Aquatic and terrestrial plants and microorganisms were screened to test their ability to remove the herbicide, atrazine, from the environment. Plants included hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), reed canarygrass (Phalarius arundinacea), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), and two varieties ofperennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Microorganisms studied included a ...

The nutrient contents of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) are reasonably similar. Despite similarities, the lactation performance of dairy cows fed perennial ryegrass has not been compared with the lactation performance of dairy cows fed alfalfa. The present study was implemented to compare the performance of lactating cows fed alfalfa or perennial ryegras...

The major insect pest of Australian cool temperate pastures is the root-feeding insect Heteronychus arator (African black beetle, ABB). Significant pasture damage can occur even at low ABB densities (11 individuals per square meter), and often re-sowing of the whole paddock is required. Mitigation of the effects of pasture pests, and in particular subterranean species such as the larval form of...

Rumen fill may be a strong intake constraint for dairy cows fed on pasture, even though pasture is highly digestible in the grasslands of temperate climates. This constraint may also depend on the cows' maturity. Moreover, indoor feeding of fresh herbage may not always be a good model for the study of intake regulation at grazing. To test these hypotheses, four mature (6.3 ± 0.72 year old) and ...

The particle size of apatite is one of the critical factors that influence the adsorption of heavy metals on apatite in the remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils using apatite. However, little research has been done evaluating the impact of different particle sizes of apatite on immobilization remediation of heavy metal polluted soils in field. In this study, the adsorption isothermal e...

Changes in voluntary feed intake (VFI) and average daily gain (ADG) of 10to 12-month-old male red deer (Cervus elaphus) in response to a range of pasture morphological development stages of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) pasture in spring were investigated. An intake study in November 2000 tested responses to pastures spelled for 6, 8 or 10 weeks i...

Seedlings of Leptospermum scoparium J.R. et G. Forst (manuka) originating from seed from a low altitude coastal site (Auckland) and from a high altitude inland site (Desert Road) were grown for 96 days in four controlled environments to compare the relationship between growth temperature and frost hardening. Day/night temperature treatments were 12/6, 12/3, 12/0 and 12/-3 degrees C. Frost hardi...

Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) is an excellent tool for characterising genetic variation between plant genomes. To date, its use has been reported only for genotyping of single individuals. However, there are many applications where resolving allele frequencies within populations on a genome-wide scale would be very powerful, examples include the breeding of outbreeding species, varietal protec...

The RNA and protein content of perennial ryegrass root-tip galls induced by Longidorus elongatus were measured from transverse sections and the morphology described. Galls progressed through five distinct stages and were viable for only 10-12 days at 18 C, after which they collapsed and became necrotic. In the initial stage hypertrophy occurred and cells contained enlarged nuclei and nucleoli, ...

Genetic diversity of fungal endophytes, Neotyphodium species, was studied in grasses Festuca arundinacea, F. pratensis and Lolium perenne using AFLP  markers. Fungi were isolated from the host leaf sheaths and Neotyphodium species were selected based on morphological characteristics. To confirm identity of selected fungi belonging to the genus Neotyphodium, polymerase chain reaction was perform...