Altitudinal and seasonal variation in herbage composition and energy and protein content of grasslands on Mt Varnoudas, NW Greece

This study was conducted to determine the flora of Mount Varnoudas pastures in NW Greece and to evaluate the seasonal and altitudinal variations in the chemical composition and energy content of herbage, during the years 2004 and 2005. Mt Varnoudas was divided into three altitudinal zones (lower zon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animal feed science and technology 2011, Vol.164 (3-4), p.174-183
Main Authors: Mountousis, I, Dotas, V, Stanogias, G, Papanikolaou, K, Roukos, Ch, Liamadis, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acid detergent fiber
Animal productions
autumn
Beef cattle
Biological and medical sciences
Botanical composition
cages
crude protein
Energy
energy content
Feed and pet food industries
flora
Food industries
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
grasslands
growing season
heat stability
Herbage quality
lowlands
metabolizable energy
Mt Varnoudas
neutral detergent fiber
seasonal variation
Sheep
spring
summer
Terrestrial animal productions
Vertebrates
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Summary:This study was conducted to determine the flora of Mount Varnoudas pastures in NW Greece and to evaluate the seasonal and altitudinal variations in the chemical composition and energy content of herbage, during the years 2004 and 2005. Mt Varnoudas was divided into three altitudinal zones (lower zone: 900-1300m, middle zone: 1301-1700m, upper zone: 1701-2334m) depending on the type of the dominant vegetation and floristic characteristics. 758 different taxa belonging to 84 families and 341 different genera were collected. In order to study the effect of the season and the altitudinal zone on the nutritive components of herbage, 24 experimental cages sized 4m×5m in the three altitudinal zones (8 cages per zone) were placed. Crude protein (CP) decreased from 106.65 to 72.03g/kg dry matter (DM) in the lowlands, from 133.95 to 80.38g/kg DM in the middle zone and from 127.13 to 74.47g/kg DM in sub-alpine grasslands. Metabolizable energy (ME) content of the herbage decreased as the growing season progressed about 19%, 32% and 23% in the lower, middle and upper altitudinal zone, respectively. Herbage quality was sufficient to meet maintenance CP and ME requirements of both, beef cattle and sheep, only during spring, while only in summer for beef cattle. CP and ME contents were affected (P
ISSN:0377-8401
1873-2216
DOI:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2011.01.007