Grazing intensity affects insect diversity via sward structure and heterogeneity in a long‐term experiment

Jerrentrup, Jana Sabrina; Wrage‐Mönnig, Nicole; Röver, K. U.; Isselstein, J.

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12244

Cited by 90 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The plant association was a moderately species-rich Lolio-Cynosuretum [25]. The pastures exhibited pronounced heterogeneity in sward structure, with short and tall patches and various sward height classes [26,27]. Three levels of grazing intensity were allocated to adjacent pasture paddocks of 1 ha size, which were continuously stocked by cows from the beginning of May to mid-September.…”

Section: Study Area and Site Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fusion of Ultrasonic and Spectral Sensor Data for Improving the Estimation of Biomass in Grasslands with Heterogeneous Sward Structure

et al. 2017

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An accurate estimation of biomass is needed to understand the spatio-temporal changes of forage resources in pasture ecosystems and to support grazing management decisions. A timely evaluation of biomass is challenging, as it requires efficient means such as technical sensing methods to assess numerous data and create continuous maps. In order to calibrate ultrasonic and spectral sensors, a field experiment with heterogeneous pastures continuously stocked by cows at three grazing intensities was conducted. Sensor data fusion by combining ultrasonic sward height (USH) with narrow band normalized difference spectral index (NDSI) (R 2 CV = 0.52) or simulated WorldView2 (WV2) (R 2 CV = 0.48) satellite broad bands increased the prediction accuracy significantly, compared to the exclusive use of USH or spectral measurements. Some combinations were even better than the use of the full hyperspectral information (R 2 CV = 0.48). Spectral regions related to plant water content were found to be of particular importance (996-1225 nm). Fusion of ultrasonic and spectral sensors is a promising approach to assess biomass even in heterogeneous pastures. However, the suggested technique may have limited usefulness in the second half of the growing season, due to an increasing abundance of senesced material.

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Section: Study Area and Site Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fusion of Ultrasonic and Spectral Sensor Data for Improving the Estimation of Biomass in Grasslands with Heterogeneous Sward Structure

et al. 2017

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“…However, permanent grasslands are not always convertible to arable land (Jerrentrup et al, 2014). Furthermore, grazed semi-natural grasslands often are of great importance for preserving a varied agricultural landscape with high cultural values, biodiversity and other ecosystem services (Ihse and Norderhaug, 1995;Jerrentrup et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upgrading plant amino acids through cattle to improve the nutritional value for humans: effects of different production systems

Patel

Sonesson²,

Hessle

2017

Animal

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Efficiency in animal protein production can be defined in different ways, for example the amount of human-digestible essential amino acids (HDEAA) in the feed ration relative to the amount of HDEAA in the animal products. Cattle production systems are characterised by great diversity and a wide variety of feeds and feed ration compositions, due to ruminants' ability to digest fibrous materials inedible to humans such as roughage and by-products from the food and biofuel industries. This study examined the upgrading of protein quality through cattle by determining the quantity of HDEAA in feeds and animal products and comparing different milk and beef production systems. Four different systems for milk and beef production were designed, a reference production system for milk and beef representing typical Swedish production systems today and three alternative improved systems: (i) intensive cattle production based on maize silage, (ii) intensive systems based on food industry by-products for dairy cows and high-quality forage for beef cattle, and (iii) extensive systems based on forage with only small amounts of concentrate. In all four production systems, the quantity of HDEAA in the products (milk and meat) generally exceeded the quantity of HDEAA in the feeds. The intensive production models for beef calves generally resulted in output of the same magnitude as input for most HDEAA. However, in beef production based on calves from dairy cows, the intensive rearing systems resulted in lower output than input of HDEAA. For the extensive models, the amounts of HDEAA in meat were of the same magnitude as the amounts in the feeds. The extensive models with beef calves from suckler cows resulted in higher output in meat than input in feeds for all HDEAA. It was concluded that feeding cattle plants for production of milk and meat, instead of using the plants directly as human food, generally results in an upgrading of both the quantity and quality of protein, especially when extensive, forage-based production models are used. The results imply that the key to efficiency is the utilisation of human-inedible protein by cattle and justifies their contribution to food production, especially in regions where grasslands and/or forage production has comparative benefits over plant food production. By fine-tuning estimation of the efficiency of conversion from human-edible protein to HDEAA, comparisons of different sources of protein production may be more complete and the magnitude of amino acid upgrading in plants through cattle more obvious.

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“…Previous studies have described the effects of livestock grazing on grasshopper abundance, with some grasshopper species significantly increasing their abundance in grazing areas (Batáry et al, 2007;Cease et al, 2012;Gao et al, 2014;Jerrentrup et al, 2014;Hao et al, 2015). Although C. albonemus is a rare species in Central and South China, it is one of the main pest species in the Tibetan Plateau (Zhou et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between livestock grazing and grasshopper community composition in grassland ecosystems around the world (Hao et al, 2015;Joubert et al, 2016), with some studies reporting that livestock grazing has positive effects on grasshopper diversity (Jerrentrup et al, 2014;Zhong et al, 2014;Joubert et al, 2016), and others reporting negative effects (Quinn and Walgenbach, 1990;Onsager, 2000). Several recent studies have demonstrated that livestock grazing decreases grasshopper diversity and increases the abundance of the main pest species.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Dynamics and Transcriptomic Responses of Chorthippus albonemus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) to Herbivore Grazing Intensity

Qin

Huang

et al. 2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Livestock grazing can trigger outbreaks of insect pests in steppe ecosystems of Inner Mongolia in China. However, the physiological responses of the grasshopper Chorthippus albonemus to grazing are not well-understood. Here we investigated the effects of sheep grazing on the population dynamics and transcriptomic response of C. albonemus. We collected the insects three times (about 20 days apart) in 1.33-ha plots in which there were no grazing, light grazing, moderate grazing, heavy grazing, or overgrazing. Our results showed that continuous grazing significantly decreased plant biomass and influenced plant succession. Total insect species diversity significantly declined along the grazing intensity gradient and over time. Results of the first two collections of C. albonemus indicated that moderate grazing significantly increased the abundance of C. albonemus. However, abundance was significantly decreased in plots that were overgrazed, possibly because of food stress and environmental pressures. Under moderate grazing, betA and CHDH genes were significantly upregulated in C. albonemus. In response to higher grazing intensity, upregulated genes included those involved in serine-type peptidase activity, anatomical structure development, and sensory organ development; downregulated genes included those involved in the structural constituents of the ribosome and ribosome processes. Genes strongly upregulated in response to heavy grazing pressure included adaptive genes such as those encoding ankyrin repeat domain-containing protein and HSP. These findings improve our understanding of the role of the transcriptome in C. albonemus population response to livestock grazing and may provide useful targets for grasshopper control.

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Grazing intensity affects insect diversity via sward structure and heterogeneity in a long‐term experiment

Cited by 90 publications

References 54 publications

Fusion of Ultrasonic and Spectral Sensor Data for Improving the Estimation of Biomass in Grasslands with Heterogeneous Sward Structure

Fusion of Ultrasonic and Spectral Sensor Data for Improving the Estimation of Biomass in Grasslands with Heterogeneous Sward Structure

Upgrading plant amino acids through cattle to improve the nutritional value for humans: effects of different production systems

Population Dynamics and Transcriptomic Responses of Chorthippus albonemus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) to Herbivore Grazing Intensity

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