• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.1598-1603
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• 2000

Broiler litter can be used as a feedstuff for ruminants. Fifty seven litter samples collected from 47 farms in Kyungkee Province of Korea were analyzed to assess the effects of type and amount of bedding (rice hulls vs. sawdust), season (winter vs. summer) and drinkers (bell- vs. trough-type) on composition of broiler litter. Rearing conditions of broilers were also surveyed from the farms to estimate annual production rate of litter. Nutrient composition of broiler litter varied widely and moisture and ash concentrations were higher than observed by other researchers. Ash concentration was higher (p<0.05) for samples taken in winter than in summer and higher (p<0.05) in the rice hulls- than in the sawdust-based litter both in winter and summer. Only minor differences in litter composition were noted between drinkers. Ash was negatively correlated with crude protein and neutral detergent fiber (p<0.01), and acid detergent fiber (p<0.05). The estimated litter production rate was 2.7 kg per bird per flock on a wet basis (60% DM) and the annual production rate was 12.7 kg per bird per yr (60% DM). Therefore, the 42 million broilers per month grown in Korea in 1999 produced a total of 533,400 metric tons of litter.

• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 1997

The production and decomposition rate of litters of major forest trees in Korea, such as Quercus acutissima, Quercus mogolica Robinia pseudoacacia Pinus rigida, Pinus thunbergiana, Abies koreana,Phy'llostackys reticulata, were estimated by Olson model. The amount of mineral nutrients in litters and soil were measured, and the relationships among them were studied. The annual litter production was the most in the forest of broadleaved deciduous trees and the least in the forest of monocotyledonous trees. The decomposition rate of broadleaved deciduous litters was higher than that of coniferous litters and lower than that of R. pseudoacacia litters. The time required for the decomposition of half of the accumulated organic matter of R.pseudoacacia litter, Quercus litter, P. rigida litter, Ph. reticulata litter, P. thunbergiana litter and .4.koreana litter in the forest stands were 1.263 years, 2.290~2.365 years, 2.644 years, 4.660 years,4.750 years, 6.699 years respectively. The amounts of N in litters and the amounts of N returned to the soil in the forests of R. pseudoacacia. Quercus, Pinus were proportional to the decay rate of organic matter. Key words: Annual litter production, Decomposition rate.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.9-20
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• 1989

Annual production and decomposition of litter were studied in piuns rigida platation in Mt. Kwan-ak. The peak time of litter production was October-November. The litterfalll at that time was 54% of annual litter production. But the peak time of litterfall of reproductive parts was Junejuly. The peak times of litter production in Alnus hirsuta plantation were June-July, and November. It is thought that difference of seasonal distribution of letterfall between two forest types were assigned to litter falling factors such as temperature and insects. Total amount of letter loss increased according to time. Particulary, the peak time of loss rate was July-August. It was shown that the protein and phosphorus were accumulated in the letter for an experimental period. The amount of crude protein increased to 150% of initial amount. The amount of potassium was increased by August and then decreased rapidly. The contents of crude fat, holocellulose, lignin, and Na were decreased slowly. The loss of holocellulose was the largiest among them. Calcium was in steady state. It was thought that this variation pattern was assigned to leaching of soluble parts by high temperature, rainfall and growth rate of microorganisms.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.99-109
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• 2012

Litterfall dynamics in forests are assessed by estimating biomass production and decomposition. However, there have been few studies on how litter dynamics impact the health and management of ecosystems. Here, a new approach to measure and assess ecosystem function is presented based on conventional methods using littertraps, litterbags, and the mass on the forest floor. To assess the status of litter dynamics, the decay rate (k) was estimated from a litterbag experiment, and removal rates ($k_i$) were determined from mass balance on the forest floor at 21 sites on three mountains in South Korea. The $k_3$ (organic mass ratio of $O_i$ and $O_e+O_a$ + A horizons in November) values in an equilibrium state in South Korea were within the range of $k{\pm}0.174$ when considering the annual variation of litterfall production. This study also suggests that sampling sites for these types of studies should be in the middle, not at the ends, of steady slopes on the forest floor.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2020

In the forest ecosystems, litterfall is an important component of the nutrient cycle that regulates the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM), the input and output of the nutrients, nutrient replenishment, biodiversity conservation, and other ecosystem functions. Therefore, a profound understanding of the major processes (litterfall production and its decomposition rate) in the cycle is vital for sustainable forest management (SFM). Despite these facts, there is still a limited knowledge in tropical forest ecosystems, and further researches are highly needed. This shortfall of research-based knowledge, especially in tropical forest ecosystems, may be a contributing factor to the lack of understanding of the role of plant litter in the forest ecosystem function for sustainable forest management, particularly in the tropical forest landscapes. Therefore, in this paper, I review the role of plant litter in tropical forest ecosystems with the aims of assessing the importance of plant litter in forest ecosystems for the biogeochemical cycle. Then, the major factors that affect the plant litter production and decomposition were identified, which could direct and contribute to future research. The small set of studies reviewed in this paper demonstrated the potential of plant litter to improve the biogeochemical cycle and nutrients in the forest ecosystems. However, further researches are needed particularly on the effect of species, forest structures, seasons, and climate factors on the plant litter production and decomposition in various types of forest ecosystems.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.185-192
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• 1986

The production and decomposition rate of litters from the three different locations, Quercus acutissium forest at 630 m, Q. mongolica forests at 1, 005m and 1, 490 m of Mt. Dokyoo, were estimated by Olson model. The contents of N, P, K, Ca and Na in soils were measured and the relationships among them were elucidated. The amounts of litter production in Q. mangolica were the lowest, 378.96g/$m^2$ at 1, 490 m and the highest, 876.12g/$m^2$ at 1, 005 m. And the amounts of litter production in Q. acutissima at 630 m was 686.16 g/$m^2$. The decay rate of litters in Q. mongolica was the smallest, 0.123 at 1, 490 m, and the largest, 0.222 at 1, 005 m. And that in Q. acutissima was 0.169 at 630 m which was the medium rate. The production and decay rate of litters decreased with the ascending altitude. The values at 630 m were maller than those at 1, 005 m. This might be due to the fact that the tree species at 630 m was Q. acutissima was 0.169 at 630 m which was the medium rate. The production and decay rate of litters decreased with the ascending altitude. The values at 630 m was Q. acutissima which was different from Q. mongolica at 1, 005 m and 1, 490 m. The half-0life of litter decay in Q. monglica was 5, 634 years at 1, 490 m and 3.134 years at 1, 005 m. And that in Q. acutissima was 4.132 years at 630 m. The decay rates of litters were tend to be inversely proportional to the ascending altitude. The annual standing stocks of mineral and their amounts returned to the soil were proportional to the decay rate of organic matters.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.956-965
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• 1999

Genetic selection and sophisticated management technology have produced modern sows which excel in litter size and milk production. Recent research has identified nutritional innovations which may enhance productivity of the high producing sow. Selected research in three areas which have the potential to enhance reproductive performance are summarized in this report. First, preliminary evidence indicates that organic chromium may enhance litter size and conception rate. Secondly, high producing sows, particularly primiparous sows, required higher protein/lysine in late gestation and or lactation to optimize weaning weight and subsequent litter size. Valine and isoleucine, but not leucine, have been shown to enhance milk production. Phased feeding programs with diet cost partitioned toward gilts and away form parity 3 to 8 sows have been suggested as a means of improving reproductive performance in young sows. Lastly, recent research with sufficient sow numbers to document the effect of dietary fiber on reproductive performance has shown that sows fed fiber farrowed and weaned more pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.628-634
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• 2014

Data on age and body weight at breeding, parity, previous litter size, days open and some descriptive body linear traits from 389 meat-type, prolific Black Bengal goats in Tripura State of India, were collected for 3 and 1/2 years (2007 to 2010) and analyzed using logistic regression model. The objectives of the study were i) to evaluate the effect of age and body weight at breeding, parity, previous litter size and days open on litter size of does; and ii) to investigate if body linear type traits influenced litter size in meat-type, prolific goats. The incidence of 68.39% multiple births with a prolificacy rate of 175.07% was recorded. Higher age (>2.69 year), higher parity order (>2.31), more body weight at breeding (>20.5 kg) and larger previous litter size (>1.65) showed an increase likelihood of multiple litter size when compared to single litter size. There was a strong, positive relationship between litter size and various body linear type traits like neck length (>22.78 cm), body length (>54.86 cm), withers height (>48.85 cm), croup height (>50.67 cm), distance between tuber coxae bones (>11.38 cm) and distance between tuber ischii bones (>4.56 cm) for discriminating the goats bearing multiple fetuses from those bearing a single fetus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.98-105
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• 1997

Sudax fodder (Sorghum sudanense ${\times}$ Sorhum vulgare) was ensiled in laboratory silos with or without 20, 30, or 40 percent broiler litter and 6 percent molasses with or without Candida yeast. The samples were analyzed for pH, lactic acid and nitrogen fractions at the start of the experiment and at 5 days interval, thereafter till 40 days. A sharp decline in pH and increase in lactic acid content was observed on fifth day of ensiling. Thereafter, the rate of pH decline decreased till 20 days and that of lactic acid increase till 25 days and the remained constant. Increasing levels of broiler litter had adverse effect on pH drop and lactic acid increase of silages. Total-N content of the silages had little variation throughout the ensiling period. A sharp decline in protein-N and increase in ammonia-N content was observed on day 5 of ensiling. Thereafter, the content of protein-N increased till 20 days and that of ammonia-N decreased till 15 days, but these changes were very small compared to that occurred during the first 5 days of ensiling. The level of broiler litter had inverse relationship with protein degradation and direct relationship with ammonia production. The yeast inoculum failed to produce any significant effect.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to compare both the performance of litters derived from two sire genetic origins (SGO), Vienna Blue (VB) and Burgundy Fawn (BF), along successive seasons of birth (SB; winter, spring, summer and autumn), and doe reproductive performance in an organic production system. A total of fifty-eight does consisting of a mixture of crosses of several medium-large size breeds at different parity order (P, 1 = nulliparous; 2 = primiparous; ${\geq}3$ = multiparous) and twelve males (6 VB and 6 BF) were housed indoors at environmental conditions that followed seasonality. An extensive reproductive rhythm was used and kits were weaned at $46{\pm}6$ d of age. Doe reproductive performance and the data of 105 litters (55 from VB and 50 from BF SGO) were recorded throughout the SB. No statistically significant differences related to SGO effect were observed. As regards parity order, multiparous does showed higher live weights (LW) (p<0.05), total born (p<0.01), total born alive (p<0.05) per delivery, and litter weight of born alive (p<0.05), but lower milk output at 21st d than primiparous does (p<0.05). The extensive reproductive rhythm mainly increased litter performance at birth in multiparous does but was not sufficient to permit a complete recovery of body reserves lost during lactation. Autumn SB negatively affected doe LW variation between deliveries. The number of pups born and born alive per delivery (p<0.05) and litter size at 21 d of age and at weaning (p<0.01) were lower during hot SB. Due to the lower litter size of pups born in summer and autumn, their individual weight at 21st d of age and daily individual growth rate 0 to 21 d were higher than those of pups born in winter (p<0.001). Litter performance at 21st d of age and individual pup pre-weaning growth rate were poorer for those born in spring than in other seasons due to the harmful effects of increased environmental temperatures. SB affected most of the performance traits of does and young rabbits reared under the organic farming system. The rabbits seemed better suited to organic rearing conditions during winter than in other seasons. The worst results overall were obtained in the spring SB, whereas the hot SB negatively affected both doe energy balance and prolificacy. In conclusion, the pups of the 2 SGO showed good pre-weaning performance and seemed suited to the organic rabbit production system.