Comparison of methods for determining leaf area in tree rows

Accepted versio

Trails to Two Moons /

Advertisements on p. [1]-[2] at end.Frontispiece.Verso of t.p.: Norwood Press. Set up and electrotyped by J.S. Cushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.Verso of t.p.: Published September, 1920.Mode of access: Internet

The oldest elasmosaurs (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from Antarctica, Santa Marta Formation (upper Coniacian? Santonian–upper Campanian) and Snow Hill Island Formation (upper Campanian–lower Maastrichtian), James Ross Island

Elasmosaurs are recorded for the first time in the Lachman Crags Member (Beta Member) of the Santa Marta Formation (lower Campanian) and in the Herbert Sound Member of the Snow Hill Island Formation (upper Campanian). These are the first elasmosaurids from James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These records greatly improve our knowledge of the taxonomic diversity of plesiosaurs of the Santa Marta Formation and Herbert Sound Member of the Snow Hill Island Formation, and extend the lower limit of the record of Elasmosauridae in Antarctica to the lower Campanian, making this the oldest record of an Antarctic elasmosaur

Acúmulo de forragem durante a rebrotação de capim-xaraés submetido a três estratégias de desfolhação Herbage accumulation during regrowth of Xaraés palisadegrass submitted to rotational stocking strategies

Objetivou-se comparar a dinâmica do acúmulo de forragem em pastos de capim-xaraés [Brachiaria brizantha (A. Rich.) Stapf. cv. Xaraés] submetidos a três estratégias de desfolhação intermitente, uma baseada no calendário (pastejo a cada 28 dias) e duas na interceptação luminosa (IL), aos 95 ou 100% de interceptação luminosa. A massa de forragem (MF) pré-pastejo foi maior na estratégia de desfolhação aos 100% de interceptação de luz. Os piquetes pastejados aos 95% de interceptação de luz e a cada 28 dias apresentaram menores massas de forragem e não diferiram entre si na primavera. O pastejo aos 95% de interceptação de luz aumentou a proporção de folhas, apesar das menores massas pré-pastejo. O pastejo aos 100% de interceptação de luz resultou na menor porcentagem de folhas na massa de forragem, indicando que a maior produção total de forragem foi ocasionada pelo maior alongamento de colmos, o que está associado à competição por luz entre as plantas no interior do dossel. O prolongamento do período de descanso para além dos 95% de interceptação da luz incidente aumenta a massa de forragem na entrada dos animais no momento do pastejo (100% IL ou a cada 28 dias durante o verão), porém, esse aumento é resultado do acúmulo de colmos e material morto e pode afetar negativamente o valor nutritivo da forragem produzida e o desempenho animal.<br>The objective of this research was to describe comparatively the dynamics of herbage accumulation in Xaraés palisadegrass pastures [Brachiaria brizantha (A. Rich.) Stapf cv. Xaraés] submitted to rotational stocking managements, defined either by pre-graze light interception (LI) by the canopy (95% or 100% LI) or calendar days (28d). Pre-graze forage mass (FM) was higher for 100% LI pastures. Pastures grazed at 95% LI and 28-d resulted in similar pre-graze FM in the spring, both lower than that of the 100%-LI treatment. Grazing at 95% LI resulted in higher leaf percentage in pre-graze forage, although total pre-graze FM was lower. Forage produced in paddocks grazed at 100% LI had lower pre-graze leaf percentage, indicating that the higher forage accumulation in that treatment was a result of higher stem elongation, likely due to light competition within the canopy. Rest periods beyond the point where swards achieved 95% LI (100% LI or 28-d during the summer) resulted in higher accumulation and higher pre-graze FM, although this corresponded mainly to large amounts of stem and dead material, which could negatively affect the nutritive value of the forage produced and animal performance

Peritoneal fluid changes in horses subjected to small colon distension

Intestinal devitalization in cases of small colon obstruction may be difficult to detect based only in clinical signs. The purpose was to serially evaluate blood and peritoneal fluid of horses subjected to small colon distension. Seventeen adult horses were allotted in three groups. In the small colon-distended group (DG, n=7) a surgically-implanted latex balloon was inflated to promote intraluminal small colon distension. In the shamoperated group (SG, n=5), the balloon was implanted but not inflated, and no surgery was done in the control group (CG, n=5). Blood and peritoneal fluid were sampled before and after (6 samples with a 30-minute interval) intestinal obstruction for cytological and biochemical analyses. No significant changes in clinical signs occurred within groups or across time during the experimental period. There were no statistical differences among SG and SG groups in hematologic and blood chemistry variables. Although total protein concentration and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in peritoneal fluid remained most of the time within reference values during the experimental period in all groups, increases from baseline values were detected in SG and DG groups. Such increases occurred earlier, progressively and with greater magnitude in the DG when compared with the SG (P<0.05). Increases from baselines values were also observed in total nucleated cells and neutrophils counts in the DG (P<0.05). In conclusion, distension of the equine small colon induced progressive subtle increases in total protein and LDH concentrations in the peritoneal fluid during the first hours. Serial evaluation of these variables in peritoneal fluid may be useful for early detection of intestinal devitalization in clinical cases of equine small colon obstruction

On the tracks of the earliest dinosaurs: implications for the hypothesis of dinosaurian monophyly

From the record of dinosaurian skeletal remains it has been inferred that the origin and initial diversification of dinosaurs were rapid events, occupying an interval of about 5 million years in the Late Triassic. By contrast numerous reports of dinosauroid tracks imply that the emergence of dinosaurs was a more protracted affair extending through much of the Early and Middle Triassic. This study finds no convincing evidence of dinosaur tracks before the late Ladinian. Each of the three dinosaurian clades - Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha, Ornithischia - produced a unique track morphotype that appears to be an independent modification of the chirotherioid pattern attributed to stem-group archosaurs (thecodontian reptiles). The existence of three divergent track morphotypes is consistent with the concept of dinosaurian polyphyly but can be reconciled with the hypothesis of dinosaurian monophyly only by invoking many and rapid reversals in the locomotor anatomy of early dinosaurs. The origin of dinosaurs was not the correlate or consequence of any single event or process, be it global change, competitive replacement, or opportunism in the wake of mass extinction. Instead the origin of dinosaurs is envisaged as a series of three cladogenetic events over an interval of at least 10 million years and possibly as much as 25 million years. This scenario of dinosaurian polyphyly is as well-supported by fossil evidence as is the currently favoured view of dinosaurian monophyly