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Heracleum dissectum Ledeb. (HD) with high edible and medicinal values is distributed in Northeast Asia. To provide a reference for selecting appropriate parts and periods to harvest HD, the nutrient contents in different parts of HD at three growth stages were determined. The nutrients being determined are essential nutrients closely related to human needs, and the crude protein content of HD was 3.58-28.43 g • 100 g-1 DW (dry weight), sugar content was 2.33-30.92 g • 100 g-1 DW, and soluble dietary fiber content was 9.71-26.09 g • 100 g-1 DW. Crude protein was mainly distributed in leaf blades and inflorescences, sugar was primarily found in roots, and dietary fiber was predominantly located in leaves. From the leaf development stage to the flowering stage and then to the late seed harvest stage, the content of moisture, crude protein and soluble sugar first decreased and then increased. In contrast, the content of dietary fiber and crude fat first increased and then decreased. Key words: nutrient content, vegetable, plant organ, developmental stage [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conservation and elimination of the growing point of Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel. are two common contrasted scenarios during grazing. However, the biomass and nutrient allocation in L. chinensis, as well as their contribution to yield under these conditions are unclear. Therefore, a simulated grazing experiment was conducted using a factorial design that combined two defoliation heights (conservation versus elimination of growing points) and four plant heights (18, 24, 31, and 35 cm) during two growing seasons (2020 and 2021), resulting in eight treatments. Additionally, the experiment also included two identical control treatments with a single mowing in mid‐August. The results demonstrated that conservation treatments for the growing point increased the regeneration time of L. chinensis during the entire growing season in both years compared to elimination treatments for the growing point, due to the alteration in biomass allocation priority and C: N: P stoichiometric ratio between stems and leaves of L. chinensis, as well as root morphological traits. The growth strategy in the treatment with 17 cm defoliation height at 35 cm plant height demonstrated the optimal combination, resulting in stabling the accumulated DM yield of L. chinensis in both years. The findings emphasize the significance of comprehending the correlation between the growing point of L. chinensis and its yield, providing a pioneering approach to guide sustainable grazing practices for L. chinensis grassland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preservation or removal of apical meristem in Leymus chinensis is contingent upon grazing intensity and has a significant impact on above‐ and belowground biomass, nutritive value, and sustainability of L. chinensis grassland. However, this topic remains understudied. Therefore, a manipulative trial was conducted to induce grazing defoliation through mowing, where two post‐grazing heights (preservation or removal of the apical meristem) and four pre‐grazing plant heights (i.e., 18, 24, 31, and 35 cm) are combined factorially to create gradients of grazing intensities, resulting in a total of eight treatments. Additionally, two identical control treatments are also incorporated. Our results showed that apical meristem removal at various pre‐grazing heights resulted in varying degrees of increased grazing intensities, thereby enhancing the nutritive value of L. chinensis. However, this practice also led to detrimental effects on the plant's carbohydrates reserve as well as herbage mass. The results indicated that although defoliation in treatments involving apical meristem removal resulted in the highest number of frequent cuttings, it did not confer any advantages in terms of herbage mass and nutrient preserves, except for herbage nutritive values when compared to treatments involving apical meristem preservation. The apical meristem preservation treatments demonstrated the highest CP yield over a 2‐year period compared to the apical meristem removal treatments. Furthermore, within these apical meristem preservation treatments, only when the pre‐grazing height is 35 cm and post‐grazing height is 17 cm, there is no significant decrease in above‐ and belowground biomass. This establishes this specific defoliation regime as an optimal and effective management strategy for L. chinensis grassland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsoil fertilization can help agricultural sustainability, but this is not a widely adopted practice. Here, we conducted a pot experiment to study the response of microbial community diversity and topsoil/subsoil properties to cow manure amendment. Our results show that amending subsoil with cow manure (SM) increased available phosphorus (AP) and humic acid (HA) content and the ratio of humic acid to fulvic acid (HA/FA) by 22.2%, 17.7%, and 49.3%, respectively, relative to manure-amended topsoil (TM) (p < 0.05). SM was also more favorable for organic matter degradation and had 61.9%, 21.7%, and 85.3% higher relative abundances of the bacterial phyla Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria and the order Cytophagales, respectively, relative to the TM treatment (p < 0.05). Compared with that of unamended subsoil (S), the Chao1 index, operational taxonomic units, and Shannon index of fungi were increased but bacterial diversity was decreased by SM treatment (p < 0.05). The only significant difference of the TM-treated soil with the unamended topsoil (T) was a lower bacterial Shannon index (p < 0.05). In conclusion, soil physicochemical properties and subsoil microbial communities were sensitive to cow manure amendment, which has the potential to improve the productivity of subsoils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the effects of feeding ground (G) versus pelleted (P) total mixed ration (PTMR) on digestibility and milk production performance of mid‐lactation dairy cows over a 42‐days period. Results showed that, compared to GTMR, feeding PTMR increased dry matter intake and digestibility, ruminal propionate proportions and milk protein percentage, but decreased acetate‐to‐propionate ratio, milk fat percentage and aldehydes, acids, alcohols, and aromatic hydrocarbon proportions in milk. The PTMR did not improve milk yield but accelerated live weight recovery of cows and led to acidosis risk in lactating cows due to negative effects on rumen fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]