Pelve, Maja Elisabeth and Spörndly, Eva and Olsson, Ingemar and Glimskär, Anders
(2020).
Grazing and fouling behaviour on different vegetation types within heterogeneous semi-natural and naturalised pastures.
Livestock Science. 241
, 104253
[Journal article]
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2020.104253
Abstract
In a two-year study, grazing, resting and fouling behaviour of cattle grazing on heterogeneous semi-natural/naturalised continuously grazed, fenced pasture areas (sites), were examined using two and nine sites in year 1 and 2. Five vegetation types were identified and mapped out on the sites used in the study: four typical species-rich semi-natural vegetation types (dry, mesic, wet, shaded), and one naturalised, grass-dominated type on former fertilised arable land. The two sites used in year 1 and seven sites in year 2 contained all five vegetation types, while one or two vegetation types (dry and wet) were absent on the remaing two sites in year 2. Behaviour was recorded over 24 h on three occasions in year 1, and on one occasion in year 2. During observation hours, animal behaviour (grazing/resting/other) and vegetation type grazed were recorded at 5-minute intervals and time and location of defecation and urination were recorded continuously. Vegetation types were sampled for herbage analysis directly after behaviour observations by cutting the vegetation in three random plots per type. Relative preference for grazing, resting and fouling was calculated for each vegetation type by dividing proportion of behaviour observations spent on a specific vegetation type by proportion of total area occupied by this vegetation type. The results showed that during both years, animals showed the greatest relative preference for the naturalised vegetation type when grazing or fouling (urination and defecation). The naturalised vegetation type also had the greatest content of metabolisable energy (from 9.8 to 10.1 MJ/kg DM) and crude protein (from 131 to 157 g/kg DM) and the least content of neutral detergent fibre (from 453 to 456 g/kg DM).
Authors/Creators: | Pelve, Maja Elisabeth and Spörndly, Eva and Olsson, Ingemar and Glimskär, Anders |
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Title: | Grazing and fouling behaviour on different vegetation types within heterogeneous semi-natural and naturalised pastures |
Series Name/Journal: | Livestock Science |
Year of publishing : | 2020 |
Volume: | 241 |
Article number: | 104253 |
Number of Pages: | 5 |
Associated Programs and Other Stakeholders: | SLU - Environmental assessment > Programme Built Environment |
ISSN: | 1871-1413 |
Language: | English |
Publication Type: | Journal article |
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed |
Version: | Published version |
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 |
Full Text Status: | Public |
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 405 Other Agricultural Sciences > Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use |
Keywords: | Grazing behaviour, Cattle, Fouling, Nutritive value, Semi-natural pasture, Naturalised pasture |
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-109775 |
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-109775 |
ID Code: | 21241 |
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap VH - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science |
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology (S) > Dept. of Ecology (VH) > Dept. of Animal Nutrition and Management |
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector |
Deposited On: | 15 Jan 2021 10:23 |
Metadata Last Modified: | 23 Feb 2021 07:43 |
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