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Cow Dung (cow + dung)
Selected AbstractsBioconcentrations of metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb) in earthworms (Eisenia fetida), inoculated in municipal sewage sludge: Do earthworms pose a possible risk of terrestrial food chain contamination?ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Surindra Suthar Abstract Efforts have been made to evaluate the possible risks of metal bioaccumulation in composting earthworms during vermicomposting of hazardous wastes, e.g., sewage sludge. The sewage sludge was diluted by mixing cow dung in different proportions, and vermicomposted sludge as well as inoculated earthworms were analyzed for metal (Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb) contents. The sludge processed by worms showed a significant reduction in concentration of metals, Cu (29.4,51.6%), Fe (13.1,19.9%), Zn (15.2,25.8%), and Pb (4.6,46.9%), at the end. A considerable concentration of metals, total Cu (16.7,27.6 mg kg,1), total Fe (42.9,89.8 mg kg,1), total Zn (5.85,75.0 mg kg,1), and total Pb (1.79,12.4 mg kg,1), in composting earthworms was also recorded. The greater values of bioconcentration factors for metals suggested the possible risk of entering contaminants in higher food chains; since, earthworms are near to the terrestrial food chain, they can potentially mediate metal transfer from soil to a range of predators, including birds. Therefore, feasibility of vermitechnology in hazardous waste recycling needs close attention in respect to possible risk of environmental contamination. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2009. [source] Adjustment of Parental Investment in the Dung Beetle Onthophagus atripennis (Col., Scarabaeidae)ETHOLOGY, Issue 12 2006Shigeki Kishi If parents can invest resources optimally per offspring, they should adjust the amount of investment in an offspring according to environmental heterogeneity. Many studies have demonstrated changes in egg size or the amount of resource supplied in response to environmental heterogeneity. However, it remains unclear whether parents simply know the resource type a priori or can assess resource quality and adjust the quantity of investment accordingly. We examined the parental capability to adjust the amount of investment per offspring by providing Onthophagus atripennis dung beetle parents with one of three dung types of different quality: monkey dung (high quality), cow dung (low quality), or a mixture of monkey and cow dung (medium quality). The beetle parents cooperatively produce dung brood masses each with one egg under the ground. The size of a brood mass, on which a larva can only feed until adult, represents a large part of the amount of investment. Parents produced a greater number of smaller brood masses given high-quality resource, while they compensated for low quality of the resource by providing a larger amount of the resource, at the cost of offspring number. However, despite this compensation in the amount of food, offspring raised on low-quality food was still smaller than offspring raised on high-quality food. Thus, O. atripennis parents assessed resource quality partly and adjusted the amount of resource provided for their offspring. [source] Effect of Organic and Inorganic Nutrients for Soil Quality Conservation and Yield of Rainfed Low Land Rice in Sub-tropical Plateau RegionJOURNAL OF AGRONOMY AND CROP SCIENCE, Issue 5 2006P. Banik Abstract The effect of organic sources of nutrients and inorganic fertilizers, was studied on grain yield of lowland rice and some aspect of soil quality parameters in a field experiment at Agricultural Experimental Farm of Indian Statistical Institute, Giridih, situated at eastern plateau region of India, during consecutive years 1997,2002. Chemical fertilizers and various organic matters were applied to two rice cultivars, Sabita and Subarna. The highest mean grain yield was 3.53 t ha,1 and maximum agronomic efficiency was 60.3 % with the application of inorganic fertilizer followed by cow dung, where 3.47 t ha,1 grain yield was recorded with an agronomic efficiency of 57.5 %. Grain yield of rice recorded under organic sources of nutrients was not significantly different from that of inorganic fertilization though there was improvement in soil quality parameters under organic sources. Soil organic carbon (0.72 %), microbial biomass-C (279.23 ,g g,1 dry soil), urease activity with buffer (33.54 ,g urea hydrolyzed g,1 oven-dry soil) and non-buffer (21.97 ,g urea hydrolyzed g,1 of oven-dry soil) methods and acid phosphatase activity (2.24 ,g para-nitrophenol released g,1 of oven-dry soil) analysed following the harvest of the crop were highest under cow dung manure treatment; the most efficient organic source under the experiment. Mean grain yield of rice was significantly higher in Sabita cultivar over Subarna. The regression analyses among the variables have shown that there was linear relationship among soil parameters and grain yield of rice. [source] Chemostimuli implicated in selection of oviposition substrates by the stable fly Stomoxys calcitransMEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 3 2007P JEANBOURQUIN Abstract Horse and cow dung were tested as substrates for oviposition by the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (L) (Diptera: Muscidae) in laboratory cages. Odour alone from either horse or cow dung was sufficient to attract flies for oviposition. This was confirmed in wind tunnel experiments, where both horse and cow dung were shown to attract gravid stable flies. However, when S. calcitrans was offered a choice between these two oviposition substrates, flies always chose horse dung over cow dung, both when allowed to contact the substrates and when relying on dung odour alone. Analyses of volatile compounds emanating from horse and cow dung by gas chromatography linked antennogram recordings from S. calcitrans antennae revealed no differences in the chemostimuli released from the two substrates. The predominant chemostimulant compounds in both substrates were carboxylic acids (butanoic acid), alcohols (oct-1-en-3-ol), aldehydes (decanal), ketones (octan-3-one), phenols (p -cresol), indoles (skatole), terpenes (,-caryophyllene) and sulphides (dimethyl trisulphide). Higher levels (20,40 p.p.m.) of carbon dioxide were recorded over horse dung compared with cow dung, a factor that may contribute to the preference exhibited by S. calcitrans for this substrate for oviposition. [source] | |||||||||||||