African wild ungulates compete with or facilitate cattle depending on season

Savanna ecosystems are vital for both economic and biodiversity values. In savannas worldwide, management decisions are based on the concept that wildlife and livestock compete for grassland resources[1-4], yet there are virtually no experimental data to support this assumption[1]. Specifically, the critical assessment of whether or not wild ungulates alter livestock performance (e.g., weight gain, reproduction or survival) has rarely been carried out, although diminished performance is an essential prerequisite for inferring competition[1]. Here we use a large-scale experiment in a semi-arid savanna in Kenya to show that wild ungulates do depress cattle performance (weight gain) during the dry season, indicating a competitive effect, but enhance cattle performance during the wet season, signifying facilitation. This is the first experimental demonstration of either competitive or facilitative effects of an assemblage of native ungulates on domestic livestock in a savanna ecosystem, and a unique demonstration of a rainfall-dependent shift in competition-facilitation balance within any herbivore guild. These results are critical for better understanding and management of wildlife-livestock coexistence in savanna ecosystems globally, and especially in the African savanna biome which crucially hosts the last remnants of an intact large herbivore fauna

Nutritive and toxic properties of Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad. herbage under varied agronomic and grazing systems

Summary; Materials and methods; Site; Pasture management; Forage sampling; Sample preparation; Chemical analysis; Results and discussion; Nutritive quality; Pastures; Dry matter content; Leaf and stem fractions; Acid detergent lignin; Acid detergent fiber; Ash; Crude protein; Toxic components; Nitrate; Oxalate; Total alkaloid; Management implications; Literature cited; AppendixBulletin containing the results of a study to determine the influence of various pasture management practices on the levels of nutritive and toxic ompounds found in kochia herbage in northeastern New Mexico

Structural development and productivity of replanted mangrove plantations in Kenya

Forest structure and productivity was investigated in a 12-year-old Rhizophora mucronata Lam. plantation at Gazi Bay, Kenya. Sampling was carried out in 22, 10 m × 10 m quadrats laid along belt transects perpendicular to the waterline. Within each quadrat all trees with stem diameter greater than 2.5 cm were identified, position marked and counted. Vegetation measurements included tree height (m), canopy cover (%) and stem diameter measured at 1.3 m above the ground (D130); from which were derived basal area (m2/ha); stand density (stems/ha) and biomass (t/ha). Information regarding composition and distribution of juveniles was derived using linear regeneration sampling (LRS). The replanted forest had a stand density of 5132 stems/ha; with a mean canopy height and stem diameter of 8.4 ± 1.1 m (range: 3.0-11.0 m) and 6.2 ± 1.87 cm (range: 2.5-12.4 cm), respectively. The total juvenile density was 4886 saplings per hectare; 78.6% of which constituted the parental canopy. The standing biomass for the 12-year-old R. mucronata plantation was 106.7 ± 24.0 t/ha, giving a biomass accumulation rate of 8.9 t/(ha year). © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Structural development and productivity of replanted mangrove forests in Kenya

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Supplement 1. Data necessary to replicate statistical analyses of the effects of protein supplementation and sampling period on various measured parameters.

<h2>File List</h2><div> <p><a href="Odadi_data.csv">Odadi_data.csv</a> [checksum: f9d7e3de260dad6bbff1b1fa3568793d] </p> </div><h2>Description</h2><div> The Odadi_data.csv file is in comma-separated values format. It contains untransformed data on various response variables analysed in the study, including biting and movement behavior, performance (weight gain), diet quality, and selection. For each response variable, data are means for individual animals (replicates) per sampling period.</div

Appendix B. Estimation of crude protein intake by supplemented heifers, if they were to select diets with crude protein levels similar to diets selected by the non-supplemented heifers.

Estimation of crude protein intake by supplemented heifers, if they were to select diets with crude protein levels similar to diets selected by the non-supplemented heifers

Appendix C. A photograph showing a classic patch of Rhinacanthus ndorensis, a forb species most commonly consumed by cattle, amid dry grass tufts.

A photograph showing a classic patch of Rhinacanthus ndorensis, a forb species most commonly consumed by cattle, amid dry grass tufts

Appendix A. Relative consumption (percentage of bites) of plant species individually comprising less than 1% of total bites by non-supplemented (CON; control) and supplemented (SUP) cattle at different periods.

Relative consumption (percentage of bites) of plant species individually comprising less than 1% of total bites by non-supplemented (CON; control) and supplemented (SUP) cattle at different periods