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Ruminant livestock maintain an important role in meeting the nutrient requirements of the global population through their unique ability to convert plant fiber into human-edible meat and milk products. Volatile fatty acids (VFA) produced by rumen microbial fermentation of feed substrates represent around 70% of the ruminant animal's metabolic energy supply. Rumen fermentation profiles may directly impact productivity because the types of VFA produced are utilized at differing efficiencies by the animal. Improving our understanding of factors that control these fermentative outcomes would therefore aid in optimizing the productive efficiency of ruminant livestock. Improvements in animal efficiency are now more important than ever as the livestock industry must adapt to continue meeting the nutritional needs of a growing global population in the context of increased resource restrictions and requirements to lower the environmental impact of production. The relationship between diet and VFA ultimately supplied to the animal is complex and poorly understood due to the influence of numerous nutritional, biochemical, and microbial variables. The central aim of this body of work was therefore to explore and characterize how fermentation dynamics, rumen environmental characteristics, and the rumen microbiome behave in response to variations in the supply of fermentative substrate. The objective of our first experiment was to describe a novel in vitro laboratory technique to rank livestock feeds based on their starch degradability. This experiment also compared the starch degradation rates estimated by the in vitro method to the rates estimated by a traditional in situ method using sheep. A relationship between the degradation rates determined by these two procedures was observed, but only when feed nutrient content was accounted for. While this in vitro approach may not be able to reflect actual ruminal starch degradation rates, it holds potential as a useful laboratory technique for assessing relative differences in starch degradability between various feeds. Our second experiment aimed to measure changes in VFA dynamics, rumen environmental characteristics, and rumen epithelial gene expression levels in response to dietary sources of fiber and protein designed to differ in their rumen availabilities. Conducted in sheep, this study utilized beet pulp and timothy hay as the more and less available fiber source treatments, respectively, and soybean meal and heat-treated soybean meal as the more and less available protein source treatments, respectively. Results indicated that rumen environmental parameters and epithelial gene expression levels were not significantly altered by treatment. However, numerous shifts in response to both protein and fiber treatments were observed in fermentation dynamics, especially in interconversions of VFA. The objective of the third investigation was to assess whether the rumen microbiome can serve as an accurate predictor of beef and dairy cattle performance measurements and compare its predictive ability to that of diet explanatory variables. The available literature was assembled into a meta-analysis and models predicting dry matter intake, feed efficiency, average daily gain, and milk yield were derived using microbial and diet explanatory variables. Comparison of model quality revealed that the microbiome-based predictions may have comparable accuracy to diet-based predictions and that microbial variables may be used in combination with diet to improve predictions. In our fourth experiment, the objective was to investigate rumen microbial responses to the fiber and protein diet treatments detailed in Experiment 2. Responses of interest included relative abundances of bacterial populations at three taxonomic levels (phylum, family, and genus) in addition to estimations of community richness and diversity. Numerous population shifts were observed in response to fiber treatment. Prominent fibrolytic population abundances as well as richness and diversity estimations were found to be greater with timothy hay treatment and lower with beet pulp whereas pectin degraders increased in abundance on beet pulp. Microbial responses associated with protein treatment were not as numerous but appeared to reflect taxa with roles in protein metabolism. These four investigations revealed that significant changes can occur in VFA fermentation and rumen microbial populations when sources of nutrient substrates provided in a ruminant animal's diet are altered and that a new approach may be useful in investigating degradation of another important substrate for fermentation (starch) in a laboratory setting. Our findings also determined that animal performance can be predicted to a certain extent by rumen microbial characteristics. Collectively, these investigations offer an improved understanding of factors that influence the process of converting feed to energy sources in the ruminant animal. / Doctor of Philosophy / Ruminant animals, such as beef cattle, dairy cattle, and sheep, play a major role in delivering essential nutrients to the human population through their provision of meat and dairy products. The current growth projections of the global population, in addition to increased concerns surrounding greenhouse gas emissions and restrictions on resources such as land and water make it important for us to consider ways of optimizing the productivity of these animals. A unique feature of ruminants is their ability to conduct microbial fermentation of large amounts of plant matter in their rumens to produce energetically valuable compounds called volatile fatty acids (VFA), which are the primary source of energy that the animals use for growth, reproduction, and milk production. One promising way of improving animal productivity is to increase the amount of energy from the diet that becomes available to fuel the animal's body processes; however, the process of converting feed to VFA is complicated and currently not well understood. The overall aim of this body of work was therefore to explore various nutritional, ruminal, and microbial factors that are known to impact fermentation in order to 1) increase our understanding of how these factors interconnect and 2) put us in a better position to manipulate these factors for optimal animal performance. The goal of our first experiment was to devise and use a novel laboratory technique to rank livestock feeds based on the degradability of their starch content, which is an important substrate for VFA fermentation. Our observations indicate that this technique may be a useful tool to help us determine relative differences between feeds based on their starch degradabilities in a laboratory setting. Our second experiment investigated the effects of feeding varying sources of fiber (beet pulp and timothy hay) and protein (heat-treated and untreated soybean meals) to sheep in terms of their VFA fermentation, rumen conditions, and the expression of certain key genes in the epithelial tissue of the rumen wall. While rumen environmental characteristics and epithelial gene expression remained largely unchanged, numerous key aspects of VFA fermentation, predominantly carbon exchanges between different VFA, were altered in response to nutrient source. The third investigation described in this work examined the ability of the microbial populations responsible for rumen fermentation to explain variation in beef and dairy cow productivity compared with the ability of diet characteristics to explain this variation. Using statistical methods to analyze the reports currently available in scientific literature, our findings indicate that the rumen microbiome and diet may exert independent effects on productivity levels and that the microbiome may be used to enhance diet-based predictions of animal performance. Finally, we explored variations in the sheep rumen microbiome in response to the diet treatments utilized in Experiment 2. We observed minimal impact of protein source on the microbiome, but numerous microbial responses were evident when fiber source was varied. These responses included decreases of fiber-degrading bacterial populations and increases in pectin-degrading populations when beet pulp was fed compared to timothy hay. Taken together, these experiments help to provide us with a more comprehensive picture of the numerous factors involved in the process of converting feed to a usable form of energy for ruminant livestock.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:53:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 505430 bytes, checksum: abc94f889f785712de8e0cd84490edc4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-28 / The orchid family has about 30,000 species spread throughout most of the globe. Among the orchids, the group of Cattleya has great importance in the world flower market. One of the main forms of production of these plants is the in vitro assymbiotic seeding. Many have been the culture media used for sowing and growing orchids, however, these methods do not seem to fully supply the nutritional requirements of plants. There is, therefore, great interest in developing new culture media with nutritional composition that supplies properly the demand of the culture during the growing period promoting the production of tissues and the morphogenic response wanted. That was the aim of this work. To adjust the nutrient concentrations in the culture medium suitable for the growth of cattleya seedlings were considered the reference content in their tissues, the dry matter yield production, the volume of culture medium per vial and recovery rates of the nutrients by this culture. This medium was called the medium Supply (S). To compare this medium with others, Cattleya walkeriana protocorms were cultured for 51, 94, 139 and 190 d in MS medium, B5, B & G ( 3 g L-1 of fertilizer Orchidées B&G®), Peters (3 g L-1 of fertilizer Peters® 10-30-20) and S, and tested different concentrations of salts of the latter (0.55, 0.73, 1.00 and 1.45 as the concentration of salts). The medium S, proposed in this work, offered the optimum nutrient supply for the production of seedlings of Cattleya walkeriana when compared with other media. The concentration that provided maximum production of complete seedling was 1.125 time the original concentration of salts of the medium S. The media containing higher concentrations of N and lower P led to the rise in the levels of N and P (TN/TP) in tissue culture, which correlated positively with the ratio of dry matter yield of corn and total. High ratio TN/TP induced reduction in the production of roots. The relationship between the production of roots and leaves increased when the concentration of nutrients in the medium was reduced, because of the consumption of the culture or by reducing the concentration of salt in the medium S. / A família orquidácea possui cerca de 30.000 espécies espalhadas por quase todo o globo terrestre. Dentre as orquídeas, o grupo das catléias tem grande importância no mercado mundial de flores. Uma das principais formas de produção dessas plantas é o semeio assimbiótico in vitro. Muitos têm sido os meios de cultura utilizados para o semeio e crescimento de orquídeas; no entanto, esses meios parecem não suprir totalmente as exigências nutricionais das plantas. Há, portanto, grande interesse em se desenvolverem novos meios de cultura com composição nutricional que supra adequadamente, durante o período de cultivo, a demanda da cultura, promovendo produção de tecidos e resposta morfogênica deseja. O que constituiu o objetivo deste trabalho. Para ajustar as concentrações dos nutrientes do meio de cultura adequado para o crescimento de plântulas de catléia foram considerados os teores de referência em seus tecidos, a produção de matéria seca, o volume de meio de cultura por frasco e as taxas de recuperação dos nutrientes por essa cultura. Este meio foi denominado de meio Suprimento (S). Para a comparação desse meio de cultura com outros, protocormos de Cattleya walkeriana foram cultivados, durante 51, 94, 139 e 190 d, nos meios MS, B5, B&G (3 g L-1 do fertilizante B&G Orchidées®), Peters (3 g L-1 do fertilizante Peters® 10-30-20) e S, sendo testadas diferentes concentrações dos sais deste último (0,55; 0,73; 1,00 e 1,45 vez a concentração dos sais). O meio S, proposto neste trabalho, ofereceu a melhor condição de suprimento nutricional para a produção de plântulas de Cattleya walkeriana quando comparado com os demais meios. A concentração que proporcionou a máxima produção de plântulas completas foi de 1,125 vez a concentração original de sais do meio S. Os meios contendo maiores concentrações de N e menores de P levaram ao aumento na relação entre os teores de N e P (TN/TP) nos tecidos da cultura, a qual apresentou elevada correlação positiva com a relação entre a produção de matéria seca de calo e total. Alta relação TN/TP induziu a redução na produção de raízes. A relação entre a produção de raízes e folhas aumentou quando a concentração dos nutrientes no meio foi reduzida, seja pelo consumo da cultura ou pela redução na concentração dos sais no meio S.

Submitted by Eunice Novais (enovais@uepg.br) on 2018-05-07T18:58:48Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Keli Guera.pdf: 1614668 bytes, checksum: 870a9f0b3528b9a4706861308ce7024c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-07T18:58:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Keli Guera.pdf: 1614668 bytes, checksum: 870a9f0b3528b9a4706861308ce7024c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O sistema integrado de produção agropecuária (SIPA), tem sido uma prática que pode melhorar os atributos químicos do solo e otimizar a adubação de sistemas de produção. Todavia, os solos brasileiros são altamente intemperizados, com elevada acidez e baixa disponibilidade em P. Dessa forma, estratégias que resultem em aumento da eficiência do uso de fósforo contribuem para a produção de alimentos de maneira sustentável. Os objetivos desse trabalho foram: (i) analisar os atributos químicos do solo, ao longo do tempo, decorrente da aplicação anual na superfície de fosfatos de diferentes solubilidades e; (ii) avaliar as concentrações de P disponível no solo pelos extratores Mehlich-1 e resina trocadora de íons (RTI), a longo prazo, decorrente da aplicação de fosfatos em SIPA. O experimento foi instalado no município de Castro-PR, em abril/2009, em um Cambissolo Háplico argiloso. Foi empregado delineamento experimental em blocos casualizados, em esquema fatorial incompleto (3 x 3 +1), com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram de três fontes de P [superfosfato triplo (SFT), fosfato natural reativo - Arad (FNR) e termofosfato magnesiano (TFM)] e três doses de P (60; 120 e 180 kg ha-1), além do controle (sem adição de P2O5). Amostras de terra das camadas de 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-20 e 20-30 cm foram coletadas aos 24, 36, 48 e 60 meses após o início do experimento, e os seguintes atributos químicos foram avaliados: pH, concentrações de Ca, Mg e K trocáveis, saturação por bases (V%) e concentrações de P disponível pelos extratores Mehlich-1 e RTI. A aplicação de TFM proporcionou aumento de pH do solo, elevação da V% e eficiência no fornecimento de Mg2+ às plantas. As concentrações de P disponíveis no solo pelo extrator Mehlich-1 foram maiores com o uso de FNR superestimando as concentrações de P. O uso de diferentes fontes fosfatadas não influenciou as concentrações de RTI, mostrando-se como o extrator de P mais adequado para prever as concentrações deste nutriente, independente da solubilidade do fertilizante fosfatado utilizado. Em condições de solo adequadamente conservado e manejado, a aplicação anual de fosfatos em superfície pode garantir a manutenção da fertilidade do solo a longo prazo. A renovação do sistema radicular decorrente do pastejo animal, maior produção de ácidos orgânicos e a deposição de excretas favoreceram a melhoria dos atributos químicos do solo e aumento da concentração de P, ao longo do tempo. / O sistema integrado de produção agropecuária (SIPA), tem sido uma prática que pode melhorar os atributos químicos do solo e otimizar a adubação de sistemas de produção. Todavia, os solos brasileiros são altamente intemperizados, com elevada acidez e baixa disponibilidade em P. Dessa forma, estratégias que resultem em aumento da eficiência do uso de fósforo contribuem para a produção de alimentos de maneira sustentável. Os objetivos desse trabalho foram: (i) analisar os atributos químicos do solo, ao longo do tempo, decorrente da aplicação anual na superfície de fosfatos de diferentes solubilidades e; (ii) avaliar as concentrações de P disponível no solo pelos extratores Mehlich-1 e resina trocadora de íons (RTI), a longo prazo, decorrente da aplicação de fosfatos em SIPA. O experimento foi instalado no município de Castro-PR, em abril/2009, em um Cambissolo Háplico argiloso. Foi empregado delineamento experimental em blocos casualizados, em esquema fatorial incompleto (3 x 3 +1), com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram de três fontes de P [superfosfato triplo (SFT), fosfato natural reativo - Arad (FNR) e termofosfato magnesiano (TFM)] e três doses de P (60; 120 e 180 kg ha-1), além do controle (sem adição de P2O5). Amostras de terra das camadas de 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-20 e 20-30 cm foram coletadas aos 24, 36, 48 e 60 meses após o início do experimento, e os seguintes atributos químicos foram avaliados: pH, concentrações de Ca, Mg e K trocáveis, saturação por bases (V%) e concentrações de P disponível pelos extratores Mehlich-1 e RTI. A aplicação de TFM proporcionou aumento de pH do solo, elevação da V% e eficiência no fornecimento de Mg2+ às plantas. As concentrações de P disponíveis no solo pelo extrator Mehlich-1 foram maiores com o uso de FNR superestimando as concentrações de P. O uso de diferentes fontes fosfatadas não influenciou as concentrações de RTI, mostrando-se como o extrator de P mais adequado para prever as concentrações deste nutriente, independente da solubilidade do fertilizante fosfatado utilizado. Em condições de solo adequadamente conservado e manejado, a aplicação anual de fosfatos em superfície pode garantir a manutenção da fertilidade do solo a longo prazo. A renovação do sistema radicular decorrente do pastejo animal, maior produção de ácidos orgânicos e a deposição de excretas favoreceram a melhoria dos atributos químicos do solo e aumento da concentração de P, ao longo do tempo.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / O meloeiro à uma das cucurbitÃceas mais exigentes em relaÃÃo à adubaÃÃo, sendo necessÃrios conhecimentos de solo, exigÃncia nutricional e eficiÃncia na utilizaÃÃo de nutrientes, para uma adubaÃÃo adequada. Objetivou-se a parametrizaÃÃo de um sistema para recomendaÃÃo de corretivos e fertilizantes para a cultura do meloeiro (Ferticalc-MelÃo) com base no balanÃo nutricional. O sistema apresenta um mÃdulo para correÃÃo da acidez no solo utilizando dois mÃtodos de recomendaÃÃo de calagem. Para estimar a adubaÃÃo recomendada o sistema foi subdividido: subsistema requerimento (REQ), que contempla a demanda de nutrientes pela planta, considerando a eficiÃncia de recuperaÃÃo dos nutrientes aplicados, alÃm de uma dose que atende ao critÃrio de âsustentabilidadeâ apenas para o nutriente K, e o subsistema suprimento (SUP), que corresponde à oferta de nutrientes pelo solo e Ãgua de irrigaÃÃo. ApÃs a determinaÃÃo do REQtotal e SUPtotal, realizou-se o balanÃo nutricional, no qual em resultado positivo (REQ > SUP), recomenda-se a aplicaÃÃo de fertilizantes, e negativo ou nulo (REQ ≤ SUP), nÃo se recomenda aplicar. Foram feitas simulaÃÃes para quatro diferentes tipos de meloeiro: Amarelo, Cantaloupe, GÃlia e Pele-de-sapo, numa faixa de produtividade esperada total de 15.000 a 45.000 kg ha-1 considerando diferentes valores de P-rem. O sistema estimou que o GÃlia foi o menos exigente em P enquanto o Pele-de-sapo mostrou-se mais exigente. Dentre os tipos, o Cantaloupe foi menos exigente em N e Ca, enquanto o Amarelo exigiu menos K, Mg e S. Para os micronutrientes, o Amarelo foi o que menos exigiu Fe, Cu e Zn, enquanto Mn foi menos demandado pelo Cantaloupe. O suprimento dos nutrientes K, Ca e Mg pela Ãgua de irrigaÃÃo foram respectivamente, 23,40; 1.216,00 e 136,08 kg ha-1 para as condiÃÃes de solo (AS - I) e 6,24; 48,00 e 4,86 kg ha-1 para (AS-II). De maneira geral, o sistema recomendou adubaÃÃo com macronutrientes para (AS-II) com exceÃÃo para Mg e Ca, enquanto para (AS-I) foi recomendado apenas para N e P, em funÃÃo dos altos teores de K, Ca e Mg no solo e Ãgua de irrigaÃÃo. Comparando com outros mÃtodos o sistema mostrou-se mais dinÃmico e flexÃvel nas suas recomendaÃÃes. AtravÃs da anÃlise de sensibilidade do sistema, constatou que a variÃvel que mais influenciou as recomendaÃÃes foi a produtividade, seguida dos teores de nutriente no solo. O sistema apresentou resultados satisfatÃrios em relaÃÃo Ãs recomendaÃÃes, porÃm necessita ser avaliado sob condiÃÃes de campo para seu aperfeiÃoamento em futuras versÃes. / The melon is one of cucurbitaceae most demanding in relation to fertilization, being necessary knowledge of soil, nutritional requirements and nutrient use efficiency, for a proper fertilization. The objective was parameterization of a system for recommendation of fertilizers for the melon (Ferticalc-Melon) based on the nutrient balance. The system features a module for soil acidity correction using two methods of liming. To estimate the fertilizer recommended, the system was subdivided: requirement subsystem (REQ), which includes the demand for nutrients by the plant, whereas the efficiency of nutrient recovery, and a dose that meets the criterion of "sustainability" only for the nutrient K, and supply subsystem (SUP), which corresponds to the supply of nutrients from the soil and irrigation water. After determining the REQamount and SUPamount, held the nutritional balance, in which a positive result (REQ > SUP), it is recommended that the application of fertilizer, and negative or zero (REQ ≤ SUP), not recommended to apply. Simulations were made for four different types of melon: Amarelo, Cantaloupe, GÃlia e Pele-de-sapo, in the range of productivity expected total of 15,000 to 45,000 kg ha-1 considering different values of P-rem. The system estimated that the GÃlia was the least demanding in P while Pele-de-sapo was the most demanding. Among the types, Cantaloupe was the least demanding in N and Ca, while the Amarelo requires less K, Mg and S. For the micronutrients, Amarelo was the least demanded that Fe, Cu and Zn, whereas Mn was less demanded by Cantaloupe. The supply of nutrients K, Ca and Mg by irrigation water were respectively, 23.40; 1,216.00 e 136.08 kg ha-1 to soil conditions (AS - I) and 6.24; 48.00 and 4.86 kg ha-1 to (AS-II). In general, the system recommended fertilization with macronutrients for (AS-II) except for Mg and Ca, while for (AS-I) was recommended only N and P, due to high levels of K, Ca and Mg in the soil and irrigation water. Compared with other methods the system proved to be more dynamic and flexible in its recommendations. By analyzing the sensitivity of the system, found that the variable that most influenced the recommendations was the productivity, then the nutrient content in soil. The system showed good results in relation to the recommendations, but needs to be evaluated under field conditions for your improvement in future versions.

This research project explores the contribution of prenatal stress to the pathogenesis of autism as a neurobiological developmental disorder. The neurobiological impact of stress prior to the 28th week of gestation might produce structural neural changes, specifically regarding the cerebellum, the brain stem and limbic pathways, including the hippocampal area, which concept relates closely to the pathogenesis of autism. In this research project a significant focus is placed on prenatal hipothalamic-pituary-adrenal (HPA) activity due to the HPA axis’ interactivity with cortisol, digoxin and serotonin, as these biochemicals are significantly implicated in programmed foetal development, postnatal cortical behaviour, postnatal learning, as well as in functional impairment of socialization, communication and imagery associated with autism. Based upon the rationale of this research project and the conceptualisation of the topic of interest, the research problem was formulated as follows: In what unique ways does prenatal stress contribute to the pathogenesis of autism as a neurobiological developmental disorder? Sub questions included: Did the mother of the dizygotic twins experience significant stress during the period of gestation? What structural brain differences can be observed among the dizygotic twins at hand of MR-imaging? To which periods of prenatal development can these structural differences be related? How do these differences account for sensory, motor, cognitive, and affective behavioural differences among the dizygotic twins? What plasma differences can be observed among the dizygotic twins at hand of blood sampling? How does elevation of pre- and postnatal glucocorticoids relate to plasma difference among the dizygotic twins? How do these plasma differences account for sensory, motor, cognitive, and affective behavioural differences among the dizygotic twins? This research project represents quantitative research. The mode of inquiry is non-experimental at hand of a single dizygotic twin study. The following data generating strategies were employed: clinical intake interviews, administration of a diagnostic stress inventory and the 16-PF Questionnaire, MR-imaging, and the collection of blood plasma pathology results. / Dissertation (M.Ed)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Manure contains nutrients for crop growth; however, overapplication, with time, can result in excess nutrients in soil, which can subsequently be lost in surface runoff. <p>The general purpose of this research is to study the effect of liquid hog manure, applied as an agricultural fertilizer, on water chemistry of surface runoff from rainfall simulation tests. Specifically the research focuses on runoff water chemistry comparisons between lands receiving hog manure at different rates, via different injection methods, and upon different slope positions. <p>To examine these objectives, soil nutrient supply rates (P, NH4-N, and NO3-N) of the 0 5 cm depth of soil adjacent to rainfall simulation positions, and runoff water chemistry (TP, OP, NH4-N, NO3-N, DOC, Cl- and coliforms) during rainfall simulation tests were collected before and after manure addition. <p> Generally, manure application did increase soil NH4-N and NO3-N supply rates, and runoff NH4-N concentration. Soil P supply rate and runoff TP concentration were not affected by the manure addition; however, runoff OP concentration at one site (Perdue) increased significantly due to manure addition. The manure treatments applied in this study did not cause any significant increases in fecal or total coliform in runoff from rainfall simulation tests conducted 7 8 months after manure application. None of the water quality parameters exceeded the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. <p> Manure injection method (regular versus low soil surface disturbance) had consistent effects on runoff chemistry, but application rate did not. The regular disturbance method had significantly higher concentrations of water quality parameters than the low disturbance method. <p> The position of the test on the slope did not result in any consistent trends in runoff chemistry, whether before or after manure addition. Foot slope positions had higher soil NH4-N supply rates than upper slope positions, both before and after manure addition. Soil NH4-N, NO3-N, and P supply rates between landscape positions were not likely influenced by manure addition. <p> Regression tests between soil nutrient supply rates and runoff chemistry indicate that soil NH4-N supply rates are a good index to predict runoff NH4-N concentration, but soil P did not predict runoff P.

Manure contains nutrients for crop growth; however, overapplication, with time, can result in excess nutrients in soil, which can subsequently be lost in surface runoff. <p>The general purpose of this research is to study the effect of liquid hog manure, applied as an agricultural fertilizer, on water chemistry of surface runoff from rainfall simulation tests. Specifically the research focuses on runoff water chemistry comparisons between lands receiving hog manure at different rates, via different injection methods, and upon different slope positions. <p>To examine these objectives, soil nutrient supply rates (P, NH4-N, and NO3-N) of the 0 5 cm depth of soil adjacent to rainfall simulation positions, and runoff water chemistry (TP, OP, NH4-N, NO3-N, DOC, Cl- and coliforms) during rainfall simulation tests were collected before and after manure addition. <p> Generally, manure application did increase soil NH4-N and NO3-N supply rates, and runoff NH4-N concentration. Soil P supply rate and runoff TP concentration were not affected by the manure addition; however, runoff OP concentration at one site (Perdue) increased significantly due to manure addition. The manure treatments applied in this study did not cause any significant increases in fecal or total coliform in runoff from rainfall simulation tests conducted 7 8 months after manure application. None of the water quality parameters exceeded the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. <p> Manure injection method (regular versus low soil surface disturbance) had consistent effects on runoff chemistry, but application rate did not. The regular disturbance method had significantly higher concentrations of water quality parameters than the low disturbance method. <p> The position of the test on the slope did not result in any consistent trends in runoff chemistry, whether before or after manure addition. Foot slope positions had higher soil NH4-N supply rates than upper slope positions, both before and after manure addition. Soil NH4-N, NO3-N, and P supply rates between landscape positions were not likely influenced by manure addition. <p> Regression tests between soil nutrient supply rates and runoff chemistry indicate that soil NH4-N supply rates are a good index to predict runoff NH4-N concentration, but soil P did not predict runoff P.