The nitrogen fertilizer response of feed corn (Zea mays L.) was compared with that of two types of livestock waste composts made by different composting. One type was immature compost produced by leaving livestock waste in compost shed for about 1 month. The other was aerated type of compost prepared by mixing sawdust with the same livestock waste material, churning and aerating for 12 days in composting facility, then stacking for about 3 months. Increasing application of the immature compost from 10, 30, 50tha^<-1> increased dry matter yield, crude protein content and nitrogen (N) uptake. Mean N availability was 33.4%, which decreased as the quantity of compost applied was increased. Dry matter yield and N uptake levels did not increase when application of the aerated compost was increased in the same way, as levels were similar to those in plots to which chemical fertilizer was applied (P_2 O_5 and K_2O) without N. N availability levels were negative, which was believed to be due to loss by ammonia volatilization of ammonia N and readily degradable organic N during the composting. Although application of immature compost has problems including weed seeds and bad smell, it would be effective fertilizer in nitrogen availability.

View full abstract

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) seeds were sown on dung pats as a laborsaving method for introducing temperate grasses in grazing forests. Seeds were sown in three different sites: 1) an open area with no tree canopy cover, 2) under sparse evergreen conifers with a relative light intensity of 35% with respect to an open area, and 3) under an almost completely closed canopy of deciduous broad leaf trees. When seeds were sown in September, germination, establishment, and growth of the grasses were good until early summer the following year in every site. However, the number of tillers decreased rapidly during the summer in the open area due to high temperature and under the almost completely closed canopy due to low light intensity. Tillers under the sparse evergreen conifers persisted fairly well after the summer, but growth of the grass was not sufficient. It was concluded that this method was not practical for perennial ryegrass and orchardgrass because adequate grass growth did not continue through the summer of the following year in all three sites. The site half shaded by a tree canopy seems to be favorable for the persistence of temperate grasses in the districts where summer depression of grass growth occurs.

View full abstract

This study investigated the influence of grazing cattle on the survival and growth of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) seedlings in a sasa-type forest floor of a Fagus crenata Bl. forest. We compared the height and coverage of Sasa kurilensis and the survival rate, height, and photoenvironment of cedar seedlings between grazed and excluded plots in a gap of the beech forest including an artificial cedar stand for five years. In the excluded plots, S. kurilensis rapidly increased in height and coverage, and the relative photon flux density decreased, resulting in a decrease in the cedar seedlings survival rate in the third year. On the other hand, in the grazed plots, cattle frequently grazed S. kurilensis and, thus, a good photoenvironment was maintained, which resulted in a significantly higher survival rate and height of the seedlings as compared to those in the excluded plots. Cattle rarely influenced cedar seedlings directly by grazing, trampling and excreting behaviors. We can term grazing cattle as a "selective biological disturbance factor" for S. kurilensis because it acted as a disturbance factor for S. kurilensis but not for cedar seedlings. Therefore, it is concluded that the success or failure of cedar regeneration depends on cattle grazing pressure in the S. kurilensis-type forest floor of a beech forest.

View full abstract

The effects of additives containing fermented juice of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (FJLB) prepared from timothy and orchardgrass and a bacterial inoculant and enzyme mixture (I+E) at ensiling on the fermentation quality and flora of lactic acid bacteria of silages were investigated. The fermentation quality was improved significantly (P<0.01) by all additive treatments of both silages compared to that of the untreated (U) silage. Counts of lactic acid bacteria were smaller in silage treated with either FJLB or FJLB and glucose mixture (FJLB+G) compared to those in the U-treated or I+G-treated silage. Dominant bacteria of timothy-FJLB were Lactobacillus viridescens, and those of orchardgrass-FJLB were Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus fermentum. After adding FJLB or FJLB+G treatments of both silages, L. plantarum was dominant. Dominant bacteria after adding FJLB to silage may not be the dominant bacteria contained in FJLB.

View full abstract

The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM fungi) in the grassland soils collected from 6 regions, from Hokkaido to Kyushu in Japan, were investigated in order to know whether the vegetation or environment would impact to the AM fungal diversity and species. By the observation using the microscopes, independent on the vegetation or regions, there were common dominant species of AM fungi in the grassland soils, such as dark-red Glomus sp. (type II). But, the species in the soils of the grassland for harvest at Ohda were a little different from seminatural grasslands, dominated with such as Miscanthus sinensis or Zoysia japonica, or sown grassland. Glomus rubiforme was dominant in seminatural grasslands and sown grassland, but was not observed in the soils of the grassland for harvest. By the method of soil trap culture with using soil samples as AM fungal inoculum, in most cases, it was shown that some same species of AM fungi propagated, like Archaeospora sp. Some of these species were not dominant but sometimes observed in the original soils. The different function of each different AM fungal species in grasslands would need to be studied.

View full abstract

The understory vegetation of a forest dominated by Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc., which was used for grazing for approximately 25 years in central Japan, was studied with respect to site conditions. The forest under study consisted of three main sites; a dense-tree site where the light intensity over the understory was low, a sparse-tree site where the light intensity over the understory was medium, and an open-site where the light intensity was high due to tree-cutting. The understory vegetation coverage of the dense-tree site (49%) was lower than that of the other sites (ca. 88%). The understory of this site was dominated by Trachelospermum asiaticum Nakai and Oplismenus undulatifolius Roemer et Schultes. The understory of the sparse-tree site was dominated by Agrostis stolonifera L., suggesting that a site partly shaded by tree canopy might be favorable for this grass. Anthoxanthum odoratum L. and Zoysia japonica Steud. dominated the understory of the open-site. The species constituting the understory communities of each site were ranked using dual scaling analysis, a kind of multivariate analyses. As a result of this analysis it was shown that the dominant grass species in the understory community changed from A. stolonifera to A. odoratum, and then to Z. japonica, according to the increase in under-story light intensity.

View full abstract

Sods of 6 legume species established in autumn were mowed 1-3 times by late May, and then 'Tentaka' forage sorghum cultivar (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) was striptill planted with no nitrogen and no herbicide application. Though weeds were severely depressed by all legume sod, the dry matter yields of sorghum varied with sod species. The sods of white clover (Trifolium repens L.), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) and Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.) produced high sorghum DM yields of 14-16t ha^<-1>. These yields did not differ from those of tillage with 100kgN ha^<-1> and were 2-3 times higher than those from tillage with no nitrogen. Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) caused a sorghum growth depression due to interference by the regrown sod. In consequence, the density of sorghum at harvest decreased by 60% of the initial value, which resulted in much lower yield than those from the other 5 legumes.

View full abstract

At a private farm where forest grazing was started in 2004, effects of cattle on the abundance of small mammals and their habitats were evaluated. Small mammals were trapped during 2003-2007; their numbers at grazing and non-grazing forest sites were compared. Four characteristics of small mammals' habitats at grazing and non-grazing forest sites, i.e. vegetation structure, plant cover, litter thickness, and soil hardness, were investigated and compared. Numbers of small mammals at grazing and nongrazing forest sites did not differ. No significant cumulative effect of 4 years' forest grazing was found. Although three habitat qualities of small mammals, vegetation structure, plant cover and litter thickness, were different between grazing and non-grazing forest sites from the non-grazing condition identified at the start of this study, these habitat differences showed no significant cumulative effect attributable to 4 years' forest grazing. These results demonstrate that forest grazing by cattle with light intensity, 11.7-25.9 cow-days ha^<-1> had little impact on small mammal populations and their habitats.

View full abstract