Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Comparison Of Two Different Pasture Species Compositions For Recovery Of Deep Soil Nitrogen During Winter, Brendon Malclom, Keith Cameron, Grant Edwards, Jim Moir, Hong Di

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Surplus nitrate (NO₃^-) beneath animal urine patches is highly vulnerable to leaching, particularly during winter when soil drainage is often highest. Most common pastures in New Zealand (i.e. Lolium perenne) have relatively shallow root systems and produce low dry matter (DM) yields during winter months. Recent investigations suggest that alternative pasture species may be able to recover more soil nitrogen (N) during winter and consequently reduce NO₃^- leaching losses (Moir et al., 2013; Malcolm et al., 2014; 2015). However, further work is required to better understand the importance of root system architecture and plant …

Effect Of Selected Tanniniferous Leaves On In Vivo Enteric Methane Emission In Sheep, M. Saravanan, R. Bhatta, L. Baruah, P. K. Malik, N. Ravi

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Concentration of methane is continuously increasing in atmosphere and now almost 155% (IPCC, 2007) more than that recorded during pre-industrial era. Livestock production is a major sector accountable for high methane emission into atmospheric pool. World’s livestock is contributing around 15% of total atmospheric methane on annual basis feeds (Moss et al., 2000). Additionally, methane emission from ruminants leads to a loss of 2 to 15% of the dietary energy (Holter and Young, 1992). Due to these two crucial issues, researchers are working tirelessly to find a suitable and effective way for enteric methane amelioration accompanied with minimal inputs. …

Methane Emission Estimated From Different Cattle Intake Data In Heifers Grazing A Tropical Pasture, José Augusto Imaz, O. Hernández, D. Dos Santos, A. Radrizzani, J. I. Arroquy

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

The quantification of methane (CH₄) from enteric fermentation related to cattle diet is a useful tool to identify strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This is even important in tropical and subtropical regions due to the lack of CH₄ estimations in beef cattle, particularly from Bos Indicus breeds grazing tropical grasses (Kurihara et al., 1999). Several modelling approaches have been developed in order to predict CH₄ emission. However, the use of these models has limitations associated with uncertainty information required such as feed intake (FI), composition of the selected diet and animal responses (Gonzalez et …

Effect Of Graded Levels Of Condensed Tannin (Ct) From Mimosa Pudica On In-Vitro Methane Production, P. K. Malik, R. Bhatta, N. Ravi, M. Saravanan, L. Baruah

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Livestock in the country are primarily being fed on fibrous feed resulted in high enteric methane (CH₄) emission along with low nutrients availability to host animal. Rumen methano genesis is necessary for the host system as this process ensure the removal of fermentative H₂ through the reduction of CO₂ into CH₄. At the same time this process is wasteful because the emission also represents a loss of dietary energy (6-12% of gross energy intake) apart from contributing to global warming.

Worldwide livestock contribute around 90-95 Tg methane to the pool with a contribution of …

Gross Biomass And Root/Shoot Ratio Mediated Drought Sensitivities Of Ecosystem Carbon Exchange In A Meadow Steppe, Yunbo Wang, Wei Sun, Deli Wang

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

According to IPCC’s Report (2007), global precipitation regimes will change largely in the future, with more annual precipitation at the mid-latitude regions. Simultaneously, due to the accelerating industrialization and use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer, significant increase in nitrogen deposition has been widely documented (Liu et al., 2013).

Water and nitrogen are the two most important limiting factors for the ecological processes of arid and semi-arid grassland ecosystems; therefore, altered precipitation regimes and enhanced nitrogen deposition are likely to change vegetation composition, ecosystem productivity, and aboveground vs belowground biomass distribution.

In addition to these long-term changes, short-term climate extremes, such …

Spatial Heterogeneity Of Soil And Vegetation Characteristics And Soil-Vegetation Relationships Along An Ecotone In Southern Mu Us Sandy Land, China, Yingzhong Xie, Kaiyang Qiu, Dongmei Xu, Richard Pott

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Spatial pattern analysis is an essential component of spatial heterogeneity studies on soil properties and vegetation characteristics. It was conducted in several studies for both soil and vegetation characteristics (Strand et al., 2007; Dick and Gilliam, 2007; Zuo et al., 2010). This study aims to examine the changes in the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties at different soil layers, the spatial heterogeneity of soil and vegetation characteristics along an ecotone, and soil-vegetation relationships along the ecotone in a critical area of desertification.

Evaluate The Interactions Between Grassland Ecosystems And Precipitation Anomalies Under Changing Grazing Intensity In Central Asia, Dildora Aralova, Babatunde A. Osunmadewa, Toderich Kristina, Dilshod Gafurov, Elmar Csaplovics

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Long term monitoring of grassland being the largest ecosystem on earth plays an important role in understanding its productivity and transformation (changes) over time. With the availability of remote sensing data, most ecological and environmental problems caused either by human activities such as extensive agriculture, pastoralism which might lead to desertification, land degradation, loss of biodiversity and climate change amongst others can be monitored. For this study, vegetation cover was selected as the main source of examination and subsets of area covered with grasslands were profiled for further monitoring of grassland increasing and decreasing trends in selected areas of Central …

Effect Of Climate Change In 50-Years Period On Grassland Productivity In Central Poland, Piotr Goliński, Marek Czerwinski, Barbara Golińska

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

In Central Europe, the climate change is predicted to bring more rainfall in winter, less rainfall in summer, and an increased drought risk (Trnka et al., 2011). Smit et al., (2008) reported that significant drops in grassland productivity can usually be attributed to drier summers. Also in Poland, the most important abiotic factor limiting grassland productivity is water shortage and its distribution during vegetative season. Indicating the influence of climate on grass vegetation growth could be an important tool in grassland management on the national, regional and single grassland scales. The aim of the study was to evaluate …

Climate Change Adaptation In Vulnerable Crop And Livestock Production Systems In Mgeta, Tanzania, Leif Jarle Asheim, Zabron C. Nziku, Lars O. Eik, Dismas Mwaseba, George C. Kifaro

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Awareness regarding effects of climate change on the environment and livelihoods is becoming more apparent than at any time before (Elisha, 2006). Among the farming systems that have attracted the attention in Tanzania, are those in Mgeta in thehigh altitude water catchment area in the Uluguru Mountains. Land degradation have been widely reported in Mgeta (Ponte, 2001), and is currently threatening the source of water for domestic use and livelihoods of the local communities. Increased occurrence of droughts and dry spells during the growing seasons might reinforce the problem. A robust cropping system toreplace the erosion vulnerable vegetables seems needed …

Response Of Dynamic Change Of Vegetation Index To Precipitation Fluctuations In Hulunbeier Typical Steppe, Zhaoyan Diao, Shihai Lu, Zhirong Zheng, Shengxing Ye

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

In arid and semi-arid regions, precipitation is an important environmental limiting factor for ecosystems, where precipitation characteristic parameters at different time scales have great variability (Mohammad and Howard, 2006), and the small precipitation events (< 5 mm) is the subject of precipitation events (Loik et al., 2004, Sala and Lauenroth, 1982). In this study, we used vegetation index extracted from TM or MODIS image to establish the regression models between vegetation index and precipitation, and then analyzed the response of typical steppe vegetation to precipitation fluctuations. Our result can supply reference for the productivity measurement model in typical steppe.

Effect Of Silting Yield Index On Biomass And Carbon Sequestration Potential Along An Altitudinal Gradient Of Subtropical Chir Pine Forests And Grasslands In North Western Himalaya, India, Debasis Mahato, B. Gupta, Matber Singh

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Biomass is an important characteristic of vegetation and is regarded as an important indicator of ecological and management processes in the vegetation. Measures of standing crop also reflect the amount of energy stored in the vegetation, which can indicate the potential productivity at the site. Forests are important for carbon sequestration besides playing very important role in the global carbon cycle. They store about 80% of all aboveground and 40% of all belowground terrestrial organic carbon. This study comprises to estimate the biomass and carbon stock of chirpine forests at different altitudinal gradients.

Brain Structure Changes Over Time In Normal And Mildly Impaired Aged Persons, Charles D. Smith, Linda J. Van Eldik, Gregory A. Jicha, Frederick A. Schmitt, Peter T. Nelson, Erin L. Abner, Richard J. Kryscio, Richard R. Murphy, Anders H. Andersen

Neurology Faculty Publications

Structural brain changes in aging are known to occur even in the absence of dementia, but the magnitudes and regions involved vary between studies. To further characterize these changes, we analyzed paired MRI images acquired with identical protocols and scanner over a median 5.8-year interval. The normal study group comprised 78 elders (25M 53F, baseline age range 70-78 years) who underwent an annual standardized expert assessment of cognition and health and who maintained normal cognition for the duration of the study. We found a longitudinal grey matter (GM) loss rate of 2.56 ± 0.07 ml/year (0.20 ± 0.04%/year) and a …

Frost Tolerance, Deacclimation And Reacclimation Traits In Perennial Ryegrass, Mats Höglind, Hans Martin Hanslin

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

The ability of perennial grasses to harden and maintain frost tolerance throughout the winter is crucial for winter survival. This includes the ability to resist deacclimation during transient mild spells in winter, and the ability to reacclimate when cold temperatures return. The latter traits are especially critical in regions with cycles of freezing and thawing, and lack of a stable, insulating snowcover that can protect the plants from extreme air temperatures. Such conditions are typical for many coastal areas in Northern Eurasia and America, such as the southwestern coast of Norway. The climate is changing and one of the consequences …

Importance Of Grassland Management For Carbon Sequestration And To Mitigate Climate Change: A Review, Poonam Yadav, Sheela Choudhary, Sunil Dutt Choudhary, Praveen Kaushik

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Grasslands, including rangelands, shrub lands, pastureland, and cropland sown with pasture and fodder crops, covered approximately 3.5 billion ha in 2000, representing 26 percent of the world land area and 70 percent of the world agricultural area, and containing about 20 percent of the world’s soil carbon stocks (Ramankutty et al., 2008). All ecosystems- forested ecosystems, agro-ecosystems, grassland, ecosystems etc. take up atmospheric CO₂ and mineral nutrients and transform them into organic products In undisturbed ecosystems, the carbon balance tends to be positive: carbon uptake through photosynthesis exceeds losses from respiration, even in mature, old-growth forest ecosystems.

Improving …

Effect Of Topographical Condition On Radioactive Cesium Pollution Of Herbaceous Plants In A Mountainous Grazing Pasture After Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident, Shin-Ichiro Ogura, Masanori Saito

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

The Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, followed by tsunami, incurred the accident of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS). The radioactive fallout was dispersed by wind and deposited in large part of eastern Japan by rainfall or snowfall after the accident (Chino et al., 2011; Katata et al., 2012; Terada et al., 2012). That caused extensive pollution by radioactive cesium (Cs) (the sum of 134Cs and 137Cs) in agricultural lands (MEXT, 2011) including permanent pastures and meadows. In mountainous areas, it can be thought that radioactive Cs migrated from convex to concave regions by snow …

Simulating The Effect Of The Climate Change, Genotypes And Management On The Productivity Of Forage Cowpea In Semi-Arid Regions Of India, Suchit K. Rai, Sunil Kumar, D. Deb

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Climate variability and change due to increase in green house gases concentration and the resultant increase in temperature has led to notable changes in different sectors including water and agriculture which would impact food security (Rai et al., 2014) in many regions of the developing world, which are largely dependent on rainfed and labor intensive agricultural production (Ziervogel and Calder, 2003). Eco-physiological models are widely used especially the potential impacts of climate change (Gitay et al., 2001; White et al., 2011). The cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is an annual herbaceous legume cultivated for its edible seeds …

Change In Migration And Pasture Utilization By Brokpa Pastoral Nomads: A Sustainable Adaptation Strategy For Climate Sensitive Arunachal Pradesh!?, Sanjit Maiti, S. K. Jha, Sanchita Garai, Vijay Paul, G. Krishnan, A. K. Bera, D. Bhattacharya, S. M. Deb

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

The north-eastern states of India specially Arunachal Pradesh, one of the bio-diversity hotspot, is expected to be greatly affected by climate change. Climate change will not only adversely impact the biodiversity of Arunachal Pradesh, but also affect the livelihood of local communities as they fully dependent on the natural resources. The Monpa is a primitive tribe inhabiting parts of West Kameng and Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The pastoral nomad of the Monpa tribe is popularly known as Brokpa. Transhumance system of livestock mainly yak (Poephagus grunniens L.) rearing is their main source of livelihood. In recent past, …

Integrated Evaluation Of Soil Carbon Budget By Manure Application On Forage Production, Mikinori Tsuiki, Ryo Sato, Shoji Matsuura, Mariko Shimizu, Ryusuke Hatano, Takatoshi Arita, Akinori Mori, Akira Miyata, Masayuki Hojito, Mitsuhiro Niimi

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Grasslands and forage crop fields produce forages and also have many services and functions such as repositories of biodiversity, climate regulation and soil conservation (Sala and Paruelo, 1997). Carbon budget is one of these important ecosystem services by high levels of carbon sequestration below ground (Hungate et al., 1997). Manure application increases carbon budget and also affects forage production, NO₃^- leaching to underground water and N₂O emission to atmosphere. Integrated evaluation of these various environmental impacts is important to find optimum condition for forage production and environmental impacts. LIME2 (Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on …

Regulation Of Nitrification In Soil: Advances In Integration Of Brachiaria Hybrids To Intensify Agriculture And To Mitigate Climate Change, Jacobo Arango, Idupulapati M. Rao, Manabu Ishitani, John W. Miles, Michael Peters, Joe Tohme, Danilo E. Moreta, Margaret Worthington, Rein Van Der Hoek, Mario Cuchillo, Glenn Hyman, Jeimar Tapasco, Jesus Martinez

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Higher rates of nitrification in soil facilitate nitrogen (N) losses from agricultural systems through nitrate-leaching and denitrification. Plants’ ability to produce and release nitrification inhibitors from roots and suppress soil-nitrifier activity is termed ‘biological nitrification inhibition’ (BNI) (Subbarao et al., 2015). Up to 70% of applied N-fertilizer is lost (via NO3−leaching and gaseous-N emissions) from agricultural systems and the annual economic loss from lost N-fertilizer is estimated at 90 US$ billion. Previous research has indicated that Brachiaria humidicola (Bh), a tropical forage grass that is well adapted to infertile and waterlogged soils, has high capacity to inhibit nitrification in …

Down Regulation Of Receptor Like Kinase Gene In Apomictic Cenchrus Ciliaris, Shashi, Anuj Dwivedi, Vishnu Bhat

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Apomixis is a potential technology for agriculture to fix heterosis or hybrid vigor in hybrid plants. Cenchrus ciliaris which is a popular forage crop reproduces predominantly through apomixis and has been used as a model plant to understand genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling apomixis. A partial receptor like kinase gene (CcRLK) was isolated from apomictic C. ciliaris which showed exclusive expression in the embryo sacs of apomictic flowers compared to sexual embryo sacs during in situ hybridization analysis. This gene showed kinase and LRR domains implying its putative role in signaling pathways. In order to understand its …

Development Of Est Derived Microsatellite Markers In Buffel Grass And Their Cross Transferability To Other Forage Grasses, Auji Radhakrishna, Krishna Kumar Dwivedi

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) is an important perennial grass grown widely in arid and semiarid regions of the world. It is one of the prominent species of the Dichanthium-Cenchrus-Lasiurus grass cover spread over the Peninsular India (Dabadghao and Shankarnarayan, 1973). C. ciliaris is a warm season, C₄ grass well adapted to survive harsh conditions, elevated CO₂ levels and wide range of climates and soil regimes. It is considered an excellent pasture grass as it provides highly nutritious and palatable forage during drought periods. Despite its excellent forage characteristics genetic improvement through conventional breeding methods has been …

Ploidy Dependent Expression Of Apomixis Components In Guinea Grass (Panicum Maximum Jacq.), P. Kaushal, Krishna Kumar Dwivedi, Auji Radhakrishna, Sheena Saxena, Sharmishtha Paul, Ajoy K. Roy, D. R. Malaviya

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Apomixis is an asexual method of reproduction through seeds. The potential of apomixis has been envisaged as “asexual revolution” by virtue of its capacity to fix hybrid vigour, a much desirable feature in breeding of agricultural crops. The genetic mechanism of apomixis regulation is complex and is believed to be largely affected by polyploidy (Nogler 1984). Expression of apomixis essentially contains three components, viz. apomeiosis (formation of unreduced egg cell), parthenogenesis (fertilization independent embryo development) and functional endosperm development (autonomous or psuedogamous). In contrast to previous reports, the evidence has now gathered that these three components can be functionally …

Establishment Of High-Efficiency Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation Of Callus Derived From Sehima Nervosum, An Important Range Grass Species, Krishna Kumar Dwivedi, Tanu Sonkar, R. Katiyar, Auji Radhakrishna, P. Kaushal

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Sehima nervosum is one of the important rangeland grass in India, It is commonly known as Saen grass in India, white grass in Australia, and has also been reported from the Central East Africa and Sudan. It is a good forage grass and maybe utilized for grazing as well as for hay preparation. It is a perennial grass, prefers hot and dry climate and survive even in limited rainfalls. As this natural grass is found inherently rich in precursors for several industrially important biomolecules, fractionation of these precursors seems to be a promising endeavour. Production of nutraceuticals (prebiotic xylo-oligosaccharides) from …

Transcriptome Analysis Of Differentially Expressed Genes At Pre-Meiotic Developmental Stage In Pennisetum Hybrids With Contrasting Modes Of Reproduction, Krishna Kumar Dwivedi, Auji Radhakrishna, D. R. Malaviya, Ajoy K. Roy, P. Kaushal

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Apomixis is an asexual reproduction through seeds where embryo develops without meiosis and fertilization. It is widely distributed throughout plant kingdom, but is more prevalent in families like Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Poaceae (Carman, 1997). This trait is highly desirable for fixing heterosis in F1 hybrids with significant implications for crop improvement (Dwivedi et al., 2007). Therefore it is necessary to unravel the molecular and genetic basis of apomixis to tap its potential. Pennisetum is an important genus of the Poaceae family which contains a wide range of species exhibiting wide variability in morphological, molecular, and reproductive traits (Jauhar, …

Differential Gene Expression Patterns Of Male Sterile Lines Of Alfalfa Hybrids At Bud Differentiation Stage And Heterosis, Liyan Cai, Fengling Shi, Cuiping Gao, Fengyan Yi, Xia Gao

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is important legume forage that is widely cultivated in China and other countries. Alfalfa breeding can’t meet the need of production now, highlighted in yield and resistance of current alfalfa cultivars (He et al., 2000; Wei et al., 2007). Increasing heterozygosity of hybrids and thus the heterosis is a way to breed alfalfa cultivars with high yield and resistance (Hong et al., 2009). The objective of this study was to investigate the correlations of various differential gene expression patterns with forage yield in order to better understand the role the alfalfa male …

Nutrient Profiling And Identification Of Genetic Marker For Azolla Sp., Upendra Kumar, Anjani Kumar, N. Umakanta, T. B. Bagchi, Sangita Mohanty, Awadhesh Kumar, Md Shahid, A. K. Nayak

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Azolla (mosquito fern, duckweed fern, fairy moss and water fern) is a genus of seven species of aquatic ferns. They float on the surface of water by means of scale-like leaves, with their roots hanging in the water. Azolla is able to fix unlinked nitrogen (N₂) directly from the atmosphere because of its endosymbiotic blue alga Anabaena azollae (Van Hove, 1989), and is thus a very promising supply of nitrogen to aquatic ecosystems. In recent years, apart of traditional cultivation of Azolla as a bio-fertilizer for wetland paddy, also find increasing use for sustainable production of livestock feed. …

Validation Of Ssr Markers Linked To The Bean Common Mosaic Virus (Bcmv) Resistance In Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata L.) Genotypes, N. Manjunatha, K. T. Rangaswamy, N. Nagaraju, H. A. Prameela, P. Rudraswamy

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) is one of the important grain and fodder legume crops in the world, especially in tropics and subtropics. Which can adapted different climatic conditions such as high temperature and drought. It is not only important as a grain and fodder but also improve fertility of poor soils by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. An estimated cultivated area of cowpea is 12.5mha in worldwide (FAOSTAT, 2013). The grain and fodder productivity of cowpea are greatly affected by a number of biotic factors such as plant pathogens and insect pests. Among plant pathogens, viruses are considered to be a major …

Functional Characterization Of Siberian Wild Rye Grass Eshsp 16.9 Gene Conferring Diverse Stress Tolerance In Prokaryotic Cells, Ki-Won Lee, Ki-Yong Kim, Hee-Chung Ji, Tae-Young Hwang, Sang-Hoon Lee

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Siberian wild rye (Elymus sibiricus L.) is a perennial, caespitose, and self-pollinating grass indigenous to Northern Asia and also is widely distributed from Northern Europe to Japan. The plant shows strong environmental adaptability with tolerance to drought and cold; thus, it is often used as forage resources (Yan et al., 2007). Environmental stresses caused by global warming are acknowledged to be as a serious issue in agriculture due to reductions of crop productivity (Ahuja et al., 2010). Genetic natural breeding of Siberian wild rye would potentially increase the productivity of forage crops; however, genetic studies on this …

A New Candidate Cultivar Of Brachiaria Grass 'Br-203' Developed With Apomixis Marker Assisted Selection, Through A Collaborative Breeding Activity Of Thailand And Japan, Ganda Nakamanee, Masumi Ebina, Katsuhisa Shimoda, Sarayut Thaikua, Wattanawan Srisomporn, Chalermpon Patipan, Kazuhiro Suenga, Sada Ando, Kaori Kouki, Genki Ishigaki, Ryo Akashi, Yasuhiro Kawamoto

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

Brachiaria grass (Brachiaria spp.) is one of most important tropical forage grass which belongs to family Poaceae, subfamily Panicoideae, tribe Paniceae, genus Brachiaria. Brachiaria grass has attracted attention because of a leading ‘Green Revolution’ over tens of millions of hectares in the Central Brazilian Cerrado in the 1970s. Breeding programs for Brachiaria grass have been conducted mainly by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). Careful and effective recurrent selection of tetraploid sexual lines for vigor, growth habit, leafiness, and spittlebug resistance have spawned several successful hybrid cultivars: ‘Mulato’, …

Reviewing Fire, Climate, Deer, And Foundation Species As Drivers Of Historically Open Oak And Pine Forests And Transition To Closed Forests, Brice B. Hanberry, Marc D. Abrams, Mary A. Arthur, J. Morgan Varner

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Historically open oak and pine savannas and woodlands have transitioned to closed forests comprised of increased numbers of tree species throughout the eastern United States. We reviewed evidence for and against a suite of previously postulated drivers of forest transition focused on (1) change in fire regimes, (2) increased precipitation, (3) increased white-tailed deer densities, and (4) loss of American chestnut. We found that fire and fire exclusion provide a parsimonious mechanism for historical dominance by open forests of fire-tolerant oak and/or pine species and subsequent transition to closed forests with fire-sensitive tree species that fill the vertical profile. Based …