Assessing the Wall-To-Wall Spatial and Qualitative Dynamics of the Brazilian Pasturelands, between 2010 and 2018, Based on the Analysis of the Landsat Data Archive

The Brazilian livestock is predominantly extensive, with approximately 90% of the production being sustained on pasture, which occupies around 20% of the territory. In the current climate change scenario and where cropland is becoming a limited resource, there is a growing need for a more efficient land use and occupation. It is estimated that more than half of the Brazilian pastures have some level of degradation; however there is still no mapping of the quality of pastures on a national scale. In this study, we mapped and evaluated the spatio-temporal dynamics of pasture quality in Brazil, between 2010 and 2018, considering three classes of degradation: Absent (D0), Intermediate (D1), and Severe (D2). There was no variation in the total area occupied by pastures in the evaluated period, in spite of the accentuated spatial dynamics, with a retraction in the center-south and expansion to the north, over areas of ​​native vegetation. The percentage of non-degraded pastures increased ~12%, due to the recovery of degraded areas and the emergence of new pasture areas as a result of the prevailing spatial dynamics. However, about 44 Mha of the pasture area is currently severely degraded. The dynamics in pasture quality were not homogeneous in property size classes. We observed that in the approximately 2.68 million properties with livestock activity, the proportion with quality gains was twice as low in small properties compared to large ones, and the proportion with losses was three times greater, showing an increase in inequality between properties with more and less resources (large and small, respectively). The areas occupied by pastures in Brazil present an unique opportunity to increase livestock production and make available areas for agriculture, without the need for new deforestation in the coming decades.

Assessment of ways to use pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan

The authors presented research materials on the study of ways to use pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan. Purpose. Study of ways of grazing farm animals to increase productivity and rational use of pastures. The research object is the pasture lands of “Miras” farm in West Kazakhstan region. The research tasks were to select the most effective way of grazing, ensuring preservation and improvement of quantitative and qualitative indicators of semi-desert zone pastures. The research scientific novelty is in the fact that the determined grazing methods allow rational use of pasture resources and increase feed capacity of pasture lands. The studies were carried out in a semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan on a relief and sandy area of pastures. Results. Unsystematic use of pastures reduces quantitative and qualitative indicators. In summer studies, the highest content of weeds and poisonous plants (9 %) was found on a pasture of unsystematic grazing. When using this method, the proportion of cereals in the phytocenosis was at least 9 %. In the composition of the phytocenosis used in an unsystematic way, an increase in the proportion of wormwood was noted up to 15 %. Here, in comparison with the 2nd seasonal pastures, the share of herbs (poorly eaten) is also high – 21 %. On the pastures used in a unsystematic way in the spring, the yield of herbage reached only 3.81 c/ha, which is less than the seasonal pastures by 2.50–4.28 c/ha or 65.6–112.3 %. In a semi-desert zone, to provide agricultural animals with high-grade and high-quality fodder, as well as to create a stock and reduce the shortage of fodder, it is advantageous to use seasonal pastures with the inclusion of a distant pasture area in the pasture rotation. The use of distant areas for seasonal use of pastures, increasing the duration of the pasture period by 120 days, allows the farm to additionally create the volume of actual feed storage at the level of 5 499.5 centners, reducing the level of feed deficit by 2 119.7 centners or 81.03 %.

Response of Water Balance Components to Changes in Soil Use and Vegetation Cover Over Three Decades in the Eastern Amazon

Impacts on global water resources may be intensifying due to the growing and differentiated forms of land use and occupation, which influence the water cycle and thus the maintenance of life. In the Amazon, the effect may be even worse, as it is one of the world's most vulnerable regions to these changes. This work aimed to analyze the response of the components of the water balance to changes in land use and cover in the Eastern Amazon over three decades (1980–2013). First, soil texture maps were prepared. These combined with the classes of use in each decade let us estimate the values of storage and variation in storage (ΔS) of water in the soil. The behavior of the components of the water balance [precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration (E), and ΔS] were analyzed according to the Budyko model on the annual scale as a function of the aridity and evaporative indices. For the seasonal scale, a new parameter (y0) was introduced to explicitly represent the additional water available for E, in addition to instantaneous precipitation. The seasonality of the rains and the seasonal dynamics of storage were directly incorporated into the model developed, which allowed us to understand what the dominant control factors of water balance are. In the decade from 2000 to 2009, the remaining forest cover is only 48.91%, while the cover formed by pasture is 50.47%, meaning the water storage capacity in the soil decreased 8.1%. In the 1990s, to 1999, precipitation shows a reduction, probably as a reflection of the very strong events of La Niña and El Niño (1988–1989 and 1997–1998). Observing the sum of the surface area of water bodies in the region and the relationship of forest vs. pasture, it is possible to infer that the elevation in evapotranspiration is more related to the increase in evaporation due to the increase in the pasture area than to the reduction transpiration due to forest loss, reinforcing the hypothesis that evapotranspiration increases with pasture area.

Species list of ground-dwelling ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Nhecolândia, Pantanal, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

This study provides a list of the ground-dwelling ant species in Nhecolândia, Pantanal, Mato Grosso Sul, Brazil. The Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland in the world and is currently under strong anthropic pressure. Ground-dwelling ants were collected in three sites: (1) a forest regeneration area; (2) a pasture area; and (3) an area of secondary native vegetation. In each site, 120 samples were collected using pitfall traps in the dry and rainy seasons of 2016. Additional samplings were performed with Winkler extractors (30 leaf-litter samples) and manually, also in dry and rainy seasons of 2016. In total, we collected 172 species, which, summed with the additional records from literature, raise the number of ant species recorded in Nhecolândia to 184 in 42 genera and nine subfamilies. Eleven species were recorded for the first time in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Also, the survey adds two new species records to Brazil. Besides contributing to the inventory of the ant species present in the Pantanal biome, the present study provides an important resource for future conservation plans for this threatened ecoregion.

Area and Resource Utilization of Group-Housed Horses in an Active Stable

The aim of this study was to analyze the utilization of different stable areas of a total of 52 group-housed horses as well as their preferred stable parts and the use of resources. The study was situated in a “HIT Active Stable®” in Northern Germany for a period of 227 observation days. After dividing the whole farm area in a grid of 3 × 3 m, the dataset was examined with and without the pasture area. Furthermore, linear mixed models were applied. On average, horses used 53.2 ± 19 different squares per hour. The observation day (p < 0.001) and the covariate age (p < 0.001) had significant effects on the different squares visited per hour. No significant effects were found for sex (p = 0.30) and breed (p = 0.65) as only geldings and no stallions were part of the group and the distribution of the breeds was unfavorable. The random effect animal showed that the horse-individual estimates from -19.2 to 17.6 different squares visited per hour were quite large. Furthermore, it could be shown that the horses used resources such as feed stalls with a frequency of up to 0.14% more than other paddock areas without resources. Open lying halls with tarp skin were also preferred over the metal hall. The shelters were only partly popular. Use could be visualized with the help of heat maps. This study gives a good overview of the use of individual areas and resources and possible improvements.

Diversity of macrochelid mites in natural and cultivated areas of São Paulo state, Brazil, with description of a new species of Holostaspella (Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) and a key to the caelata group

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), is one of the main pests of livestock in Brazil, especially in areas where cattle is raised next to sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) fields in which vinasse is used as a fertilizer. Knowledge about the predatory mites associated with this parasite in the field may be helpful in designing programs to control it biologically. Mites of the family Macrochelidae are known to attack fly immatures, and thus could be helpful in reducing the population of the stable fly in the field. The aim of this paper is to report the macrochelid species found in surveys conducted in northwestern São Paulo state, where the fly is known to be present, including a new species here described, Holostaspella paulista Borges & Azevedo sp. nov., to provide complementary descriptions of the other species collected, and to present a key to the caelata group of Holostaspella. In total, 2,946 macrochelid specimens were collected from 264 samples of soil-litter or soil-cow obtained from two areas of sugarcane plantations, a pasture area and a disturbed patch of the Atlantic Forest in 2018 and 2019. Four species of Macrocheles, two of Holostaspella and one of Glyptholaspis were identified. The predominant species was Macrocheles merdarius (Berlese).

Study of the intrapopulation polymorphism of Trifolium repens L. from Lanivtsi under the anthropogenic load of various intensity

Aim. To study the phenotypic polymorphism of Trifolium repens L. populations growing under various anthropogenic load. Methods. The quantitative calculation of the leaves of the white clover by the presence or absence of the white leaf mark; the identification of the phenotype and genotype of the plant according to the pattern of the white leaf mark; the analysis of the phenotypic diversity and the study of the percentage of rare phenotypes; the calculation of the index of the phenotypes ratio. Results. 4 phenotypes were identified in the pasture area. The most common of them were the plants without the white mark with a frequency of 56.2 %. The plants with a full spot accounted for 27.5 %, with a spot with a gap – 15.4 %, with a central spot – 2.2 %. Heterozygous plants were absent. In the central part of the city, 7 genotypes were identified. Among these genotypes there were the significant decrease of the recessive homozygotes (by 43.6 %) and the increase of the frequency of VV (by 15.2 %) and VHVH (by 21.2 %) genotypes. Heterozygotes accounted for 1.3–3.0 %. The intrapopulation diversity in this territory was the highest (5.1) among the studied areas. In the population growing near Ternopil-Lanivtsi road, we identified 6 genotypes. The plants without spot (vv) and with the full spot (VV) were found with identical frequency of 34–35 %. The plants with a full high spot (VHVH) were about 20.4 %. Other phenotypes amounted to 10 %. Conclusions. In the populations located in ecologically polluted and anthropogenically loaded areas, the sets of alleles expand and the specific phenotypes appear under the influence of the mutation processes and natural selection. In the population without the anthropogenic load the decrease of the polymorphism and the increase of the frequency of individual genotypes (vv, VV) were observed. Keywords: Trifolium repens L., leaf phenotype, intrapopulation polymorphism, multiple allelism, bioindication, anthropogenic load.

Thornthwaite and mather soil water balance model adapted for estimation of real evapotranspiration of the pasture

Determining the real water requirement for pastures is essential for the rational use of irrigation. The aim of this work was to assess the crop coefficient and performance of the Thornthwaite and Mather soil water balance (ThM) adapted to estimate the daily actual evapotranspiration (ETa) of a pasture in relation to the Bowen ratio - energy balance method (BREB). The experiment was carried out from July 2018 to June 2019 in Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro State (RJ) (22º 27’S; 42º 45’W and 30 m altitude). Micrometeorological and meteorological measurements were conducted in a micrometeorological tower installed in the pasture and also in an automatic weather station, located 1 km from the pasture area. The ThM model was evaluated using linear regression between ETa determinate from BREB and the estimates from ThM using its coefficient of determination (R²) and the modified Willmott agreement index (dm). The ThM model underestimated (between 11 and 16%) the ETa for all seasons, except for spring, which overestimated by 1%. The highest precision and accuracy of the estimates were observed in autumn (R² = 0.84 and dm = 0.68) and spring (R² = 0.83 and dm = 0.82). In summer (R² = 0.56 and dm = 0.73) and winter (R² = 0.43 and dm = 0.66), the lower performance was caused by the inability of the model to represent water extraction from the soil in dry periods.

Does the Mutton Sheep Weather Index Insurance Promote the Mutton Sheep Industry?A Study based on the Endogenous Switching Regression Model

In 2018, as the first livestock weather index-based insurance product for grassland animal husbandry, the mutton sheep weather index insurance was officially listed as a subsidy agricultural insurance by the Government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which was later in 2019 implemented throughout the XilinGol League of the autonomous region. Employing the endogenous switching regression model, this study investigates the factors influencing herdsmen's purchasing decisions, as well as the impact of mutton sheep weather index insurance on the mutton sheep industry scale, which are accomplished based on 308 survey data from herdsmen in the XilinGol League. The empirical results reveal that the age, age squared, pasture area and neighbors' purchasing intention constitute the significant influencing factors of the herdsmen's purchasing decisions, while the pasture area and net pastoral income affect the scale of mutton sheep farming prominently. Furthermore, according to the ATT results, the mutton sheep weather index insurance produces an insignificant impact on the sheep farming scale of herdsmen. The conclusions of this study suggest that the mutton sheep weather index insurance is not contrary to the cattle-increasing, sheep-reducing policy in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which also provide a solid theoretical basis for the promotion of the insurance throughout the autonomous region.

Computational Modeling of the Hydrological Processes in Caatinga and Pasture Areas in the Brazilian Semi-Arid

The semi-arid regions of northeastern Brazil have historically suffered from water shortage. In this context, monitoring and modeling the soil moisture’s dynamics with hydrological models in natural (Caatinga) and degraded (Pasture) regions is of fundamental importance to understand the dynamics of hydrological processes. Therefore, this work aims to evaluate the hydraulic parameters in Caatinga and Pasture areas using the Hydrus-1D inverse method. Thus, five soil hydraulic models present in Hydrus-1D were used, allowing the comparison of the single-porosity model with more complex models, which consider the dual porosity and the hysteresis of the porous medium. The hydraulic models showed better adjustments in the Caatinga area (RMSE = 0.01–0.02, R2 = 0.61–0.97) than in the Pasture area (RMSE = 0.01–0.03, R2 = 0.61–0.90). Regarding the hydraulic parameters, for all models, the Pasture showed smaller saturated hydraulic conductivity and water content values of the mobile region than the Caatinga. This fact demonstrates the negative impact of compaction and change in natural vegetation in the Brazilian semi-arid. The dual-porosity model presented the best fit to the data measured in the Pasture area. However, a single-porosity model could be considered representative of the Caatinga area. The results showed that Caatinga areas contribute to maintaining soil moisture and increasing the water storage in semi-arid regions.