Article (Scientific journals)
Behaviour and browse species selectivity of heifers grazing in a temperate silvopastoral system
Vandermeulen, Sophie; Ramírez-Restrepo, Carlos Alberto; Marche, Christian et al.
2018In Agroforestry Systems, 92, p. 705-716
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Keywords :
Agroforestry; Ruminant; Woody fodder; Dietary preference; Feeding value; NIRS
Abstract :
[en] In Belgium silvopastoral grazing systems associating trees and pasture are instrumental in enhancing dynamic trade-offs between ruminant farming and habitat improvement. A 130-day study was conducted in Belgium from April to September 2013 to evaluate the effects of browsing a combination of shrubs and trees (i.e. hedge) on the selective behaviour of cattle and to relate these observations to changes in forage nutritive value. Twelve Holstein dairy heifers (Bos taurus; 487 kg) were allocated to either a control ryegrass pasture (i.e. control pasture group; CPG) or a pasture plus unrestricted browsing (i.e. browsing group; BG) of a hedge composed of shrubs and trees. Behaviour and selectivity towards the woody species were recorded for 14h on a daily basis during 3 consecutive days over spring, early summer and late summer. Leaves and stems of woody species and faecal samples were collected during each season to analyse their nutritive value and predict the dry matter intake by means of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. Integrating shrubs and trees along a pasture influenced the heifers’ behaviour and BG heifers spent 19.3, 5.9 and 5.4% of their time browsing during spring, and early and late summer, respectively (P < 0.001). This behaviour was correlated to the pre-grazing pasture biomass (r=0.50; P < 0.001). Compared with the summer seasons, the greater browsing activity in spring was associated with higher plant feeding value. Overall, the most ingested species were Carpinus betulus, Cornus sanguinea, Corylus avellana and Crataegus monogyna. It was concluded that cattle use a significant time budget for browsing on temperate ryegrass pasture but further research is required to investigate potential benefits of silvopastoral systems in Belgium.
Research center :
TERRA Teaching and Research Centre - TERRA
Disciplines :
Phytobiology (plant sciences, forestry, mycology...)
Animal production & animal husbandry
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Vandermeulen, Sophie ;  Université de Liège > Agronomie, Bio-ingénierie et Chimie (AgroBioChem) > Zootechnie
Ramírez-Restrepo, Carlos Alberto;  The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO, Australia) > Agriculture
Marche, Christian;  Centre des Technologies Agronomiques (Strée, Belgium)
Decruyenaere, Virginie;  Walloon Agricultural Research Centre > Production and Sectors Department (Gembloux, Belgium)
Beckers, Yves  ;  Université de Liège > Agronomie, Bio-ingénierie et Chimie (AgroBioChem) > Zootechnie
Bindelle, Jérôme  ;  Université de Liège > Agronomie, Bio-ingénierie et Chimie (AgroBioChem) > Zootechnie
Language :
English
Title :
Behaviour and browse species selectivity of heifers grazing in a temperate silvopastoral system
Publication date :
2018
Journal title :
Agroforestry Systems
ISSN :
0167-4366
eISSN :
1572-9680
Publisher :
Springer Science & Business Media B.V.
Volume :
92
Pages :
705-716
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Name of the research project :
AgricultureIsLife
Funders :
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE]
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