Explore the vast range of titles available.

Fast and accurate quantification of the available pasture biomass is essential to support grazing management decisions in intensively managed fields. The increasing temporal and spatial resolutions offered by the new generation of orbital platforms, such as Planet CubeSat satellites, have improved the capability of monitoring pasture biomass using remotely sensed data. Here, we assessed the feasibility of using spectral and textural information derived from PlanetScope imagery for estimating pasture aboveground biomass (AGB) and canopy height (CH) in intensively managed fields and the potential for enhanced accuracy by applying the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm. Our results demonstrated that the texture measures enhanced AGB and CH estimations compared to the performance obtained using only spectral bands or vegetation indices. The best results were found by employing the XGBoost models based only on texture measures. These models achieved moderately high accuracy to predict pasture AGB and CH, explaining 65% and 89% of AGB (root mean square error (RMSE) = 26.52%) and CH (RMSE = 20.94%) variability, respectively. This study demonstrated the potential of using texture measures to improve the prediction accuracy of AGB and CH models based on high spatiotemporal resolution PlanetScope data in intensively managed mixed pastures.

The article considers the issues of geobotanical survey of the “Baytak-Ravat-Jakub» pasture spot of Batken city applying geoinformational technologies. A geobotanical survey of pastures is a survey conducted to determine the productivity of pastures, the botanical composition of herbage, the quality of herbaceous vegetation, its habitats, and the possibility of using pastures for grazing various types of farm animals. Traditional field method and the method of geoinformational mapping is applied for the geobotanical survey of pastures which is capable for storing and processing pasture monitoring data. As a result of monitoring pastures using geoinformational technologies, the cartographic material is created with the boundaries of pasture contours and the yield. The regional pasture committees determine geobotanical composition and assessment of the condition of pastures, organizing the rational utilization of pastures and their protection. The research materials will be may can be recommended for use.

Abstract There are currently 180 million hectares under pasture in Brazil, and despite the country being one of the largest meat producers, there remain around 64 million hectares that show signs of degradation and contribute to the substantial loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). The aim of this study, therefore, was to derive the factors for SOC stock changes in managed pastures and evaluate the potential for SOC sequestration when converting degraded pastures to well-managed or recovered pastures in Brazil. The study involved 169 paired comparisons, including different types of pasture spread over 14 states in Brazil, and analysed the data in linear mixed-effect models deriving the SOC stock change factors for various soil depths (30 to 100 cm) over 30 years since the change in management. The results showed that for 30 years at a depth of 0–30 cm, compared to native vegetation, nominal pasture (non-degraded grassland, but with no significant management improvements) and improved pasture increased SOC stocks by 15% and 8%, whilst degraded pastures reduced the stocks by 10%. However, the recovery of degraded pastures enhances the SOC by 23%. In terms of the rates of SOC change, pasture degradation leads to losses of 0.25 Mg C ha−1 year−1, whilst nominal or recovered pastures can sequester SOC at rates from 0.25 to 0.54 Mg ha−1 year−1. Overall, it was estimated that the recovery of degraded pastures can sequester up to 3445 Tg of CO2. Nominal management or simple improvement practices can maintain or enhance SOC stocks, helping to mitigate the GHG emissions of livestock in Brazil.

In this article, the state and the main factors leading to the degradation of pastures of Uzbekistan are considered. To solve this problem, the technology and planting scheme are proposed, and a constructive scheme of combined soil-processing and planting tool for its implementation is developed.

Background The ability to finish livestock on pasture over the summer–autumn period could improve the profitability of red meat enterprises in drought‐prone temperate regions. In south‐eastern Australia, traditional perennial options are limited by poor warm‐season performance (phalaris, Phalaris aquatica L.) and widespread environmental constraints (lucerne, Medicago sativa L.). We aimed to identify perennial species suitable for summer–autumn finishing. Methods We tested pure swards of summer‐active perennial grasses and herbs (20 cultivars across 14 species) in replicated small‐plot experiments at two sites on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. We assessed early persistence, productivity and warm‐season nutritive characteristics over 2–3 years. Results Lucerne and chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) persisted well through drought and produced herbage of high quantity and quality through summer–autumn. Digit grass (Digitaria eriantha Steud.) was highly persistent and productive but nutritive values were generally poor. Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), prairie grass (Bromus willdenowii Kunth.) and plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) were productive but less persistent through drought, while nutritive values were sometimes inadequate. Conclusions Chicory is a good alternative to lucerne, given its excellent summer–autumn performance, ability to survive droughts and superior acid soil tolerance. If appropriate management resolves issues with persistence and nutritive value, several of the other species could also be used to close the warm‐season feed gap in drought‐prone temperate environments. Pasture quality and quantity limit summer–autumn livestock production in drought‐prone temperate environments. We evaluated summer‐active perennial grasses and herbs over the warm season in south‐eastern Australia. Lucerne and chicory consistently showed high persistence, productivity and nutritive value. Digit grass, cocksfoot, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, prairie grass and plantain also showed potential.

Intensive crop production on grassland-derived Mollisols has liberated massive amounts of carbon (C) to the atmosphere. Whether minimizing soil disturbance, diversifying crop rotations, or re-establishing perennial grasslands and integrating livestock can slow or reverse this trend remains highly uncertain. We investigated how these management practices affected soil organic carbon (SOC) accrual and distribution between particulate (POM) and mineral-associated (MAOM) organic matter in a 29-y-old field experiment in the North Central United States and assessed how soil microbial traits were related to these changes. Compared to conventional continuous maize monocropping with annual tillage, systems with reduced tillage, diversified crop rotations with cover crops and legumes, or manure addition did not increase total SOC storage or MAOM-C, whereas perennial pastures managed with rotational grazing accumulated more SOC and MAOM-C (18 to 29% higher) than all annual cropping systems after 29 y of management. These results align with a meta-analysis of data from published studies comparing the efficacy of soil health management practices in annual cropping systems on Mollisols worldwide. Incorporating legumes and manure into annual cropping systems enhanced POM-C, microbial biomass, and microbial C-use efficiency but did not significantly increase microbial necromass accumulation, MAOM-C, or total SOC storage. Diverse, rotationally grazed pasture management has the potential to increase persistent soil C on Mollisols, highlighting the key role of well-managed grasslands in climate-smart agriculture.

Grasslands absorb and release carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), emit methane (CH 4 ) from grazing livestock, and emit nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from soils. Little is known about how the fluxes of these three greenhouse gases, from managed and natural grasslands worldwide, have contributed to past climate change, or the roles of managed pastures versus natural grasslands. Here, global trends and regional patterns of the full greenhouse gas balance of grasslands are estimated for the period 1750 to 2012. A new spatially explicit land surface model is applied, to separate the direct effects of human activities from land management and the indirect effects from climate change, increasing CO 2 and regional changes in nitrogen deposition. Direct human management activities are simulated to have caused grasslands to switch from a sink to a source of greenhouse gas, because of increased livestock numbers and accelerated conversion of natural lands to pasture. However, climate change drivers contributed a net carbon sink in soil organic matter, mainly from the increased productivity of grasslands due to increased CO 2 and nitrogen deposition. The net radiative forcing of all grasslands is currently close to neutral, but has been increasing since the 1960s. Here, we show that the net global climate warming caused by managed grassland cancels the net climate cooling from carbon sinks in sparsely grazed and natural grasslands. In the face of future climate change and increased demand for livestock products, these findings highlight the need to use sustainable management to preserve and enhance soil carbon storage in grasslands and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from managed grasslands. Grasslands, and the livestock that live there, are dynamic sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, but what controls these fluxes remains poorly characterized. Here the authors show that on the global level, grasslands are climate neutral owing to the cancelling effects of managed vs. natural systems.