The Effects of Associated Pod Quality on Seed Recovery and Germination of Dichrostachys cinerea and Acacia tortilis Fed Ruminants

Presenter Information

Piet Monegi, Agricultural Research Council, South Africa
Julius Ttjelele, Agricultural Research Council, South AfricaFollow
Khanyisile Mbatha, University of South Africa, South Africa

Description

Pods of different plant species form an important part of the diet of livestock during the dry season due to their high nutritional value compared to grasses. Therefore, herbivores browsing pods of certain woody plants may disperse intact seeds that can potentially germinate. The quality of associated diet such as pod chemistry (i.e. protein and tannin concentration) is one of the most important determinants of success of livestock faecal seed dispersal (Tjelele et al., 2012: Tjelele et al., 2014). The objective of this study was to determine the effects of associated pods quality (i.e. nutrients and tannins composition of Dichrostachys cinerea and Acacia tortilis pods) on seed recovery and germination of Dichrostachys cinerea and Acacia tortilis fed to goats and sheep.

Citation

Monegi, Piet; Ttjelele, Julius; and Mbatha, Khanyisile, "The Effects of Associated Pod Quality on Seed Recovery and Germination of Dichrostachys cinerea and Acacia tortilis Fed Ruminants" (2020). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 18.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/23/2-7-1/18