Rumen microbiota modulation during the pre-weaning period has been suggested as means to affect animal performance later in life. In this follow-up study, we examined the post-weaning rumen microbiota development differences in monozygotic twin-heifers that were inoculated (T-group) or not inoculated (C-group) (n\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff894 each) with fresh adult rumen liquid during their pre-weaning period. We also assessed the treatment effect on production parameters and methane emissions of cows during their 1st lactation period. The rumen microbiota was determined by the 16S rRNA gene, 18S rRNA gene, and ITS1 amplicon sequencing. Animal weight gain and rumen fermentation parameters were monitored from 2 to 12\uffe2\uff80\uff89months of age. The weight gain was not affected by treatment, but butyrate proportion was higher in T-group in month 3 (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff890.04). Apart from archaea (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff890.084), the richness of bacteria (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89<\uffe2\uff80\uff890.0001) and ciliate protozoa increased until month 7 (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff890.004) and anaerobic fungi until month 11 (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff890.005). The microbiota structure, measured as Bray\uffe2\uff80\uff93Curtis distances, continued to develop until months 3, 6, 7, and 10, in archaea, ciliate protozoa, bacteria, and anaerobic fungi, respectively (for all: p\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff890.001). Treatment or age \uffc3\uff97 treatment interaction had a significant (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89<\uffe2\uff80\uff890.05) effect on 18 bacterial, 2 archaeal, and 6 ciliate protozoan taxonomic groups, with differences occurring mostly before month 4 in bacteria, and month 3 in archaea and ciliate protozoa. Treatment stimulated earlier maturation of prokaryote community in T-group before month 4 and earlier maturation of ciliate protozoa at month 2 (Random Forest: 0.75\uffe2\uff80\uff89month for bacteria and 1.5\uffe2\uff80\uff89month for protozoa). No treatment effect on the maturity of anaerobic fungi was observed. The milk production and quality, feed efficiency, and methane emissions were monitored during cow\uffe2\uff80\uff99s 1st lactation. The T-group had lower variation in energy-corrected milk yield (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89<\uffe2\uff80\uff890.001), tended to differ in pattern of residual energy intake over time (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff890.069), and had numerically lower somatic cell count throughout their 1st lactation period (p\uffe2\uff80\uff89=\uffe2\uff80\uff890.081), but no differences between the groups in methane emissions (g/d, g/kg DMI, or g/kg milk) were observed. Our results demonstrated that the orally administered microbial inoculant induced transient changes in early rumen microbiome maturation. In addition, the treatment may influence the later production performance, although the mechanisms that mediate these effects need to be further explored.
", "keywords": ["microbiome modulation", "0301 basic medicine", "570", "ta412", "microbiome establishment", "Heifer", "dairy cow", "Rumen function", "Animal science", " dairy science", "Microbiology", "630", "Microbiome modulation", "QR1-502", "rumen function", "Microbiome establishment", "03 medical and health sciences", "Dairy cow", "heifer"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.983823"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Frontiers%20in%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3389/fmicb.2022.983823", "name": "item", "description": "10.3389/fmicb.2022.983823", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3389/fmicb.2022.983823"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-11-08T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.059", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:17:05Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-04-19", "title": "The value of manure - Manure as co-product in life cycle assessment", "description": "Livestock production is important for food security, nutrition, and landscape maintenance, but it is associated with several environmental impacts. To assess the risk and benefits arising from livestock production, transparent and robust indicators are required, such as those offered by life cycle assessment. A central question in such approaches is how environmental burden is allocated to livestock products and to manure that is re-used for agricultural production. To incentivize sustainable use of manure, it should be considered as a co-product as long as it is not disposed of, or wasted, or applied in excess of crop nutrient needs, in which case it should be treated as a waste. This paper proposes a theoretical approach to define nutrient requirements based on nutrient response curves to economic and physical optima and a pragmatic approach based on crop nutrient yield adjusted for nutrient losses to atmosphere and water. Allocation of environmental burden to manure and other livestock products is then based on the nutrient value from manure for crop production using the price of fertilizer nutrients. We illustrate and discuss the proposed method with two case studies.", "keywords": ["[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]", "assessment", "resource", "01 natural sciences", "630", "nitrogen", "Fertilizer", "allocation", "life cycle", "manures", "Feeds and feeding. Animal nutrition", "farmyard manure", "Housing and environmental control", "2. Zero hunger", "ta412", "Agriculture and the environment", "Agriculture", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "fertilizer", "Crop Production", "[SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio]", "Livestock supply chains", "green manures", "Fertilisers", "performance", "energy", "Livestock", "330", "fertilizers", "Allocation", "ta1172", "Environmental Sciences & Ecology", "333", "Article", "soil", "12. Responsible consumption", "nutrient use", "Life cycle assessment", "life cycle assessment", "livestock supply chains", "nutrients", "Animals", "livestock production", "alocation", "Fertilizers", "Rangelands. Range management. Grazing", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "carbon", "use efficiency", "food security", "Nutrients", "15. Life on land", "livestock", "Manure", "13. Climate action", "manure", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "protein"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.059"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Environmental%20Management", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.059", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.059", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.059"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-07-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1007/s12649-017-9910-4", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:15:43Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-03-25", "title": "Possibilities of Using Liquids from Slow Pyrolysis and Hydrothermal Carbonization in Acidification of Animal Slurry", "description": "Pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) are gaining increasing interest in the context of biomass valorization. However, these processes yield a liquid fraction with an acidic pH value challenging to productize. In this paper, the possibility of replacing concentrated acids in acidification of animal slurry with organic acids derived from thermochemical conversion of various biomasses was investigated. The acid composition of four pyrolysis and one HTC liquid fraction were characterized using capillary electrophoresis and their total acidity determined titrimetrically. The amount of each liquid needed to reduce the pH of pig and cattle slurries to 6.0 and 5.5 were recorded. The total acidity of pyrolysis liquids varied highly (850-2560 meq l-1) depending on the biomass. For HTC liquid the total acidity was low (220 meq l-1). The most concentrated liquid, which showed greatest potential for practical use, was derived from pyrolysis of willow wood. Its required application rate for decreasing the pH of the slurries from >7.5 to 6.0 was 20-50 l t-1. This study suggests that there is a possibility of using liquids from pyrolysis process for acidification of animal slurries. Producing more concentrated liquids, further concentration of these acidiferous streams and the effects of the liquid addition on the properties of slurry are worth further studying.", "keywords": ["ta412", "600", "02 engineering and technology", "kuivatislaus", "pyrolysis", "01 natural sciences", "hydrothermal carbonization", "acidification", "13. Climate action", "happamoituminen", "0202 electrical engineering", " electronic engineering", " information engineering", "SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy", "ta116", "animal slurry", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12649-017-9910-4.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-017-9910-4"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Waste%20and%20Biomass%20Valorization", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s12649-017-9910-4", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s12649-017-9910-4", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s12649-017-9910-4"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-03-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3389/fmicb.2021.758395", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:21:38Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-01-12", "title": "Fresh rumen liquid inoculant enhances the rumen microbial community establishment in pre-weaned dairy calves", "description": "The development of the functional rumen in calves involves a complex interplay between the host and host-related microbiome. Attempts to modulate rumen microbial community establishment may therefore have an impact on weaning success, calf health, and animal performance later in life. In this experiment, we aimed to elucidate how rumen liquid inoculum from an adult cow, provided to calves during the pre-weaning period, influences the establishment of rumen bacterial, archaeal, fungal, and ciliate protozoan communities in monozygotic twin calves (n = 6 pairs). The calves were divided into treatment (T-group) and control (C-group) groups, where the T-group received fresh rumen liquid as an oral inoculum during a 2\uffe2\uff80\uff938-week period. The C-group was not inoculated. The rumen microbial community composition was determined using bacterial and archaeal 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene, protozoal 18S rRNA gene, and fungal ITS1 region amplicon sequencing. Animal weight gain and feed intake were monitored throughout the experiment. The T-group tended to have a higher concentrate intake (Treatment: p < 0.08) and had a significantly higher weekly weight gain (Treatment: p < 0.05), but no significant difference in volatile fatty acid concentrations between the groups was observed. In the T-group, the inoculum stimulated the earlier establishment of mature rumen-related bacterial taxa, affecting significant differences between the groups until 6 weeks of age. The inoculum also increased the archaeal operational taxonomic unit (OTU) diversity (Treatment: p < 0.05) but did not affect the archaeal quantity. Archaeal communities differed significantly between groups until week 4 (p = 0.02). Due to the inoculum, ciliate protozoa were detected in the T-group in week 2, while the C-group remained defaunated until 6 weeks of age. In week 8, Eremoplastron dilobum was the dominant ciliate protozoa in the C-group and Isotricha sp. in the T-group, respectively. The Shannon diversity of rumen anaerobic fungi reduced with age (Week: p < 0.01), and community establishment was influenced by a change of diet and potential interaction with other rumen microorganisms. Our results indicate that an adult cow rumen liquid inoculum enhanced the maturation of bacterial and archaeal communities in pre-weaning calves\uffe2\uff80\uff99 rumen, whereas its effect on eukaryotic communities was less clear and requires further investigation.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "Anaerobic fungi", "microbiome establishment", "archaea", "Rumen function", "Microbiome manipulation", "Microbiology", "630", "Microbiome establishment", "ciliate protozoa", "03 medical and health sciences", "Dairy calf", "anaerobic fungi", "bacteria", "[SDV.MP] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "ta412", "Bacteria", "dairy calf", "Animal science", " dairy science", "Archaea", "Ciliate protozoa", "QR1-502", "rumen function", "[SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology", "microbiome manipulation"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.758395"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Frontiers%20in%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3389/fmicb.2021.758395", "name": "item", "description": "10.3389/fmicb.2021.758395", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3389/fmicb.2021.758395"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-01-12T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=ta412&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=ta412&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=ta412&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=ta412&offset=4", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 4, "numberReturned": 4, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-05-30T22:57:46.335690Z"}