2,674 research outputs found
Grassland Use and Plant Diversity in Grazed Ecosystems
Earth biomes are being deconstructed, through unprecedented rates of species disappearance or invasion (McCann 2000). This, added to the threat of global environmental change and changes in values of a developed society, caused that biodiversity became a topic that has captured the attention of the public as well as the scientific community. Such concern on the importance of biodiversity is based in four basic reasons clearly described by West (1993): (i) morality, that aims for the protection of species; (ii) aesthetics, as people desire to see and appreciate the living parts of nature; (iii) economics and, (iv) the array of “services” provided by the natural ecosystems. It is vital to know how badly is affecting ecosystem function human alarming rate of destroying the original diversity
State and Transition Model of Lowland Grassland in Flooding Pampa
Rainfall conditions are considered to be a major factor in determining vegetation structure in temperate grasslands with grazing playing a secondary role (Biondini et al., 1998; Sternberg et al., 2000). In order to analyse the relative importance of both factors on the lowland community of the Flooding Pampa we compared the responses of functional groups under both intermittent and continuous grazing regimes over a 3- year period of important inter seasonal rainfall variation. The results are presented in a state and transition model
Phase-space structure of two-dimensional excitable localized structures
In this work we characterize in detail the bifurcation leading to an
excitable regime mediated by localized structures in a dissipative nonlinear
Kerr cavity with a homogeneous pump. Here we show how the route can be
understood through a planar dynamical system in which a limit cycle becomes the
homoclinic orbit of a saddle point (saddle-loop bifurcation). The whole picture
is unveiled, and the mechanism by which this reduction occurs from the full
infinite-dimensional dynamical system is studied. Finally, it is shown that the
bifurcation leads to an excitability regime, under the application of suitable
perturbations. Excitability is an emergent property for this system, as it
emerges from the spatial dependence since the system does not exhibit any
excitable behavior locally.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Structural and magnetic properties of nanoparticles of NiCuZn ferrite prepared by the self-combustion method
NiCuZn ferrites were prepared by the sol-gel self-combustion method. Nanosized, homogeneous and highly reactive powders were obtained at relatively low temperatures. In present work the variations of structural, magnetic, and microwave properties of NiCuZn ferrite nanoparticles were studied as a function of the annealing temperature. The analysis of XRD patterns showed that only the spinel phase is present. Cell parameters slightly vary with thermal treatment while a crystalline size increases. Magnetic nanoparticles were mixed with an epoxy resin for reflectivity studies with a microwave vector network analyzer using the microwave-guide method in the range of 7.5 to 13.5GHz. Static saturation magnetization value (measured by SQUID) and microwave absorption show clear dependence on the annealing temperature/particle size and the absorption maximum moves towards the higher frequencies with an increase in the average size of the particles
Response of \u3cem\u3eAxonopus catarinensis\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eArachis pintoi\u3c/em\u3e to Shade Conditions
In the north-east of Argentina, there are more than 100,000 hectares of silvopastoral systems where trees, forages and livestock are combined with the goal to diversify income, reduce financial risk, obtain more profit and enhance environmental benefit (Cubbage et al. 2013). The rapid adoption of this production system by farmers has generated high demand for information on shade tolerant grass and legume forage species.
Axonopus catarinensis is a native grass from Itajai Vally (Brazil) that was introduced to the north-east of Argentina 10 years ago; whereas Arachis pintoi is a sub-tropical legume (also native to Brazil) adapted to acid soils and tolerant of medium levels of shade (Fisher and Cruz 1994). Visual observation of these species in the field indicated high yields and acceptable tolerance to shade.
A trial was subsequently carried out with the aim to quantify dry matter yield and nutritive quality of the species under different levels of shade for silvopastoral use
Effects of a localized beam on the dynamics of excitable cavity solitons
We study the dynamical behavior of dissipative solitons in an optical cavity
filled with a Kerr medium when a localized beam is applied on top of the
homogeneous pumping. In particular, we report on the excitability regime that
cavity solitons exhibits which is emergent property since the system is not
locally excitable. The resulting scenario differs in an important way from the
case of a purely homogeneous pump and now two different excitable regimes, both
Class I, are shown. The whole scenario is presented and discussed, showing that
it is organized by three codimension-2 points. Moreover, the localized beam can
be used to control important features, such as the excitable threshold,
improving the possibilities for the experimental observation of this
phenomenon.Comment: 9 Pages, 12 figure
The Effect of Phosphorus Fertilization on Botanical Composition and Production in Temperate Pastures in Argentina
The objective of this paper is to evaluate floristic changes and above-ground primary production in native grasslands and old pastures dominated by tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) that were fertilized with different levels of phosphorus. For this, aerial biomass was sequentially harvested from November 1998 to October 1999. Above-ground production of native grassland more than doubled (from 3000 to 7300 kg DM/ha) with the highest level of P through the increment of three naturalized species: the winter annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) and two legumes: white clover (Trifolium repens) and lotus (Lotus corniculatus). In contrast, above-ground production of old fescue pastures remained unchanged while nutritive value improved as legumes and warm-season grasses increased where they were fertilized
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