Assessment of interaction between sheep and poorly palatable grass: a key tool for grassland management and restoration

Abstract

Invasion of poorly palatable grasses due to abandonment or improper grazing management decreases pastures feeding value and biodiversity. With the aim to control their spread, we assessed the relationship between sheep foraging behavior and changes in aboveground phytomass, leaf traits, and chemical features of the tall grass Brachypodium rupestre and evaluated the effects of a B. rupestre-based diet on epithelium keratinization of rumen. Our results demonstrated that sheep became less selective throughout the experimental trials and B. rupestre decreased its aboveground phytomass. Some leaf traits showed significant changes (LDMC, LA, and ADL were higher in ungrazed areas; leaf nitrogen content was higher in the grazed ones). In addition, we detected an increase of the degree of epithelium keratinization of sheep. Thus high grazing pressure can be used to control the spread of B. rupestre, but negative effects on animal welfare due to the increase of rumen keratinization might be expected.

Keywords:

• biodiversity conservation
• pasture restoration
• Brachypodium rupestre
• leaf traits
• dominant species invasion
• rumen keratinization

Acknowledgments

The Department for the Environment of the Marche Region and the Torricchio Natural Reserve funded this research; the grant was assigned to Prof. Andrea Catorci. The Authors would like to thank Mara Orsini for livestock management and friendly collaboration and Sheila Beatty for editing the English usage of the manuscript.