ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0031-2755
Current Organisations
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
,
CSIRO
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Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 18-05-2023
DOI: 10.1071/CP22406
Abstract: Context High-quality, summer-active pastures could improve meat production in south-eastern Australia by facilitating livestock finishing over summer, with legumes critical for enhancing the nutritive value of pasture mixes. Available legumes vary in their ability to withstand moisture stress and grazing. Aims We aimed to identify legumes suitable for a summer–autumn finishing system. Methods We tested pure swards of 12 cultivars across eight legume species in replicated small-plot experiments at Goulburn and Bombala, New South Wales, assessing productivity, persistence and warm-season nutritive characteristics over 2–3 years. Key results Lucerne (Medicago sativa) was clearly the most productive species during summer and outperformed the clovers (Trifolium spp.) in terms of persistence and productivity throughout most of the experimental period at both sites, except during autumn 2021 after high rainfall in March. Caucasian clover (T. ambiguum) was also highly persistent at both sites. Talish clover (T. tumens) and strawberry clover (T. fragiferum) were more persistent than white clover (T. repens) and red clover (T. pratense). White clover recovered strongly under high rainfall after drought, whereas red clover established rapidly but showed less capacity for post-drought recovery. Hybrid Caucasian × white clover was the least productive legume. Alternative clover species sometimes had slightly lower values of nutritive characteristics than white clover red clover sometimes had distinctly lower values. Conclusions Lucerne performed best but several clovers were also productive, persistent and of high nutritive value over the summer–autumn period. Implications Talish, Caucasian and strawberry clovers warrant further investigation for inclusion in summer-active pastures in south-eastern Australia.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-07-2016
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.03422
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-07-2016
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-016-3678-2
Abstract: Studies of odour-driven foraging by mammals focus on attractant cues emitted by flowers, fruits, and fungi. Yet, the leaves of many plant species worldwide produce odour, which could act as a cue for foraging mammalian herbivores. Leaf odour may thus improve foraging efficiency for such herbivores in many ecosystems by reducing search time, particularly but not only, for plants that are visually obscured. We tested the use of leaf odour by a free-ranging mammalian browser, the sw wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) to find and browse palatable tree seedlings (Eucalyptus pilularis). Wallabies visited patches non-randomly with respect to the presence of seedlings. In the absence of visual plant cues, they used leaf odour (cut seedlings in vials) to find patches earlier, and visited and investigated them more often than control patches (empty vials), supporting the hypothesis that wallabies used seedling odour to enhance search efficiency. In contrast, the grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), a grazer, showed no response to seedling odour. When the availability of seedling visual and olfactory cues was manipulated, wallabies browsed seedlings equally quickly in all treatments: upright (normal cues), pinned to the ground (reduced visual cues), and upright plus pinned seedlings (double olfactory cues). Odour cues play a critical role in food-finding by sw wallabies, and these animals are finely tuned to detecting these cues with their threshold for detection reached by odours from only a single plant. The global significance of leaf odour in foraging by mammalian herbivores consuming conifers, eucalypts, and other odour-rich species requires greater attention.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-11-2015
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.01782
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2015
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 06-2021
DOI: 10.1071/CP21034
Abstract: In many areas of Australia’s mixed farming zone, cropping rotations are dominated by cereals and some areas have few suitable broadleaf alternatives. Forage brassicas are widely used in high rainfall livestock systems, but this study shows that several genotypes offer an alternative to forage oats in drier environments within Australia’s mixed farming zone. We compared a erse set of forage brassica genotypes sown in autumn and winter with benchmark species, principally oats, across 10 experimental site-years. In both early (800–1300 growing degree days after sowing) and late (1600–2100 growing degree days after sowing) grazing windows, several forage brassica genotypes had forage production similar or superior to oats and dual-purpose canola. Many forage brassica genotypes produced higher yields of metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP), particularly in the late grazing window. In the early grazing window, Rival and Green globe turnips and HT-R24 forage rape consistently produced ~15% above the site mean for all productivity measures, whereas kale produced ~40% less than the site mean. In the late grazing window, oats produced the greatest amount of edible biomass (~44% higher than the site mean) however, Goliath and HT-R24 forage rapes, Pallaton raphanobrassica and dual-purpose canola had the highest yields of ME and CP (~16% higher than the site mean). Green globe turnip, Hunter leafy turnip and Regal kale produced ~22% less than the site mean in this late grazing window. Multi-environment analyses revealed no genotype × environment interactions within the early grazing window. In the late grazing window, there were several genotypic adaptations, particularly for Pallaton, which performed better in low–medium production environments than the other genotypes. We show that forage brassicas offer superior yields of ME and CP, indicating that they may be better able to meet the energy and protein demands of grazing livestock than forage oats.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 02-03-2023
DOI: 10.1071/CP22277
Abstract: Context Improving the stability of legumes in grasslands in the face of variable seasonal conditions is key to mitigating risks posed by drought. Aims We assessed the persistence of a range of legume species and cultivars in order to inform legume choice for pasture improvement and identify priority species for further development. Methods Twenty field experiments in four series were conducted at sites with contrasting seasonal and soil characteristics in the ‘high-rainfall’ (560–920 mm long-term average) Tablelands and Monaro regions of New South Wales, Australia. Legumes were grown as pure swards and assessed periodically for seedling density, plant frequency and dry matter for up to 5 years. Key results Legume dry matter production was positively correlated with plant frequency. However, most legumes persisted poorly at most sites, particularly on soils of lower fertility. Subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) cv. Goulburn was the best performing cultivar of that species across sites on the Southern Tablelands and Monaro. Yellow serradella (Ornithopus compressus) cvv. Avila and Yellotas showed promising persistence, particularly under drought conditions. White clover (T. repens) was the most broadly adapted of the perennial legumes across a range of soils, but persistence was still inadequate at many sites. Lucerne (Medicago sativa) was approximately twice as productive as the next-most productive species when soil conditions suited its growth, but it failed to persist on acidic, low-fertility soils. Conclusions Serradella species (yellow and French, O. sativus) and white clover, in conjunction with subterranean clover, offer the best near-term prospects for ersifying legume productivity and resilience under variable seasonal conditions in tableland environments. Implications An increased focus on phenology and seed characteristics is suggested to improve the persistence of annual and facultative perennial legume species in grasslands. Serradella and white clover are identified as the highest priorities for cultivar development for tableland environments of south-eastern Australia.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-10-2017
Abstract: Searching for food is the first critical stage of foraging, and search efficiency is enhanced when foragers use cues from foods they seek. Yet we know little about food cues used by one major group of mammals, the herbivores, a highly interactive component of most ecosystems. How herbivores forage and what disrupts this process, both have significant ecological and evolutionary consequences beyond the animals themselves. Our aim was to investigate how free-ranging mammalian herbivores exploit leaf odour cues to find food plants amongst a natural and complex vegetation community. Our study system comprised the native "deer equivalent" of eastern Australian forests, the sw wallaby Wallabia bicolor, and seedlings of Eucalyptus, the foundation tree genus in these ecosystems. We quantified how foraging wallabies responded to odour cues from plants manipulated in several ways: varying the quantity of visually concealed leaves, comparing damaged vs. undamaged leaves, and whole plants vs. those with suppressed cues. The rate of discovery of leaves by wallabies increased with odour cue magnitude, yet animals were extremely sensitive to even a tiny odour source of just a few leaves. Whole seedlings were discovered faster if their leaves were damaged. Wallabies found whole seedlings and those with suppressed visual cues equally rapidly, day and night. Seedlings with very little odour were discovered mainly by day, as nocturnal foraging success was severely disrupted. This study shows how leaf odour attracts mammalian herbivores to food plants, enabling non-random search for even tiny odour sources. As damaged leaves enhanced discovery, we suggest that the benefit of attracting natural enemies to invertebrate herbivores feeding on plants (potential "cry for help") may be offset by a cost-increased browsing by mammalian herbivores. This cost should be incorporated into multi-trophic plant-animal studies. Finally, the breakdown in capacity to find plants at night suggests substantial but unrecognized foraging costs to herbivores when abiotic factors, such as cold temperatures or pollution, reduce or degrade plant odour cues. We predict that an increasingly polluted world will alter the foraging success of mammalian herbivores, with significant ecological ramifications given that browsing can shape ecosystems.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1071/CP20271
Abstract: Forage brassicas are currently widely used in temperate–humid livestock systems however, they offer potential to ersify crop rotation and forage options in the drier, mixed crop–livestock zone of Australia. A literature review highlighted that in these hotter and more arid environments, forage brassicas are more likely to fit as autumn-sown forage crop where they offer an energy-rich, highly digestible feed source that could be used during periods of low production and nutritive value of other forage sources. However, brassicas can also accumulate several anti-nutritional compounds that require gradual introduction to livestock diets, thereby reducing potential health risks and optimising animal performance. Preliminary experimental and commercial evaluations in subtropical Australia found high production of some forage brassica genotypes (& t DM/ha with growth rates of 50–60 kg DM/ha.day), comparable or superior to widely used forage cereal or forage legume options. Several forage brassicas showed moderate to high resistance to the root-lesion nematode, Pratylenchus thornei, and hence are likely to provide break-crop benefits compared with susceptible species (e.g. wheat). Together, this evidence suggests that forage brassicas have significant potential for wider use in crop–livestock farming systems in Australia. However, research is needed to identify genotypic adaptation and to match different forage brassica genotypes to production environments or system niches, especially some of the new genotypes that are now available. There is also a need to develop regionally-relevant recommendations of agronomic and grazing management that optimise forage and animal production, and mitigate potential animal health risks.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-01-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-07-2019
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Rebecca Stutz.