Livestock forage and mineral relations on a shrub--steppe rangeland in northwestern United States. [ALE Reserve]

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

OSTI ID:7364275

Uresk, D W; Rickard, W H

The study area is the Arid Lands Ecology (ALE) Reserve, a portion of the United States Energy Research and Development Administration's Hanford Reservation located in the semi-arid region of south-central Washington. Small experimental pastures were subjected to four consecutive years of moderate spring grazing by yearling steers. These pastures are unique in that they represent grazing stresses on previously ungrazed (by livestock) plant communities. These communities had been protected from grazing by livestock for more than 30 years under ERDA management. Bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum) was the major forage plant in the diet of the steers during the 1974 grazing season, followed by Cusick's bluegrass (Poa cusickii), Thurber's needlegrass (Stipa thurberiania), and hawksbeard (Crepis atrabarba). These four species made up approximately 93 percent of the total diet. The forage intake ranged from 9.9 kg/head/day to 10.9 kg/head/day during the grazing season. During this period, these steers gained a total of 21.6 kg/ha. This study presents the food chain relationships of Ca and P, and crude protein uptake from plants and conversion to animal tissues, which are available to man. (CH)

• Research Organization: Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, Wash. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: E(45-1)-1830
• OSTI ID: 7364275
• Report Number(s): BNWL-SA-5469; SM-205/28; CONF-760211-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510302* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Terrestrial Ecosystems & Food Chains-- (-1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
550500 -- Metabolism
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ANIMAL FEEDS
ANIMALS
ARID LANDS
BIOMASS
BIOSYNTHESIS
CALCIUM
CATTLE
DESERTS
DIET
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
ECOLOGY
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD
FOOD CHAINS
FORAGE
HAPO
MAMMALS
METABOLISM
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
PHOSPHORUS
PLANTS
PROTEINS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RUMINANTS
SYNTHESIS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
UPTAKE
US AEC
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
VERTEBRATES
WASHINGTON