Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Evaluating pollinator populations and lamb productivity from simple, diverse, and legume pastures in a dual use pasture system

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/p26773652

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  • Dual use pasture systems, sometimes referred to as dual purpose pasture systems, take advantage of the land being used to maximize multiple outputs from a single area. Developing a system to support both production of grazing livestock as well as pollinator health is of increasing importance in pasture-based farming systems. While lamb growth productivity and improving pollinator health in pastures have both been studied, the implications of their effects on each other has limited research. This study aims to investigate the effects of various pasture types and spring closing dates on lamb growth, pasture production, botanical composition, bloom density, and bee visitations over two years at the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Oregon. In the 2020/2021 year, the total annual dry matter yield (DMY) of diverse pastures was 8.8 t DM ha⁻¹ and was greater (P<0.01) than the DMY from the simple (7.6 t DM ha⁻¹) and the legume pastures (6.6 t DM ha⁻¹). In the 2021/2022 growing season total DMY of diverse and simple pastures were similar. However, production of the legume pastures was lower by 27-30% when compared to the other two pasture types. In both years, the legume pastures provided faster growth for the lambs (287, 215 g per head d⁻¹) than diverse (207, 151 g per head d⁻¹), followed by simple pastures (204, 132 g per head d⁻¹). However, liveweight production (kg ha⁻¹ day⁻¹) in the spring showed no difference among pasture types due to the lower stocking density of the legume pastures when compared to simple and diverse pastures. When comparing pasture types to bloom density (flower/m²) and bee visitations (bee/min⁻¹ m²) the legume pasture was greater at 16, and 40 times, respectively when compared to simple pastures. For diverse pastures, bloom density was 5 times lower than legume pastures, and was similar to simple pastures in terms of bee visits. Our findings indicated that pasture productivity was increased in the diverse pastures, while the legume pastures provided the highest benefit to pollinators and liveweight production of lambs in the spring.
  • Keywords: lamb production, pollinators, legumes, dual use pasture, Pacific Northwest
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