Tag Archives: litter

2179-2198 S. Targetti, A. Messeri, G. Argenti and N. Staglianò
A comparative analysis of functional traits in semi-natural grasslands under different grazing intensities
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A comparative analysis of functional traits in semi-natural grasslands under different grazing intensities

S. Targetti¹, A. Messeri², G. Argenti²* and N. Staglianò²

¹University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics, Feistmantelstrasse 4, AT1180 Wien, Austria
²University of Florence, Department of Agri-Food Production and Environmental Sciences, P.le delle Cascine 18, IT50100 Florence, Italy
*Correspondence: giovanni.argenti@unifi.it

Abstract:

The reduction of traditional management practices is a major threat for the conservation of permanent grasslands in many European marginal areas. The ecological importance of grasslands is acknowledged by the European Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC (1992) which includes many natural or semi-natural grassland types, and by the growing attention of society towards functions and services provided by these ecosystems. Nonetheless, the efficiency of conservation policies is questioned also for the lack of local-scale information on trends and state of grasslands hampers the definition of local-tailored schemes. The main objective of this work is to assess the potential of a set of functional traits in discriminating between different management intensities and their capacity to describe the dynamics occurring in semi-natural grasslands. The research was carried out in a hilly area of Tuscany (Italy) on four grassland sites characterized by similar environmental features (soil, climate, topography), and by different management practices for 10 or more years. The survey concerned collection and analysis of different functional traits related to foliar features, litter and botanical composition. The functional traits were able to differentiate the four sites under different management practices, but their effectiveness was different. Results support the possibility to perform a rapid appraisal of grassland successional stages based on leaf functional traits of dominant species and by the assessment of presence of a reduced number of species among those occurring in the community.

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359–366 B. Cemek, E. Kucuktopcu and Y. Demir
Determination of spatial distribution of ammonia levels in broiler houses
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Determination of spatial distribution of ammonia levels in broiler houses

B. Cemek*, E. Kucuktopcu and Y. Demir

Ondokuz Mayis University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural
Structures and Irrigation, TR 55139 Samsun, Turkey
*Correspondence:bcemek@omu.edu.tr

Abstract:

Ammonia concentration plays a significant role in broiler performance. High concentration of ammonia impairs the immune system and increases cases of respiratory disease in birds. Ammonia concentration can be reduced using various chemical additives such as zeolite. In the present study, spatial variability of ammonia concentration was investigated and analysed in two broiler houses. In House 1 (H1) sawdust only was used as litter material whilst sawdust used together with zeolite was used in House 2 (H2). Ammonia concentration measurements were taken from 21 points in each of the broiler houses. The readings were recorded at on a weekly basis using birds’ height as height measurement bases. In order to create spatial distribution maps, Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) and Radial Basis Functions (RBF) methods were used and analysed. The performances of these techniques were assessed by using validation test methods (root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE)) with the best performing method (lowest RMSE and MAE) being selected for creating ammonia spatial distribution maps. The results indicated that spatial ammonia distribution is more uniform in H2 compared to H1. It was also observed that ammonia levels were lower in H2 than H1. The presence of zeolite as a litter addition can be attributed to study findings positively affected the broiler performance. It was considered that using zeolite with sawdust as litter material significantly reduced ammonia concentration. In H1, higher ammonia concentrations of greater than 25 ppm were recorded near ventilation fans and at the centre of the house. Because of this it is recommended to install additional fans at middle of the house for remove harmful ammonia.

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228–235 J. Said, Š. Boďo, T. Saady, R. Gálik, S. Sardary and K. Abbas
Effect of broiler chickens living conditions on results of fattening
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Effect of broiler chickens living conditions on results of fattening

J. Said², Š. Boďo¹*, T. Saady², R. Gálik¹, S. Sardary² and K. Abbas²

¹Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Slovak University of
Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, SK 949SK 76 Nitra, Slovak Republic
²Agricultural College, Salahaddin University-Erbil, Karkuk St. Erbil, Kurdistan region,
Republic of Iraq
*Correspondence: stefan.bodo@uniag.sk

Abstract:

This work was aimed to monitor outdoor temperature, air humidity and internal microclimate conditions in broilers house during summer days, the temperature and the quality of bedding material as well as bird density. To evaluate the quality of litter we set three-tier system. If the litter dry and hard – value was ‘1’ if it was moist and supple – value was ‘2’, and if it was wet – value was ‘3’. The measurements were carried out on the 10th and 20th days of chickens age. Air temperature was monitored by (logger Comet R 3120) thermometer and for the measurement of the litter temperature used a non-contact thermometer (Raytek Raynger ST). To find out the birds density a thermocamera (Guide TP8S) for thermal imaging was used and subsequent shots are evaluated the birds stocking density. If the bird density high, value was ‘1’, if the bird density median, value was ‘2’ and if the density low, value was ‘3’. The hall was divided into 33 rectangular shapes. Results showed that the bedding quality averageed 1.2 on day 10 and 1.3 on day 20 of fattening (dry and hard). By comparing the P values and the significance level α (0.05), the value of 0.651 and 0.820 was found respectively for both age. No significance was detected between the litter temperature and the litter quality, also between bedding temperature and birds density. Intercomparison for bedding temperature and quality on days 10 and 20 a significant difference (0.000 < 0.05) was observed.

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