Forest fragmentation affects animal population dynamics mainly by loss of habitat and disruption of animal movement. Lizard assemblages are affected by environmental changes, but, depending on their ecological needs, some species might be more vulnerable than others. The southern Amazon suffers accelerated anthropic actions replacing natural environments by farmland (crops and pasture). This re...

A 3-year study, using 84 fall-born and 28 spring-born calves of similar genotypes, was conducted to integrate pasturing systems with drylot feeding systems. Calves were started on test following weaning in May and October. Seven treatments were imposed: 1) fall-born calves directly into feedlot; 2 and 3) fall-born calves put on pasture with or without ionophore and moved to the feedlot at the e...

the base of this review is to consider the relevant role that animal factors (potential milk yield, body weight, body condition score, state of lactation, parity and fertility) play on milk performance (considering the energy balance and the rumen function across the full lactation curve of animals) and milk quality (milk protein content, milk fat content, milk lactose content, vitamins, minera...

Many factors affect ruminant carcass and meat quality, and among the genetic and environmental factors, feeding plays an important role in the determination of quality. In a large study, sixty-four German Holstein and German Simmental bulls were randomly allocated to either an indoor concentrate feeding system or periods of pasture feeding following by a finishing period. During this period the...

Argentine meat has been traditionally produced on pasture. However, to comply with some market requirements, grain finishing is becoming more common among producers. The main goal of the present work was to study lipid oxidation in fresh meat from animals fed different diets in relationship with their antioxidant vitamin status. Attributes were evaluated in beef from pasture or grain-fed animal...

Pasture-based dairy systems use grazing to supply significant percentages of the dry matter intake of cows and heifers. Such systems vary from those for which pasture is used only as a supplemental feed for cows primarily fed a total mixed ration to those for which pasture is the primary source of dry matter for the herd. Cows that are optimal in a pasture system share many general characterist...

land cover change constitutes one of main way of alteration of soil organic matter in both quantitative and qualitative terms. the goal of this study was to compare the carbon stock and the isotopic signature of the organic matter in the soil of areas with different land use, covered with forest and grass (pasture). the study area is located at sorocaba, sp, brazil. using un-deformed soil sampl...

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of restricting access time to pasture and time of grazing allocation on grazing behaviour, daily dry matter intake (DMI), rumen fermentation, milk production and composition in dairy cows. Twenty-one autumncalving Holstein cows were assigned to one of the following 3 treatments: providing access to a daily strip of pasture for either 8 h bet...

There are two competing hypotheses about the structure and dynamics of primeval forests in lowland Europe: the high-forest and the wood-pasture hypotheses, both of which influence current European forest conservation policies. In a recent study using pollen-analytical data from across lowland Europe, Mitchell provides support for rejecting the wood-pasture hypothesis. His study is important for...

Lucerne has been found to be a valuable pasture plant for young sheep (Morley and Axelsen 1965; Reed, Snaydon and Axelsen 1972), but its value for fattening cattle has not been compared with that of grass legume pastures such as phalaris-subterranean clover. The effect of pasture species may depend on stocking rate, and perhaps influence the weights at which different breeds of cattle are ready...