Animal Sciences Commons^™

Successional Changes And Habitat Selection In Hayfield Bird Communities, Eric K. Bollinger

Eric K. Bollinger

I examined the effects of successional changes in vegetation on the breeding dispersion of grassland birds in hayfields in New York. I sampled vegetation and counted birds in 90 hayfields of various ages (i.e. number of years since planting) and sizes that were originally planted to a legume-dominated seed mixture. I also resampled a subset of these fields two years later. Over time, these hayfields changed from tall, dense, homogeneous stands of legume-dominated vegetation to short, sparse, patchy stands of grass-dominated vegetation. Fields of all ages were dominated by introduced plant species. Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), the most common bird …

Pollination Of The Crown Imperial Fritillaria Imperialis By Great Tits Parus Major, Winfried S. Peters, Michael Pirl, Gerhard Gottsberger, Dieter Stefan Peters

Winfried S. Peters

Transient Gear Shellfish Aquaculture, Michael A. Rice, Robert B. Rheault Jr

Michael A Rice

Transient-gear aquaculture is a method of growing shellfish that is designed to minimize multiple-use conflicts in common use public trust waters, and avoiding the need for a conventional fixed aquaculture lease site. A pro-forma economic model of an oyster farm using transient gear in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay is provided, and the advantages and disadvantages of transient gear aquaculture are discussed.

A Muscle Hypertrophy Condition In Lamb (Callipyge): Characterization Of Effects On Muscle Growth And Meat Quality Traits, M. Koohmaraie, S. D. Shackelford, T. L. Wheeler, Steven M. Lonergan, M. E. Doumit

Steven M. Lonergan

The present experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the callipyge phenotype on traits affecting muscle growth and meat tenderness. Dorset wethers (n = 40) that were either carriers or non-carriers were fed grain and slaughtered at 169 d of age. Callipyge phenotype did not affect ( P > .05) slaughter weight, hot carcass weight, or weights of the heart, spleen, viscera, kidney-pelvic fat, head, and pelt; however, callipyge lambs had a higher dressing percentage and lighter lungs, liver, and kidneys ( P < .01). Callipyge lambs had reduced fat thickness and marbling score and higher leg scores and longissimus area (34%). Adductor (30%), biceps femoris (42%), gluteus group (31%), longissimus (32%), psoas group (20%), quadriceps femoris (18%), semimembranosus (38%), and semitendinosus (26%) weights were higher in the callipyge phenotype ( P < .01); however, phenotype did not affect ( P > .05) weights of infraspinatus or supraspinatus. Longissimus pH and temperature declines were not affected ( P > .05) …

Delayed-Incubation Method For Microbiological Analysis Of Environmental Specimens And Samples, James S. Dickson, M. H. Brodsky, C. A. Davidson, M. J. Pettis, T. L. Tieso

James S. Dickson

Five laboratories compared the quantitative recovery of heterotrophic bacteria, yeasts and molds, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus from a variety of naturally contaminated food and water samples, using traditional incubation procedures and a delayed-incubation method. Refrigeration of inoculated media for up to 3 days prior to incubation was shown to be a viable option for many quantitative analyses, but needs to be validated for each application. Some inoculated media withstood refrigeration for up to 7 days prior to incubation without any detrimental effect on the recovery of target cells, while the incubation of other media for similar …

Relationship Of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (Rflp) At The Bovine Calpastatin Locus To Calpastatin Activity And Meat Tenderness, Steven M. Lonergan, C. W. Ernst, M. D. Bishop, C. R. Calkins, M. Koohmaraie

Steven M. Lonergan

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) have been identified at the bovine calpastatin locus. The objective of the present study was to determine whether these polymorphisms are related to variations in calpastatin activity or beef tenderness in unrelated animals of mixed breeding. A sample of 83 crossbred steers from sires representing eight different breeds was examined to determine this relationship. A 2.2-kb cDNA coding for domains 2 through 4 plus a 3¢ untranslated region of bovine skeletal muscle calpastatin was used as a probe for calpastatin RFLP. Polymorphisms were found using the restriction enzymes BamHI and EcoRI. Polymorphic restriction fragments for …