Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Dietary Overlap between Sheep, Cattle, and Goats When Grazing in Common
Author
Squires, V. R.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
1982-01-01
Body

The chemical and botanical composition of the diets of esophageally fistulated sheep, cattle, and goats was monitored over a period of 1 year at intervals of approximately 2 months. The animals were grazing together in a poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) woodland community with an understory of shrubs, chiefly Cassia and Eremophila spp., and an herbaceous field layer of grasses and forbs. Diet quality, as assessed by in vitro digestibility, was highest for sheep in all seasons. The degree of dietary overlap, and hence potential competition, was greatest between goats and cattle. Both goats and cattle had a high proportion of browse plants in their diets. Discussion centres on the degree of overlap in the diets and the complementarity of grazing under common-use. 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

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2307/3898536
Additional Information
Squires, V. R. (1982). Dietary overlap between sheep, cattle, and goats when grazing in common. Journal of Range Management, 35(1), 116-119.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/646164
Journal Volume
35
Journal Number
1
Journal Pages
116-119
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
Australia
semi-arid zone