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From the Ground Up: The Development and Demonstrated Utility of the Ruminal Ecosystem Model

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Mathematical Modeling in Microbial Ecology

Part of the book series: Chapman & Hall Microbiology Series ((CHMBS))

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Abstract

Our understanding of rumen digestion and microbial ecology has developed in several stages. The first was recognition in the 1940s of the fact that the rumen microbes play a major role in the digestive process, producing volatile fatty acids, and that they are a major source of nutrients to the ruminant animal (Hungate 1966). This recognition was followed by studies that led to the isolation, taxonomic identification, and enumeration of microbes present in the rumen (Bryant 1959). These studies were followed by studies of pure cultures of rumen microbes in which their physiological properties and metabolism were defined. In addition, interactions among rumen microbes were evaluated. This area of inquiry is not complete, even though activity has been sporadic and limited during recent years. The final phase of our evaluation of the rumen as an ecosystem requires quantitative and dynamic analyses of the extent to which microbes express their characteristics in mixed cultures and in vivo. To achieve this goal we must understand microbial interdependence and competition in the rumen (Russell and Hespell 1981). Progress toward this goal has been limited and may require several decades for adequate resolution. With the exception of the model of Russell and Allen (1984)

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Authors
  1. R. L. Baldwin
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  2. K. C. Donovan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Arthur L. Koch

  2. Upjohn Laboratories Biostatistic and Environmental Research, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    Joseph A. Robinson

  3. Department of Statistics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

    George A. Milliken

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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Baldwin, R.L., Donovan, K.C. (1998). From the Ground Up: The Development and Demonstrated Utility of the Ruminal Ecosystem Model. In: Koch, A.L., Robinson, J.A., Milliken, G.A. (eds) Mathematical Modeling in Microbial Ecology. Chapman & Hall Microbiology Series. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4078-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4078-6_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6826-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4078-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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