Plant Biology Commons^™

Dilemma: Increase In Human Food Production Or Use Of Grasslands For Environmental And / Or Social Purposes, A. D. Meister

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the title for this paper we find three major objectives: to feed the world, sustain the environment and provide resources for social purposes, and a dilemma. Even though the word ‘dilemma’ usually implies choice between undesirable alternatives, it is obvious that the alternatives here are not undesirable. Is the dilemma then, that we can only do one at the time, or that the consequences of favouring one over the other can lead to undesirable outcomes? It is my opinion that we are talking about the latter interpretation. It is the foreclosing of options by allowing one objective to dominate …

De-Intensification Of Grasslands: Understanding The Processes To Find The Balance, K. C. Hodgkinson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There is a growing trend in Australia and other developed countries for deintensification of animal production from grasslands and for grasslands to be used for purposes other than livestock grazing. These shifts are occurring for a variety of reasons including unsustainable land management practices, environmental pollution, loss of conservation value, poor commodity prices and declining rural infra-structure and communities. In Australia, the shifts are under way in agricultural grasslands, where sown pastures occur in a matrix of semi-natural woodlands, but less so in the other three major natural grasslands that forms the arid and semi-arid rangelands.

The conversion of natural …

De-Intensification Of Grasslands: Current State And Trends, Michael Duru, Bernard Hubert

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

De-intensified use of grasslands, and more generally of the livestock systems they support, has been triggered by a growing sensitivity of citizens to environmental quality (nitrogen) and quality of animal products, and by the warnings addressed to political authorities by scientists about the environmental consequences of economic imbalances (decreasing biodiversity, drop in soil fertility, greenhouse effect), and in particular of food overproduction in Europe.

From an ecological standpoint, grassland de-intensification must be envisaged whenever the techniques implemented disrupt resource sustainability. The grassland resource itself may be at risk when a rate of vegetation offtake by herbivores that is incompatible with …

Grasslands, Communicating The Benefits, D. Keeney

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The multiple benefits of perennial agriculture , including forages and grasslands, for building soil quality, protection of natural resources, enhancement of biodiversity and wildlife, are well known to us, but little understood by the public. This is not a situation where “more education” would necessarily increase recognition. Rather, we must build in the public a desire for the enhancement of green space, clean water and air, and diverse landscapes that multiple purpose agriculture can bring. We seek such environments intuitively and now that much of the world’s people are “trapped” in urban settings of steel and concrete, this desire is …

Late Winter Dietary Overlap Among Greater Rheas And Domestic Herbivores On The Argentinean Flooding Pampa, G. Vacarezza, M. S. Cid, F. Milano

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This study evaluates the dietary overlap among greater rheas (Rhea americana L.) sheep and cattle in the Flooding Pampa, Buenos Aires, Argentina during late winter, when is observed the lowest forage availability. The work was carried out with the following forage classes (FC): warm and cool season grasses and forbs (legumes and no-legumes). Diet botanical composition was estimated by microanalysis of faeces. Principal Component Analysis and Kulcyznsky´s index of similarity were used for data analysis. Rhea populations selected diets with higher forb percentages. On the contrary, vegetation structure and their own morpho-physiology conditioned cattle to diets almost exclusively gramineous. …

Constraints And Opportunities For Development Of Grasslands In Urban Areas Of The Niayes Zone In Senegal, S. T. Fall, I. Cissé

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A survey was carried out in urban areas of the Niayes zone in Senegal to explore grasslands development in agropastoral systems around towns. Rapid rural appraisal and farms multiple visits were done to describe the forage cropping system, identify constraints and opportunities of developing grasslands in urban areas. In Niayes urban areas, forage production system is being developed based on the cropping of several grass and tree species. Only a minority of farmers is involved in that activity. Level of grass production is rather low. Weak development of grasslands is observed. Main reasons are: farmer poor willingness to crop for …

Center For Grassland Studies, November 2021

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Contents

Ranchers’ Preferences for Payment for Ecosystem Services Programs in Nebraska by Kyle Martens

Center for Grassland Studies Policy Advisory Committee

Director's Column by Walt Schacht (Interim Director)

Fall Army Worms Reared Their Ugly Heads and Wings in Nebraska in 2021by Roch Gaussoin

Dalbey-Halleck Open House by Margo McKendree

Internships – Let’s Get More Students on the Land! by Shelly Kelly

Jim Gerrish Insightful and Relatable for Grazing Livestock (GLS) Club Members

Action Plan For The International Year Of Rangelands And Pastoralists (Iyrp): The Case For The United States, Canada, And Mexico, Barry Irving, Larry Howery, Jürgen Hoth, Jess Peterson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The GAP analysis (A Case of Benign Neglect: Knowledge gaps about sustainability in rangelands and pastoralism) points to several gaps that are relevant to the US, Canada and Mexico. North American rangelands span the ecological continuum of polar to hot deserts and arid to humid climates that exhibit highly variable ecological and forage production potential across time and space. Although there is a great deal of rangeland research, extension, and inventory capacity in all three countries, a weak link is the dissemination of information to North American pastoralists (conventionally referred to as ranchers or producers). Although the extension system in …

The State Of Grasslands Across Inner Mongolia And Mongolia, Guodong Han, David R. Kemp, Bulgamaa Densambuu, Zhiguo Li, Cuiping Gao, Zhongwu Wang, Zhiqiang Qu, Mengli Zhao, G. Udval, Qian Wu, Naya, Linxi Hu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands across Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, with their long history of nomadic livestock grazing, are very important natural resources for animal husbandry and environmental services. The main types of grasslands are meadow steppe (forest steppe), typical steppe (steppe) and desert steppe. Most of the grasslands are degraded due to over-grazing, which reduces animal production and the values of environmental services. Overgrazing decreases plant production, species biodiversity, ecosystem stability, soil fertility & structure, and lowers animal productivity leading to reduced household incomes. In pastoral areas across Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, degraded grasslands can be rehabilitated by better managing stocking rates. Our …

Modelling Grazing And Burning In Communal Rangelands To Help Understand Trade-Offs Between Production, Carbon, And Water, H. J. Hawkins, M. Moradzadeh, M. L. Vermeire, Farai Chikomba, L. Wu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangelands cover more than 80% of South Africa’s land area, providing critical ecosystem services, livelihoods and cultural values related to livestock. Communally owned rangelands are often overgrazed and subject to runaway fires but lack of data limits our understanding of how these threats impact production. In this transdisciplinary project, we use models to test hypotheses and predict future scenarios as a planning tool for resource-poor communal farmers. We think that moderate grazing and fire regimes will increase overall production and carbon sequestration with uncertain trade-offs for water and nutrient cycling. To test this, we trained two process-based biogeochemical models (DAYCENT …

Visual Assessment Of Soil Structure As An Early Indicator Of Soil Quality In Response To Intensive Rotational Grazing, N. Teutscherova, E. Vazquez, D. Baquero, N. E. Velasquez-Ruiz, M. Pulleman, Jacobo Arango

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands can play a crucial role in mitigation of global warming by serving as carbon sink. Nevertheless, to achieve the grasslands’ potential, sustainable management is of the utmost importance as it determines system’s productivity and ecosystem services. Due to the increasing demand for animal products in developing countries, grazed areas increase exponentially in the tropics, mainly due to unsustainable management leading to low productivity and soil degradation. We evaluated the impact of intensive rotational grazing management (IRG) on early indicators of soil quality following land-use change based on on-farm observations of visual soil characteristics using two different widely used assessment …

Ecophysiology Of Grasslands: Dynamic Aspects Of Forage Plant Populations In Grazed Swards, G. Lemaire

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The aim of this paper is to review knowledge of the ecophysiological mechanisms influencing the dynamics of plant populations in grazed swards. Such an objective requires some definitions. Firstly, it is necessary to define “ecophysiology” as the study of the interactions between biological individuals (plants) with their own environment: how individuals perceive and react to any constraint and change of their environment, and how the functioning of plants as a population can modify their own environment. Such a definition implies a dynamic approach to pant population functioning as resulting from constant plant-plant interactions mediated by micro-environment modifications. In a grazed …

Center For Grassland Studies, September 2021

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Contents

Nebraska Grazing Conference Recap by Daren Redfearn

Center for Grassland Studies Policy Advisory Committee

Director's Column by Walt Schacht (Interim Director)

Land Use and Property Taxes by Jordan Johnson

Congratulations August 2021 Graduates

Wildfires are Changing the Future of Nebraska’s Woodland-Grassland Complexes by Amanda Hefner

PGA WORKS Scholarship Recipients Announced by PGA Reach

Grazing Livestock Systems Internships Provide Diverse Experience by Bryan Reiling

Jim Choquette Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Production Potential Of South America Grasslands, G. E. Maraschin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands exist all over the world under a wide range of climates, soil types, topography conditions and seasonality. The South America grasslands cover a wide range of ecosystems and vegetaion types, going from desert areas to steppes, subhumid temperate, subtropical and tropical savannas embodying also portions of the tropical rain forest environment, and represent one of the Earth’s largest expanses of natural rangelands (Oesterheld et al., 1992). They represent developed ecosystems requiring acquaintance to accept sound agronomic and ecological activities. The diversity of vegetation determined by the latitudes 6^oN, down to the southern most tip of the continent …

The Conservation Of Grasslands And Rangeland By Pastoralists: Challenges And Opportunities, Thomas M. Loquang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Application Of Farming System Models To The Problem Of Sustainable Grasslands Management In Northern China And Australia, Randall Jones, D. Michalk, David R. Kemp, J. P. Wu, T. Takahashi, Z. F. Ma, G. Millar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Center For Grassland Studies, July 2021

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Contents

21st Nebraska Grazing Conference on the Horizon by Daren Redfearn

Center for Grassland Studies Policy Advisory Committee

Director's Column by Walt Schacht (Interim Director)

21st Annual Nebraska Grazing Conference Schedule, August 9-11, 2021

Club Officers Elected for FY 21-22 by Jessica Windh

2021 Fall Seminar Series Schedule

CGS Scholarships and Fellowship Awarded for FY 21-22

Congratulations May 2021 Graduates

Improved Forage Seed Availability In Southern Uganda, P. Grimaud, S. G. Byenkya, Elly N. Sabiiti

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Center For Grassland Studies, May 2021

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Contents

Prescribed Burn Associations by Brian Teeter

Center for Grassland Studies Policy Advisory Committee

Director's Column by Walt Schact (Interim Director)

Looking for a Career in Conservation – How to Apply in USAJOBS for NRCS Positions by Mary Reece

Monitoring Sandhills Rangelands: A Key Step in Understanding Plant Community Dynamics by Mitch Stephenson

Development of Novel Plant Fluorescence Based Techniques for Remote Assessment of Grasslands and Pastures Health and Resilience by Anastasios Mazis

UNL PGA Golf Management Alumni Among Nebraska Section Award Winners by Brad Goetsch

Nebraska’s Grassland Legacy by Walt Schacht

Nebraska Grazing Conference: Save the Date, August 9-11, …

Effects Of Concentrate Supplement On Intake And Weight Gain Of Grazing Lambs, Xiaoqing Zhang, Yanmei Jin, Risu Na, Qizhong Sun

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Challenges Of Cropping And Forestry Intensification On Grasslands Livestock Production Systems: The Uruguayan Case, Fabio Montossi, Walter Ayala, R. Díaz

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Improvement Of Degraded Permanent Grasslands By Grazing In The Ne Romania, C. Samuil, V. Vintu, T. Iacob, I. C. Popovici

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Soil‐Atmosphere Exchange And Mitigation Of Nitrous Oxide And Methane Emissions In New Zealand's Terrestrial Biosphere, Surinder Saggar, K. R. Tate, D. L. Giltrap, J. Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Criteria And Indicator Monitoring Of Ecosystem Sustainability To Assess Ecosystem Services On Grasslands/Rangelands, R. Dennis Child, Janette Kaiser, Ralph Crawford

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Soil‐Plant Indicators For Determining The Impact Of Management On The Stability Of Grasslands In Cattle Exploitation, Sandra Lok, Gustavo Crespo, E. Frómeta, S. Fraga

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Forests, Steppes And Grasslands In Morocco: Diversity, Ecological Importance And Socio‐Economic Role, Mohammed Sghir Taleb, Mohamed Fennane

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Long-Term Phosphorus Fertilization And Addition Of Perennial Legumes On A Temperate Natural Grassland: I. Changes In Spieces Biodiversity And Stability, Martín Jaurena, Walter Ayala, José Terra, Raül Bermudez, Ethel Barrios, Ximena Lagomarsino

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Building Bridges: Grasslands To Rangelands, James T. O'Rourke, Gavin Sheath, Vivien G. Allen

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Silting Yield Index On Biomass And Carbon Sequestration Potential Along An Altitudinal Gradient Of Subtropical Chir Pine Forests And Grasslands In North Western Himalaya, India, Debasis Mahato, B. Gupta, Matber Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Biomass is an important characteristic of vegetation and is regarded as an important indicator of ecological and management processes in the vegetation. Measures of standing crop also reflect the amount of energy stored in the vegetation, which can indicate the potential productivity at the site. Forests are important for carbon sequestration besides playing very important role in the global carbon cycle. They store about 80% of all aboveground and 40% of all belowground terrestrial organic carbon. This study comprises to estimate the biomass and carbon stock of chirpine forests at different altitudinal gradients.

Importance Of Grassland Management For Carbon Sequestration And To Mitigate Climate Change: A Review, Poonam Yadav, Sheela Choudhary, Sunil Dutt Choudhary, Praveen Kaushik

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands, including rangelands, shrub lands, pastureland, and cropland sown with pasture and fodder crops, covered approximately 3.5 billion ha in 2000, representing 26 percent of the world land area and 70 percent of the world agricultural area, and containing about 20 percent of the world’s soil carbon stocks (Ramankutty et al., 2008). All ecosystems- forested ecosystems, agro-ecosystems, grassland, ecosystems etc. take up atmospheric CO₂ and mineral nutrients and transform them into organic products In undisturbed ecosystems, the carbon balance tends to be positive: carbon uptake through photosynthesis exceeds losses from respiration, even in mature, old-growth forest ecosystems.

Improving …