Relationships between botanical composition, yield and forage quality of permanent grasslands over the first growth cycle

Abstract

This study examined the relationships between botanical composition and forage parameters (yield and forage quality variables) in 153 permanent grasslands located in the Massif Central of France. Grasslands were sampled at two vegetation stages in the first growth cycle. Botanical composition, yield, ash, crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, organic matter digestibility (OMD) and voluntary intake (VI) were estimated for each sample. Temporal variability in species–forage parameter relationships were accounted for using innovative multivariate analyses applied mainly in ecological science. Crude protein and OMD were weakly correlated when each harvest time was analysed separately. Species–forage parameter relationships remained stable during the first growth cycle. The stability of these relationships indicates that permanent grasslands dominated by competitive species were associated with high yield and forage quality values whereas permanent grasslands composed of conservative species and/or high proportions of senescent material were associated with high structural carbohydrate values and low yield, OMD and VI values. Based on these relationships, we propose a typology of permanent grasslands along with a set of indicator species enabling non‐specialist botanists to easily classify grasslands for grassland management purposes.

Long‐term evolution and prediction of feed value for permanent mountain grassland hay: Analysis of a 32‐year data set in relation to climate change

“…From 1979 to 2010, it was found that CP decreased, and CF increased, consistent with the decrease in OMd (Andueza et al, 2016;Riaz, Südekum, Clauss, & Jayanegara, 2014). This should have resulted in a decrease in the VDMI, but we observed an unexpected increase.…”

“…Crude fibre was the criterion that explained most of the variability (33%) in OMd. The negative relationship between OMd and cell wall content is well-established (Beecher et al, 2018;Elgersma & Søegaard, 2018;Hacker & Minson, 1981), although not always significant (Andueza et al, 2016 The ST, alone or associated with agro-climatic and non-chemical criteria, was already shown to be an interesting criterion to predict forage feed value (Groot et al, 2003;Michaud et al, 2012Michaud et al, , 2015Thorvaldsson, 1987 The unexpected increase in VDMI over time led to VDMI prediction equations with low r 2 using this data set. The cell wall content (as CF) is often used to predict VDMI (Freer & Jones, 1984;Riaz et al, 2014).…”

The Diversity and Productivity of Indigenous Forage in Former Limestone Mining Quarry in Karst Mountain of Southern Gombong, Central Java Indonesia

“…Open land of former limestone mining in limestone mountains of southern Gombong has no shade trees therefore shade level is very low and sun intensity is very high that will ultimately affect the diversity and productivity of indigenous forage. Andueza et al (2016) stated that the diversity of botanical composition and quality of forage in the early growth is relatively stable, but on further developments it will undergo quite large change in the botanical composition and it will only be overgrown by competitive forage with high productivity and quality.…”

Nutritional Quality of Plant Species in Pyrenean Hay Meadows of High Diversity

“…The feeding value of the forage species of a meadow depends on the floristic composition and their growth stage, which are influenced by environmental, topographical, and geographical features (e.g., climate, soil, moisture, elevation, slope, and distance to the main farm building), as well as the spatio-temporal aspects of the management (e.g., mowing, grazing, fertilization, and time of year) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”