Natural Carbon Sinks Linked to Pastoral Activity in S Spain: A Territorial Evaluation Methodology for Mediterranean Goat Grazing Systems

Exploring and developing new tools for the accounting and management of natural C sinks will provide a closer, more accurate option to remark the importance of such sinks in relation to livestock production, helping to support the persistence of some seriously endangered traditional, environmentally sustainable livestock farming. Following both precision and usability criteria, two main C sink databases covering the Andalusian region (S Spain) were developed from the Spanish Land Parcel Identification System (SIGPAC, coarse resolution) and the Spanish Information System on Land Cover (SIOSE, finer resolution) land use classes. Particular C sink factors based on growth rates for individual plant species were associated with detailed vegetation maps and, further, were linked to Land Use and Covers cartography across the region. In addition, eight ruminant farms were exhaustively studied in situ and used as a control. Results were compared with the obtained through the application of the developed C sink databases, and with the commonly used Petersen methodology. The sink capacity of vegetation associated with farms varied from 0.25 to 1.37 t CO2 ha−1 year−1, depending on the plant species composition and abundance. All the approaches showed significant differences from the control. C sink values were significantly higher when applying SIGPAC-based C sink database to farms, while values from the SIOSE and Petersen methodology approaches provided more moderate values, closer to the control. SIGPAC and Petersen approaches showed higher usability but presented lower precision due to a poor definition of plant cover. SIOSE-based C sink database provided suitable values able to be adapted to reality and used by farmers. In this regard, further research efforts to improve the adjustment of results and ease of use are required. The present approach means a methodological advance in the estimation of the C sink capacity associated with pastoral livestock farms, able to be incorporated into the CF calculation in contrasted areas worldwide, in the frame of the ‘eco-schemes’ being recently under development through the EU CAP.

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Impacts of erosion control treatments on native vegetation recovery after severe wildfire in the Eastern Cascades, USA

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf08194 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 490 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Erich K. Dodson ◽

David W. Peterson ◽

Richy J. Harrod

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Native Species ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Tree Regeneration ◽

Vegetation Recovery ◽

Native Vegetation ◽

Individual Plant ◽

Native Plant

Slope stabilisation treatments like mulching and seeding are used to increase soil cover and reduce runoff and erosion following severe wildfires, but may also retard native vegetation recovery. We evaluated the effects of seeding and fertilisation on the cover and richness of native and exotic plants and on individual plant species following the 2004 Pot Peak wildfire in Washington State, USA. We applied four seeding and three fertilisation treatments to experimental plots at eight burned sites in spring 2005 and surveyed vegetation during the first two growing seasons after fire. Seeding significantly reduced native non-seeded species richness and cover by the second year. Fertilisation increased native plant cover in both years, but did not affect plant species richness. Seeding and fertilisation significantly increased exotic cover, especially when applied in combination. However, exotic cover and richness were low and treatment effects were greatest in the first year. Seeding suppressed several native plant species, especially disturbance-adapted forbs. Fertilisation, in contrast, favoured several native understorey plant species but reduced tree regeneration. Seeding, even with native species, appears to interfere with the natural recovery of native vegetation whereas fertilisation increases total plant cover, primarily by facilitating native vegetation recovery.

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Plant Diversity and Its Effects on Populations of Cucumber Beetles and Their Natural Enemies in a Cucurbit Agroecosystem

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.32.3.511b ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 511B-511

Author(s):

Jason Walker ◽

John S. Caldwell ◽

Robert H. Jones

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Individual Plant ◽

Height Distribution ◽

Diabrotica Undecimpunctata Howardi ◽

Cucumber Beetles ◽

Total Plant ◽

Insect Populations ◽

Cucumis Sativa

To assess the value of uncultivated vegetation for control of cucumber beetles, populations of striped (Acalymma vittatum Fabr.), spotted (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber), and western cucumber beetles (Acalymma trivittatum Mann.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and natural enemy Diptera flies (as an indicator of Celatoria spp. parasitoids), Pennsylvania leatherwings (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus DeGeer) (Coleoptera: Cantharidae), lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Hymenoptera wasps, and spiders were monitored with sticky traps on 50-m transects running through a field of Cucumis sativa L. `Arkansas Littleleaf' into bordering uncultivated vegetation. Plant species composition was determined in square plots around each sticky trap by estimating total plant cover and height distribution of plants from 0 to 1.0 m. In both years, numbers of cucumber beetles increased and numbers of Diptera decreased towards the crop. These trends increased monthly to peaks in Aug. 1995 (0.3 to 6.0 striped cucumber beetles; 40.0 to 15.3 Diptera) and July in 1996 (0.1 to 7.1 striped cucumber beetles; 46.7 to 15.5 Diptera). Abundance of individual plant species contributed more to maximum R2 regression of insect populations than did measures of plant diversity in sampling squares. Diptera were negatively correlated with sweet-vernal grass (r = –0.65 at 0 m) and wild rose (r = –0.62 at 0.5 m) in 1995, and goldenrod (r = –0.31, –0.59, and –0.53 at 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 m, respectively) in 1996, but positively correlated with wild violets (Viola spp.) (r = +0.38 at 0 m) in 1996. Cucumber beetles were negatively correlated with wild violets (r = –0.30 at 0 m) and white clover (Trifolium repens) (r = –0.37 at 0 m) in 1996. These results suggest that increasing or decreasing specific plants in uncultivated vegetation might be useful for influencing pest and beneficial insect populations in cucurbit production.

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Monitoring land use change in the Lake Taupo catchment between 1975, 1990 and 2002 using satellite remote sensing data

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.2007.69.2680 ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 17-22

Author(s):

H. Lilienthal ◽

A. Brauer ◽

K. Betteridge ◽

E. Schnug

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Satellite Remote Sensing ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Native Vegetation ◽

Lake Water Quality ◽

Livestock Farming ◽

Slow Decline

Conversion of native vegetation into farmed grassland in the Lake Taupo catchment commenced in the late 1950s. The lake's iconic value is being threatened by the slow decline in lake water quality that has become apparent since the 1970s. Keywords: satellite remote sensing, nitrate leaching, land use change, livestock farming, land management

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MOSAICITY OF THE VEGETATION COVER OF THE KOCHUBEY BIOSPHERE STATION PASTURES

Vestnik of the Russian agricultural science ◽

10.30850/vrsn/2020/3/40-42 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 40-42

Author(s):

М. А. Babaeva ◽

S. V. Osipova

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Vegetation Cover ◽

Cynodon Dactylon ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Avena Fatua ◽

Living Environment ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Indigenous Species ◽

Fodder Plants ◽

Falcaria Vulgaris

The regularities of changes in the resistance of different groups of fodder plants to adverse conditions were studied. This is due to the physiological properties that allow them to overcome the harmful effects of the environment. As a result of research species - plant groups with great adaptive potential to the harsh continental semi-desert conditions were identified. Monitoring observation and experimental studies showed too thin vegetation cover as a mosaic, consisting of perennial xerophytic herbs and semishrubs, sod grasses, saltwort and wormwood, as well as ephemera and ephemeroids under the same environmental conditions, depending on various climatic and anthropogenic factors. This is due to the inability or instability of plant species to aggressive living environment. It results in horizontal heterogeneity of the grass stand, division into smaller structures, and mosaic in the vegetation cover of the Kochubey biosphere station. The relative resistance to moderate stress was identified in the following species from fodder plants Agropyron cristatum, A. desertorum, Festuca valesiaca, Cynodon dactylon, Avena fatua; as for strong increasing their abundance these are poorly eaten plant species Artemisia taurica, Atriplex tatarica, Falcaria vulgaris, Veronica arvensis, Arabidopsis thaliana and other. On the site with an increasing pressure in the herbage of phytocenoses the number of xerophytes of ruderal species increases and the spatial structure of the vegetation cover is simplified. In plant communities indigenous species are replaced by adventive plant species. The mosaic of the plant cover of phytocenoses arises due to the uneven distribution in the space of environmental formation, i.e. an edificatory: Salsola orientalis, S. dendroides, Avena fatua, Cynodon dactylon, Artemisia taurica, A. lercheanum, Xanthium spinosum, Carex pachystyli, under which the remaining components of the community adapt. Based on the phytocenotic indicators of pasture phytocenoses it can be concluded that the vegetation cover is in the stage of ecological stress and a decrease in the share of fodder crops and an increase in the number of herbs indicates this fact.

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