Effects of dietary enrichment with a marine oil-based n-3 LCPUFA supplement in sows with predicted birth weight phenotypes on growth performance and carcass quality of offspring

Effects of a marine oil-based n-3 LCPUFA supplement (mLCPUFA) fed from weaning until the end of the next lactation to sows with a predicted low litter birth weight (LBW) phenotype on growth performance and carcass quality of litters born to these sows were studied, based on the hypothesis that LBW litters would benefit most from mLCPUFA supplementation. Sows were allocated to be fed either standard corn/soybean meal-based gestation and lactation diets (CON), or the same diets enriched with 0.5% of the mLCPUFA supplement at the expense of corn. The growth performance from birth until slaughter of the litters with the lowest average birth weight in each treatment (n=24 per treatment) is reported in this paper. At weaning, each litter was split between two nursery pens with three to six pigs per pen. At the end of the 5-week nursery period, two barrows and two gilts from each litter that had individual birth weights closest to their litter average birth weight, were moved to experimental grow–finish pens (barn A), where they were housed as two pigs per pen, sorted by sex within litter. Remaining pigs in each litter were moved to another grow–finish barn (barn B) and kept in mixed-sex pens of up to 10 littermates. After 8 weeks, one of the two pigs in each pen in barn A was relocated to the pens holding their respective littermates in barn B. The remaining barrows and gilts were individually housed in the pens in barn A until slaughter. Maternal mLCPUFA supplementation increased docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentration in the brain, liver and Semitendinosus muscle of stillborn pigs (P<0.01), did not affect eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA concentrations in sow serum at the end of lactation, and did not affect average daily gain, average daily feed intake or feed utilization efficiency of the offspring. BW was higher (P<0.01) in the second half of the grow–finish phase in pigs from mLCPUFA sows compared with controls in barn A, where space and competition for feed was minimal, but not barn B. Carcass quality was not affected by treatment for pigs from barn A, but maternal mLCPUFA supplementation negatively affected carcass quality in pigs from barn B. Collectively, these results suggest that nutritional supplementation of sows can have lasting effects on litter development, but that feeding mLCPUFA to sows during gestation and lactation was not effective in improving growth rates or carcass quality of LBW litters.     

Assessment of welfare of finishing beef cattle kept on different types of floor after short- or long-term housing

This study aimed at evaluating short- and long-term effects of housing beef cattle on deep litter (DL) or concrete fully slatted floor (FS) on their welfare. Animal-based measures of the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for cattle were used to assess health status and behaviour of bulls. The assessment was carried out in a large commercial farm on 15 batches of bulls (4 DL and 11 FS) 1 month after their receiving day (short-term) and on 12 batches (three DL and nine FS) the week before slaughter (long-term). Signs of better comfort on deep litter in terms of shorter lying down durations (5.1±0.5 v. 6.5±0.4 s; P<0.05) and lower risk of hairless patches (odds ratio=0.09; 95% confidence interval=0.01 to 0.68; P<0.05) were already observed after 1 month. Heavy bulls after a long-term housing on FS showed a higher prevalence of bursitis, hairless patches and lesions/swellings than animals on DL. Bulls on fully slatted floor were at higher risk of early culling (odds ratio=6.44; 95% confidence interval=1.57 to 26.37; P<0.01), mainly due to musculoskeletal system pathologies/lameness. Deep litter proved to be a valid alternative to slatted floor, making animals more confident to interact with powerful movements such as mounting at the end of the finishing period. A negative aspect of the deep litter was the poor cleanliness of the bulls. Compared with the fully slatted floor, there were higher odds ratios for dirty bulls at both, the short- (odds ratio=25.09; 95% confidence interval=8.96 to 70.22; P<0.001) and the long-term housing (odds ratio=276.13; 95% confidence interval=98.21 to 776.38; P<0.001). In order to improve health and welfare of beef cattle finished at a heavy weight, deep litter systems are a promising alternative to fully slatted floors. However, proper management of deep litter is necessary to maintain satisfactory cleanliness of the bulls.     

亚热带红壤丘陵区四种人工林凋落物分解动态及养分释放

应用网袋分解法,连续2a对我国亚热带红壤丘陵区内有代表性的人工林类型马尾松（Pinus,massoniana）、湿地松（Pinus elliottii）、杉木（Cunninghamialanceolata）、木荷（Schimasuperba）＋马尾松（Pinus,massoniana）混交林的凋落物的分解速率,及其C、N元素释放动态进行了研究,凋落物样品分地上、地下两组处理方式。4种林分凋落物地上组的第1、2年分解速率（凋落物的年失重率）依次为马尾松林〉混交林〉湿地松林〉杉木林,马尾松林〉混交林〉杉木林〉湿地松林;地下组的第1、2年分解速率顺序分别为马尾松林〉混交林〉杉木林〉湿地松林,马尾松〉杉木林〉湿地松林〉混交林。各林分地上组凋落物分解速率明显快于地下部分,马尾松林凋落物的分解速率在不同时期均高于其它林分。4种林分凋落物的分解动态符合Olson指数衰减模型。根据拟合方程得出的凋落物分解95％时间为4～01a,介于暖温带常见树种凋落物95％被分解所需时间8～17a,地处南亚热带季风区的鼎湖山凋落物分解95％所需的时间2～8a。养分元素释放率的变化因不同林分和分解时期而异。C在各林分中始终表现为净释放,地上组凋落物的释放率大多数时间均高于地下组。N则于湿地松林、马尾松林和混交林中前期表现出富集现象,而后开始净释放,其中湿地松林凋落物的N富集现象最为显著,释放速率在两个试验年度均为各林分中最低,凋落物中初始的高C／N比是导致上述现象的原因。杉木林凋落物具有最低的初始C／N比,没有出现N富集现象,且在两个试验年度末期均维持了较高的N释放率.     

西双版纳热带季节雨林和哀牢山中山湿性常绿阔叶林优势植物及地表凋落物层的热值

 测定云南西双版纳热带季节雨林和哀牢山中山湿性常绿阔叶林优势种植物叶片及地表凋落物层的干重热值,分析并比较了两地群落类型热值的差异及其与地理条件的关系。植物叶片分为鲜叶和凋落叶,地表凋落物层分为新鲜凋落物层（L层）和腐叶层（F层）进行取样测量,所有样品在60℃烘干至恒重,样品热值采用Parr1261氧弹式热量计测量。结果表明：西双版纳的11种植物鲜叶和凋落叶干重热值的变化范围分别是14.595 3～19.863 9和14.046 7～19.884 0 kJ·g^－1, L和F层的平均干重热值分别为17.419 6 和14.780 5 kJ·g^－1;哀牢山的10种植物鲜叶和凋落叶干重热值的变化范围分别是17.805 1～21.525 3和17.893 4～21.436 7 kJ·g^－1,L和F层的平均干重热值分别为19.208 4和17.494 7 kJ·g^－1。两地植物鲜叶与凋落叶干重热值的大小顺序近似或一致,即植物鲜 叶干重热值越高,其凋落叶干重热值也越高;植物鲜叶与凋落叶干重热值的差值有正有负, 因物种而异;西双版纳凋落物L与F层之间的热值差值显著地大于哀牢山两层凋落物的热值差值,可能是由西双版纳凋落物的分解速率较快导致的;两地样品的平均干重热值的顺序为：鲜叶＞凋落叶＞L层＞F层;将两地的相应样品对比发现,干重热值呈现为哀牢山＞西双版纳,体现出高海拔＞低海拔、高纬度＞低纬度以及常绿阔叶林＞热带季节雨林的特点。     

Survey of parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) of house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) pupae from broiler-breeder poultry houses in northwest Arkansas

Parasitoids were collected from broiler-breeder poultry houses in northwest Arkansas using sentinel bags containing house fly, Musca domestica L., pupae. At least five species of Pteromalidae were collected over a two-year sampling period: Pachycrepoideus vindemiae (Rondani), Spalangia endius Walker, S. cameroni Perkins, Muscidifurax spp., and Nasonia vitripennis (Walker).     

Genotyping of thermotolerant Campylobacter from poultry slaughterhouse by amplified fragment length polymorphism

AIM: To examine the occurrence, diversity and transmission of Campylobacter in a poultry slaughterhouse. METHODS AND RESULTS: During a 4-week period, a slaughterhouse was sampled alternately during slaughtering and the following mornings post-disinfection. Samples were taken from poultry at six stages in the slaughter process and from 25 environmental sites. For positive broiler flocks slaughtered on one occasion, 92% and 48% of the environmental sites were positive during slaughter and post-disinfection, respectively. For positive laying hen flocks slaughtered on three occasions, 8-56% and 12-20% of the environmental sites were positive during slaughter and post-disinfection, respectively. Genetic fingerprinting by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) of the 109 isolates obtained resulted in 28 different AFLP clones. Five AFLP clones were present for more than 1 week. CONCLUSIONS: Slaughtering of Campylobacter-positive broilers resulted in extensive contamination of the slaughterhouse, including the air. A high proportion of the laying hen flocks were Campylobacter positive, but these caused less environmental contamination than the broilers. This, together with the freezing of all layer carcasses, results in a lower public health risk from laying hens, when compared with broilers. Significance and Impact of the Study: When slaughtering Campylobacter-positive broilers, the implementation of preventive measures is important to reduce contamination of negative carcasses and to protect the workers against infection.     

Invasion of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina alterniflora</Emphasis> Enhanced Ecosystem Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks in the Yangtze Estuary,China

Whether plant invasion increases ecosystem carbon (C) stocks is controversial largely due to the lack of knowledge about differences in ecophysiological properties between invasive and native species. We conducted a field experiment in which we measured ecophysiological properties to explore the response of the ecosystem C stocks to the invasion of Spartina alterniflora (Spartina) in wetlands dominated by native Scirpus mariqueter (Scirpus) and Phragmites australis (Phragmites) in the Yangtze Estuary, China. We measured growing season length, leaf area index (LAI), net photosynthetic rate (Pn), root biomass, net primary production (NPP), litter quality and litter decomposition, plant and soil C and nitrogen (N) stocks in ecosystems dominated by the three species. Our results showed that Spartina had a longer growing season, higher LAI, higher Pn, and greater root biomass than Scirpus and Phragmites. Net primary production (NPP) was 2.16 kg C m⁻² y⁻¹ in Spartina ecosystems, which was, on average, 1.44 and 0.47 kg C m⁻² y⁻¹ greater than that in Scirpus and Phragmites ecosystems, respectively. The litter decomposition rate, particularly the belowground decomposition rate, was lower for Spartina than Scirpus and Phragmites due to the lower litter quality of Spartina. The ecosystem C stock (20.94 kg m⁻²) for Spartina was greater than that for Scirpus (17.07 kg m⁻²), Phragmites (19.51 kg m⁻²) and the mudflats (15.12 kg m⁻²). Additionally, Spartina ecosystems had a significantly greater N stock (698.8 g m⁻²) than Scirpus (597.1 g m⁻²), Phragmites ecosystems (578.2 g m⁻²) and the mudflats (375.1 g m⁻²). Our results suggest that Spartina invasion altered ecophysiological processes, resulted in changes in NPP and litter decomposition, and ultimately led to enhanced ecosystem C and N stocks in the invaded ecosystems in comparison to the ecosystems with native species.     

Microbiological parameters as indicators of compost maturity

AIMS: The objectives of this study were to determine the changes of microbial properties of pig manure collected from pens with different management strategies and composted using different turning and moisture regimes; relate their association with humification parameters and compost temperature; and identify the most suitable microbial indicators of compost maturity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Six different microbial parameters, including total bacterial count, oxygen consumption rate, ATP content, dehydrogenase activity, and microbial biomass C and N, along with humification parameters [humic acid (HA), fulvic acid (FA) and HA : FA ratio] and compost temperature were monitored during composting. Significant positive correlations were found between temperature and microbial properties, including O2 consumption rate, ATP content, dehydrogenase activity, and microbial biomass N. The humification parameters also showed significant correlations with microbial properties of the manure compost. For instance, HA contents of pig manures was positively correlated with total aerobic heterotrophs, and microbial biomass N and C; and negatively correlated with O2 consumption rate, ATP content, and dehydrogenase activity. Among the six microbial parameters examined, dehydrogenase activity was the most important factor affecting compost temperature and humification parameters. Composting strategies employed in this study affected the speed of composting and time of maturation. If the moisture content is maintained weekly at 60% with a 4-day turning frequency, the pig manure will reach maturity in 56 days. CONCLUSIONS: The composting process went through predictable changes in temperature, microbial properties and chemical components despite differences in the initial pig manure and composting strategies used. Among the six microbial parameters used, dehydrogenase activity is the most suitable indicator of compost maturity. Compared with respiration rate, ATP content and microbial biomass procedures, dehydrogenase activity is the simplest, quickest, and cheapest method that can be used to monitor the stability and maturity of composts. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The results presented here show that microbial parameters can be used in revealing differences between composts and compost maturity. The statistical relationship established between humification parameters and microbial parameters, particularly dehydrogenase activity, demonstrates that it is possible to monitor the composting process more easily and rapidly by avoiding longer and more expensive analytical procedures.     

Primary production in an impounded baldcypress swamp (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Taxodium distichum</Emphasis>) at the northern limit of the range

The ability of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)swamps to maintain themselves near the northern limit of their range depends on their levels of production, which is not only are response to climate but also to local environmental factors(e.g., impoundment). We asked if primary production was reduced under impounded conditions and if species responses to impoundment were individualistic or more generalized. To examine long-term production trends in a permanently impounded baldcypress swamp, a 6-year study of leaf litterfall was conducted in Buttonland Swamp, Illinois, which had been impounded for 10 years before the beginning of the study. Buttonland Swamp is at the northern boundary of the baldcypress swamp region along the Cache River, Illinois, in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley of the United States. When the litter production of impounded sites was compared to those with natural hydrology in the same region, impounded sites had about half of the total litterfall of natural sites. Overall, leaf litterfall rates declined during the study(201 vs. 113 gm^–2 yr^–1), but the pattern was negatively correlated with water depth, which explained 97% of the variation in the data. Along the transect with the lowest mean minimum water depth(<0.5 cm), leaf litterfall decreased linearly over 6 years from 377 to 154gm^–2 yr^–1. Total leaf litterfall rates were lower at the other three depths(5, 43, and 49 cm mean minimum water depths)and remained below 200 gm^–2 yr^–1 throughout the study. Acer saccharinum, Nyssa aquatica, and Salix nigra were most responsible for the decline in total leaf litterfall. Amounts of leaf litterfall of T. distichum and Liquidambar styraciflua also generally decreased, while that of Cephalanthus occidentalis increased overtime. Because species responses to environmental factors such as impoundment are individualistic, models should be based on the responses of individual species, rather than on communities. Our study further suggests that the effects of climate change on impounded swamps may differ from those with natural hydrology, since impounded swamps already have reduced production levels. This finding is particularly relevant since the hydrology of the majority of the worlds riverine ecosystems has been altered.