Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Seasonal diets of sheep in the steppe region of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Author
Posse, Gabriela
Anchorena, Juan
Collantes, Marta B.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
1996
Body

Sheep diets were determined seasonally for large flocks grazing year-round in 2 landscape types of the Magellanic steppe of Argentina. A tussock-grass steppe of Festuca gracillima Hooker f. dominates the uplands of the whole area. On acid soils (Quaternary landscape), woody variants of the steppe prevail; on neutral soils (Tertiary landscape), woody plants are almost absent and short grasses and fortes are abundant. Principal taxa consumed throughout the year were: Poa L., Deschampsia P.Beauv., and \sedges & rushes\". Consumption of woody species and of the dominant tussock-grass Festuca gracillima increased notably in winter. Despite the large proportion of species in common, diets differed significantly between landscapes. In the Quaternary landscape, which has a higher botanical diversity, diets were more dissimilar among seasons and had a higher annual diversity index. Because of their different composition of forage types the 2 landscapes differed in their overall grazing value. The Tertiary landscape, with a low floristic diversity but richer in highly preferred species as Poa spp. would be a more risky grazing area in winter, when an ice sheet or a snow cover limits harvesting of the lower layer of short grasses and forbs."

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Journal Volume
49
Journal Number
1
Journal Pages
p. 24-30.
Collection
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
Festuca
steppes
species diversity
diet
woody plants
sheep
seasonal variation
Argentina
canopy
forage
Festuca gracillima
steppe soils
tertiary sediments
tussock grasslands
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