An Introduction to Rumen Studies - No Cost Library

An Introduction to Rumen Studies   

Author(s):  J. W. Czerkawski   

  Publisher: Pergamon Press, Year: 1986

                                           

 Description: 

The rumen is a research subject for many types of biological sciences, from anatomists to microbiologists and more recently to even mathematicians. Developments and the use of specific laboratory methods have required substantial progress to be made in rumen studies. Several chapters in this book concentrate on the strategies and insights that arise from their use. Biochemical and microbial interrelationships are explored in detail, with an focus on the essential nature of the rumen materials. The book concludes by reviewing the most effective approaches that will help make this complex and efficient organ better understood. The chapter is a full reading and learning unit with no relation to other chapters. A general reading list along with more detailed references can help guide the student into a particular area of rumen studies by the end of each book.

Book Review:

Since Hungate's seminal work 'The Rumen and its Microbes' appeared in 1966, much effort has been made to improve our knowledge of what's going on in the rumen, particularly in quantitative terms. Dr Czerkawski 's book makes a significant effort to bring up and describe in a concise manner several facets of these developments and is largely successful in doing so. This is very perfunctory about the function of saliva and the distribution of nutrients through the rumen wall but deals with decaying and mechanical processes in the organ at length. This rightly emphasizes the importance of recognizing how fibrous components of consumed plant tissues are selectively stored in the rumen and what influences have affected microorganisms in their colonization. When designing these ideas Dr. Czerkawski used his own outstanding work very successfully using a when vitro method to model what is happening in the rumen. It has provided useful knowledge, but maybe it might be suggested that in vitro experiments have been overemphasized and their drawbacks ignored to the detriment of a more thorough description of what is likely to happen in the rumen. It is nevertheless a rather valuable novel.