Many cool-season pastures in the southeastern U.S. are dominated by a competitive cool-season grass, tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus), and lack substantial plant diversity. Planting native ...warm-season grasses (NWSGs) and wildflowers (WFs) into these pastures could provide summer forage for cattle and more floral resources for pollinators. This paper summarizes field experiments designed to evaluate different spatiotemporal planting arrangements of NWSGs and WFs to improve their establishment success. The study was conducted from April 2021 to October 2023 in central Virginia (USA). Planting treatments included NWSG and WF mixtures planted: (1) together in the same space, (2) spatially separated in space (i.e., side by side), or (3) temporally separated where NWSGs and WFs were planted in difference sequences. Results showed few differences in forage mass, floral production, and botanical composition as well as stand density in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, NWSG abundance was greater where grasses were planted first or mixed with WFs. Similarly, the WF component was favored when they were planted before NWSGs. Overall, planting NWSG and WF mixes separately, either spatially or temporally, favors successful establishment and could offer more flexibility for using selective herbicides to suppress the heavy weed pressure that often accompanies these plantings.
Research shows that individuals with a body mass index (BMI) over 30 have experienced an 11-fold increase in restrictive eating and a 7-fold increase in binge eating since the 1990s. Most health ...promotion programs for higher-weight individuals have not been developed with the high eating disorder risk for this population in mind. The purpose of current study was to test two hypothesized mechanisms underlying improvement in maladaptive eating patterns shown in a weight-inclusive health promotion program designed for women with BMIs at or above 30. Participants (N = 40) were primarily White (93 %), 30–45 years old (M = 39.83, SD = 4.34) with BMIs ranging from 30 to 45 kg/m2 (M = 37.42, SD = 3.58). Using the MEMORE macro, we tested a parallel mediation model hypothesizing that internalized weight stigma and intuitive eating would explain improvements on two subscales from the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18 after a 6-month program. Total effects of the program on uncontrolled (b = −3.76, SE = 0.64, p < .0001) and emotional eating (b = −1.79, SE = 0.34, p < .0001) were significant. The indirect effects (IE) of internalized weight stigma on uncontrolled eating (IE = 1.59, SE = 0.79, 95 % CI = 0.46, 3.49) and emotional eating (IE = 0.67, SE = 0.40, 95 % CI = 0.11, 1.68) were also significant. Likewise, the IEs of intuitive eating on uncontrolled eating (IE = 2.09, SE = 0.70, 95 % CI = 0.60, 3.38) and emotional eating (IE = 1.03, SE = 0.43, 95 % CI = 0.08, 1.82) were significant. These findings indicate that weight-inclusive health promotion programs that directly address weight bias and eating according to cues from the body may help higher-weight individuals improve maladaptive eating patterns via reductions in internalized weight stigma and increases in intuitive eating.
•Weight-inclusive health program reduced internalized weight stigma over six months•Weight-inclusive health program increased intuitive eating practices over six months•Reductions in internalized weight stigma decreased uncontrolled and emotional eating•Intuitive eating practices reduced uncontrolled and emotional eating•Intuitive eating and internalized weight stigma may be essential targets of intervention
Effective management of dairy farms requires an accurate prediction of pasture biomass. Generally, estimation of pasture biomass requires site-specific data, or often perfect world assumptions to ...model prediction systems when field measurements or other sensory inputs are unavailable. However, for small enterprises, regular measurements of site-specific data are often inconceivable. In this study, we approach the estimation of pasture biomass by predicting sward heights across the field. A convolution based sequential architecture is proposed for pasture height predictions using deep learning. We develop a process to create synthetic datasets that simulate the evolution of pasture growth over a period of 30 years. The deep learning based pasture prediction model (DeepPaSTL) is trained on this dataset while learning the spatiotemporal characteristics of pasture growth. The architecture purely learns from the trends in pasture growth through available spatial measurements and is agnostic to any site-specific data, or climatic conditions, such as temperature, precipitation, or soil condition. Our model performs within a 12% error margin even during the periods with the largest pasture growth dynamics. The study demonstrates the potential scalability of the architecture to predict any pasture size through a quantization approach during prediction. Results suggest that the DeepPaSTL model represents a useful tool for predicting pasture growth both for short and long horizon predictions, even with missing or irregular historical measurements.
ABSTRACT
Perennial warm‐season grasses (WSG) have potential for use as forage in grazing systems and as biomass for bioenergy production. Managing WSG stands for these purposes could affect ...ecosystems differently. The goal of this study was to evaluate how management of WSG stands, for either grazing or as a bioenergy crop, would impact weedy and sown biomass, community composition, and total soil C pools. Mixtures containing 1, 4, and 10 native species were established in Blacksburg, VA, and managed for grazing or as a biomass crop from 2009 to 2012. Initially, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) monocultures yielded less sown biomass and had more weed pressure than the more diverse mixtures. Grazing promoted weed invasion in all mixtures, especially in 2012 when grazed areas contained over four times more weed biomass than biomass plots. Forage species composition shifted over time, as forbs, which contributed over 50% of herbage mass in the first year, were replaced by WSG. Total soil C was not affected by management or species composition of WSG stands but did increase 17% over 4 yr. The amount of new soil C added by warm‐season species (C4) was higher in 4‐ and 10‐species mixtures, likely the result of greater WSG biomass and cool‐season species (C3) weeds that invaded switchgrass monocultures. Planting diverse WSG mixtures (4 to 10 species) and managing initially for biomass production may help accelerate stand establishment, produce high herbage yields, and reduce weed pressure.
Botanical diversity has been linked to increased biomass production of grasslands, but these relationships have not been explored as extensively in silvopasture systems where shade impacts on forage ...mass are variable due to the unique structure and environment of each system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of multiple artificial shade levels on the DM yield and botanical composition of three cool‐season forage mixtures near Blackstone, Virginia, USA. Mixtures were as follows: simple = tall fescue Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort., nom. cons. and white clover (Trifulium repens L.); intermediate = simple + orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerate L.) and red clover (Trifolium pretense L.); and complex = intermediate + Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Slatted structures created conditions of 30%, 50% and 70% shade relative to a full sun control. Forages were harvested mechanically (no grazers present). Annual yield (DM kg/ha) did not differ among mixtures. As compared to full sun, annual yield was no different at 30% shade, but was reduced by 22 and 36% at 50 and 70% shade respectively. In contrast to other species in the mixtures, orchardgrass increased in proportion when grown beneath all shade levels and is recommended for silvopasture use. Orchardgrass is not particularly well‐adapted to the transition zone between the northern temperate and southern subtropical United States; therefore, these results indicate that silvopastures may be an effective way to integrate marginally adapted, shade‐tolerant cool‐season forages into transition zone grazing systems.
This work evaluates an exceptionally complex natural laboratory, the Middle Triassic Latemar isolated platform in the northern Italian Dolomite Mountains and explores spatial and temporal gradients ...in processes and products related to contact metamorphism, dolomitization and dedolomitization of marine limestones. The relation between petrographic change and re‐equilibration of geochemical proxy data is evaluated from the perspective of carbonate‐archive research. Hydrothermal dolomitization of the limestone units is triggered by dykes and associated hydrothermal fluids radiating from the nearby Predazzo Intrusion. Detailed petrography, fluid inclusion analysis, δ13C and δ18O data and 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios shed light on the extreme textural and geochemical complexity. Metamorphic and diagenetic patterns include: (i) peak‐metamorphic and retrograde‐metamorphic phases including three dolomite marbles, two dedolomite marbles, brucite, magnesium silicates and late‐stage meteoric/vadose cement at the contact aureole; (ii) four spatially defined episodes of dolomitization, authigenic quartz, low magnesium calcite and late‐stage meteoric cement at the Latemar isolated platform; and (iii) kilometre‐scale gradients in δ13C values from the contact aureole towards the platform interior. Results shown here are relevant for two reasons: first, the spatial analysis of alteration products ranging from high‐grade metamorphic overprint of marbles at temperatures of 700°C in the contact aureole to moderately altered limestones in the platform interior at temperatures <100°C, allows the observation of processes that commonly occur along vertical (prograde) gradients from shallow burial to metamorphism at depths >20 km. Second, under rock‐buffered conditions, and irrespective of metamorphic to diagenetic fluid−rock interactions, both marbles, and low‐temperature hydrothermal dolomites have conservative marine δ13C and δ18O values. The fact that metamorphism and hydrothermal dolomitization of precursor limestones and early diagenetic dolostones did not per se reset environmental proxy data is of interest for those concerned with carbonate archive research in Earth’s deep time.
ABSTRACT
If nutrients are efficiently recycled within pasture systems, soil nutrient concentrations should change minimally over time. This process, however, has not been well documented in ...rotationally stocked tall fescue– Schendonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub based pastures. The study objectives were to: (i) examine temporal changes in plant‐available soil nutrient concentrations in two creep grazing systems grazed by cows that differed in size, (ii) determine how winter hay feeding and use of improved forages for creep grazing affected soil and herbage nutrient concentrations, and (iii) examine the relationship between and variability within soil and herbage nutrient concentrations. From 2008 to 2012, soil and herbage samples were collected from 102 paddocks across four grazing system treatments. Significant differences in soil nutrient concentration between creep grazing systems were observed before the initiation of grazing (p < 0.05) and were consistent through time. Soil pH and soil P, K, Ca, Mg, and B concentrations declined significantly with time (p < 0.05). Increased concentrations of soil P, K, Fe, and Cu were found in hay feeding paddocks. Soil P and K showed greater variation across samples than did herbage P and K concentrations. The correlations between soil and herbage nutrient concentrations were weak. Because of variability in soil nutrients within paddocks, herbage nutrient analysis may provide a better assessment of pasture fertility status. Though year‐to‐year changes in soil nutrient concentration were small, monitoring the nutrient status of pasture systems is essential for achieving optimal forage yields, improving livestock health, and limiting nutrient losses to the environment.
Warm-season grasses (WSG) can supply badly needed forage in summer when cool-season grasses (CSG) are often unproductive. This study was conducted from 2005–2007 in central Illinois to compare annual ...and perennial WSG pasture types integrated into a CSG grazing system. The objective was to compare summer herbage mass, forage nutritive value, cattle (Bos taurus) performance, and variable costs between CSG systems integrated with either annual (AWSG) or native, perennial warm-season grass (NWSG) pastures. The AWSG pastures were established with sorghum-sudangrass cultivars Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, and eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides (L.) L. dominated NWSG pastures. Beef cow–calf groups were moved between CSG and WSG pastures during summer based on forage availability. Both WSG pasture types averaged 61% more herbage mass (493 g m−2) in mid-summer compared with CSG pastures (204 g m−2). Except for one sampling date, herbage mass on NWSG pastures either exceeded (P < 0.05) or was equal to AWSG pastures. The nutritive value of AWSG forage was consistently higher than NWSG (P < 0.05), but cow and calf performance was similar on both pasture types. A simple cost analysis showed that AWSG pastures were more expensive to maintain even though establishment costs of NWSG pasture were much higher. Our results suggest NWSG pastures may be the better option for livestock producers seeking a longer-term solution to summer forage deficits associated with CSG.
Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is an integral membrane enzyme that degrades the fatty acid amide family of signaling lipids, including the endocannabinoid anandamide. Genetic or pharmacological ...inactivation of FAAH leads to analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, and antidepressant phenotypes in rodents without showing the undesirable side effects observed with direct cannabinoid receptor agonists, indicating that FAAH may represent an attractive therapeutic target for treatment of pain, inflammation, and other central nervous system disorders. However, the FAAH inhibitors reported to date lack drug-like pharmacokinetic properties and/or selectivity. Herein we describe piperidine/piperazine ureas represented by N-phenyl-4-(quinolin-3-ylmethyl)piperidine-1-carboxamide (PF-750) and N-phenyl-4-(quinolin-2-ylmethyl)piperazine-1-carboxamide (PF-622) as a novel mechanistic class of FAAH inhibitors. PF-750 and PF-622 show higher in vitro potencies than previously established classes of FAAH inhibitors. Rather unexpectedly based on the high chemical stability of the urea functional group, PF-750 and PF-622 were found to inhibit FAAH in a time-dependent manner by covalently modifying the enzyme's active site serine nucleophile. Activity-based proteomic profiling revealed that PF-750 and PF-622 were completely selective for FAAH relative to other mammalian serine hydrolases. We hypothesize that this remarkable specificity derives, at least in part, from FAAH's special ability to function as a C(O)−N bond hydrolase, which distinguishes it from the vast majority of metabolic serine hydrolases in mammals that are restricted to hydrolyzing esters and/or thioesters. The piperidine/piperazine urea may thus represent a privileged chemical scaffold for the synthesis of FAAH inhibitors that display an unprecedented combination of potency and selectivity for use as potential analgesic and anxiolytic/antidepressant agents.
Past disturbance events shape future community trajectories if their ecological legacies interact with contemporary disturbance regimes to affect recruitment and reproduction. In pastures, ...large-scale disturbance events can become undetectable in aboveground community components but persist as augmented weed seedbanks, suggesting disturbance history may be a predictor of weed invasion magnitude following subsequent disturbance. Using a randomized block factorial design, we investigated how soil disturbance intensity, timing and history interact to affect weed recruitment, diversity and reproduction by implementing a range of disturbance intensities in April and June 2004 in pastures of differing disturbance history. Response variables were followed for two years. Disturbance timing interacted with disturbance intensity and history to affect recruitment, with some June treatment combinations having ≥48% higher weed abundance than those in April. Relative to undisturbed controls, low to intermediate disturbance intensity facilitated recruitment by ≥117% but high intensity disturbance had highest recruitment, particularly in previously disturbed pastures (≥543% increase). In both years, weed species richness was highest in intense disturbances in previously disturbed pastures. Importantly, weed reproduction was nearly one order of magnitude higher in intense disturbance patches, especially in previously disturbed pastures, and increased through time by ≥243%. These findings indicate weed recruitment, diversity and reproductive output are seed- and microsite-limited, and that intense soil disturbance may result in high long-term weed abundance. Although moderate disturbance facilitated recruitment, reproduction here was low, suggesting modest disturbance will not appreciably increase weed abundance. The most common species were Taraxacum officinale and Poa pratensis, both of which can benefit forage-livestock production, but most establishing species were of low palatability. We recommend grassland managers explicitly integrate disturbance history into dynamic management planning, consider augmenting seedbanks with ‘desirable’ weed species to help communities recover following inevitable disturbance events and do not rely exclusively on aboveground characters to evaluate their system's vulnerability to undesirable plant establishment and persistence.
Störungen in der Vergangenheit formen die zukünftige Entwicklung von Gemeinschaften, wenn ihr ökologisches Erbe mit gegenwärtigen Störungen interagiert, so dass Rekrutierung und Reproduktion beeinflusst werden. Auf Weiden können großflächige Störungsereignisse an der oberirdischen Gemeinschaft nicht erkennbar sein, aber als vergrößerte Unkrautsamenbanken persistieren, was nahelegt, dass die Störungshistorie ein Prädiktor für den Umfang der Unkrautinvasion sein könnte, die einer späteren Störung folgt. Wir benutzten ein Randomized-Block-Factorial-Design und untersuchten, wie Intensität, Zeitpunkt und Historie der Bodenstörungen interagieren, um die Rekrutierung, Diversität und Reproduktion von Unkräutern zu beeinflussen, indem wir eine Reihe von Störungsintensitäten in April und Juni 2004 auf Weiden mit unterschiedlicher Störungshistorie einrichteten. Die Reaktionen wurden über zwei Jahre verfolgt. Der Zeitpunkt der Störung interagierte mit der Störungsintensität und historie und beeinflusste die Rekrutierung, wobei einige Behandlungen im Juni ≥48% höhere Unkrautabundanzen aufwiesen als die im April. Verglichen mit ungestörten Kontrollen förderten geringe und mittlere Störungsintensitäten die Rekrutierung um ≥117%, aber die höchste Störungsintensität bewirkte die Rekrutierung, insbesondere auf Weiden, die in der Vergangenheit gestört worden waren (Zunahme: ≥543%). In beiden Jahren war der Artenreichtum auf stark gestörten Flächen mit Störung in der Vergangenheit am höchsten. Die Unkrautreproduktion war auf stark gestörten Flächen am höchsten, besonders auf jenen mit Störung in der Vergangenheit, und sie nahm im Laufe der Zeit um ≥243% zu. Die Befunde zeigen, dass Rekrutierung, Diversität und Reproduktion der Unkräuter durch die Verfügbarkeit von Samen und Kleinsthabitaten limitiert sind und dass starke Bodenstörungen langfristig hohe Unkrautabundanzen bewirken können. Auch wenn mittlere Störung die Rekrutierung begünstigte, war die Reproduktion hier gering, so dass mittlere Störungen die Unkrautabundanz wohl nicht nennenswert erhöhen. Die häufigsten Arten waren Taraxacum officinale and Poa pratensis, die beide das Weideviehfutter bereichern können, aber die meisten auftretenden Arten waren von geringer Qualität. Wir empfehlen, dass die Störungshistorie in die dynamische Bewirtschaftungsplanung einbezogen wird, in Betracht zu ziehen, Samenbanken mit “erwünschten” Unkrautarten zu ergänzen, um die Erholung von Gemeinschaften nach unausweichlichen Störungsereignissen zu unterstützen, und sich nicht ausschließlich auf die oberirdischen Merkmale zu verlassen, wenn die Anfälligkeit von Gemeinschaften für die unerwünschte Ansiedlung und Persistenz von Pflanzen bewertet werden soll.
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