Botanical composition of llamas and sheep diets were quantified monthly during 1 year in the arid highlands of Bolivia to identify competition between these species for forage resources. Results indicated higher proportions of coarse bunchgrasses in llamas diets (48 to 75%) than in sheep (37 to 68%), while sheep consumed more soft herbs and grasses than llamas (25 to 45%, and 8 to 25%, respectively). Llamas had higher (P < 0.05) digestion coefficients than sheep for organic matter, dry matter, crude protein, and fiber fractions of the principle bunchgrass paja brava (Festuca orthophylla) during the vegetative phenological stage. Shrubs represented less than 20% of the diet components in both llamas and sheep. A canonical discriminant analysis showed that there was not a strong dietary overlap between these species, and suggested that mixed herds could allow a better utilization of the overall available forage. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.