When
SPEAKER: Doug Tolleson, SNRE
DATE: November 12, 2014
TIME: 3:00-4:00 PM
LOCATION: Marley, Room 230
ABSTRACT:
Since 2008, the V Bar V Range program has employed near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as part of an integrated rangeland extension and research effort in northern Arizona. We have conducted NIRS-related research on a variety of subject areas. For instance we predicted grazing cattle diet quality with fecal NIRS and input this to a nutrition balance model to project body condition. NIR spectra collected on a portable instrument supported an investigation into the effects of grazing, vegetation type, and landscape position on soil C:N. We developed preliminary NIRS calibrations to determine N-alkane content of Arizona range grasses. Early pregnancy detection in free-ranging cattle, again using fecal NIRS, was accomplished at an approximate 80% success rate. Our youth extension work is similarly enhanced by application of NIRS technology. Students are attracted to the ?Star Trek meets Ghost Buster? equipment and will learn about physics, chemistry, biology and ecology while assisting on a research project or playing games such as ?Who is the best grazer?? In this activity students collect a herbivore ?diet? out in a rangeland setting and then within minutes determine the nitrogen content using the portable NIRS instrument. Opportunities exist for multi-disciplinary collaboration at the V Bar V, and or for application of NIRS in other projects. So what do polar bears, box lunches, and dead people have in common? The same thing that hind gut microbial populations, cross-linked collagen, and glomalin do?