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Effects of the vertical and horizontal availability of food resources: the diet selection of sheep grazing on natural grassland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2014

W. Q. CHEN ,
X. Y. WANG ,
Y. J. ZHANG  and
D. HUANG
W. Q. CHEN
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
X. Y. WANG
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
Y. J. ZHANG*
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
D. HUANG
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]
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Summary

The relationship between sheep diet selection and the vertical/horizontal availability of plant species on complex natural Leymus chinensis grassland was investigated. Two plots (low and high stocking rate plots) with different vegetation availabilities, created by adjusting sheep numbers, were studied for 3 months (June, July and August). In each month, the sheep's diet composition was estimated using n-alkanes in combination with long-chain alcohols and/or fatty acid markers. Vertical (sward surface height) and horizontal food availability (proportion cover of individual plant species) were determined simultaneously. The results revealed that sheep diet composition varied greatly according to seasonal variations in vegetation availability, and that sheep diet selection was related to the vertical and horizontal availability of plant species on both plots. Horizontal availability, which turned out to be the main influencing factor, was strongly and positively correlated with sheep diet composition in each month on both plots. On the low stocking rate plot, vertical availability affected sheep consumption in June, July and August. In contrast, a significant correlation between diet composition and vertical availability was only observed in July on the high stocking rate plot. These results suggest that the relative importance of vertical and horizontal availability differed between plots depending on vegetation availability. Horizontal availability played a more important role than vertical availability when sheep grazed freely on natural L. chinensis grassland. Finally, the changing selectivity index for each plant species in each grazing period on both plots indicated different grazing impacts on vegetation communities when vegetation availability differed.

Type
Animal Research Papers
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 153 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 322 - 334
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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