RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Sward variables did not differ between the indoor grazed turves and the outdoor grazed swards (P>0.05), giving confidence that turves extracted from the plots were representative of in situ swards. Sward height was generally greater for grasses than white clover at the same maturity stage, but bulk density was greater for the clover. Reproductive swards had greater mass b...

Some seaweed species have been shown to release water-borne cues after herbivore attack, for example, to attract natural enemies of the herbivore. These cues may also be sensed by neighboring seaweeds and used to adjust their defenses in anticipation of a possible herbivore attack. Several studies indicated information transfer between seaweed individuals in the past, including the brown seawee...

Seaweed-herbivore interactions are often mediated by environmental conditions, yet the roles of emerging anthropogenic stressors on these interactions are poorly understood. For example, chemical contaminants have unknown consequences on seaweed inducible resistance and herbivore response to these defenses despite known deleterious effects of contaminants on animal inducible defenses. Here, we ...

1. This study investigated how the size of crevices might affect their effectiveness as refuges for diatom-dominated algal assemblages from the grazing minnow Campostoma anomalum. 2. Crevice size was manipulated by making fired-clay substrates, using moulds to produce eight substrates with pits from 1.17 to 22.0 mm diameter. Non-pitted clay-stones and limestone were also tested. Cages were used...

Overgrazing has been the primary cause of grassland degradation in the semi-arid grasslands of the agro-pastoral transition zone in northern China. However, there has been little evidence regarding grazing intensity impacts on vegetation change and soil C and N dynamics in this region. This paper reports the effects of four grazing intensities namely un-grazed (UG), lightly grazed (LG), moderat...

A study was conducted to determine the abundance of potential foods and the feeding substrates and behaviors of the western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), in 2005, 2006, and 2007 in central Washington state. Aphid colonies with honeydew, a presumed food source for flies, were not seen on randomly selected branches of sweet cherry trees, Prunus avium L., ...

The assessment of aboveground biomass is important for achieving rational usage pasture resources and maximizing the quantity quality milk meat production. This study presents a method fast approximation pastures’ biomass. Unlike most similar studies, which rely on unmanned aerial vehicle satellite obtained data, this focuses photos made by stationary or mobile ground-based visual spectrum came...

eaten it? Does it grow faster or differently from un-grazed algae? To address these questions, an experiment conducted in streamside channels documented the re-growth of algae following grazing by two mayfly species. We found that algal re-growth did not depend on which mayfly species ate it; rather, it was the duration of grazing that mattered. The longer algae was grazed, the faster it grew. ...

On a Flemish sandy loam soil, cut and grazed swards were compared at different levels of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilization. Economically optimal N fertilization rates were 400 (or more) and 200 kg N ha yr on cut and grazed swards respectively. Considering the amounts of residual soil nitrate-N in autumn, these N rates also met the current Flemish legal provisions, i.e. no more than 90 kg ha ni...

The importance of disturbance in prairie has long been recognized. Increasingly interest and research have focused on the action and interaction of multiple disturbances. The distribution of Flodman's thistle [Cirsiumflodmanii (Rydb.) Arthur] on ant mounds, badger mounds, buffalo wallows, and potholes and in a lightly and a moderately grazed pasture was compared at the Nature Conservancy's S. H...