Litter-dwelling thrips are an important component of soil macroinvertebrates in tropical and subtropical regions. However, little is known about assemblage composition, seasonal abundance and vertical distribution of litter-dwelling thrips. A survey of forest litter-dwelling thrips and other soil macroinvertebrates was conducted in an urban forest remnant at Guangzhou, China during 2004-2005 an...

Many invasive plant species strongly alter ecosystem processes by producing leaf litter that decomposes faster and releases N more quickly than that of native species. However, while most studies of invasive species litter impacts have only considered the decomposition of species in monoculture, forest litter layers typically contain litter from many species. Many litter mixtures decompose in a...

A chicken growth study was conducted to determine if litter type influenced gut microbiota and performance in broilers. Seven bedding materials were investigated and included soft and hardwood sawdust, softwood shavings, shredded paper, chopped straw, rice hulls, and reused softwood shavings. Microbial profiling was done to investigate changes in cecal bacterial communities associated with litt...

Examining data describing the sex composition of 1074 Caesarean-delivered litters of house mice, 253 Caesarean-delivered and 265 vaginally delivered litters of Mongolian gerbils, and 854 vaginally delivered litters of golden hamsters, we determined whether segregation of sexes between uterine horns and correlations between litter size and litter sex ratio were present in each of the three roden...

Viral and bacterial pathogens are a significant economic concern to the US broiler industry and the ecological epicenter for poultry pathogens is the mixture of bedding material, chicken excrement and feathers that comprises the litter of a poultry house. This study used high-throughput sequencing to assess the richness and diversity of poultry litter bacterial communities, and to look for conn...

Th ere is increasing evidence that litter decomposition is faster beneath the plant species it was derived from, an eff ect called home-fi eld advantage (HFA). Adaptation of soil biota to decompose the litter that they encounter most often has been proposed as the main mechanism to explain HFA. However, there is little direct evidence supporting this assumption and the contribution of diff eren...

It is widely recognized that feedbacks exist between plant litter and plant community species composition, but this relationship is difficult to interpret over heterogeneous conditions typical of modified environments such as roadways. Given the need to expedite natural recovery of disturbed areas through restoration interventions, we characterized litter accumulation and nutrient content (i.e....

In recent years an emphasis has been placed on reducing food borne pathogens on the farm. Of particular interest to the poultry industry is Salmonella enterica. In the United States, a common practice in broiler management is the reuse of litter for consecutive flocks; this practice can lead to a Salmonella positive flock causing the colonization of sequential flocks. Reuse of litter can also l...

a comprehensive study on the chemical composition of rainwater was carried out in obuasi, a gold mining town in ghana. rainwater samples were analyzed for major ions (ca2+,mg2+, k+, na+, nh4+, cl-, no3- and so4 2-) and trace metals (fe, al, zn, pb, cr, and cd). the rainwater was typically acidic with a mean ph of 4.76±0.47, which ranged from 4.0 to 5.6. the low ph found in the water suggests t...

the oil extracted from three major canola cultivars (hyolla401, hyolla420 and rgs003) grown in golestan province was analyzed for physico-chemical properties, fatty acid composition, minerals content, and stability during 16 weeks of storage. according to the results, the highest iodine value and refractive index belonged to hyolla401. the highest saponification value was observed in hyolla420....