The aim of this study was to investigate and compare total mercury (Hg), selenium (Se), and Se:Hg molar ratios in fish muscles (phytophages n=3; benthophages n=32; predators n=5) and semiaquatic carnivores, including piscivores (the European otter n=8, the feral American mink n=7) and the...

Perennial grass species have many valuable qualities that can be used in solving the problem of producing more feed for livestock. In this regard, four introduced varieties of perennial grasses (Phleum pratense L., Agrostis alba L., Dactylis glomerata L. and Lolium perenne L.) were studied in the...

Objective: To investigate the effects of pH and temperature on cellulose enzyme activities of Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck and Cipangopaludina chinensis Gray. Method: The enzymatic analysis method (Carboxymethyl cellulose method) was used to research the influences of different reaction...

Selective grazing of white clover (Trifolium repens) over grass species in temperate pastures results in reduced clover abundance and availability over time. Within sheep- and cattle-grazed dryland (<800 mm annual rainfall) hill and high country areas of New Zealand, naturalized unsown annual...

Habitat has changed unfavorably during the past 150 y for the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii, a federally threatened species with declining populations in the Mojave Desert and western Sonoran Desert. To support recovery efforts, we synthesized published information on relationships of desert...

Increased biodiversity may improve ecosystem services, including herbage yield. A mixture experiment was carried out at five sites in Northern Europe and one in Canada to investigate whether mixtures of grasses and legumes would give higher herbage yield than monocultures. Resistance of the...

The aim of this study was to determine whether farming leads to changes in gastrointestinal function and nitrogen metabolism in farmed mink (FA), as compared with their wild-living counterparts. Three digestibility and balance trials were carried out. Experiment I was performed in May, and...

The nutritional value of plant fodder, daily consumption, and digestibility of forage were assessed in an isolated group of free-living (wild) horses inhabiting the pastures of Vodnyi Island during different seasons of 2010-2011. The digestibility was determined by the proportion between inert food ...

Typha capensis (TC), a highly prolific, invasive grass found in many parts of the world, is a common pest that grows in waterways, but it may be a good lignocellulosic substrate for bioethanol production. Sulfuric acid-catalyzed ethanol organosolv pretreatment was used to investigate the...

In the last decades of agricultural intensification, species diversity has been largely ignored. However, in nutrient-poor grasslands, plant diversity has been shown to correlate with increased primary production. If such positive productivity effects also apply to agricultural grasslands,...