Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-90). Also available via the Internet.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 207 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-185).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 90 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-76).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

After European settlement, Australian rangelands especially in South Australia underwent significant changes because of the main land use of pastoralism. Many studies have revealed that the plant communities are negatively effected by herbivory mainly by sheep. The main aim of this study is to separate the different effects of sheep, rabbits and kangaroos. This was examined by survey supported by experimental and modelling research. / A 32,000 km² area previously surveyed by Tiver and Andrew (1997) in eastern South Australia was re-surveyed to monitor populations of perennial plant species at sites of various intensity of grazing by sheep, rabbits and kangaroos (goats populations are low in the study area), the most important vertebrate herbivores. Plant population data were collected in both sheep paddocks and historically ungrazed by sheep (road reserves) by using the Random Walk method and analysed using Generalized Linear Modelling (GLM) to separate the effects of sheep and rabbits on plant regeneration and their regeneration in response to grazing. These data were also compared to similar data collected by Tiver and Andrew in 1992 (1997) to ascertain if the reduction in rabbit numbers through introduction of RCV had allowed increased regeneration. Regeneration of many species inside paddocks were negatively affected and species in roadside reserves did not significantly increase from 1992 to 2004. However, some species showed increase of populations in spite of sheep grazing, with some species being less susceptible than others. This research also indicates kangaroo grazing impact on some plant species. Reduction in rabbit numbers following the 1995 release of calicivirus has not been effective in restoring regeneration. Another experiment was conducted at Middleback Field Station near Whyalla to identify herbivore grazing pressure on the arid zone plant species Acacia aneura using unfenced, sheep fenced and rabbit fenced grazing exclosures. This experiment was set up with seedlings in exclosures, ten replicates of each treatment, at plots four different distances from the watering point to identify the survivorship of seedlings. Data were collected by recording canopy volumes of seedling over an 18 month period and analysed by Residual Maximal Likelihood (REML). Seedlings both near and far from the watering point were severely affected by large herbivores, either sheep, kangaroos or both, and in a separate experiment kangaroo grazing effects on the seedling were also identified. Seedlings browsed by the rabbits recovered better than the seedlings grazed by the large herbivores. Decreasing kangaroo activities has been noticed when the rabbit movements increased. Computer modelling was conducted to predict the future plant population structure over 500 years using a matrix population model developed by Tiver et al. (2006) and using data collected in the survey as a starting point. Extinction probabilities of populations of Acacia aneura near watering points, far from watering points and under pulse grazing scenarios were compared. Sheep grazing was found to cause eventual extinction of populations in all parts of sheep paddocks. Together, the results indicate that sheep are the major herbivore suppressing regeneration of perennial plant species. Kangaroo and rabbits have an identifiable but lesser effect. The results have implications for conservation and pastoral management. To achieve ecological sustainability of arid lands a land-use system including a network of reserves ungrazed by sheep and with control of both rabbit and kangaroo numbers will be required. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006.

Regional and national supply models of the U.S. sheep industry are developed using economic and subjective factors determined from surveys of current producers. Breeding inventories are determined to be positively related to total returns per ewe and crop acreage harvested and negatively related to calf price and hay price. Breeding inventories are projected to decline through 1993 based on current information. The sheep industry is found to be more prone to contraction than to expansion and elasticities indicate a relatively inelastic response by producer in the short-run. Subjective factors are found to be important determinants of flock size. The supply function of U.S. sheep inventories is hypothesized to operate under asset fixity in reverse. Implications for further research are discussed. / Master of Science

Lesotho’s current production of raw wool is sold to global markets through South African wool merchants. Lesotho does not have any wool processing facilities and as such, the wool from Lesotho gets processed in South Africa or sold to international markets like China where it is processed. Since 2012, the government of Lesotho has publicly showed interest in developing a wool scouring plant that would process locally produced wool instead of selling it in its raw unprocessed form to international markets. The understanding by the Lesotho government was underpinned by perceived economic benefits that could be realised by the country and the wool industry of Lesotho, if the wool scouring plant was developed. The wool industry is important to the economy of Lesotho and as such, wool production in Lesotho contributes to the living standards in the rural areas as their lives are highly depended on the production of wool. A vibrant wool industry in Lesotho therefore has the potential to contribute to the growth of the economy, the manufacturing sector, employment at both the herder and the manufacturing levels, and the export sector. Wool scouring or wool washing is the early stage processing of greasy wool. The purpose of wool scouring is to extract grease, dirt, unpleasant smell and other foreign matter from the greasy wool. Raw wool fibers contain fat, suint (sheep sweat salts), plant material and minerals. It is therefore necessary to remove these from wool by scouring with a combination of detergents, wetting agents and emulsifiers before further processing. Wool can lose up to 30% of its original weight during this process. The Lesotho government feels that there is a need to develop a wool scouring plant in Lesotho because Lesotho does not benefit from the South African wool scouring processes and anything that happens post that process. Given that no viability studies had been conducted in Lesotho to motivate the government’s interest in developing a wool scouring plant, this study was conducted with the aim to investigate the benefits of developing a wool scouring plant in Lesotho. The research design employed in this study was a mixed method, which is a combination of positivism (quantitative) and interpretivism (qualitative) data collection and analysis in parallel form. In terms of the qualitative component of the study, structured interviews were conducted, governed by in-depth interview guidelines developed by the researcher. A questionnaire was used for the qualitative component of the study. Among some of its findings and recommendations the study recommends that there is insufficient wool produced in Lesotho to support a local wool scouring plant, the government of Lesotho should rather focus their effort on the improvement of the wool production value chain to assist farmers. The study finds no grounds for the justification of the development of a local scouring plant in Lesotho and recommends that for such propositions to be made publicly, at least proper groundwork should be undertaken to investigate the technical feasibility of developing the scouring plant.

Submitted by (edna.saturno@ufrpe.br) on 2016-05-25T15:45:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Jarbas de Araujo Gomes.pdf: 1339623 bytes, checksum: 68945e062ed898118b2f9cbf1600a433 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-25T15:45:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jarbas de Araujo Gomes.pdf: 1339623 bytes, checksum: 68945e062ed898118b2f9cbf1600a433 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-24 / This study aims to examine the introduction of the Dorper breed in Pernambuco state, from the point of view of the concepts of innovation, entrepreneurship and strategy, presented the motives, sources, evolution and the benefits of introduction of this innovation for the producers who decided to invest in the activity of the sheep industry from this race. For this we used a theoretical base for innovation with their definitions and classifications including that of incremental innovation, which is reports that research since the introduction of Dorper sheep in the state does not replace other race, but to improve what already existed. In the case of entrepreneurship was mentioned this topic lead to innovation and showed that this link is an interdependence where the entrepreneur is a major element of the innovation process. Still regarding the management of innovation was the theme set strategies, focusing on what these are decisions that guide the lines of action that lead to the achievement of goals and are used by innovators to differentiate themselves and be more competitive. The methodology incorporated items from the general objective of this work under a scheme that focused on three aspects of innovation, sources, evolution and results. This approach generated a questionnaire that guided the collection of primary data of this work to the producers of the elite flock of Dorper sheep in the state of Pernambuco. The results show that the production of Dorper ewes is feasible to those who decided to invest in this race over these 10 years of its existence in the state of Pernambuco, and this activity was capable of providing those producers tangible and intangible benefits. / Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar a introdução da raça Dorper no estado de Pernambuco sob o ponto de vista dos conceitos de inovação, empreendedorismo e estratégia, apresentado as motivações, fontes, evolução e os benefícios resultantes da introdução desta inovação para os produtores que decidiram investir na atividade da ovinocultura a partir desta raça. Para isso foi utilizada uma base teórica sobre inovação com as suas definições e classificações entre elas a de inovação incremental, a qual se reporta essa pesquisa, visto que a introdução dos ovinos dorper no estado não veio para substituir outra raça e sim para melhorar as que já existiam. Tratando-se de empreendedorismo foi feita referência da ligação deste tema com a inovação e mostrou-se que esse elo tem uma interdependência, onde o empreendedor é um dos elementos principais do processo inovativo. Ainda referente à gestão da inovação foi colocado o tema estratégias, enfocando que estas são decisões que norteiam as linhas de ação que levam à obtenção dos objetivos e são utilizadas pelos inovadores para se diferenciarem e serem mais competitivos. A metodologia incorporou os itens do objetivo geral deste trabalho sob um esquema que enfocou três vertentes da inovação, as fontes, a evolução e os resultados. Este enfoque gerou um questionário que orientou a coleta dos dados primários deste trabalho junto aos produtores do rebanho ovino de elite da raça dorper no estado de Pernambuco. Os resultados mostram que a produção de ovinos da raça dorper é viável aos que decidiram investir nesta raça ao longo destes 10 anos de sua existência no estado de Pernambuco, sendo esta atividade capaz de proporcionar a esses produtores benefícios tangíveis e intangíveis.