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Changes in faecal δ13C in response to changing proportions of legume (C3) and grass (C4) in the diet of sheep and cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. B. Coates ,
A. P. A. Van Der Weide  and
J. D. Kerr
D. B. Coates
Affiliation:
Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, CSIRO, PMB, PO Aitkenvale, Townsville, Qld. 4814, Australia
A. P. A. Van Der Weide
Affiliation:
Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, CSIRO, PMB, PO Aitkenvale, Townsville, Qld. 4814, Australia
J. D. Kerr
Affiliation:
Biometrics Unit, CSIRO, Long Pocket Laboratories, Private Bag No. 3, Indooroopilly, Qld. 4068, Australia
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Summary

Feeding studies were conducted in 1986 with penned sheep and cattle fed legume (C3) and grass (C4) hays mixed in different proportions. Large fluctuations in diet δ13C within or between days were associated with much smaller fluctuations in the δ13C of faeces. When the overall daily legume percentage in the diet was held constant, there was little variation in the δ13C of faeces irrespective of when during the day the legume, relative to the grass, was eaten.

Cattle set stocked on Stylosanthes/grass pastures in Queensland showed only minor variations in faecal δ13C within or between days in the short term. All animals within a group showed similar trends when the diet was changing. The changes in the δ13C of faeces from day to day reflected small but real changes in diet selection.

It was concluded that the δ13C of a single faecal sample reliably reflects the integrated diet over the previous 3–4 days of a free-grazing ruminant so that the frequency and pattern of faecal sampling for estimating diet composition may be determined by considerations other than reliability

Type
Animals
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 116 , Issue 2 , April 1991 , pp. 287 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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References

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