The interaction of genes and environment on percent of juniper in the diet of goats divergently selected for high or low juniper consumption

• Published in: Animal (Cambridge, England) England), 2024-06, Vol.18 (6), p.101198, Article 101198
• Main Authors: Walker, J.W., Quadros, D.G., Rector, M.F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Husbandry - methods; Animals; Diet - veterinary; Diet preferences; Environment; Feces - chemistry; Female; Gene-Environment Interaction; Goats - genetics; Goats - physiology; Juniperus; Livestock breeding; Male; Plant secondary compounds; Pregnancy; Restoration ecology; Targeted grazing
• ISSN: 1751-7311; 1751-732X; 1751-732X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2024.101198

•Determined the genetic and environmental effects on the consumption of juniper.•Genetic and environmental effects are equal for high juniper consumers.•No environmental effect for goats selectively bred for low juniper consumption.•Livestock raised on rangelands may be locally adapted to chemically defended plants.•Pastoralists are justified in maintaining remnant−adapted herds even during droughts. Diet selection and preference by grazing animals are determined by genetic and environmental factors that interact and affect their efficacy for managing vegetation as targeted grazers and developing animals adapted to local grazing environments. The effect of the rearing environments on the consumption of juniper (Juniperus spp.) by goats that for 15 years were divergently selected for high (J+) or low (J-) percent juniper in their diet was investigated. To test the effect of rearing environment, at the end of the breeding season, pregnant does from both selection lines were grazed on either juniper-infested (JIR) or juniper-free (JFR) rangelands until their kids were weaned at about 75 days of age. Fecal samples were analyzed with fecal near-IR spectroscopy to determine the percent juniper in the diet. Fecal samples were collected from does on JIR when their offspring were 30 days of age and at weaning. Then, does that raised kids in both rearing environments grazed a common JIR pasture for a 28-day adaptation period before collecting fecal samples. After weaning, kids from both rearing environments grazed JIR for 22 days before collecting fecal samples. The J+ does always consumed more (P