Predicting Seed Yield of Alfalfa Clones

Seeds of varieties with high seed yield potential usually have been less expensive than varieties with low seed yield potential. Therefore, experiments were conducted to determine: (a) whether associations between seed production potential and morphological or physiological plant characteristics exist, and (b) if such associations are of sufficient magnitude to use to identify plants having both desirable forage and seed production potential

Preedicting Seed and Forage Yields of Alfalfa Open Pollinated Progenies

Selecting traits measured in North Central Region nurseries has contributed to agronomically superior cultivars for forage production in the region, but not all of them have the genetic capacity for high seed yield in the western states. Seeds of such cultivars are also more expensive than more prolific cultivars, but both cost efficiency and traits for increased forage and seed yields are desired. That will be possible only if such traits are highly heritable and also are genetically correlated with yield attributes. For those reasons experiments were initiated in 1966 to determine: (a) whether associations between seed production potential and morphological or physiological plant characteristics exist, and (b) if such associations can be used to identify plants with both forage and seed production potentials

Registration of ARS-2936 Scarlet Globemallow Germplasm

SCARLET GLOBEMALLOW (Sphaeraicea coccinea (Pursh) Rydb.), ARS-2936, Reg. no. GP-4, PI 564590, is a native, perennial. herbaceous species of Malvaceae widely distributed in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains rangelands of the western USA (4). This species is characterized by widely spreading rhizomes, brick-red petals, and a dense, short, raceme-like inflorescence, and stellate trichomes. Flowers are attractive and plants bloom from May to July or longer with favorable moisture (5). Leaves are palmately veined with the lobes coarsely toothed. Plant height is less than 30 cm and commonly is less than 20 cm. Scarlet globemallow often is found in foothill habitats with sandy or gravelly soils, open flats, talus slopes, along roadsides and generally in arid places (2). Where it occurs, scarlet globemallow is an important rangeland dietary component of small mammals, pronghorn, sheep, and cattle (1)

Element concentrations in globemallow herbage

Globemallows (Sphaeralcea spp.) are native, drought-resistant forbs of interest for inclusion in seed mixtures for semiarid rangeland renovation. Little is known of their nutritional value for ungulates. We measured element concentrations in representative globemallow species and evaluated their adequacy for livestock nutrition. We also correlated forage selection by sheep (Ovis aries) with element concentrations. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), crested wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn. X A. desertorum (Fisch.) Schult.], and 13 accessions of globemallows [S. coccinea (Pursh) Rydb., S. grossulariifolia (H. & A.) Rydb., S. munroana (Dougl) Spach., and S. parvifolia A. Nels.] were transplanted into replicated grazing trials in southern Idaho. Herbage was sampled and the pastures were grazed by sheep in the fall of 2 years and in the spring of the following 2 years. Concentrations of Ca and Mg in crested wheatgrass were lower than in forbs. Differences between seasons were greater than the differences among globemallow species. Forage selection ratios were positively associated with the N concentration of globemallow leaves and with the Ca:P ratio of globemallow stems but were negatively associated with stem Zn concentrations. Herbage from pastures containing crested wheatgrass with globemallows and/or alfalfa would meet the dietary element requirements of beef cattle (Bos taurus) and sheep

The evolution of language: a comparative review

For many years the evolution of language has been seen as a disreputable topic, mired in fanciful "just so stories" about language origins. However, in the last decade a new synthesis of modern linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has begun to make important contributions to our understanding of the biology and evolution of language. I review some of this recent progress, focusing on the value of the comparative method, which uses data from animal species to draw inferences about language evolution. Discussing speech first, I show how data concerning a wide variety of species, from monkeys to birds, can increase our understanding of the anatomical and neural mechanisms underlying human spoken language, and how bird and whale song provide insights into the ultimate evolutionary function of language. I discuss the ‘‘descended larynx’ ’ of humans, a peculiar adaptation for speech that has received much attention in the past, which despite earlier claims is not uniquely human. Then I will turn to the neural mechanisms underlying spoken language, pointing out the difficulties animals apparently experience in perceiving hierarchical structure in sounds, and stressing the importance of vocal imitation in the evolution of a spoken language. Turning to ultimate function, I suggest that communication among kin (especially between parents and offspring) played a crucial but neglected role in driving language evolution. Finally, I briefly discuss phylogeny, discussing hypotheses that offer plausible routes to human language from a non-linguistic chimp-like ancestor. I conclude that comparative data from living animals will be key to developing a richer, more interdisciplinary understanding of our most distinctively human trait: language

Utilization of globemallow (Sphaeralcea) taxa by sheep

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