Sward structure and foraging behaviour of cattle grazing reproductive tropical pastures

摘要：

The rate of nutrient intake ( RNI) is an important determinant of animal performance for grazing animals that depends on diet quality and instantaneous intake rate ( IIR).In turn, diet quality and IIR are the outcome of the interaction between animal size and structure of the sward.Stems can be a dominant component of reproductive tropical pastures.The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that foraging behaviour of younger/smaller steers would be less affected by the increase in the physical strength and density of stems compared to older/larger cattle, which are less able to be selective while foraging.

关键词： sward structure foraging behaviour cattle tropical pastures

作者: M.A Benvenutti I.J.Gordon D.P Poppi

作者单位: Sustainable Ecosystems,CSIRO-Dav ies Laboratory,Queensland,Australia;Schools of Animal Studies and V Sustainable Ecosystems,CSIRO-Davies Laboratory,Queensland,Australia Schools of Animal Studies and Veterinary Science,University of Queensland,St Lucia,Queensland,Austra

会议类型: 国际会议

会议名称: 2008世界草地与草原大会

会议地点: 呼和浩特

会议语种:英文

在线出版日期: 2008-06-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）