The Role of ethics in promoting science, technology and innovation in Kenya

9TH Annual ethics conference. Theme : Bioethics medical, legal, environmental and cultural aspects in healthcare ethics at STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY, 25-26 OCTOBER 2012.9TH Annual ethics conference. Theme : Bioethics medical, legal, environmental and cultural aspects in healthcare ethics at STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY, 25-26 OCTOBER 2012.9TH Annual ethics conference. Theme : Bioethics medical, legal, environmental and cultural aspects in healthcare ethics at STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY, 25-26 OCTOBER 2012

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

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

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 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

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