Forage is included in beef cattle growing or finishing diets for several reasons. Nutritionally, forage provides protein, vitamins and minerals. When included as a minor component of high grain finishing diets, forage may increase feed intake and reduce nutritional disorders due to increased salivation, rumination and passage rate. Manipulating dietary moisture content through inclusion of dry ...

Loss of biodiversity caused by impact of elephants (Loxodonta africana) on African woodlands may require a management response, but any action should be based on an understanding of why elephants choose to utilise trees destructively. Comprehension of elephant feeding behaviour requires consideration of the relative value of the plant groups they may potentially consume. Profitability of availa...

Goats (Capra hircus hircus) offer an opportunity to more effectively convert pasture nutrients to animal products as milk, meat and fiber which are currently marketable and in demand by a growing segment of the US population. With the introduction of the Boer breed and the upgrading of meat-type goats with Boer genetics, research focusing on forage evaluation, feeding strategies and the develop...

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of different forage and supplement combinations on forage and supplement intake and ruminal parameters in steers. Six ruminally fistulated steers were assigned to 1 of 4 treatments during 4 different data collection periods. Treatments were 1) Hay +wet brewers grains (WBG); 2) Hay +dried distillers grains (DDG); 3) round bale silage (RBS) + ...

Herbivores generally have strong structural and compositional effects on vegetation, which in turn determines the plant forage species available. We investigated how selected large mammalian herbivore assemblages use and alter herbaceous vegetation structure and composition in a southern African savanna in and adjacent to the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We compared mixed and mono-specif...

In Norway, young pine trees serve as important winter browse for moose. In a model that simultaneously optimizes rotation length and moose management, moose density and harvest are set to trade off hunting values and timber damage, and adjust to changes in forage availability as the forest is logged. Simultaneously, logging times are chosen to maximize both timber and hunting values. Two possib...

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) have been widely distributed by humans and significant populations now occur in oak-dominated ecosystems in California. Because they are omnivorous and forage by rooting, wild pigs have the potential to impact a wide variety of plants and animals directly by consumption and indirectly through disturbance. In 1998, we initiated a long-term study of the ecological effects o...

Voles (Microtus spp.) are ubiquitous to the northern hemisphere. Numerous species occur in North America and several species cause significant damage of various types: food crops, livestock forage production (e.g., alfalfa), nursery trees, reforestation, orchards, rangeland forage, and damage to lawns, golf courses and ground cover. Much research has been conducted with voles and a number of ma...

Predators affect plant fitness when they forage on them and reduce the action of herbivores. Our study evaluates the complementary effects of spiders and ants that visit the extrafloral nectaries of Eriotheca gracilipes (Malvaceae) on the production of fruits and viable seeds of these savanna trees. Four experimental groups were established: control group - with free access of spiders and ants;...

This study was carried out to compare agro-morphological traits and nutritive value of 25 tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) ecotypes grown in Tehran, Iran. The experiments were carried out in a split plot design during 2016-2018 growing seasons. The results showed that there was a significant genetic variation in existing germplasm. The highest heritability was related to dry forage yi...