Publication Date
1997
Description
It has been hypothesized that patch and community selection are driven by forage quality and/or quantity. We assess the relationship between vegetation characteristics and community and patch selection by sheep under continuous grazing at different stocking rates in an heterogeneous pasture. Our results suggest that when communities strongly differed in nutritive value sheep recurrently select the higher quality community in spite of its low biomass. However, sheep do not completely exclude the poorer quality community, generating a patchy vegetation pattern.
Citation
Siffredi, G L.; Brizuela, M A.; Cid, M S.; and Cangiano, C, "Selective Sheep Grazing in an Heterogeneous Wheatgrass Dominated Pasture Related to Stocking Rate" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 73.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1997/session29/73
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Selective Sheep Grazing in an Heterogeneous Wheatgrass Dominated Pasture Related to Stocking Rate
It has been hypothesized that patch and community selection are driven by forage quality and/or quantity. We assess the relationship between vegetation characteristics and community and patch selection by sheep under continuous grazing at different stocking rates in an heterogeneous pasture. Our results suggest that when communities strongly differed in nutritive value sheep recurrently select the higher quality community in spite of its low biomass. However, sheep do not completely exclude the poorer quality community, generating a patchy vegetation pattern.
