Radiation Use Efficiency on Campos Grasslands with Contrasting Grazing Methods

In Uruguay, natural grasslands cover about 67% of the lands of the country. The Basaltic region occupies 4 millions of hectares and it has the highest proportion of natural grasslands of the country. In these pastures, livestock management is applied traditionally associated with intense grazing, with high loads, high sheep / cattle relations, with long periods of occupation and continuous grazing or with short rest periods. This livestock management is the main reason of degradation of natural grasslands. In Basaltic deep soils, it results in the loss of high value species with a decrease in productivity (Millot et al., 1987). However, with a controlled method that adjust grazing time and intensity of defoliation it is possible to avoid the degradation of the natural grasslands and reverse it in overgrazed sites. Traditionally, aboveground net primary production (ANPP) was estimated from biomass cuts made at the fields. Today, it is possible to estimate ANPP using remote sensing techniques by synthetic images of enhanced vegetation index (EVI). The EVI is correlated with the fraction of photosyntethically active radiation absorbed by plants (fPAR), providing the link of ANPP estimation covering larger areas and taking repeated measurements over time in the same place (Piñeiro et al., 2006). The radiation use efficiency (RUE) is the effectiveness with which fPAR is transformed in PPNA and is known to vary according to temperature, precipitation and species composition (Monteith, 1972; Piñeiro et al., 2006). Taking all these into consideration, we set as aims of this work: a) to calibrate RUE and b) study the temporal variability of RUE for two contrasting grazing methods

The New Tendencies of Environmental Impact Assessment of Livestock Production: A Road Testing of LEAP/FAO Biodiversity Assessment Guidelines in Pastoral Systems in Uruguay

After the publication of the “long shadow of cattle” report, ruminant production systems have received great pressure for their contributions in greenhouse gases (GHG). However, the environmental effects of human activities are much broader than GHG production and in some cases, there are positive contributions. In order to broaden the environmental perspective and with the encouragement of governments, the private sector and NGOs, LEAP-FAO has developed environmental assessment guidelines for the world\u27s livestock production systems. This paper presents a road-testing of the Biodiversity Assessment Guideline at farm scale for six case studies in pastoral livestock systems in Uruguay. The producers involved correspond to farmers with a mixed livestock system (cows and sheep) with a full cycle and areas ranging between 2000 and 5000 hectares. Three of the farms have production based 100% on natural grasslands, while the other three had 30% of their area with sown pastures. The application of the guide at local level implies the use of the system of pressure, state and response indicators (PSR). The recommendation of the guide in its public review version requires a minimum set of 24 indicators, which can also be divided into several measurable variables. The results obtained in this study showed that the complete set is a reliable tool to evaluate the functioning of the systems in terms of their contribution to biodiversity conservation. However, some are more sensitive than others to evaluate changes depending on the scale. For example, the change in land use due to planting of forage crops clearly affects birds and arthropods such as spiders; though, due to scale of habitat use is less clear the global effect in bird population. The state indicators related to richness and diversity of species from different taxonomic groups is very relevant but result the more expensive issue in the assessment. Global indicators as the Ecosystem Integrity Index (EII) show a consistent effect of intensification but the connectivity in the actual percentages of natural grassland substitution is still good

Spider Fauna (Araneae: Araneomorphae) in Natural Grasslands of Uruguay with Different Livestock Management

In Uruguay natural grasslands sustain cattle ranching and are the country’s main renewable resource. This ecosystem not only serves a productive function, but also functions in geophysical processes of soils and sustaining the nation’s biodiversity through complex trophic webs (Berretta 2009). Increased pressure from human activities that exploit natural resources makes it necessary to possess tools for detecting disturbances in ecosystems and assessing their conservation status. Identifying indicator taxa is essential for evaluating the degree of impact on natural grasslands and for applying this in the development of management plans for this habitat type (Avalos et al. 2007; Cardoso et al. 2004). Terrestrial arthropods are convenient biological indicators due to their sensitivity and fast response to changes in their environment. Additionally, they can be studied through cheap and simple surveys (Gardner et al. 2008). The order Araneae is the seventh most diverse group in the animal kingdom (Coddington and Levi 1991). Spiders are the most abundant generalist predatory arthropods in most terrestrial ecosystems; they regulate herbivore populations and occupy a key position in food webs (Lawrence and Wise 2000, Ferris et al. 2000). They are involved in important biological processes in most habitats (Ziesche and Roth 2008; Van Hook 1971). In addition to the fact that this group is poorly known in Uruguayan grasslands, this study tries to gain knowledge and compare the structure and composition of the spider fauna of natural grassland in two nearby areas under different cattle management

Bird and Mammal Fauna Assemblages in Well-Preserved Natural Grasslands of Uruguay with Different Livestock Management

The aim of this study is to assess the composition of mammalian and avian communities in sites under two different cattle management plans: one where sheep are present along bovine cattle and another where pastures are grazed solely by bovines

Use of straw and wood shavings as nest material in primiparous does

[EN] In rabbit production, several materials such as hay, straw, wood shavings or waste wool and cotton are used as nesting materials during parturition. In this work, straw and wood shavings were studied as potential materials for nest boxes, and a choice test was designed for this purpose. Two replicates of 30 primiparous does each were carried out. Does were housed 10 d before parturition in a double commercial cage, so each doe had access to 2 different nest boxes. One of the nests was filled with 8 cm of barley straw and the other with 8 cm of wood shavings, so the doe could choose which of them she prepared and gave birth in. During the 24 h prior to parturition, the state of the nest was assessed, according to the mixing of the material and the doe's hair and the preservation of the original material, as well as the chosen nest box. When the does gave birth, the number of live and dead newborn was recorded. In the first replicate, 87% of the does chose the straw nest box, while in the second replicate 93% of the does did so. The number of live kits at birth did not differ statistically for straw and wood shavings nests (8.36+-1.74 vs. 6.85+-3.44), but litters reared in straw reacted a higher size at weaning (7.98+-1.73 vs. 6.29+-3.35; P<0.05). Finally, all the nests achieved a good level of mixing between the original material and the hair of the doe and only 5% of the does removed the original material (regardless of whether it was straw or wood shavings) and made the nest only with their hair. In conclusion, our results suggest that does might have a strong preference for straw rather than wood shavings as nest material.Blumetto, O.; Olivas, I.; Torres Salvador, AG.; Villagrá, A. (2010). Use of straw and wood shavings as nest material in primiparous does. World Rabbit Science. 18(4):237-242. doi:10.4995/wrs.2010.77623724218

Improving Livestock Production Assuring Natural Grassland Ecosystem Conservation: Three Key Management Practices at Farm Level

Ecosystem changes by human activities are a central topic in environmental discussions and temperate grasslands are among the most altered ecosystems on the planet (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The Rio de la Plata grasslands are among of the most extended temperate grasslands in the world, along with the prairie system of North America, the grasslands in east Europe and Mongolia, the grassvelds in South Africa and the New Zealand plains. They cover the central-eastern part of Argentina, Uruguay and south of Brazil. Natural grasslands are very rich in terms of number of species, reaching up to more than 3,000 vascular plants (Bilenca and Miñarro., 2004; Miñarro et al., 2008). Almost all Uruguayan lands are private property and most of them have some agriculture use. In this context, any conservation strategy must take into consideration production systems, including not only natural resources that are strongly related to production as soil and water, but also other ecosystem services, including biodiversity. On the other hand, natural grasslands have a high potential for meat production being of great economic importance for the country, and increasing the production efficiency is a main topic. Extensive livestock production seems to be compromise solution between conservation and production, but the main challenge is to maintain ecosystems functionality improving productive results. Considering all this, a re-designing production system strategy was developed with farmers in two different regions of the country. This work involved a co-innovation approach, which objective was to increase income and farmer´s family life quality involving management practices changes with none or minimum investment and ensuring environmental protection. In this article, in order to show the multi-dimensional approach for environmental information, we analyze a case study

Regenera+.uy: Designing a Co-Innovation Process to Apply the Principles of Regenerative Livestock Production

Consumers around the world are beginning to demand products whose production systems have environmental guarantees. Among them, those derived from regenerative agriculture have a growing demand in many markets. A comprehensive environmental assessment was carried out in 9 case studies of mixed livestock production farms (cattle and sheep) in Uruguay as a basis for the development of a system redesign process following the principles of regenerative agriculture. The results show that emission intensity was 16.0, 10.5, and 49.2 kg CO2 eq kg-1 of beef, sheep meat, and greasy wool, respectively. Also, a simulation exercise shows a significative reduction of emission through animal genetic improvement. Soil carbon stocks (59.6 to 93.6 Mg ha-1) and the different level of biodiversity assessment show a very good situation with an Ecosystem Integrity Index above 3.5, which implies more a necessity to conserve rather than regenerate. Considering this analysis, the path that farmers begin to walk following the principles of regenerative agriculture is a challenge towards maximizing biological efficiency and environmental optimization through process technology application. All these indicators and the recommended good management practices will integrate into a protocol for making verifiable the prosses and the results

Productive and environmental characterization of a semi-extensive fattening system for fattening pigs in drought conditions in Uruguay

[EN] In Uruguay, different pig production systems coexist: confinement systems and pastoral systems. These systems differ in terms of production costs, animal welfare and environmental impacts. On the other hand, droughts caused by the phenomenon "La Nina" can change the normal behavior of pastoral systems. In this article we analyze the dynamics of nutrients and their potential environmental impact of two growing cycles of pigs in an outdoor pastoral system. Animals were housed permanently in an area with a shelter, feeders and drinkers. They also could enter in several grazing areas, although each grazing area was used only during one week. Most of the nutrients coming from animal manure accumulate in the area surrounding the shelter and feeding areas, but the increase of concentrations was lower in the grazing area. A slight increase of nutrients in the grazing plots was found between the access to a grazing area and its closing one week later. After closure, nutrient concentration declined with time. The same tendency was found with ammonia emissions. In the conditions of this study, the reduced rainfall resulted in a low loss of nutrients. We conclude that in the pastoral system, due to the low nutrient concentrations in the grazing area, no large-scale environmental risks can be expected. The permanent area, however, may have environmental risks associated to nutrient deposition. Some design changes could reduce the risk of loss of nutrients from the area of permanent closure of animals.[ES] En Uruguay, coexisten los sistemas de producción de cerdos en confinamiento y los sistemas extensivos con acceso a pasturas. Entre ambos existen diferencias notables en cuanto a costes de producción, bienestar animal e implicaciones medioambientales. Por otro lado, los episodios de sequía provocados por el fenómeno "la Niña" pueden alterar el comportamiento normal de los sistemas pastoriles. En este trabajo se analiza la dinámica de los nutrientes y su posible efecto ambiental en dos ciclos de cebo de cerdos alojados en un sistema de producción al aire libre, denominado "a campo. Los animales contaron con una parcela de encierro permanente donde se localizaba el refugio, comederos y bebederos. Tuvieron acceso a varias parcelas de pastoreo consecutivamente, estando cada parcela accesible durante una semana. La mayor concentración de los nutrientes provenientes de las deyecciones de los animales, se acumulan en el área circundante al refugio y los comederos, siendo menor la concentración de éstos en el área de pastoreo. Existe un leve incremento de nutrientes en las parcelas de pastoreo, entre el momento que los animales ingresan y la clausura del acceso, para luego descender con el transcurso del tiempo. Esta misma tendencia se manifestó en las emisiones de amoniaco. En las condiciones del estudio, las escasas precipitaciones provocaron bajas pérdidas de nutrientes. Se concluye que en el sistema a campo, dada la concentración de nutrientes medida en el área de pastoreo, no existen riesgos ambientales de gran magnitud, aunque sí que puede haber riesgos asociados a la parcela de encierro permanente. Algunos cambios en el diseño, podrían disminuir el riesgo de pérdidas de En Uruguay, coexisten los sistemas de producción de cerdos en confinamiento y los sistemas extensivos con acceso a pasturas. Entre ambos existen diferencias notables en cuanto a costes de producción, bienestar animal e implicaciones medioambientales. Por otro lado, los episodios de sequía provocados por el fenómeno "la Niña" pueden alterar el comportamiento normal de los sistemas pastoriles. En este trabajo se analiza la dinámica de los nutrientes y su posible efecto ambiental en dos ciclos de cebo de cerdos alojados en un sistema de producción al aire libre, denominado "a campo". Los animales contaron con una parcela de encierro permanente donde se localizaba el refugio, comederos y bebederos. Tuvieron acceso a varias parcelas de pastoreo consecutivamente, estando cada parcela accesible durante una semana. La mayor concentración de los nutrientes provenientes de las deyecciones de los animales, se acumulan en el área circundante al refugio y los comederos, siendo menor la concentración de éstos en el área de pastoreo. Existe un leve incremento de nutrientes en las parcelas de pastoreo, entre el momento que los animales ingresan y la clausura del acceso, para luego descender con el transcurso del tiempo. Esta misma tendencia se manifestó en las emisiones de amoniaco. En las condiciones del estudio, las escasas precipitaciones provocaron bajas pérdidas de nutrientes. Se concluye que en el sistema a campo, dada la concentración de nutrientes medida en el área de pastoreo, no existen riesgos ambientales de gran magnitud, aunque sí que puede haber riesgos asociados a la parcela de encierro permanente. Algunos cambios en el diseño, podrían disminuir el riesgo de pérdidas de nutrientes desde el área de encierro permanente.Blumetto Velazco, OR.; Calvet Sanz, S.; Estellés, F.; Villagrá García, A.; Torres Salvador, AG. (2012). Caracterización productiva y ambiental de un sistema semi-extensivo de engorde de cerdos en condiciones de sequía en Uruguay. ITEA. Información Técnica Económica Agraria. 108(3):256-274. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/39561S256274108

From Theory to Practice: Can LEAP/FAO Biodiversity Assessment Guidelines Be a Useful Tool for Knowing the Environmental Status of Livestock Systems?

Biodiversity loss is a global concern, and agriculture is one of the economic sectors responsible for this impact. The assessment of ecosystems under the influence of livestock production is essential for knowing their integrity and ability to provide ecosystem services. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the application of LEAP/FAO guidelines for quantitative assessment of biodiversity in the livestock sector at the local scale (farm level) in a group of six study cases in Uruguay. A set of 20 indicators was used, including seven key thematic issues: habitat protection, habitat change, wildlife conservation, invasive species, pollution, aquatic biodiversity, off-farm feed, and landscape-scale conservation. The results show that the LEAP biodiversity assessment guidelines can be useful to characterize the state of ecosystems under pastoral use and some specific components of their biodiversity, as well as assess the interaction of the production system with the environment and plan management accordingly. This work also provides an analysis of the methodology used and recommendations to facilitate its application by the sector. The results from the application of the indicators show a great deal of wild biodiversity that uses grazing systems based on native grasslands as habitats and the acceptable integrity of these ecosystems. On average, farms have 83% of their native ecosystem, with a value of 3.5 for the Ecosystem Integrity Index. In terms of the richness of different groups, there was an average number of species of 112 herbaceous plants, 48 woody plants, 48 spiders, 150 birds, and 14 fish. The main goal of this work is to help in the wider application of the guidelines by facilitating decisions about methodology, necessary resources, and technical support. Moreover, another goal is to show the importance of native grasslands-based livestock systems for biodiversity conservation.Fil: de Santiago, María Fernanda. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias.; ChileFil: Barrios, Margenny. Universidad de la Republica. Centro Universitario Regional del Este.; UruguayFil: D'Anatro, Alejandro. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: García, Luis Fernando. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Mailhos, Ary. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Pompozzi, Gabriel Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Rehermann, Sofía. Universidad de la Republica. Centro Universitario Regional del Este.; UruguayFil: Simó, Miguel. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: Tesitore, Giancarlo. Universidad de la Republica. Centro Universitario Regional del Este.; UruguayFil: Teixeira de Mello, Franco. Universidad de la Republica. Centro Universitario Regional del Este.; UruguayFil: Valtierra, Victoria. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Blumetto, Oscar. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria; Urugua

Variables claves para la evaluación de la sustentabilidad de los sistemas agropecuarios. Hacia un sistema de indicadores de Intensificación Sostenible en el Cono Sur

El término Intensificación Sostenible (IS) es utilizado por una gran diversidad de actores (académicos, organismos públicos, agencias internacionales, empresas del sector productivo, entre otros) por lo que se observan grandes diferencias en su interpretación (Tittonell, 2014). Estas diferencias prácticas y conceptuales condujeron a debates aún vigentes y a propuestas incluso contrapuestas (Mahon et al., 2017). En este contexto, el PROCISUR estableció en su Plan de Mediano Plazo 2015 ? 2018 a la IS como una de sus cinco líneas estratégicas y, en 2016, creó un grupo de trabajo1 (GT) para compartir los fundamentos conceptuales del uso del término a nivel global y en cada país e institución e identificar elementos conceptuales comunes que permitiesen consensuar un marco y una definición regional sobre Intensificación Sostenible2 que guie el trabajo en el ámbito del PROCISUR: La intensificación sostenible (IS) es un proceso de mejora gradual de la eficiencia ecológica de los sistemas agropecuarios a través de la innovación, con el fin de propender a una mayor productividad y rentabilidad con menor impacto ambiental, al mantenimiento y/o mejora de los recursos naturales, reduciendo la dependencia de insumos externos y favoreciendo la equidad y la inclusión socialEEA ChubutFil: Arístide, Pablo. Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos - Rama Rural; ArgentinaFil: Arístide, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); ArgentinaFil: Cittadini, Eduardo Daniel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; ArgentinaFil: Blumetto, Oscar. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria; UruguayFil: Giobellina, Beatriz Liliana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Manfredi. Agencia de Extensión Rural Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Ledesma, Sandra Elizabeth. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Manfredi. Agencia de Extensión Rural Cruz del Eje; ArgentinaFil: Ovalle, Carlos. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria; ChileFil: Marchao, Robelio. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA); BrasilFil: Caballero, Héctor. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería. Dirección de Extensión Agraria; ParaguayFil: Osman, Aart. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria La Cruz; ChileFil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentin