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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Use Of Uav Imagery And Nutrient Analyses For Estimation Of The Spatial And Temporal Contributions Of Cattle Dung To Nutrient Cycling In Grazed Ecosystems, Amanda Shine
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Nutrient inputs from cattle dung are crucial drivers of nutrient cycling processes in grazed ecosystems. These inputs are important both spatially and temporally and are affected by variables such as grazing strategy, water location, and the nutritional profile of forage being grazed. Past research has attempted to map dung deposition patterns in order to more accurately estimate nutrient input, but the large spatial extent of a typical pasture and the tedious nature of identifying and mapping individual dung pats has prohibited the development of a time- and cost-effective methodology. The first objective of this research was to develop and validate …
Soil Fauna Accelerate Dung Pat Decomposition And Nutrient Cycling Into Grassland Soil, Kenneth S. Evans, Martha Mamo, Ana Wingeyer, Walter Schacht, Kent Eskridge, Jeff Bradshaw, Daniel Ginting
Soil Fauna Accelerate Dung Pat Decomposition And Nutrient Cycling Into Grassland Soil, Kenneth S. Evans, Martha Mamo, Ana Wingeyer, Walter Schacht, Kent Eskridge, Jeff Bradshaw, Daniel Ginting
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications
Soil fauna play critical roles in various ecosystem functions and services, but empirical data measuring their impact on dung pat decomposition and subsequent nutrient cycling into rangeland soils are limited. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of soil fauna, using dung beetle as an indicator, on dung decomposition and subsequent translocation of dung nutrients into grassland soil over time. A field experiment was conducted early in the summer season and late in the summer season of 2014 and 2015. In each season, dung beetle abundance, changes in dung properties, and subsequent translocation of dung nutrients into …