Plant Pathology Commons^™

Bird And Mammal Fauna Assemblages In Well-Preserved Natural Grasslands Of Uruguay With Different Livestock Management, Rafael A. Tosi-Germán, Álvaro Laborda, Sebastián Donate, Oscar Blumetto

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The aim of this study is to assess the composition of mammalian and avian communities in sites under two different cattle management plans: one where sheep are present along bovine cattle and another where pastures are grazed solely by bovines.

Improving Livestock Production Assuring Natural Grassland Ecosystem Conservation: Three Key Management Practices At Farm Level, Oscar Blumetto, Santiago Scarlato, Andrés Castagna, Guadalupe Tiscornia, Andrea Ruggia, Gerónimo Cardozo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ecosystem changes by human activities are a central topic in environmental discussions and temperate grasslands are among the most altered ecosystems on the planet (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The Rio de la Plata grasslands are among of the most extended temperate grasslands in the world, along with the prairie system of North America, the grasslands in east Europe and Mongolia, the grassvelds in South Africa and the New Zealand plains. They cover the central-eastern part of Argentina, Uruguay and south of Brazil. Natural grasslands are very rich in terms of number of species, reaching up to more than 3,000 vascular …

Planet At Risk From Grazing Animals?, Albrecht F. Glatzle

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The famous FAO report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” (Steinfeld et. al. 2006) and hundreds of subsequent publications blamed domestic livestock, in general, and grassland-based production systems in the (sub) tropics, in particular, of causing serious environmental hazards such as climate change, claiming that 18% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are from livestock, more than from the transport sector. Few reviews challenged this claim, and those that did received little attention from the media. Pitseky et al. (2009) revealed the double standard applied by the FAO in this matter. Whereas for livestock products a full life cycle assessment for …

Agroecosystem Health Cards: A Practical Tool For Sustainable Management Of Grasslands, Iker Mijangos, Isabel Albizu, Mikel Anza, Iker Martin, Sorkunde Mendarte, Lur Epelde, Carlos Garbisu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The traditional grazing activity carried out for centuries in mountainous areas of the Basque Country (Northern Atlantic Spain) facilitated the presence of different extensive pasture habitats, such as those included in the Gorbeia Natural Park and surrounding valleys (43° 02’N, 2° 49’W). Currently, these pastures are highly valued due to the ecosystem services they provide. In this context, one of the main objectives of the LIFE-SOILMONTANA project (ref. LIFE 10 NAT/ES/579) is to develop a practical tool that allows grassland managers (farmers, scientists and authorities) to auto-evaluate the suitability of alternative agronomic practices in relation to the conservation of these …

Mixed Species Seeding: A Means To Increase Production In Temperate Pastures, Michael P. Schellenberg, Bili Biligetu, Valentin Picasso

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Seeding mixed species for forage production has been suggested as a means of increasing productivity and stabilizing yields under a changing climate. Forages have traditionally been sown as monocultures or binary mixtures only, with the emphasis being on species and not necessarily their function or compatibility. While natural plant communities typically may be dominated by a single species, they are comprised of several species and function-al groups.

This paper provides the results of sowing multiple species at semiarid sites within the North American Great Plains and identifies a similar result from a more humid region reported within the literature.

Designing High-Yielding, High-Diversity And Low-Input Temporary Grasslands, Karen Søegaard, Tine B. Mortensen, Jørgen Eriksen

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Species-rich swards have received increasing interest due to their focus on ecosystem services, animal welfare and product quality. However, in high-yielding swards the proportion of herbs is often limited and there is little knowledge of their management. Seed mixture composition, cutting frequency, fertilization and grazing/cutting strategies were examined over 4 years in 3 experiments to quantify their effects on herbage yield and botanical composition. Inclusion of herbs in the sward gave similar or higher annual yields but swards established with 100% herbs depended on the presence of a driver species. The effects of management differed between species. Herb content in …

Investigations Into Aspergillus Flavus Infection Of Corn And Regulation Of Aflatoxin Production By Volatiles And Biocontrol Strains, Rebecca R. Sweany

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Aspergillus flavus is an ascomycete fungus impacting agriculture, public and environmental health due to production of acutely-toxic, carcinogenic aflatoxins in oil seed crops, especially corn in Louisiana, and lung infections of immunocompromised patients resulting in a leading cause of AIDS patients’ deaths globally. The most effective aflatoxin mitigation strategy, biocontrol by atoxigenic A. flavus presents several concerns including: dissemination of a human pathogen, possible sexual reproduction and reliance on precise environmental conditions. Several aspects of A. flavus biology were investigated to potentially improve treatments. Studies investigated how genotypically diverse members within the A. flavus population interact with other population members …

Ecologically And Socially Sustainable Livestock Development In Marginal Areas, Ilse Köhler-Rollefson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

“Marginal areas” are perceived as difficult and unproductive landscapes, always under the threat of drought, desertification and poverty. Yet, both dryland and high altitude marginal areas have an extraordinary output of livestock products; in the efficiency of producing human-edible protein they far surpass more fertile areas. This productivity under adverse climatic conditions rests on sophisticated strategies and social institutions developed by pastoral communities to deal with variability in the availability of resources. It depends on the use of animal genetic resources that are adapted to make best use of local vegetation and can cope with seasonal variations in availability. Livestock …

Discovery Of Novel Dsrna Viral Sequences By In Silico Cloning And Implications For Viral Diversity, Host Range And Evolution, Huiquan Liu, Yanping Fu, Jiatao Xie, Jiasen Cheng, Said A. Ghabrial, Guoqing Li, Xianhong Yi, Daohong Jiang

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Genome sequence of viruses can contribute greatly to the study of viral evolution, diversity and the interaction between viruses and hosts. Traditional molecular cloning methods for obtaining RNA viral genomes are time-consuming and often difficult because many viruses occur in extremely low titers. DsRNA viruses in the families, Partitiviridae, Totiviridae, Endornaviridae, Chrysoviridae, and other related unclassified dsRNA viruses are generally associated with symptomless or persistent infections of their hosts. These characteristics indicate that samples or materials derived from eukaryotic organisms used to construct cDNA libraries and EST sequencing might carry these viruses, which were not easily detected by the researchers. …

Importance Of Myxomycetes In Biological Research And Teaching, Harold W. Keller, Sydney E. Everhart

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Myxomycetes, the true slime molds, are highlighted in research and teaching that emphasizes various stages of the life cycle as experimental models. Past and current phylogenetic classifications of Myxomycetes on the tree of life are presented. Life cycle stages are illustrated, described, and discussed. Simple laboratory demonstrations and experiments are described that include spore germination, spore release, and moist chamber cultures utilizing organic matter from various microhabitats. Novel compounds isolated from fruiting bodies and plasmodia of 22 myxomycete species are tabulated, some of which exhibit biological activity that function as antibiotics, antimicrobials, and are cytotoxic to cancer cells. Aeroallergens include …