The Botanical Composition of the Diet of Free-Ranging Cattle on an Alpine Range in Australia
Issue Date
1986-09-01Keywords
quantitative analysisVictoria (Australia)
alpine grasslands
grazing experiments
plant communities
diet studies
cattle
range management
botanical composition
grazing
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Van Rees, H., & Holmes, J. H. G. (1986). The botanical composition of the diet of free-ranging cattle on an alpine range in Australia. Journal of Range Management, 39(6), 392-395.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementDOI
10.2307/3899435Additional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
Five oesophageal-fistulated steers were used to determine the botanical composition, on a quantitative basis, of the diet of freeranging cattle on an alpine range in Victoria, Australia. The steers primarily selected 4 grass species, 3 sedges and 1 rush, 6 forbs and 3 shrub species. Species selection changed significantly with seasonal advance. Generally grass species were preferred early in the grazing season, shrubs in the middle of the season and forbs towards the end of the season. The main species identified in the diet which should be used as indicator species of range condition are: alpine star-bush (Asterolasia trymalioides F. Muell.), snow daisy (Celmisia asteliifolia J.D. Hook), alpine grevillea (Grevillea australis R. Br.), scaly buttons (Leptorhynchos squamatus (Labill.) Less.) and soft snow grass (Poa hiemata Vick.).Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/3899435