Training Needs for Quantifying Simulated Diets from Fragmented Range Plants

Abstract

A procedure is described that results in rapid training of observers for microhistological analysis. Observers trained using this procedure were able to evaluate accurately 6 hand-compounded diets comprised of semidesert plant species. The accuracy of microhistological analysis was examined by using the 4 trained observers to evaluate 26 additional hand-compounded diets containing various combinations of 30 different grasses, forbs, and shrubs from semidesert range. The relationship between relative density (estimated percent by weight composition) and actual percent by weight composition was close to unity for species in each forage class individually or in combination. However this relationship would probably have been different if the observers had not used known diets to evaluate their accuracy and make corrections. It is recommended that all technicians using microhistological analysis regularly check their accuracy with hand-compounded diets.