1,720,977 research outputs found
Evaluation of Priority Fodder Trees for Leaf Yield and Nutritional Value at Arba Minch, Ethiopia
No full textTree fodder is an important supplement to livestock feed particularly where the shortage of palatable herbaceous biomass affects the animal production in dry seasons. In Arba Minch and nearby semiarid parts of southern Ethiopia, lopping and feeding tree fodder is becoming a common practice to increase livestock productivity. However, knowledge of the fodder species’ biomass productive potential and their nutritional content along with their digestibility is limited. Hence, this study investigated leaf yield, nutritional value, and chemical composition including mineral profile and in vitro dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) degradability of these three browse tree species viz., Dendrocalamus giganteus, Balanites aegyptiaca, and Terminalia brownii. These are commonly used trees for lopping branches and harvesting fodder in Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia. The leaf yield of the trees was assessed based on the uniformity in tree parameters such as height, diameter at breast height, and crown spread. Samples of tree leaves were analysed for chemical composition using standard procedures. The results indicated that fodder yield lopped from all branches was 25.92 kg·DM/five culms for D. giganteus, 19.60 kg·DM/tree for B. aegyptiaca, and 22.53 kg·DM/tree for T. brownii. The crude protein (CP) content was 69.3 g/kg·DM, 113.2 g/kg·DM, 102.6 g/kg·DM, and 122.7 g/kg·DM for the forage hay, D. giganteus, B. aegyptiaca, and T. brownii, respectively. Among the studied browse species, Terminalia brownii leaf fodder constitutes greater potential to supply CP, IVDMD (48.43%), and IVOMD (56.39%) for ruminants. Mineral contents of the trees fodder were also in the suitable optimal range to support ruminant livestock performance except for zinc which was below the recommended level
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
The potential of traditional agroforestry practices as nature-based carbon sinks in Ethiopia
No full textTraditional agroforestry practices have economic, social, and environmental benefits to sustain human and ecological systems. The demand for short-term economic benefit has derived from the traditional agroforestry practices towards monoculture cash crop production in the tropics. This study aimed to assess the greenhouse gas emission reduction capacity of traditional agroforestry systems concerning biomass and soil carbon stocks in the districts of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. From three agroforestry practices, namely, multistory, woodlots, and parkland, 300 smallholder farmers’ farms were randomly selected to carry out vegetation inventory and 180 farms for litter and soil sampling. The soil samples were taken the depths 0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, and 40–60 cm. The biomass of all woody plants was estimated using already developed allometric equations. The mean total biomass carbon sink of multistory is 40.7 ton ha−1 which was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than woodlot, 20.8 ton ha−1, and parkland 5.4 ton ha−1. The mean total ecosystem (biomass plus soil) carbon of the multistory, 199.5 ton ha−1 was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than woodlot, 134.4 ton ha−1, and parkland, 108.0 ton ha−1. Soil organic carbon stocks accounted for 72–88, 83–88, and 92–98% of the total ecosystem carbon is stored in multistory, woodlot, and parkland, respectively. The study revealed that agroforestry practices could contribute to carbon sinks in the biomass and soils making it one of the nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions and hence enhances the climate change mitigation and adaptation roles of the existing land uses
Bio-resource Conservation and Land Use in Ethiopia
Full text linkHuman are dependent on biological systems and processes for sustenance, health, well-being and enjoyment of life. Many people depend on biodiversity and other natural resources for their livelihoods. Ethiopia is one of the world’s rich biodiversity countries and it deserves attention regionally and globally. It has a very diverse set of ecosystems ranging from humid forest and extensive wetlands to the desert of the Afar depression. Ethiopia is one of the twelve known ancient countries for crop plant diversities in the world and has valuable reserves of crop genetic diversity, of which 11 cultivated crops have their centre of diversity in the country. The extensive and unique conditions in the highlands of the country have contributed to the presence of a large number of endemic species. This is due to the variation in climate, topography and vegetation. Environment Planning has focused on biodiversity conservation in response to local government interest and concern about the extensive clearing of native vegetation in Ethiopia. Ethiopia covers an area of 1,127,127 km2, of which water area covers 7,444km2 and land area 1,119,683km2, with a topographic diversity encompassing high and rugged mountains, flat-topped plateau, deep gorges with river, and rolling plains. Nearly half of the total land (41%) is non arable land, which includes forest, mountains, roads, cities, etc. and about 43% of the total land area is arable that includes temporary crop, permanent crop, pasture, and fallow land. Since the recent past, protected areas coverage is increasing in which 15% of the land is covered by national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves, controlled and open hunting areas and community conservation and about 1% of land shares water surface. Biodiversity conservation and land use is a significant issue for Ethiopia and overview of the main legislation, policies and responsibilities is presented to establish biodiversity as a relevant consideration in land use planning
Woody Species Diversity and Management in Homegarden Agroforestry: The Case of Shashemene District, Ethiopia
No full textThe study was conducted in Shashemene district, Ethiopia. Management-related data were collected using informal and formal surveys. Woody species diversity and related parameters were collected from 60 households. Woody species with ≥5 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were measured and recorded and below 5 cm were counted and recorded in 10 m ∗ 10 m and 1 m ∗ 1 m plot, respectively. A total of 36 woody species were recorded, of which 58% were indigenous to the area. The overall mean number of woody species per plot was 3.13. Four woody species, namely, Cordia africana, Croton macrostachyus, Persea americana, and Catha edulis, showed highest importance value index. Farmers’ preference ranks for selected woody species were recorded in order of Cordia africana, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Croton macrostachyus, and Cupressus lusitanica, respectively. The similarity in woody species composition between the study villages ranged from 0.46 to 0.60. To sustain the management of woody species, farmers implemented pruning, thinning, composting, weeding, digging, and watering activities in the area. Garden availability and market and road accessibility are the major determinants of woody species in homegarden agroforestry. The study revealed woody species diversity, management practices implemented, and factors affecting woody species diversity management in homegarden agroforestry. Therefore, government should be worked on infrastructure, resource reallocation, and awareness creation in communities for the better improvement of species diversity and its sustainable management in homegarden agroforestry
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