1 In this work we propose a novel method to analyze and recognize automatically 2 sound signals of chewing and biting. For the automatic segmentation and classi3 fication of acoustical ingestive behaviour of sheep the method use an appropriate 4 acoustic representation and statistical modelling based on hidden Markov models. 5 We analyzed 1813 seconds of chewing data from four sheep eating two ...

Infection with gastro-intestinal nematodes (GIN) is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting small ruminants in the tropics. Mixed grazing between sheep and cattle reduces infection of the small ruminants and improves growth performances (Mahieu et al., 1997). Also, it is possible to select Creole goats on resistance to GIN during the post weaning growth and the periparturient period (Mando...

Impala are known to exhibit dietary flexibility, relying primarily on browse in some areas and graze in others. In this study we use stable isotope analysis of faeces and hair to examine the diets of impala in Kruger National Park. As expected, the data show that impala are mixed-feeders and highly distinct from grazing buffalo and browsing kudu. Moreover, impala, buffalo, and kudu faeces conta...

Hydroxy-galactocerebrosides (mixed chain length, constituent of myelin membranes) from bovine brain are investigated as monolayers at the air-water interface with isotherms, fluorescence microscopy, x-ray reflectivity and grazing incidence diffraction. With grazing incidence diffraction a monoclinic tilted chain lattice is found in the condensed phase. According to x-ray reflectivity, the longe...

We assessed plant interspaces in July 2007 using continuous line intercepts in twice-replicated pastures of northern mixed-grass prairie with contrasting grazing treatments: 1) long-term (25 yr) heavily grazed, dominated by the bunchgrass blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and 2) ungrazed, dominated by the rhizomatous grass western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii). The number of plant interspaces ...

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) caused by H5N1 viruses has become a global scale problem which first emerged in southern China and from there spread to other countries in Southeast and East Asia, where it was first confirmed in end 2003. In previous work, geospatial analyses demonstrated that free grazing ducks played critical role in the epidemiology of the disease in Thailand in the ...

Sahelian pastoralism is encountering difficult problems as population growth leads to the expansion of cropland at the expense of traditional pastures. Many analysts believe that pastoralism is bound to dis appear and is likely to be replaced by mixed crop–livestock farming systems, where livestock stay near the farms and provide milk, draft power, and manure for soil fertility (Boserup 1965; R...

The role of rangelands in the regulation of atmospheric CO2 concentrations is a critical issue in global climate change research. Rangelands are complex ecosystems that occupy about 50% of the land area in the world and USA. We studied the effects of seasonal grazing on CO2 flux on small plots located on a silty range site in the northern mixed-grass prairie with an Eapa fine loam soil. Treatme...