Seasonal variation in in vitro digestibility and structural carbohydrate content of some commonly grazed plants of blanket bog
1978
GRANT, SHEILA A. | Campbell, D. R.
Oven‐ and freeze‐dried samples of the separated green material of Trichophorum caespitosum, Molinia caerulea, Eriophorum vaginatum, Erio‐phorum angustifolium, Juncus acutiflorus and J. squarrosus collected in May, July and September were analysed for dry matter digestibility (DMD) using an in vitro procedure and for structural carbohydrate content. Results were affected by method of drying, oven‐dried (45°C) samples in general giving lower estimates of quality than freeze‐dried samples. Low DMD values were obtained for J. squarrosus for all sampling dates. The remaining species had DMD values above 60 in May; some maintained these levels until July but all had low values by September. A comparison was made between in vitro DMD and predicted DMD using the data from the structural carbohydrate analyses and the summative equation of Van Soest (1965a). Two species, J. acutiflorus and J. squarrosus, showed poor agreement between values obtained by the two methods. The other species showed good agreement between values in May and July but poor agreement in September. The data are discussed in relation to the quality and seasonal patterns of growth of species of hill vegetation.
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