Indici foraggeri di specie legnose ed erbacee alpine per il bestiame caprino

Foraging indexes of wooden and herbaceous alpine species for goat livestock. Foraging indexes are easier and cheaper than chemical analysis to value phytocoenosis\u2019 foraging rate. Once the productive contribution or the covering ratio of all the species are known, the foraging valueof the phytocoenosis is the weighted average of the foraging value of the single species. Altough various indexes are available for cattle, there\u2019s no one for the other domestic livestocks. No doubt this is a gap, considering the differences in diet and grazing behaviour of the different grazing species. This work aims to partially fill this gap. A first list of values for goat livestock is proposed. The list reflects numerous surveys carried out in different locations of Lombardian Alps. A hundred of wooden and herbaceous species growing in the mountain and sub-alpine belt were observed

Ice tectonic deformation during the rapid in situ drainage of a supraglacial lake on the Greenland Ice Sheet.

We present detailed records of lake discharge, ice motion and passive seismicity capturing the behaviour and processes preceding, during and following the rapid drainage of a 4 km<sup>2</sup> supraglacial lake through 1.1-km-thick ice on the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Peak discharge of 3300 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup> coincident with maximal rates of vertical uplift indicates that surface water accessed the ice–bed interface causing widespread hydraulic separation and enhanced basal motion. The differential motion of four global positioning system (GPS) receivers located around the lake record the opening and closure of the fractures through which the lake drained. We hypothesise that the majority of discharge occurred through a 3-km-long fracture with a peak width averaged across its wetted length of 0.4 m. We argue that the fracture's kilometre-scale length allowed rapid discharge to be achieved by combining reasonable water velocities with sub-metre fracture widths. These observations add to the currently limited knowledge of in situ supraglacial lake drainage events, which rapidly deliver large volumes of water to the ice–bed interface

Sistemi zootecnici delle aree alpine

Viene presentato il panorama italiano sulla zootecnia alpina, evidenziandone i punti di forza e le criticit\ue0 attraverso le varie aree dell'arco alpino

Effect of season on nutritive value of an alpine pasture

Pasture is the cheapest source of nutrients for dairy cows, but supplementation with energetic concentrate can balance a diet with low energy/nitrogen ratio at the beginning of the grazing season or a low energy content at the end of the grazing season. Aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of seasonal variation and botanical composition on nutritive value of an alpine pasture over 3 grazing seasons. In 22 ha alpine pasture (Pr\ue0 Maslino, SO, 1650 m sl) most important botanical species (20) were sampled every 15 days through the 3 seasons (194 samples) and were analysed for chemical composition and Gas Production. Two types of botanical association included the most important part of pasture sward: Festuca rubra (47%) and Trifolium repens (44%), with 91 different species. Gramineae species had more DM content (38.6 \uf0b1 12.1 % as fed), NDF (67.9 \uf0b1 8.6 % on DM) and ADF (36.0 \uf0b1 6.4 % on DM) but less CP (10.4 \uf0b1 3.0 % on DM) than every other species (DM 27.7 \uf0b1 10.5 % as fed; NDF 52.5 \uf0b1 11.2 % on DM; ADF 33.8 \uf0b1 7.2 % on DM; CP 15.0 \uf0b1 5.4 % on DM). From June to September plant growth determined a decrease of quality, although there was a great variability for species and year of trial (average daily decrease of 0.5 g/kg DM for CP, average daily increase of 1.2 g/kg DM for NDF, while for gramineae species OM digestibility decreased 0.25 %/d and 0.18 %/d for other species). Multiple regressions of dOM on several analytical parameters were performed and the best significant equation for all samples was: dOM = 98.13 - 0.5305 DM (%) - 0.6071 ADF (% DM) (n=144; R2=0.63; RSD=7.69) According to the Cornell system, sward samples showed a high content of slow-degradation carbohydrate fraction \u201cb2\u201d (46.0 \uf0b1 6.8 % CHO) and a high content of medium-degradation protein fraction \u201cb2\u201d (75.1 \uf0b1 2.3 % CP), while the immediately-available carbohydrate fraction \u201ca\u201d was 22.3 \uf0b1 1.2 % CHO, and the immediately-available protein fraction \u201ca\u201d was 19.1 \uf0b1 2.3 % CP. These data suggest that grazing dairy cows need concentrates which takes into account the high protein content and fermentability of pasture at the beginning of the grazing season, and the low energy and protein content of pasture at the end of the grazing season

Large-scale heterogeneous cattle grazing affects plant diversity and forage value of Alpine species-rich Nardus pastures

In Europe, the decline in agriculture in traditional mountain farming areas has caused abandonment, or irregular grazing, of less accessible pastures. In the Italian Alps, we studied plant diversity, forage value and trophic traits in six large-scale heterogeneously grazed Nardus pastures, in their central and peripheral parts, and across the montane, lower and upper subalpine zones. Seventy cover-abundance floristic relevés were performed in randomly located permanent plots, half at the pasture edge (M-plots) and half in their central part (C-plots). Plant diversity varied significantly with respect to the distance from the edge, being higher in M-plots because of shrub invasion as a consequence of reduced cattle pressure. Nardus cover was slightly higher in C-plots and negatively related to plant diversity. Forage value was lower in M-plots and negatively correlated with the cover of Nardus and woody species, implying that different grazing pressure was negatively influencing sward productivity. Differences in trophic traits of swards between C- and M-plots existed mostly as trends. Forage value significantly decreased in the lower subalpine and montane pastures, which are further grazed in late summer. Heterogeneous grazing management was therefore exerting positive effects on plant diversity and negative effects on forage value. Results are discussed in the context of future management recommendations. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Meadows species composition, biodiversity and forage value in an Alpine district : Relationships with environmental and dairy farm management variables

Alpine meadows have been exposed to relevant management shifts in the last decades, with changes in plant species composition and biodiversity losses often occurring in favor of augmented foraging capabilities, especially in marginal rural contexts. In this study, we analyzed the relationships among the plant species composition, biodiversity and forage value of meadows and two sets of variables, environmental and management ones, in a dairy district of the Central Italian Alps. Results indicate that management variables could only explain limited variability of the meadows under study: for instance, the number of cuts per year is available to justify the plant species composition and biodiversity of such coenoses. Moreover, the environmental variables better described the variability of responses, due to the harsh environmental constraints of the area under examination, located at high altitudes. The shared effects of the two sets explained larger variance than the management set alone, due to the complex relationships of environmental and management factors in the context. The forage value of meadows, an indicator of hay quality, was found negatively associated with the Shannon Index. This behavior highlights a known dilemma which especially refers to high altitude communities as the ones under study, clearly highlighting trade-offs between their production and biodiversity. Some taxa as Anthriscus sylvestris, Heracleum sphondylium and others critically unbalance the species composition of meadows, thus their overall biodiversity, at low altitudes. This finding, explainable by the late first cuttings commonly adopted by all farmers, suggests the eutrophication of coenoses. The management choices inspected did not reflect on the wide variability of meadows, but indeed they made possible to understand how this farming system should be deeply revised, with respect to environmental constraints and meadows\u2019 fodder capabilities

Produzione e prerogative qualitative dei pascoli alpini : riflessi sul comportamento al pascolo e l'ingestione

Productive characteristics of italian alpine pastures were described both for quantitative and qualitative aspects. Particular attention was given to spatial and temporal variation models for main phytocoenosis. Alpine pastures have high nutritional quality up to yield peaks permitting good levels of potential food intake. Inadequate alimentation of milk-cows seems to be related at first to difficulty in reaching and procuring forage. This is why it\u2019s prioritary to set up rational grazing management plans before the use of integration with concentred foods

Environmental sustainability of alpine livestock farms

The 2006 FAO report concerning the environmental impact of the livestock sector has generated scientific debate, especially considering the context of global warming and the need to provide animal products to a growing world population. However, this sector differs widely in terms of environmental context, production targets, degree of intensification and cultural role. The traditional breeding systems in the Alps were largely based on the use of meadows and pastures and produced not only milk and meat but also other fundamental positive externalities and ecosystem services, such as conservation of genetic resources, water flow regulation, pollination, climate regulation, landscape maintenance, recreation and ecotourism and cultural heritage. In recent decades, the mountain livestock, mainly represented by dairy cattle, has been affected by a dramatic reduction of farms, a strong increase of animals per farm, an increase in indoor production systems, more extensive use of specialised non-indigenous cattle breeds and the increasing use of extra-farm concentrates instead of meadows and pastures for fodder. This paper firstly describes the livestock sector in the Italian Alps and analyses the most important factors affecting their sustainability. Secondly, it discusses the need to assess the ecosystem services offered by forage- based livestock systems in mountains with particular attention to greenhouse gas emission and its mitigation by carbon sequestration. In conclusion, comparison between the different elements of the environmental sustainability of mountain livestock systems must be based on a comprehensive overview of the relationships among animal husbandry, environment and socio-economic contex