Foraging behaviour of goats and sheep on Mediterranean kermes oak shrublands

Foraging behaviour of goats and sheep jointly grazing pastures of cleared (Cleared pasture), slashed (Slashed pasture) and undisturbed (Native pasture) kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) shrublands were compared during six periods round the year. The woody vegetation of the Cleared and Slashed pastures was cleared and slashed by mechanical means (bulldozer and roller chopper, respectively) 2 years prior to the study initiation. The shrub cover of pastures was 29% for the Cleared, 40% for Slashed and 56% for Native when the experiment started. Grazing goats and sheep were directly observed and their bite rate (bites/min) and major forage classes in their diets were determined in each of the grazing periods. In the same periods, hand-plucked samples similar to those consumed by animals were collected for chemical analysis. Differences in bite rates were found between animal species within grazing periods. Clearing and slashing favoured sheep during May and June when the forage availability, especially of herbaceous species, was high and sheep had a higher bite rate than goats (Cleared: 21.6 vs 17.2 bites/min, Slashed: 22.4 vs 15.7 bites/min, respectively). Grass and forbs constituted over 70% of the sheep diet for all pastures while browse made up less than 30% of their diet. In contrast, browse was the most important forage class for goats (51%-90% of their diet) however herbs contributed considerably (approximate to 30%) in their diets during April, May and June. Relative to sheep, goats selected diets lower(P < 0.05) in dietary crude protein (CP) content on the Cleared pasture in March and May but similar in the remaining periods. On the Slashed and Native pastures, they selected diets lower in CP than sheep only in May but higher or similar in the remaining periods. There were no differences in in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) of diets between goats and sheep on the Cleared pasture except for October (goats < sheep; P < 0.05) and June (goats > sheep; P < 0.05). However, diets of goats had a higher (P < 0.05) IVOMD on the Slashed (November and March) and Native (November, March, April and June) pastures. Goats also tended to select diets higher in neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and lignin content than did sheep. Goats may be better adapted than sheep to subsist on browse in kermes oak shrublands, but high levels of herbage that result from shrub management allow sheep to utilize this type of forage. (C) Elsevier Science B.V.