Poultry litter is a mixture of bedding materials and enteric bacteria excreted by chickens, and it is typically reused for multiple growth cycles in commercial broiler production. Thus, bacteria can be transmitted from one growth cycle to the next via litter. However, it remains poorly understood how litter reuse affects development and composition of chicken gut microbiota. In this study, the ...

The role of nutrient availability in the decay of Typha latifolia and Cladium jamaicense litter and associated microbial responses were studied under controlled experimental conditions. The experimental setup consisted of three 14 m mesocosms: (i) an experimentally enriched (N&P) mesocosm containing organic soil, (ii) a mesocosm with organic soil but no external enrichment, and (iii) a mesocosm...

Increases in tree biomass may be an important sink for CO2 as the atmospheric concentration continues to increase. Tree growth in temperate forests is often limited by the availability of soil nutrients. To assess whether soil nutrient limitation will constrain forest productivity under high atmospheric CO2, we studied the changes in forest litter production and nutrient cycling in a maturing s...

intestinal coccidiosis, caused by eimeria species, is an economically-important disease of poultry production industry worldwide. this study was designed to investigate the prevalence of different eimeria species in the farmed broilers of khoy city, west azarbaijan, north west iran. a total of 26 broiler farms of different production capacities were arbitrarily selected and examined in 2013. in...

Grazing management plays an important role in the continuous and economicutilization of pastures. Proper grazing management is a main factor for the accumulation ofplant litter which reduces soil erosion and increase the soil permeability to keep moremoisture in the soil. In current study, the effect of three different grazing intensities (low,moderate and high) along with the grazing gradient ...

The Rafter 7 Merino flock was initiated in Nevada in 1990 with the purchase of 500 purebred Rambouillet ewes. A gradeup program was initiated using Australian Merino genetics with the aim of developing a purebred Merino flock. Early in the project the Rafter 7 Merino line was created, which is approximately 5/8 Merino and 3/8 Rambouillet and has been a closed line since 1999. In a genetic selec...

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important crop among Brazilian smallholder farmers,who are also responsible for 40% of the poultry and egg production in the country.Although poultry litter is considered a potential pollutant, if properly stabilized anddistributed in the field it can be used as a source of nitrogen for maize production.In this study, the response of maize to mineral fertilizer and pou...

Polyether ionophores, monensin, and salinomycin are commonly used as antiparasitic drugs in broiler production and may be present in broiler litter (bird excreta plus bedding material). Long-term application of broiler litter to pastures may lead to ionophore contamination of surface waters. Because polyether ionophores break down at low pH, we hypothesized that decreasing litter pH with an aci...

Elevated atmospheric CO2 can alter aquatic communities via changes in allochthonous litter inputs. We tested effects of atmospheric CO2 on the invasive Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and native Aedes triseriatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae) via changes in competition for microbial food or resource inhibition/toxicity. Quercus alba L. litter was produced under elevated (879 ppm) and ambient (388 ppm) at...