made at a southern Michigan site during 1989 and 1990. Most of species were common during both years and used both agricul- tural and uncultivated habitats. Coccinella septempunctata and Coleomegilla maculata, were the most abundant in agricultural crops (alfalfa, maize, soy- bean and triticale), whereas Adalia bipunctata and Cycloneda munda, were the most abundant in deciduous and bushy habitats

Cultural outlooks and the global quest for sustainable management.

Culture shapes how people identify and evaluate elements of their environment, and influences their behaviour and subjective experiences. At a more pragmatic level, culture provides the social infrastructure and institutions that determine how resources are used and managed. This article highlights the links between culture and natural resource management. The authors outline contrasting points of view on the role of culture in resource and environmental management, and attempt to mediate between these conflicting positions

The Effects of Owl Decoys and Non-threatening Objects on Bird Feeding Behavior

As traditional agricultural practices change, the scarecrow has also been renovated and modernized to include mock natural predators, such as owls, hawks, and falcons instead of comical human representations. These facsimiles represent an excellent opportunity to examine anti-predatory tactics and vigilance behavior in birds as a response to perceived threats. In this study, we tested songbird reaction to an owl decoy that mimicked the presence of a predator and to a non-threatening object placed in an oak woodland within Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Frequency of bird visitations to bird feeders when either a plastic owl or a cardboard box of similar size was used to examine the effect of the presence of a predator on bird feeding behavior. We hypothesized that introduction of a model owl would reduce the number of birds observed at a nearby feeder, but a cardboard box would not have a significant effect on bird presence. Using paired t-tests, we determined that a false predator was effective in deterring bird species from feeding, while a box was not

Dual mutualistic associations in sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Agronomy at Massey University

Recent studies established that many legumes, when infected with the appropriate Rhizobium spp. and arbuscular fungi, nodulated better and exhibited greater dinitrogen fixation than plants infected with only the rhizobia. A similar study, therefore, was carried out in a glasshouse using sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.), a legume that is rapidly gaining recognition as a potential forage crop in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Pre-germinated seeds (cv. Fakir) were planted in sterilized soils and incubated with an effective Rhizobium spp. (strain NZP 5301), a mixture of endophytes (Gigaspora magarita Becker & Hall, Glomus fasciculata (Thax. sensu Gerd.) Gerdemann & Trappe and Glomus tenuis (Greenall) Hall), or both eht rhizobia and endophytes. The experiment also included a control, without any inoculation. Endophyte infection, nodulation and dinitrogen fixation, total nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, and plant growth and development were determined on eleven sequential samplings over about twenty weeks, up to the stage of green inflorescence. Arbuscular mycorrhiza formation did not occur with the first endophyte inoculation, containing Gigaspora magarita Becker & Hall, even after 93 days of growth. This is probably because the inoculum used consisted of a low quantity of viable spores and mycelia. The second inoculation, containing the three endophyte species, produced only a low degree of infection between day 115 and 137, possibly because the extensive root lignification and relatively higher root phosphorus concentration (0.50%) restricted fungal invasion and establishment within the root cortex. Mycorrhiza formation did not increase phosphate uptake, improve nodulation and dinitrogen fixation, or increase plant growth. This is due probably to the already well-developed root systems that were efficiently exploiting the small soil volume within the bags. Rhizobia-inoculated plants produced more nodules, larger nodules and consequently, a greater nodule dry weight than the uninoculated plants. The nodules produced in the inoculated plants were red instead of green as in the uninoculated plants, and exhibited a greater dinitrogen fixation. As a result, these inoculated plants contained a higher concentration of shoot, root and nodule nitrogen, and a greater dry weight accumulation in the shoots and nodules. The shoot and nodule phosphorus concentrations, however, were lower in the rhizobia-inoculated than in the uninoculated plants due to the greater amount of shoot and nodule tissues which caused a dilution effect. These rhizobia effects on nodulation and dinitrogen fixation, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, and plant growth and development became more prominent with time. The relatively higher nodule phosphorus concentration when compared with the shoot and root phosphorus concentrations suggests that phosphorus was presumably required in large quantities by the dinitrogen-fixing system