Willian Aparecido De Souza

Dr. Willian Aparecido De Souza


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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14 March 2025 in Grasses
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
EREdward Raynor
Edward Raynor
PCPedro H V Carvalho
Pedro H V Carvalho
JVJuan Vargas
Juan Vargas
Edilane MartinsEdilane Martins
Edilane Martins
WSWillian Aparecido De Souza
Willian Aparecido De Souza
KSKimberly Stackhouse-Lawson
Kimberly Stackhouse-Lawson
Automated head chamber systems (AHCS) are increasingly deployed to measure enteric emissions in vivo. However, guidance for AHCS-derived emissions data analyses pertains to confined settings, such as feedlots, with less instruction for grazing systems. Accordingly, our first objective in this experiment was to determine the utility of two data preprocessing approaches for grazing-based analyses. Using Pearson’s correlation, we compared “simple arithmetic” and “time-bin” averaging to arrive at a single estimate of daily gas flux. For our second objective, we evaluated test period length averaging at 1, 3, 7, and 14 d intervals to determine daily pasture-based emissions estimates under two experimental conditions: herd access to a single AHCS unit vs. two AHCS units. Unlike findings from the confinement-based literature, where slight improvements have been observed, time-bin averaging, compared to simple arithmetic averaging, did not improve gas flux estimation from grazing for CH4 (p ≥ 0.46) or CO2 (p ≥ 0.60). Irrespective of experimental condition, i.e., herd access to a single AHCS unit vs. two AHCS units, assessment of variability of diurnal emissions patterns revealed CH4 flux on pasture had at least half as much variability for the same individuals acclimated in confinement. Using a 7-day test period length interval, aggregating gas flux data at 7 d at a time was adequate for capturing diurnal emissions variation in grazing steers, as no improvement was observed in the percentage of individuals with five of six time bins measured for a 14-day test period length interval. This analysis should provide insights into future research to standardize AHCS data preprocessing across experiments and research groups.