Control of docks (Rumex spp.) in organic fodder production - a true bottleneck in organic farmed branded dairy and meat products

Control of dock species are a true bottleneck in the development of grassland based organic production in Norway. Rumex obtusifolius, Rumex crispus and Rumex longifolius are among the most important perennial weeds in grassland areas throughout the world. These docks are undesirable in grasslands because they decrease yields and reduce forage feeding value. Numerous farmers feel powerlessness regarding how to manage the Rumex problem. Some farmers continue conventionally farming instead of organic, although they generally are motivated for transferring to organic production, due to the dock problem. The main goal of the project is a high quality and stable production of regional branded dairy and meat products based on fodder from grassland with non-chemical control of docks. This is to be achieved through knowledge on important factors that influence severity of dock infestation, studies on weak growth stages of docks, evaluation of biological control of docks and a synthesis of various measures to control these weeds. The return of the efforts of the project is increased organic production of meat and dairy products

Allelopathic effects of Rumex obtusifolius leaf extracts against native grassland species

In perennial grasslands R. obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock) is often surrounded by certain plant species. Thus, it is hypothesized for the current study that Rumex can affect their neighbouring plant species by allelopathic interactions. To test this hypothesis, in a series of laboratory and field experiments aqueous extracts of green R. obtusifolius leaves were sprayed on seeds of 14 herbaceous plant species (graminoids, non-leguminuous forbs and leguminuous forbs) commonly native to perennial grasslands and its effects on seed germination compared with those with tap water spraying. An allelopathic effect was defined as inhibitory influence of Rumex extracts on seed germination relative to tap water. Generally, results of the laboratory experiments showed a species-specific susceptibility of grassland species to Rumex extracts; no species was promoted by Rumex extracts. All grasses tested were heavily inhibited by Rumex extracts, herbs and legumes varied from not affected until heavily inhibited. Spraying of Rumex extracts in the field had no effect on germination of these species. The results could be considered in designing seeding mixtures for resowing sward damages to especially contain species not susceptible to Rumex allelopathy (e.g. Trifolium pratense, T. repens, Plantago lanceolata) that would thus be assumed to be more competitive against R. obtusifolius regrowing in these grasslands

Rumex bucephalophorus L. subsp. bucephalophorus en Andalucía

Rumex bucephalophorus L. subsp. bucephalophorus in Andalusia.Palabras clave. Flora, corología, Rumex bucephalophorus, España.Key words. Flora, chorology, Rumex bucephalophorus, Spain

A multiple profile approach to the palynological reconstruction of Norse landscapes in Greenland's Eastern Settlement

Acknowledgments The Leverhulme Trust is thanked for financial support. Gordon Cook provided radiocarbon dates. Thanks are also due to Andy McMullen for botanical identifications and assistance in the field, and to Sikuu Motzfeld for hospitality during fieldwork. We are also grateful to Emilie Gauthier, Mike Kaplan, Pete Langdon and Alan Gillespie for their comments.Peer reviewedPostprin

The "Carex" fen vegetation of northern New South Wales

The floristic composition and extent of Carex-dominated fens in the New South Wales New England Tablelands Bioregion and Barrington Tops area (lat 28° 41’ S–31° 55’ S; long 151° 23’ E–152° 05’ E) together with outliers from the central west (Coonabarabran) are described from 81 full floristic survey sites. These fens contained 234 vascular plant taxa of which 27% were exotic. The fens were dominated by herbaceous vegetation (96% of taxa). Cluster analysis of cover-abundance scores of vascular plant taxa from 81 plots placed within 71 separate Carex fens revealed three alliances: 1) Carex appressa, 2) Scirpus polystachyus – Carex tereticaulis and 3) Carex gaudichaudiana and seven communities: (1) Carex appressa – Stellaria angustifolia Fen (2) Carex appressa Fen (3) Scirpus polystachyus – Carex appressa Fen (4) Carex tereticaulis Fen (5) Carex gaudichaudiana – Isachne globosa Fen (6) Carex sp. Bendemeer – Carex gaudichaudiana Fen (7) Carex gaudichaudiana – Glyceria australis Fen The distribution of alliances showed a pattern of east-west separation. The most easterly alliance shares many features with the Carex gaudichaudiana Alliance of the Monaro Region of southern NSW while the other alliances have no counterparts within the current literature. We estimate that up to 5 000 ha of fen vegetation survive in the New England Bioregion of which 90% is on grazed land and only 0.2% is within conservation reserves. Seven outstanding examples of fens remain; most are examples of Community 5, with one representing Community 6 and none representing the other five communities. Many of these are not secured, and none of those within reserves are in their ‘natural’ state. We therefore strongly encourage measures to allow closure of drains, the opening of dams, and the rehabilitation of important fens such as Bishops, Racecourse and New Country Swamps

Plant remains from Middle Bronze Age round houses in north Cork

.pdf file with report describing analysis of archaeobotanical material from Ballynamona 2 and Mitchelstown 1 in north Cork, Irelan

Rumex induratus leaves: phytochemical profiling and antioxidant activity

Several species of the Rumex (Polygonaceae) genus have been used in traditional medicine, although their high oxalic acid content has been implicated in oxalic intoxication, mainly la children. Rumex induratus Boiss & Reuter is an endemic Liberian herb that prefers rocky habitats of the thermo Mediterranean region

Using the root spread information of pioneer plants to quantify their mitigation potential against shallow landslides and erosion in temperate humid climates

The aim of this paper was to quantify the mitigation potential of pioneer herbs against shallow landslidesand erosion in temperate humid climates and to identify key plant information to aid species selectionfor slope stabilisation. The objectives ranged from the study of the climate, soil and root spread of threenative perennial herbs growing on a landslide-prone slope in Northeast Scotland to the verification of anupgraded spatially distributed eco-hydrological model in order to test whether root spread informationcan be provided cost-effectively in temperate humid climates. The retrieved information on root spreadwas then used to evaluate the slope stabilisation potential of the pioneer herbs in the topmost soilhorizons using a limit equilibrium method.The results indicated that pioneer herbs, although presenting climate-influenced shallow root systems,could noticeably contribute to reducing soil mass loss and landslides. This was largely determined by theplant biomass and allometry, the latter being a potential readily measurable proxy for species selectionin slope stabilisation that will need further investigation. Additionally, our observations supported themodel predictions remarkably well when site-specific inputs were employed, showing that the proposedmodel is a suitable and cost-effective tool to provide spatial root spread information for eco-engineeringpurposes in temperate humid climates

Replicability of data collected for empirical estimation of relative pollen productivity

The effects of repeated survey and fieldwork timing on data derived from a recently proposed standard field methodology for empirical estimation of relative pollen productivity (RPP) have been tested. Seasonal variations in vegetation and associated pollen assemblages were studied in three contrasting cultural habitat types; semi-natural ancient woodlands, lowland heaths, and unimproved, traditionally managed hay meadows. Results show that in woodlands and heathlands the standard method generates vegetation data with a reasonable degree of similarity throughout the field season, though in some instances additional recording of woodland canopy cover should be undertaken, and differences were greater for woodland understorey taxa than for arboreal taxa. Large differences in vegetation cover were observed over the field season in the grassland community, and matching the phenological timing of surveys within and between studies is clearly important if RPP estimates from these sites are to be comparable. Pollen assemblages from closely co-located moss polsters collected on different visits are shown to be variable in all communities, to a greater degree than can be explained by the sampling error associated with pollen counting, and further study of moss polsters as pollen traps is recommended

De l’eau chaude sous pression contre les rumex

La plupart des fermes bio maîtrisent le rumex, mais, là où cette plante pérenne domine les prairies ou infeste les cultures, elle est à l’origine de travaux manuels pénibles. Agroscope vient de développer un nouveau procédé de lutte contre le rumex basé sur les propriétés de l’eau chaude