Rangeland Ecology & Management

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CATTLE GRAZING ON FALLOWS FROM THE ANDEAN AREA SOUTH OF COLUMBIA
Author
Alvear, Carlos
Mora-Delgado, Jairo R.
Diaz, Gisou
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2015
Body

Traditional livestock production in Colombia has been developed on rangelands in flat and slope landscapes in the Andean area, which in the past were tropical forest. Tropical rangelands for cattle-rearing typically contain a wide variety of forbs, shrubs and grasses, which have important forage potential. Unfortunately, many of these plants, which have high nutritional value, have not yet been studied despite evidence of high consumption by livestock. This study aimed at making an inventory of the floristic diversity of fallows grazed by cattle and evaluating the consumption of species under different scenarios, according to the topography of the land and season of year. In a preliminary inventory, around 108 species were identified, of which 36 were highly consumed by cattle (10 grasses; 26 forbs and shrubs). A completely randomized 2x2 factorial design was used, where the factors were season (dry and wet) and topography (slope and flat). The data were analyzed under a general linear mixed model, in which the farms, and within transects, was considered as a random effect. It was found that the factors (season and topography) have significant effects, and independently, the number of bites, while no significant interactions were found. In the rainy season, bite numbers are higher (288±17) than in the dry season (263±17). Furthermore, in the flat land there were more bites of grasses (327±17) with respect to slopes (223±17 bites). From this perspective, it is considered very important to redesign cattle grazing systems, using grazing distribution practices in fallows. In addition, cattle growers could establish a balance between conservation and grazing management, in order to find a dynamic balance in the system, by enrichment of herbaceous and shrub species and managing the selectivity of ruminants grazing on fallows.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Sacramento, CA