Legume Establishment on Strip Mined Lands in Southeastern Montana

Research was conducted on topsoiled strip mined lands at Colstrip, Mon., over a 6-year period to evaluate germination, survival, productivity, and cover characteristics of Eski sainfoin (Onobrychis viciaefolia), Lutana cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and ranger and spreader alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer were applied at a low rate during the first year of study. None of the experimental units received irrigation. Lutana cicer milkvetch and both varieties of alfalfa demonstrated good establishment, survival, canopy cover, and productivity characteristics. Eski sainfoin showed good initial establishment but declined in following years. Birdsfoot trefoil appeared to be unsuitable for revegetation of mined lands at Colstrip. Spreader alfalfa was superior to ranger alfalfa in the parameters evaluated. Lutana cicer milkvetch showed much potential for mined lands revegetation in the study area because of site stabilization, persistence, palatability, nitrogen fixation, and productivity characteristics.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202

Estimação do valor energético da pastagem e simulação de parâmetros do desempenho produtivo de novilhas em pasto Estimation of pasture energy value and simulation of productive performance of heifers under grazing

Estimaram-se o valor energético das forrageiras e o consumo de matéria seca por novilhas, em função do ganho de peso, criadas em pastagens de capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum Schum. cv. Napier) e capim-mombaça (Panicum maximum, cv. Mombaça), manejadas sob sistema rotacionado, mediante amostras tomadas via extrusa esofágica. As amostras relativas ao terceiro, segundo e primeiro dias de ocupação foram utilizadas para determinar os teores matéria seca, proteína bruta, extrato etéreo, fibra em detergente neutro, fibra em detergente ácido, lignina e cinzas para calcular os nutrientes digestíveis totais (NDT). Os valores do NDT preditos pelo sistema americano (NRC) e os estimados a partir do ganho de peso foram comparados com ajustamento de modelo de regressão linear simples. Os ganhos médios de peso diário foram de 0,649kg e de 0,590kg, respectivamente, para o capim-elefante e para o capim-mombaça, o que resultou na rejeição da hipótese de nulidade, ou seja, resultou em ausência de equivalência entre os valores preditos pelo sistema e os observados. A incorporação do fator empírico de correção (0,85) em substituição ao valor (0,667) proposto pelo NRC minimizou a ocorrência deste comportamento viesado.<br>Elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum, Schum. cv. Napier) and mombaçagrass (Panicum maximum, cv. Mombaça) pastures were evaluated under rotational grazing with samplings taken by esophageal extrusa. The energy value of grasses and the dry matter intake of heifers as a function of the weight gains were estimated. Samples relating to the third, second, and first days of the occupation period were used to determine the dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) to calculate the total digestible nutrients (TDN). The TDN values predicted by the American System (NRC) and those estimated from heifers weight gains were compared with adjustment of simple linear regression. The average weight gains were 0.649 and 0.590kg, respectively, for elephantgrass and mombaçagrass, that resulted in the rejection of nullity hypothesis, which means, it resulted in absence of similarity among values predicted by the system and those observed. The incorporation of the empirical factor (0.85) replacing the value (0.667) proposed by NRC resulted in better estimation

Trophic ecology of two savanna grazers, blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus and black wildebeest Connochaetes gnou

The feeding niches and trophic ecology of two South African grazers, blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus and black wildebeest Connochaetes gnou, are compared using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from feces and tooth dentine collagen. As sympatric, closely related taxa predicted to occupy similar trophic positions, the blue and black wildebeest provide a good model for studying the mechanisms of coexistence and macroevolution in mammals. Data from feces collected from a single reserve in the Free State Province reveal different trophic behaviors between two herds of blue wildebeest and between both compared with a single herd of black wildebeest. These data suggest that sympatric coexistence of blue and black wildebeest is facilitated by differential niche occupation at family group or herd levels, rather than between species. However, such separation does not occur over longer time scales: results from dentine collagen support the hypothesis that the two species are indistinct in terms of trophic behavior, although blue wildebeest show more feeding flexibility, probably because of their wider habitat tolerance range. Similarities in premaxillary width of males and females of both species also suggest that both species are adapted to similar feeding styles. Thus, it is unlikely that changes in trophic behavior provided the trigger for divergence of the black from the blue wildebeest lineage in the Middle Pleistocene. We argue that the case of these two species represents an example of speciation that was not driven by resource competition, as is often assumed for many turnover events in mammalian evolution. We briefly discuss a previous suggestion that links black wildebeest evolution to their more territorial breeding behavior associated with Middleto-Late Pleistocene landscape changes in southern Africa