Grazing Behavior of Feral Buffalos on a Native Pasture in the Northern Portion of the Northern-Territory

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 433 ◽  
Author(s):  
DG Tulloch ◽  
DG Tulloch ◽  
KM Cellier ◽  
KM Cellier
Keyword(s):  
Protein Content ◽  
Grazing Intensity ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Grazing Behavior ◽  
Dietary Preferences ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Northern Portion ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Prevalent Species ◽  
Over Time

The dietary preferences of 13 buffaloes were observed over the wet and early dry seasons of 1960, 1961 and 1962 on an area of Humpty Doo Station where 11 plant species known to be palatable to buffaloes were growing. The grazing intensity on the various herbage species changed over time. Some species were consistently eaten throughout the season but the majority were not. There was no correlation between protein content and grazing intensity between species; nor was grazing preference correlated with availability, because the most prevalent species was not the most preferred, especially in the early dry season.

Intake of lick block supplements by cattle grazing native monsoonal tallgrass pastures in the Northern Territory.

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
AR Eggington ◽  
TH McCosker ◽  
CA Graham
Keyword(s):  
Northern Territory ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Mineral Supplement ◽  
Protein Nitrogen ◽  
Lactating Cows ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Pure Salt ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
True Protein

Four supplementation treatments to investigate wet seasons responses were imposed on eight Brahman/Shorthom cross herds totalling 870 animals of all classes (cows and calves, bulls, heifers and steers). They grazed 12,300 ha of native pasture in the Darwin district of the Northern Territory. The treatments were: (i) control (no wet season supplement), (ii) Mineral (Ultraphos - supplementation with 13 minerals during the wet season), (iii) +Protein (Ultrapro-50 - the same 13 minerals plus non-protein nitrogen (WN) and true protein over the wet season), and (iv) Strategic (strategic use of salt, mineral and hTN supplements over the early wet, mid wet and late wet seasons respectively). All treatments received an hTN plus mineral supplement (Uramol) during the dry season. Supplement intakes by the herds were measured monthly for three years. Intake of Salt, Ultraphos and Ultrapro-50 supplements averaged 43, 124 and 149 g/animal/day respectively during the three wet seasons. Losses of the molasses-based block formulations due to rain were small (7%) during the wet season. However, up to one third of each pure salt block was eroded. Intake of Uramol during the three dry seasons averaged 182 g/animal/day across all herds. No urea toxicity problems were noticed over the three years of the supplement programme, despite high intakes during the dry season. All animals consumed some supplement. However, levels of supplement intake: (i) increased with the seasonal decrease in native pasture quality, (ii) decreased with an increase in proportion of paddock burnt, (iii) varied between animal classes, with lactating cows consuming 64% more supplement than non-lactating cows in two of the three years, and (iv) varied between individuals within classes. Individual intake varied widely (from 10 to 835 glanirnallday for lactating cows) with no significant correlation between individual intake and the pregnancy rate or average daily liveweight gain.

Encounters on the Frontier: Banteng in Australia’s Northern Territory

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa deKoninck
Keyword(s):  
Introduced Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Genetic Resource ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Nonhuman Animal ◽  
The North ◽  
Bos Javanicus ◽  
Environmental Threat ◽  
Tropical Australia ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This paper considers the case of an introduced species that resides in what is now a jointly managed national park in the north of tropical Australia. Banteng (Bos javanicus) are a peculiar feral nonhuman animal in that they constitute a potential environmental threat within the domestic conservation goals of the park, but they also hold the prospect of being a major genetic resource in the international conservation of the species. Thus, perspectives on the use and management of these animals are varied between different actors in the park landscape, and are subject to fluctuations over time, especially in response to wider social and political circumstances. This paper argues that seemingly objective views of these animals are actually a series of subjectivities, which have less to do with any concrete aspects of the animals themselves and more to do with the way that particular people orient themselves toward, and within, the landscape.

scholarly journals Nitrate leaching and N2-fixation in grasslands of different composition, age and management

2004 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. ERIKSEN ◽  
F. P. VINTHER ◽  
K. SØEGAARD
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Grazing Intensity ◽  
Dry Matter Production ◽  
Leaching Losses ◽  
N Removal ◽  
Matter Production ◽  
Over Time

Grass-legume associations may offer a way of improving the N efficiency of dairy farming, but may also have an adverse impact on the environment by increasing leaching losses. Nitrate leaching from four cropping sequences with different grassland frequency and management (long-term grazed, long-term cut, cereals followed by 1 and 2-year grazed leys) were investigated on a loamy sand in central Jutland for both unfertilized grass-clover (perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)/white clover (Trifolium repens L.)) and fertilized perennial ryegrass (300 kg N/ha) swards during 1997–2002. Furthermore, 1 year (2001) of N2 fixation in 1-, 2- and 8-year-old grass-clover pastures was determined. Nitrate leaching from grazed unfertilized grass-clover was always considerably lower than from grazed fertilized ryegrass. The effect of grassland age on nitrate leaching was insignificant in grass-clover but clear in grazed ryegrass, where levels increased dramatically with sward age. In production years 6–8, leaching from grass-clover was only 9–13% of the comparable losses from ryegrass. Under the cutting regime grass-clover showed a significant reduction in both yield and N-removal with increasing sward age, whereas for ryegrass these figures did not show any decreasing trend. N2 fixation was lower in 8-year-old swards compared with fully established 2-year-old swards as a consequence of lower dry matter production, lower clover content and a lower proportion of clover-N derived from the atmosphere. The results from the present study indicate that the higher leaching losses observed in fertilized grass compared with unfertilized grass-clover systems were caused by (1) a reduction in N2-fixation in grass-clover over time and (2) a reduction in dry matter production in grass-clover over time, lowering the grazing intensity and the recycling of grassland N via animal excreta.

Liveweight changes and carcass measurements in buffalo (Bubalis bubalis) and Brahman × Northern Territory Shorthorn (Bos indicu × B. taurus) steers up to 4 years of age grazing on improved pastures

1982 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 755
Author(s):  
JA Robertson ◽  
BD Ford ◽  
CA Morris
Keyword(s):  
Growth Phase ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Coefficient Of Variation ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Average Difference ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Compensatory Gain ◽  
Wet And Dry Seasons

Ten buffaloes and eight Brahman x Northern Territory Shorthorn steers, originating from a single Northern Territory herd and grazing improved pastures near Darwin, were compared for growth up to 51 months of age and for carcass attributes. After the weaning weight, eight liveweights per animal were strategically chosen at the beginning and end of pasture seasons, the data being adjusted for known fixed effects. The buffaloes were significantly (P < 0.05) heavier at weaning (+ 17% or +23 kg) and at three of the later weights, the average difference at all the eight later weights being + 10% or +24 kg. Difference in empty liveweight and carcass weight was not significant, but the buffaloes had a significantly lower dressing percentage (-3.0%). Condition scores were taken on 24 occasions throughout the growth phase, buffaloes having significantly higher unadjusted scores on 19 occasions. At slaughter the buffaloes had a significantly greater backfat depth at the 12-13th rib (+2.3 mm). The coefficient of variation of liveweight changed little between wet and dry seasons. Older animals were heavier in spite of dry periods when the whole group lost weight. Overall mean growth rates for seven periods ranged from -0.42 to +0.58 kg/day. Variation among animals in liveweight change was important in the dry as well as in the wet seasons, with no evidence of compensatory gain.

Rise and Fall of a Medieval Trade Centre: Economic Change from Viking Haithabu to Medieval Schleswig Revealed by Stable Isotope Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela Grupe ◽  
Claus von Carnap-Bornheim ◽  
Cornelia Becker
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Mixing Models ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Subsistence Economy ◽  
Dietary Preferences ◽  
Isotope Mass Balance ◽  
Protein Supply ◽  
Over Time

Viking Haithabu and its successor, the medieval town of Schleswig, were important international trade centres. Human skeletal finds spanning a period of approximately 400 years represent the bodily relics of the former inhabitants, who witnessed the rise and fall of these trade centres. Analysis of δ13C and δ15N from bone collagen was performed to reconstruct and detect changes in dietary preferences over time. A comparison with the respective isotopic data obtained from a large archaeofaunal sample resulted in a classic ‘mixing muddle’ that could only be deciphered using isotope mass balance mixing models applied on an individual basis. It was found that the overall subsistence economy shifted over time from a focus on fishing to one based predominantly on farming. The move to utilizing a new main source of protein did not impair overall protein supply. In addition, changing living conditions experienced by the inhabitants of Schleswig may have led to a change in infant nursing strategy.

Changes in spider assemblages along grassland and savanna grazing gradients in northern Australia

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. B. Churchill ◽  
J. A. Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Grazing Intensity ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Patch Type ◽  
Habitat Changes ◽  
The Family ◽  
Shrub Canopy ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Local Habitat

Spiders are beneficial predators that respond to those land uses that modify their habitat. Cattle grazing is an extensive land use across northern Australian rangelands, yet the impact of grazing on spider habitat is poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the way in which spider assemblages varied between grassland and savanna habitats in the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory, and also between dry and wet seasons in the savanna habitat. We also investigated changes in spider assemblages, and some common taxa, with distance from cattle watering points, which was used as a surrogate for a gradient in grazing intensity. Spiders were sampled using pitfall traps and sweep nets along two distance from water-grazing gradients. The first gradient was in savanna on calcareous red loam soils at Kidman Springs, and the second was in grassland on cracking black clays at Mount Sanford. Ordinations revealed that spider assemblages differed between grassland and savanna, and between the late-wet and late-dry seasons in savanna. Spider assemblages also markedly changed along the two distance-grazing gradients in response to habitat changes. For example, orb weavers in the family Araneidae increased in abundance as the cover of perennial grasses and litter increased with distance from water; this response was consistent for both grassland and savanna gradients. Patch type was also important to the distribution of spiders. For example, more individuals of Habronestes sp. were caught when the local habitat was patches of perennial grasses rather than patches of annual grasses and litter, bare ground, or tree-shrub canopy. These results suggest that spiders are good indicators of the habitat changes that may occur with grazing in the rangelands of Australia.

Liveweight of grazing steers supplemented with molasses, urea and sulfur in northern Queensland

1982 ◽  
Vol 22 (117) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Winks ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
SR McLennan
Keyword(s):  
Compensatory Growth ◽  
Cattle Grazing ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Feeding Period ◽  
Sulfate Sulfur ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Native Pastures

Steers grazing native pasture were supplemented with 0, 0.8 or 2.4 g of sulfur/head.d in addition to a molasses (230 or 115 g/head.d) and urea (60 g/head.d) supplement over four dry seasons. The unsupplemented animals lost most or gained least weight during the feeding period in all four years but the difference was significant (P< 0.05) in only two years. Adding sulfur to the molasses and urea tended to give the best results but the effect was not significant (P> 0.05) over the results achieved with feeding only molasses and urea. There was a tendency for liveweight performance to be better with the higher level of molasses, but again differences were not significant. Blood sulfate-sulfur levels during the feeding period increased with the level of sulfur fed but levels were not significantly correlated with liveweight change. Compensatory growth by unsupplemented groups after the feeding period eliminated liveweight advantages of supplemented groups. The results suggest that the level of molasses in a molasses and urea supplement for yearling cattle grazing native pastures on solodic soils during the dry season in northern Queensland can be reduced to 115 g/head.d without adversely affecting liveweight. These results may not apply on sulfur deficient soils and in dry years.

Feral Pig (Sus Scrofa) Rooting in a Monsoon Forest-Wetland Transition, Northern Australia.

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 761 ◽  
Author(s):  
DMJS Bowman ◽  
L Mcdonough
Keyword(s):  
Sus Scrofa ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Monsoon Forest ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Seasonally Flooded ◽  
Wet And Dry Seasons

A grid of 447 cells (each 50x50 m) was set up in a wet monsoon rain forest on a gradual slope above the Adelaide River floodplain in the Australian Northern Territory. Surveys of pig (Sus scrofa) rooting were carried out at approximately 3-month intervals from November 1988 to September 1989. The pigs had only limited effects on the forest in both the wet and dry seasons. The seasonally flooded swamp communities (Melaleuca forest and sedgeland) were primarily exploited in the dry season; dryland communities ([Eucalyptus] and Lophostemon forests) were exploited during the wet season. Rainfall during the previous wet season may have influenced the pattern of rooting in the dryland forests. Rooting and ground cover were weakly positively related in 3 out of the 4 surveys.

scholarly journals A Taxonomic Checklist and Relative Abundance of the Mosquitoes of New York City

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waheed I. Bajwa
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Invasive Species ◽  
New York City ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
York City ◽  
Culex Pipiens ◽  
The City ◽  
Prevalent Species ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACT This is the 1st time that a comprehensive checklist of the mosquitoes of New York City has been compiled. This list is based on an arrayed collection of 2.3 million mosquitoes trapped and identified from 1,369 locations in the city between 2000 and 2017. Forty-seven species and 6 subspecies were identified belonging to 9 mosquito genera. Culex pipiens was the most prevalent species, most frequently encountered throughout the city. Over time, species diversity in the genus Aedes has increased from 10 species in the 1930s to 23 species in the recent surveys (2000–17). Invasive species Aedes albopictus and Ae. japonicus japonicus, which were rare in 2000, are now well established in all 5 boroughs of the city.

A comparison of various methods of feeding supplements of urea, sulfur and molasses to weaner heifers during the dry season in northern Queensland

1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
SR McLennan ◽  
DJ Hirst ◽  
RK Shepherd ◽  
KR McGuigan
Keyword(s):  
Rumen Fluid ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Ammonia Nitrogen ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Dry Period ◽  
The Us ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Nitrogen Concentrations ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Group 2

Over 3 dry seasons (1984-86), delivery systems of urea supplements were evaluated on weaner heifers grazing native pasture. Daily treatments per heifer were urea-ammonium sulfate (US) (28g + 6g), via the drinking water; urea-molasses (UM) (30g + 250g), via roller drum lick feeders; UM2 (60g + 1000g), via open troughs. Rainfall recordings were well above average in all dry seasons. The only liveweight response to supplementation occurred in 1986, during a dry period from June to October. During this period the liveweight performance of the US group was improved relative to the control group (+7 v. -57 g/heifer.day; P<0.05). The response of the UM2 group (+82 g/heifer.day) exceeded (P<0.05) that of all other groups. There was no response to the UM supplement (-51 g/heifer.day). Over the combined dry and following wet seasons the UM2 group grew faster (P<0.05) than all other groups. Ammonia-nitrogen concentrations in the rumen fluid of heifers, measured in the 1984 and 1986 dry seasons, were very low for the control group (7-54 mg/L rumen fluid) but were much higher in the US group 2 h after drinking (108-152 mg/L). At 18 h after drinking, the ammonia-nitrogen concentration had declined markedly in the US group (30-54 mg/L) but, in 2 of 3 observations, was still higher than that of the controls (significantly in 1 case; P<0.05).

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