Meadow

A meadow is a field habitat vegetated by plants grass and other non-woody plants (grassland).

Meadows are of ecological importance because they are open, sunny areas that attract and support flora and fauna that couldn't thrive in other conditions. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artificially created from cleared shrub or woodland. They often host a multitude of wildlife, providing areas for courtship displays, nesting, food gathering and sometimes sheltering if the vegetation is high enough. Many meadows support a wide array of wildflowers, which makes them of utmost importance to insects like bees and other pollinating insects, and hence the entire ecosystem.

In agriculture, a meadow is grassland which is not regularly grazed by domestic livestock, but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to produce hay.

Agriculture

Especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the term meadow is commonly used in its original sense to mean a hay meadow, signifying grassland mown annually in the summer for making hay. Agricultural meadows are typically lowland or upland fields upon which hay or pasture grasses grow from self-sown or hand-sown seed. Traditional hay meadows were once common in rural Britain, but are now in decline. Ecologist Professor John Rodwell states that over the past century, England and Wales have lost about 97% of their hay meadows. Fewer than 15.000 hectares of lowland meadows remain in the UK and most sites are relatively small and fragmented. 25% of the UK's meadows are found in Worcestershire, with Foster's Green Meadow managed by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust being a major site.

Meadow (calf)

Meadow is a Black Angus calf who is believed to be the first bovine calf fitted with double prosthetics.

Meadow was born in northeastern New Mexico. She lost both of her back hooves to frostbite and was found badly wounded on a neighbor's property by Nancy Dickenson, who has helped over a dozen other animals that have been injured. After seeing the serious injuries of the wounded calf, Dickenson wanted to give her the ability to walk again.

After consulting with veterinarians to ensure Meadow could lead a quality life, the doctors amputated a portion of the calf's hind legs and fitted her with new prosthetics. Colorado State veterinarian Dr. Robert Callan stated that he believes this to be the first bovine calf to be fitted with double prosthetics. He has based this claim with talks he has had with other veterinarian clinics and schools.

Procedure

The procedure took place at the Colorado State University's (CSU) Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The procedure involved five anesthesiologists, expert large animal veterinarians, surgeons, and CSU veterinary students. The reason for the large number of anesthesiologists was due to the number of difficulties involved in anesthetizing cattle. The most difficult of these is keeping the animal from aspirating its stomach contents while put asleep during surgery.

Meadow (disambiguation)

A meadow is a habitat where grasses predominate. Meadow or meadows may also refer to:

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