A global comparison of the nutritive values of forage plants grown in contrasting environments

Abstract

Forage plants are valuable because they maintain wild and domesticated herbivores, and sustain the delivery of meat, milk and other commodities. Forage plants contain different quantities of fibre, lignin, minerals and protein, and vary in the proportion of their tissue that can be digested by herbivores. These nutritive components are important determinants of consumer growth rates, reproductive success and behaviour. A dataset was compiled to quantify variation in forage plant nutritive values within- and between-plant species, and to assess variation between plant functional groups and bioclimatic zones. 1255 geo-located records containing 3774 measurements of nutritive values for 136 forage plant species grown in 30 countries were obtained from published articles. Spatial variability in forage nutritive values indicated that climate modified plant nutritive values. Forage plants grown in arid and equatorial regions generally contained less digestible material than those grown in temperate and tundra regions; containing more fibre and lignin, and less protein. These patterns may reveal why herbivore body sizes, digestion and migration strategies are different in warmer and drier regions. This dataset also revealed the capacity for variation in the nutrition provided by forage plants, which may drive consumer species coexistence. The proportion of the plant tissue that was digestible ranged between species from 2 to 91%. The amount of fibre contained within plant material ranged by 23–90%, protein by 2–36%, lignin by 1–21% and minerals by 2–22%. On average, grasses and tree foliage contained the most fibre, whilst herbaceous legumes contained the most protein and tree foliage contained the most lignin. However, there were individual species within each functional group that were highly nutritious. This dataset may be used to identify forage plant species or mixtures of species from different functional groups with useful nutritional traits which can be cultivated to enhance livestock productivity and inform wild herbivore conservation strategies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10265-018-1024-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Effect of Drying Methods on Water-Soluble Carbohydrates and Crude Protein Concentrations and Their Ratio in Two Perennial Ryegrass Cultivars

“…Crude protein concentration followed the seasonal pattern of greater CP concentration in the winter and lower in the spring [45,46]. Previous studies comparing perennial ryegrass found CP concentrations of between 60-61 and 340-353 g kg −1 DM, with a mean of 180-229 g kg −1 DM [47,48].…”

Warming and water deficit impact leaf photosynthesis and decrease forage quality and digestibility of a C4 tropical grass

“…Secondly, NDF, ADF and lignin are less edible fiber components than the non-fibrous constituent as crude protein. In forage, there are inverse relationships between digestibility with fiber and crude protein; as the fiber content of forage increases, its digestibility decreases, but as the crude protein increases, the forage digestibility increases (Lee 2018).…”

“…Besides water availability, the temperature is an essential factor that influences the nutritive value of forages (Buxton and Fales 1994). Commonly, tropical grasses from warmed environments have a lower digestibility associated with higher fiber and lower protein contents compared to temperate grasses from cooler and wetter regions (Lee 2018). Overall, an increase in temperature stimulates plant growth but decreases leaf:stem ratios and increases NDF, ADF and lignin contents (Lee et al 2017).…”

Lamb Fattening Under Intensive Pasture-Based Systems: A Review

“…They extend across tropical and temperate regions, but the quality of the forage differs between them. Temperate pastures are, in general, considered to be of high quality, due to the higher digestibility and lower fiber content of temperate compared with tropical species [8]. The most commonly-cultivated pastures include grasses (e.g., Agrostis spp., Festuca spp., Lolium spp., and Dactylis spp.)…”