Rumen fermentation and food selection in East African Zebu cattle, wildebeest, Coke's hartebeest and topi

Höppe, P.; Qvortrup, S. A.; Woodford, M. H.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1977.tb04566.x

Cited by 33 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…), and Africa (Hoppe et al. , Voeten and Prins ), suggesting some degree of functional redundancy. For example, cattle may partially functionally replace other herbivores both directly, via consumption of excess forage (Young et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are cattle surrogate wildlife? Savanna plant community composition explained by total herbivory more than herbivore type

Veblen

Porensky

Riginos

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

130

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The widespread replacement of wild ungulate herbivores by domestic livestock in African savannas is composed of two interrelated phenomena: (1) loss or reduction in numbers of individual wildlife species or guilds and (2) addition of livestock to the system. Each can have important implications for plant community dynamics. Yet very few studies have experimentally addressed the individual, combined, and potentially interactive effects of wild vs. domestic herbivore species on herbaceous plant communities within a single system. Additionally, there is little information about whether, and in which contexts, livestock might functionally replace native herbivore wildlife or, alternatively, have fundamentally different effects on plant species composition. The Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment, which has been running since 1995, is composed of six treatment combinations of mega-herbivores, meso-herbivore ungulate wildlife, and cattle. We sampled herbaceous vegetation 25 times between 1999 and 2013. We used partial redundancy analysis and linear mixed models to assess effects of herbivore treatments on overall plant community composition and key plant species. Plant communities in the six different herbivore treatments shifted directionally over time and diverged from each other substantially by 2013. Plant community composition was strongly related (R = 0.92) to residual plant biomass, a measure of herbivore utilization. Addition of any single herbivore type (cattle, wildlife, or mega-herbivores) caused a shift in plant community composition that was proportional to its removal of plant biomass. These results suggest that overall herbivory pressure, rather than herbivore type or complex interactions among different herbivore types, was the main driver of changes in plant community composition. Individual plant species, however, did respond most strongly to either wild ungulates or cattle. Although these results suggest considerable functional similarity between a suite of native wild herbivores (which included grazers, browsers, and mixed feeders) and cattle (mostly grazers) with respect to understory plant community composition, responses of individual plant species demonstrate that at the plant-population-level impacts of a single livestock species are not functionally identical to those of a diverse group of native herbivores.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are cattle surrogate wildlife? Savanna plant community composition explained by total herbivory more than herbivore type

Veblen

Porensky

Riginos

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

130

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show abstract

“…4 The correlation of body weight and relative weight of the reticulo-rumen contents (wet weight as % of body weight) for freeranging ruminant species of different feeding types. Data from Giesecke and Van Gylswyk (1975), Hoppe (1977) and Maloiy and Clemens (1982)…”

Section: Ruminant Forestomach Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are elephants so small?

Taylor

2022

Preprint

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I have long intended to write a paper entitled Why Elephants Are So Small, as a companion piece to Why Giraffes Have Short Necks (Taylor and Wedel 2013). I’ve often discussed this project with Matt, usually under the acronym WEASS, and its substance has come up in the previous post, and especially Mickey Mortimer’s comment: I think it would be interesting to read a study on that — the order in which various factors restrict body size without tr

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“…Reduction in palatable perennial grasses (Noy-Meir et al, 1989;Sarmento, 1992;Vetter et al, 2006) and an increase of unpalatable herbaceous plants due to rangeland degradation (Snyman, 2005) also play major roles in influencing foraging behavior of herbivores ('t Mannetjeet al, 1976;Hoppe, 1977;Jahnke, 1982;Snyman, 1998;'tMannetje and Jones, 2000). Unfortunately, palatability and acceptability of fodder plants in these arid and semi-arid rangelands are poorly understood (Meissner et al, 1999;Own-Smith, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rangeland Degradation and Rehabilitation Efforts in the Somali National Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia: A Review

Zerga¹,

Workineh²,

Teketay³

et al. 2018

ijird

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The arid and semi-arid agro-ecological area of Ethiopia cover more than 62% of the total land area. The Somali National Regional State (SNRS) occupies a large geographical area in the eastern and southeastern part of Ethiopia. The area of SNRS is estimated at 340,000 km2. This makes rangeland utilization by livestock, the largest land-use system in the country. The rangelands in the south of the SNRS are occupied mainly by Somali pastoralists who rear mixed herds of camels, sheep, goats and a few cattle. Rangeland degradation is the most serious challenge for pastoral livelihood in Somali Region. Major reduction in the quantity and nutritional quality of the vegetation available for grazing in the rangelands as well as expansion of localized deserts and barren areas are indicated. Major causes of degradation include climatic conditions, causing drought and arid conditions, and human factors, leading to the overuse of natural resources. Livestock density and grazing patterns lead to overgrazing, which is one of the major causes of land degradation. Overgrazing results when livestock density becomes excessive and too many animals are grazed at the same area of rangeland, leading to degradation of vegetation and the compaction and erosion of the soil. The uncontrolled browsing of trees and shrubs is another aspect of overgrazing and a patent cause of deforestation, leading to flooding and siltation in adjacent areas because rains are no longer held back by the sponge effect of the trees and carry with them large loads of eroded soil. Out of the exotic tree species Prosopis juliflora is currently spreading and encroaching the grazing lands of SNRS and is causing severe negative impacts on the production and productivity of rangelands. This species is spreading at an alarming rate into best grazing areas. Other species, such as Acacia drepanolobium, A.seyal, Lantana camara, Partheniumhysterophorus, and species of Commiphora and Opuntia are also causing serious problems by encroaching in dry and wet season grazing areas. Low and erratic rainfall is characteristic of the rangelands, and pastoral production systems have always relied upon surface and ground water sources. Strategic water development interventions have significant impact in contributing to improving range utilization. In the SNRS Birca (Cistern) and Ella (hand dug wells) are normally owned and managed by individuals. The distribution and type of water points and watering schedules are major determinants of range use. Pastoralists in SNRS have various traditional natural resource management strategies, such as mobility and utilization, herd diversity, ecosystem knowledge, local institution, fodder assessment and defined grazing, indigenous knowledge on species and their utilization. These indigenous knowledges should be kept and integrated with modern rangeland management and rehabilitation coping strategies to sustain the range ecology and the livelihood of the pastoralists.

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Rumen fermentation and food selection in East African Zebu cattle, wildebeest, Coke's hartebeest and topi

Cited by 33 publications

References 15 publications

Are cattle surrogate wildlife? Savanna plant community composition explained by total herbivory more than herbivore type

Are cattle surrogate wildlife? Savanna plant community composition explained by total herbivory more than herbivore type

Why are elephants so small?

Rangeland Degradation and Rehabilitation Efforts in the Somali National Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia: A Review

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