Clearcutting Brazilian Semiarid Tropics: Observations on Its Effects on Small Ruminant Nutrition during the Dry Season
Issue Date
1987-09-01Keywords
forest littertropics
north east brazil
clearcutting
forests
dry seasons
animal nutrition
semiarid zones
sheep
goats
grazing
forage
feed intake
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Kirmse, R. D., Provenza, F. D., & Malechek, J. C. (1987). Clearcutting Brazilian semiarid tropics: observations on its effects on small ruminant nutrition during the dry season. Journal of Range Management, 40(5), 428-432.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementDOI
10.2307/3899604Additional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
Small ruminant production in northeast Brazil is limited by prolonged nutritional stress during the dry season. Our study assessed the effects of clearcutting woody vegetation on the nutrition of goats and sheep during the initial dry season following clearing. Dry matter intake g day-1 was higher for animals on cleared than on uncleared areas (818 vs. 627; P<0.05). Extrusa from esophageally fistulated animals grazing cleared, as opposed to uncleared, areas was more digestible (52 vs. 47%; P<0.05), was similar in crude protein (7.1 vs. 7.1%; P<0.05), and was lower in neutral detergent fiber (49 vs. 51%; P<0.05) and lignin (14 vs. 16%; P<0.05). Intake and diet quality declined on both cleared and uncleared areas as forage availability declined. Animals on cleared areas benefitted from increased availability of herbs and of biomass from palatable trees that coppiced and retained green leaves throughout much of the dry season. Animals on uncleared areas relied heavily on leaf litter from trees, which provided a poorer quality, but persistent, source of forage throughout the dry season.Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/3899604