Castro, M.

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Universidade Técnica de Lisboa

Feeding value of different plant functional types of oak mediterranean ecosystems

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  Tree fodder: food for thoughts?  3334th European Agroforestry Conference  Agroforestry as Sustainable Land Use FEEDING VALUE OF DIFFERENT PLANT FUNCTIONAL TYPES OF OAK MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEMS Castro M1*, Fernández-Núñez E2 (1) Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), Polytechnic Institut of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300- 253. Bragança, Portugal (2) Escuela Politécnica Superior. Campus Terra. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 27002 -Lugo, Spain *Corresponding author: marina.castro@ipb.pt Abstract The aim of the study was to assess the seasonal variation of Crude protein (CP) and In vitro Mediterranean ecosystems of the North of Portugal. The were legume, spiny and aromatic for shrubs and sclerophyllous, deciduous and coniferous for trees. crude protein (CP: 4.16- 15.87% DM) and in digestibility (IVOMD: 34.48-63.36%, p<0.001). Legume showed the highest CP and the IVOMD, coniferous showed the lowest CP content and aromatic showed the lowest value of IVOMDsuppress the protein needs of livestock animals considering goats of 45 Kg body weight in dry maintenance. In the case of late pregnancy, only legume and deciduous and spiny can cover it. Keywords: goats; late pregnancy; maintenance North of Portugal; protein needs  Introduction Different reasons motivate the growing interest for trees and shrubs as fodder for ruminants in the Mediterranean region. They are useful sources of cheap feed for ruminant animals, especially during dry or cool seasons when conventional forages are scarce and of low quality (Olafadehan and Okunade 2018). Further, livestock farmers experience increased food insecurity because of climate change and tree fodders and shrubs resilience to variability in weather patterns (Dawson et al. 2014). However, amongst ligneous species there is a great variability on their feeding value, since the proportion between contents (protein, sugars, starch) and cell walls (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin), the production of secondary metabolites (phenols, tannins) and other defence mechanisms (thorns) against herbivory depends on the ecological strategy of the plant which influences their chemical composition. For instance, the leaf nitrogen and lignin contents were related with the leaves longevity (Grime et al. 1996). The aim of the study was to assess the seasonal variation of Crude protein (CP) and In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) of key plant functional types (PFTs) present in oak Mediterranean ecosystems of the North of Portugal. The functional groups were legume, spiny and aromatic for shrubs and sclerophyllous, deciduous and coniferous for trees.  Materials and methodsThe study was carried out in Trás-os-Montes, Northeast of Portugal. The species studied were Quercus pyrenaica Willd., Quercus faginea Lam., as deciduous trees, Quercus suber L., Quercus ilex L. as sclerophyllous trees and Juniperus oxycedrus L. as coniferous trees; Cytisus scoparius L., Cytisus striatus (Hill) Rothm. and Cytisus multiflorus (L'Hér.) Sweet, as legume shrubs, Genista falcata Brot., as spiny shrubs, Lavandula stoechas L. and Cistus ladanifer L. as aromatic shrubs. Samples of the different species were taken along the seasons, In the spring,   Tree fodder: food for thoughts?  3344th European Agroforestry Conference  Agroforestry as Sustainable Land Use in April, July in the summer, November in autumn and February in winter. Three samples from each species per location and season were collected, from five randomly selected plants. Samples were air-dried to constant weight in a fan-assisted oven at 60°C for 48h and they were ground in a mill through a 1-mm sieve. Crude protein contents (CP) were evaluated and recorded following the methods of AOAC (1997). In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) was evaluated using the two-stage technique (Tilley and Terry 1963, modified by Marten and Barnes 1980). CP and IVOMD were analysed by ANOVA (Proc GLM procedure, for the factors subsequent pairwise comparisons (p   Results PFTs varied widely in crude protein (CP: 4.16- 15.87% DM) and in digestibility (IVOMD: 34.48 -63.36%, p<0.001) (Figure 1). Legume showed the highest CP and the IVOMD, coniferous showed the lowest CP content and aromatic showed the lowest value of IVOMD. CP and IVOMD parameters were significantly influenced by mature stage of plants (p<0.001), being the highest values found in spring. The conifers leave this pattern, showing the highest value of IVOMD in autumn (55.05% DM). Figure 1: Crude protein content (CP) and In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) in different functional groups of trees (deciduous, sclerophyllous and coniferous) and shrubs (legume, spiny, and aromatic). Different letters indicate significant differences between seasons in the same functional group.  Discussion PFTs place a species in a group, the members of which have similar functional attributes (Solbrig 1993). In our study, we considered the N leaves (CP) and the proportion between contents and cell walls (IVOMD). Concerning CP, 4 groups were found, being the legume the one which showed the highest value of CP and the coniferous the one which presented the lowest. One of the other groups is composed by deciduous and spiny, and the other one is composed by sclerophyllous and aromatic. Regarding IVOMD, 4 groups were also found, but different from the first: legume, followed by coniferous and spiny, deciduous, and finally sclerophyllous and aromatic. Feeding value of PFTs showed a great variation between them and along the year. Legume and deciduous and spiny seem a good fodder resource set particularly in periods of food shortage, while the sclerophyllous and aromatic is a poor group in quality of fodder. Also, unfortunately, it is in the summer (dry season), when pastures are very scarce, that their values are at their lowest.    Tree fodder: food for thoughts?  3354th European Agroforestry Conference  Agroforestry as Sustainable Land Use In terms of the capacity of these PFTs to suppress the protein needs of livestock animals considering for instance goats of 45 Kg body weight (7.2% and 11% of DM Intake, NRC 2007), maintenance. In the case of late pregnancy, only legume and deciduous and spiny can cover it.   References AOAC (1997) Official Methods of analysis. 17th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington DC, USA. Dawson IK, Carsan S, Franzel S, Kindt R, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Lillesø J-PB, Orwa C, Jamnadass R (2014) Agroforestry, livestock, fodder production and climate change adaptation and mitigation in East Africa: issues and options. ICRAF Working Paper No. 178, World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi. Grime JP, Hodgson JG, Hunt R, Thompson K, Hendry GAF, Campbell BD, Jalili A, Hillier SH, Díaz S, Burke MJW (1996) Functional types: Testing the concept in Northern England. In: Smith TM, Shugart H, Woodward, FI (eds) Plant functional types. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 123-131.  Marten GC, Barnes RF (1980) Prediction of energy digestibility of forages with in vitro rumen fermentation and fungal enzyme systems. In: Pigden WC, Balch CC, Grahmam M (eds) Standartization of analytical methodology of feeds. IDRC, Ottawa, pp 61-71. NRC (National Research Council) (2007) Nutrient Requirements of Small Ruminants: Sheep, Goats, Cervids, and New World Camelids. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. Olafadehan OA, Okunade SA (2018) Fodder value of three browse forage species for growing goats. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences 17: 43-50.   Solbrig OT (1993) Plant traits and adaptative strategies: their role in ecosystem function. In: Schulze ED, Mooney HA (eds) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function. Ecological Studies, 99. Springer, Berlin, pp 97-116. Tilley JM,Terry RA (1963) A two stage technique for the in vitro digestion of forage crops. J Brit Grassland Soc 18: 104-111.  

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Feeding value of different plant functional types of oak mediterranean ecosystems

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