Publication Date
1997
Description
We describe the development and use of a simple, generic method for predicting botanical composition of herbivore diets, thereby allowing resource managers to consider selective foraging when setting stocking rates. For a particular season and herbivore, we found that forage species fall into one of 3 selection categories: preferred (consistently selected for), undesirable (consistently selected against), and variable (inconsistent selection pattern). Our studies showed that, for most situations, dietary composition is adequately predicted from regression relationships with the field proportions of preferred and undesirable species. We demonstrate how this method can help address issues such as the conservation of preferred forage species and the effect of multispecies grazing on carrying capacity.
Citation
Quirk, M F. and Stuth, J W., "Accounting for Selective Grazing in the Stocking Rate Decision" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1997-2023). 4.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1997/session26/4
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Accounting for Selective Grazing in the Stocking Rate Decision
We describe the development and use of a simple, generic method for predicting botanical composition of herbivore diets, thereby allowing resource managers to consider selective foraging when setting stocking rates. For a particular season and herbivore, we found that forage species fall into one of 3 selection categories: preferred (consistently selected for), undesirable (consistently selected against), and variable (inconsistent selection pattern). Our studies showed that, for most situations, dietary composition is adequately predicted from regression relationships with the field proportions of preferred and undesirable species. We demonstrate how this method can help address issues such as the conservation of preferred forage species and the effect of multispecies grazing on carrying capacity.
