Mineral concentrations in soil extracts, forages, and blood sera of cattle grazing on reclaimed uranium-mined land in southeastern Wyoming

Mayland, H.F. and Schuman, G.E. and Booth, D.T. and Waggoner Jr, J.W. (2006) Mineral concentrations in soil extracts, forages, and blood sera of cattle grazing on reclaimed uranium-mined land in southeastern Wyoming. In: Proceedings of the 10th Billings Land Reclamation Symposium. USA-MT-Billings, 2006/06/04-08.

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Abstract

The Pathfinder Uranium Mine which is located in southeastern Wyoming,
was actively mined during the 1960's-1980's. Reclamation involved returning the
spoil/overburden and replacing the salvaged topsoil. The area was revegetated in
1974-1977, but was not grazed until 1980-85. A grazing experiment was then
conducted to determine solubility of mineral elements in soil, uptake by plants and
absorption by grazing animals. Blood sera were collected at 28-30 day intervals
during the three grazing/growing seasons in 1980-1982. Blood sera samples were
frozen and later analyzed by ICP. When compared to published data, plants on the
reclaimed site contained lower concentrations of Ca, Mg, Mn, P, and Zn; but higher
concentrations of Cd, Cr and Ni than plants on adjacent undisturbed sites. When
compared to expected blood sera data, animals grazing on the reclaimed site had
lower concentrations of B. Ca, Cu, Mg, and Na; but higher concentrations of Cr and
Fe than would be expected for most grazing animals. Livestock producers are
advised to provide supplements of Ca, Mg, Mn, P, and Zn to minimize deficiency of
these elements in livestock nutrition when grazing these reclaimed lands.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number:	1183
Subjects:	Animal > Animal health Irrigated crops > Grass forage > Chemistry Soil > Chemistry Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:56
Last Modified:	02 Nov 2016 18:43
Item ID:	956
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/956