Abstract

To maintain biodiversity in semi-natural grasslands, the choice of breed of livestock and season of grazing can be important. The objective was to determine the effects of breed and season on the composition of plant fragments in the faeces of cattle grazing a heterogeneous semi-natural grassland. Twelve heifers of the traditional Swedish Vaneko breed (live weight 309 kg) and twelve heifers of the Charolais breed (live weight 431 kg) were allocated to three pastures per breed. Faeces samples were collected in spring, summer and autumn for micro-histological examination of plant fragments. On the same occasion, defoliation of four competitive plant species was recorded. Faecal plant fragments mainly consisted of grasses but also herbs, whereas Cyperaceae, despite their abundance on the pastures, only composed a small proportion of fragments. Season affected the composition of plant fragments in the faeces, with a higher proportion of Cyperaceae and herbs in spring than later in the grazing period (P < 0.001), and the heifers ingesting more grasses and woody plants in autumn. In spite of a clear difference in live weight between the two breeds, no effects of breed on the composition of plant fragments in faeces were observed, although Vaneko heifers defoliated more Filipendula ulmaria in spring than the Charolais heifers (P < 0.01). In addition, defoliation of Alnus glutinosa increased later in the grazing period (P < 0.05), especially for the Vaneko heifers, indicating control of pernicious brushwood by grazing may be more effective in autumn.

Keywords

biodiversity; cattle; diet composition; defoliation; grazing management; semi-natural grasslands

Published in

Grass and Forage Science
2008, Volume: 63, number: 1, pages: 86-93
Publisher: BLACKWELL PUBLISHING

SLU Authors

• Hessle, Anna

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Burstedt, Erling

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Wissman, Jörgen

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Swedish Biodiversity Centre


UKÄ Subject classification

Veterinary Science
Animal and Dairy Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2494.2007.00616.x

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/17565