The browsing preference and feed intake of Spanish goats was studied on a 0.2-ha chaparral field in which a wild fire had occurred 5 years earlier. The dominant shrub species were chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), scrub oak (Quercus dumosa), eastwood manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa), and ceanothus (Ceanothus greggii). Four goats with esophageal fistulae were used to sample the forage. The browsing preference of Spanish goats was highly directed (about 80%) towards scrub oak and chamise. The remainder of the diet was mostly grasses and forbs, while eastwood manzanita and cupleaf ceanothus made a negligible contribution. Shrub preference was not related to availability as manzanita and ceanothus had the highest volume and were the most abundant species. Regression models to estimate IVDMD from the diet's chemical and botanical contents were derived. IVDMD of esophageal samples was positively correlated with the content of grass and forbs and negatively correlated with the sum of the percentages of scrub oak and chamise. 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.