Estimation of Nutritive Values of Some Range Species as Indicators for Rangelands Management

Information on different rangeland plants’ nutritive values during variousphonological stages is of importance for the rangelands management. This information helpsrangeland managers to choose proper grazing times to achieve higher animal performancewith no detrimental effects on the rangeland vegetations. Effects of various plant parts’phenological stages and vegetation types on reserve carbohydrates and forage qualityindicators were investigated during 2009 and 2010 in Sabzkooh rangelands at Charmahalprovince, Iran. Plant samples were collected based on a Completely Randomized Design(CRD) at 3 phonological stages (seedling, vegetative and flowering) with 5 replications. Thespecies included grasses (Secale montanum and Festuca ovina), forbs (Lotus corniculatus andSanguisorba minor) and shrubs (Kochia prosterata and Salsola rigida). Aerial plant parts’samples were harvested and oven-dried at 80oC for 24 hours; then, they were analyzed fordetermining the amounts of Water Soluble Carbohydrates (WSC), Crude Protein (CP), AcidDetergent Fiber (ADF), Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD) and Metabolic Energy (ME). Resultsshowed that forbs contained more WSC as compared to the other two vegetation types(grasses and shrubs). For other forage quality traits (CP, DMD, and ME), there weresignificant differences between species over two years and higher and lower forage qualitieswere obtained for forbs and shrub, respectively. For WSC, Sanguisorba minor and Lotuscorniculatus had the highest values while Secale montanum and Salsola rigida had the lowestWSC content.