Þriðjudaginn 29. september flytur Dr. Zalmen Henkin, vistfræðingur hjá Newe-Ya´ar Research center-Agricultural Research Orginization í Ísrael, opinn fyrirlestur á vegum Landbúnaðarháskóla Íslands.
Fyrirlesturinn ber heitið Range management studies in northern Israel: Grazing in Mediterranean Climate og hefst kl. 15 á Keldnaholti (Árleyni 22 í Reykjavík).
Um fyrirlesturinn:
Mediterranean rangelands are a highly diverse and complex ecological resource of considerable economic and environmental importance. Plant production, which determines the carrying capacity of these rangelands for beef cattle husbandry, is not only influenced by climatic factors, habitat characteristics and soil fertility and depth, but also by the stocking density and the nature of the grazing system. The yearly Mediterranean pasture cycle is characterized by a temperate, winter-spring growing season and a hot, dormant, summer-autumn dry season. Consequently, pasture growth dynamics result in extremely low biomass availability at the beginning of the rainy season and abundant biomass at the peak of the growing season. This is followed by a sharp reduction in amount and quality of the herbaceous vegetation caused by seed dispersal, desiccation, grazing and withering during the hot and dry summer. Grazing pressure and the consequently highly variable availability and quality of pasture vegetation determine the nutritional intake of the grazing animals as well the impacts on the growth dynamics of the pasture and on animal behaviour. The aim of the current lecture is to present different research issues that are studied in northern Israel concerning cattle grazing on Mediterranean grassland and brushland areas, including:
a. Multiple use criteria for managing Mediterranean brushland.
b. Productivity of Mediterranean brushland.
c. Productivity and sustainability of Mediterranean grassland.
d. Effects of cattle grazing on honeybee forage potential on Mediterranean pastures.
e. The use of GPS for studying cattle behaviour and distribution on Mediterranean rangelands. f. Cattle behavior in relation to water resources.
g. Monitoring grazing behavior on Mediterranean oak shrubland.
