Sayed Hamzeh Hosseini; Reza Erfanzadeh; Paria Kamali
Abstract
The study on the livestock dietary and preference value of different species are essential forrangeland management. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the preference indicesof 14 plant species in Kahnuj, during two different phenological stages (vegetative growth andafter-seed-dispersal). ...
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The study on the livestock dietary and preference value of different species are essential forrangeland management. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the preference indicesof 14 plant species in Kahnuj, during two different phenological stages (vegetative growth andafter-seed-dispersal). The close observation method was used to measure the preference indexfor three age classes of Rainian goat (one, three and five years). The results showed that mainand interaction effects of goat age, plant phenological stage and the kind of plant species onpreference values were significant. Older goat consumed a higher time to graze in the studyarea. Stipa capensis had the highest preference index and Rhazya stricta had the lowest. Thepreference index of most plant species was significantly variable between two phenologicalstages. In addition, in each phenological stage, the preference value of plant species wassignificantly different. In the vegetative growth stage that annual plant species were abundant,goats mostly focused on these plant species for grazing. However, in the after-seed-dispersalstage in which the annual cover decreased, goats (particularly older ones) focused on shrubs forbrowsing. As a result, Rainian goat is a grazer in the normal situation and he can be a browserin the hard condition. It was suggested that the cover of Taverniera cuneifolia to be increased inthe study area in order to compensate the deficiency of forage in long term. Artificial foragingis useful to reserve the performance of goats (particularly younger ones) in short term.
