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16
ОТРАСЛЕВЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ОСВОЕНИЯ ЗАСУШЛИВЫХ ЗЕМЕЛЬ———
УДК: 57.022:591.524.21
ПАСТБИЩНАЯ АКТИВНОСТЬ ОВЕЦ ПОРОДЫ AWASSI И РАЗНООБРАЗИЕ РАСТЕНИЙ В УСЛОВИЯХ ОХРАНЫ В ПОЛУАРИДНОМ КЛИМАТЕ
© 2012 г. K. Джавасрех*, O. Алкаиси**, Ю. Алсатари***, A. Алнсур***
*Иорданский Университет Науки и техники, сельскохозяйственный факультет Иордания, 22110 Ирбит, P.O.Box 3030. E-mail: kijawasreh@Just.edu.jo **IFCNМеждународный исследовательский центр молока
Германия, D-24118 Киль, ул. Шауенбургер, д. 116. E-mail: info@ifcndairy.org ***Национальный исследовательский центр сельского хозяйства и развития (NCARE) Иордания, 19381 Бака, P.O Box: 639. Email: Director@ncare.gov.jo
Поступила 18.09.2011
Пастбищная активность наряду с пастбищным кормовым потенциалом являются важными факторами, требующими глубокого понимания для обеспечения кормом выпасаемых животных ^ответственно их биологическим требованиям и для выбора оптимальной стратегии выпаса. В связи с этим была проведена классификация растительности и исследована пастбищная нагрузка овец породы авасси, которая повышается в экстенсивных условиях полупустыни. Исследование проводилось в заповеднике Твана на юге Иордании. Было выбрано около 40 га на территории заповедника. Пастбищная активность овец авасси фиксировалась в дневное время в течение 9 дней (с 8 часов утра до 18 часов вечера), поведение животных отмечалось с интервалом 6 минут. Были выделены три группы овец по интенсивности пастбищной активности: слабая (L), средняя (M) и сильная (Н). На учетных площадках была исследована растительность (видовой состав, проективное покрытие, обилие видов) и подсчитаны частота встречаемости видов, плотность, относительная плотность, индекс видового сходства Шеннона. Также была рассчитана продуктивность растительных сообществ, оценены предельно допустимая продуктивность пастбища (422.5 кг/га) и поголовье скота (9.38, 18.75 и 28.13 голов/га при слабой, средней и сильной пастбищной нагрузке соответственно). Было встречено 76 видов растений, относящихся к 19 семействам. Наиболее представленными семействами стали Cruciferae (15 видов) и Compositae (14 видов). Наибольшее обилие характерно для следующих видов: Carex divisa1, Sisymbrium irio, Torularia torulosa и Astragalus spp. Общее проективное покрытие составило 40%, а дифференцированно по участкам со слабой, средней и сильной интенсивностью выпаса проективное покрытие составило 21%, 60% и 68% соответственно, в то же время содержание сухого вещества составило 47%, 57% и 60% соответственно. Незначительные различия пастбищного поведения животных наблюдались между группами с разной интенсивностью выпаса. При средней интенсивности выпаса в характере поведения преобладают (p<001) стравливание, жевание жвачки, водопой. При высокой интенсивности выпаса преобладает (p<001) лежание, а при низкой нагрузке преимущественно (p<001) стояние. Характер поведения при активной пастьбе значительно (P<0.01) различался в разное время дня. Утром стравливание было ниже, чем вечером (p<0001), отдых лежа был выше утром, а жевание жвачки чаще наблюдалось вечером. Незначительно отличаются утренний и вечерний периоды наблюдений по активности на водопое и отдыху стоя.
Ключевые слова: овцы породы авасси, виды растений, пастбищная активность, заповедный режим, Иордания.
1 Латинские названия видов даются на основании работы D.M. Al-Eisawi (1996).
63
GRAZING BEHAVIOR OF AWASSI SHEEP AND THE BIODIVERSITY OF PLANT SPECIES UNDER SEMI-ARID RESERVED CONDITIONS
© 2012. K. Jawasreh*, O. Alqaisi**, Y. Alsatary***, A. Al-Nsoor***
*Jordan University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Production Jordan, 22110Irbid, P.O. Box 3030. Email: kijawasreh@Just.edu.jo **IFCNDairy Research Center Germany, D-24118 Kiel, Schauenburgerstrasse, 116. E-mail: info@ifcndairy.org ***National Center for Agriculture Research and Extension (NCARE) Jordan, 19381 Baq'a, P.O. Box 639. Email: Director@ncare.gov.jo
The objectives of this study were to classify plant and vegetation patterns as well as to investigate the grazing behavior of Awassi sheep raised under extensive semi-arid environmental conditions. The study was conducted at Twana reserve. Plant productivity was determined and the allowable productivity and stocking rate were calculated. High variation was observed in native vegetation used for sheep grazing in the reserve. Additionally proper stocking rate should be applied in each grazing scenario in order to avoid overgrazing.
Keywords: Awassi sheep, plant species, grazing behavior, reserved conditions, Jordan
Jordan is a country dominated by semi-arid to arid climate and versatile ecological systems. More than 90% of the land area of Jordan is considered as rangeland. Fat-tailed Awassi sheep are the most widely distributed sheep with a population of nearly 2 million heads (Ministry ..., 2006). The majority of small ruminants in Jordan are kept in extensive (20-30%) or semi-intensive systems (45-70%), both systems being more or less transhumant, flock size varied between 10 to 2.500 heads (Hailat, 2005). Sheep are adapted to arid untellable lands and steep slops. The grazing habits of sheep are often maligned as the primary causes of denudation and erosion of vegetated land (Ely, 1994). Therefore, indigenous resources need to be protected and developed (Abu-Zanat, 1997). In terms of local animal feed resources, it is limited, and there is a large gap between available resources and livestock requirements, while Jordan produces less than 25% of feedstuff requirements. However, protecting rangelands is considered as a national task. The utilization of pastures by the grazing animals remains a complex biological process that is not well understood under semiarid environmental conditions. Observing of grazing animals can provide the sheep breeders in valuable information on the quantity and quality of the available forages in the semi-arid area of Jordan. The same problems are in Russia (Larionov, 2010). The objectives of this study were: 1) to classify plant and vegetation patterns available in the reserved study area and 2) to investigate the grazing behavior of Awassi sheep raised under extensive conditions in semi-arid lands under different grazing densities .
Materials and methods
Characteristics of vegetation cover. Site description and data collection. About 40 hectares were selected at Twana reserve which is located in Tafilah district, and far about 200 km to the south of Amman. Topography of the reserve characterized by formation of mountains and hells with slope fluctuated between 5-10%. The annual rainfall is 150 mm and altitude of 1220 m above sea level. The total area of the reserve is 2500 hectare, about 500 hectare were planted with fodder shrubs (mainly Atriplex halimus). Spacing between contour ridges was 12 m while 2.5 m between shrubs. Plant density was 267 shrubs per hectare.
During spring of 2007, and before starting grazing period a plant survey was conducted to describe the plant and vegetation patterns available in the reserve, considering the following features:
Plant List. The list was prepared using line transect method (Ambshat, 1982) to determine this list. Three Transects of 50 m length were selected randomly one inside Atriplex area while the other 2 up and below the planted site. Each transect was divided into 5 quadrate of 10 m length and all plant species were recorded and counted. Vegetation coverage percentage (C), species frequency (F), species abundance (A), species density (D), relative density and Shannon diver's index were calculated following the method described by (Ambshat, 1982).
Species relative density (RD) was calculated as the number of individuals of a species in all quadrates
(TSno.) divided by the total number of all species in all quadrates studied (All Sno.) multiplied by 100:
TC
RD = ——, no while, Proportion (P) was calculated as the number of individuals of a specie s in all AllS
quadrates (TSno.) divided by the total number of all species in all quadrates studied (All Sno.) by the
equation (B= TSna ).
All Sno.
Shannon Diversity Index H' (SDI) was calculated as absolute value of the natural logarithm of the proportion (LNP) multiplied by the proportion (P) by the following equation 1:
SDI=LNPxP (1).
Plant Productivity. Atriplex productivity: Reference Unit Method (RU; Andrew et al., 1981) was used to estimate shrub biomass. Considering that branch forms about 20% of shrubs size which was selected and shrub biomass was estimated in comparison to RU. Branch weighted, afterward boawsable parts was separated, weighted and dried on oven dry at 72oC for 72 hours and weighted again. Fresh, dry and edible production was calculated for shrubs in the study site and stocking rate was calculated for each grazing density per 1.6 hectare (Table 1).
Vegetation Productivity: it was estimated by using clipping method. Nine transect of 50 m long were selected randomly in each treatment of this experiment, each transect contained 5 quadrates of 0.79 m2. A total of 45 quadrates were clipped for each treatment and recorded its data. Coverage percentage was estimated visually, annual plants clipped, weighted, dried and weighted again. Latin names of the plant list was adopted from D.M. Al Eisawi (1996).
Table 1. Biomass production for both Atriplex and native (indigenous) vegetation (NV) on dry matter (DM) basis at Twanah reserve. Таблица 1. Биомасса (сухое вещество - DM в г/ед. площади) представителей рода Atriplex и коренной растительности (NV) в заповеднике Твана.
Productivity per treatment (1.6 ha) [Продуктивность на 1.6 га]
Atriplex yield, g/shrub Урожайность ЛМр1вх, г/куст 82
Total Shrub, no. per 1.6 ha Общее кол-во кустов на 1.6 га 427
Survival, % Выживаемость, % 86
Net shrubs, number Кол-во кустов на модельной площади, ед. 367
Allowable yield per treat (60%)*, kg Допустимая урожайность (60%), кг 18
Native yield [Урожайность коренной растительности]
Dry matter (DM), g/sample Сухое вещество, г/учетную площадь 32.4
Sample, m2 Учетная площадь, м2 0.79
Yield, kg/ha Урожайность, кг/га 411
Treat area, ha Площадь, га 1.6
Native vegetation (NV) Yield, kg Урожайность коренной растительности, кг 658
Total yield, kg DM/1.6 ha Общая урожайность, кг сухой массы/1.6 га 676
Note: * - Allowable yield per treatment (60%)=yield (g/shrub)x shrub no. per 1.6 hax* survival%x60%. Примечание: * - допустимая урожайность (60%)= урожайность (г/куст)хчисло кустов на 1.6 га хвыживаемость, % х 60%.
Animal behavior. The experiment was conducted during May, 2007. A fifteen, thirty and forty five non lactating Awassi ewes between 3 and 6 years old were selected randomly and distributed basically on light, moderate and heavy grazing intensity systems, respectively. Average live weight of those ewes was 57 kg. Animals were numbered on both sides using normal spray paint in order to distinguish their grazing behavior.
A special sheet was made to investigate and monitor the required data on grazing, drinking, browsing, ruminating, standing, and laying periods. Observations were made at six minutes intervals (thought daylight),
for three treatments. Three stocking rates were selected to study the grazing management practices and Awassi sheep use.
Collected data were preliminary introduced into excel sheet to calculate the exact time required for the animal activity and during morning (am) and evening (pm) time. Thereafter; data were analyzed using PROC GLM procedure of SAS (SAS, 2004).
The following model was used to analyze the data (2):
Eij= ^ + ti + eij (2).
Where Ey - is the observation values for the i-th treatment, ^ - is the overall mean, ti - is the effect of the treatment(light, moderate and heavy grazing intensities), morning and evening behavior, eij - is the random error.
Stocking rate: stocking rate calculated based on the total yield, 15 days grazintg period and 1.5 kg animal intake per day (Table 2).
Results and discussion
Characteristics of vegetation cover. A total of 19 families including 76 species were identified within the experiment site (Table 3). The most encountered families were Cruciferae and Compositae they encountered the highest species number 15 and 14 species respectively. While the families Boraginaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cestaceae, Cyperaceae, Ephedraceae, Labiatae, Papaveraceae, Plantaginaceae, Tamaricaceae, Brassicaceae and Scrophulariaceae encountered the lowest species number, each family was encountered one species. Also, the plant survey included the preparation of a plant list contain the family name, genus and species. The frequency, density, relative density, abundance, portion and shanon diversely index for all species encountered were calculated (Table 4). The species with the highest frequency are Carex divisa, Sisymbrium irio, Torularia torulosa and Astragalus spp. They were recorded 80, 73.3, 73.3 and 66.7 respectively. While, the species with the lowest frequency are Adonis dentate, Lolium spp., Torularia torulosa, Erodium gruinum, and Herniaria hirsute all of them have the same value 6.7. In previous studies (Ministry ..., 2005) results on plants survey in the reserve showed that the most frequent species were Poa spp., Iris posti, Anchusa italic, Euphorbia spp., Noaea mucronata. Those differences could be attributed to the differences in the environmental factors (rainfall precipitation and temperature) and soil topography. Snow accumulation was happened during winter 2007 which is unusual at the study location.
Table 2. Stocking rate density calculations for 1.6 hectare. Таблица 2. Плотность поголовья скота, рассчитанная на 1.6 га.
Indicator Показатель Unit
Animal intake per day, kg/animal Потребление в день, кг/животное 1.5
Animal units per treatment, kg=sheep days Кормоемкость пастбищ, условн. головы 676-1.5=450
Grazing period, days Период стравливания, дни 15
Stocking rate (animal/treat) Moderate grazing, head Light grazing (-15), head Heavy grazing (+15), head Поголовье скота, гол.
Среднее стравливание, гол 30
Слабое стравливание, гол 15
Сильное стравливание, гол 45
The species with the highest SDI were Salsola jordanicola, Carex divisa, Sisymbrium irio, Torularia torulosa and Astragalus spp. they were recorded 0.27, 0.26, 0.24, 0.20 and 0.20, respectively. Those species are characterized by high diversity and they are considered of high economic value within the reserve area because of their palatability and it is nutritive value for sheep. Population of Salsola vermiculata under extinct, its highly palatable and preferable by Awassi sheep than other grazing plants. Noaea mucronata and Anabasis syriaca are invasive plants. In Jordan, the degradation of plant cover due to overgrazing and the absence of control measures have caused a decline in more palatable subshrubs, perennial grasses and legumes such as Salsola vermiculata, Salsola laneifolia, Stipa barbatagalus spp. and Onobrychis spp.,
formerly common in the Jordan steppe area. They have been replaced by less palatable and poisonous plants such as Noaea mucronata, and Peganum harmala.
Productivity. Table (2) shows productivity of Atriplex shrubs and native vegetation before grazing. Results on Atriplex halimus yield in Al-Khanasry reserve which is located in the north of Jordan in the year 2006 estimate by 129 kg/1.6 hectare (Al-Satari et al., 2007), while in our study it was estimated by 18 kg/1.6 hectare, which is extremely lower than the productivity in Al-Khanasry reserve, this may explained by the fact that the average rainfall and humidity in the north of Jordan is much higher than in the southern part (where our study was performed). Furthermore Atriplex halimus has a considerable forage potential in the arid and semi-arid rangelands. It has been planted in numerous zones in the country, including Twana reserve. It is well known as a tolerant plant for drought and heavy grazing (Nefzaoui, 1997). Forage production was 676 Kg/1.6 ha dry matter including both annuals and shrubs (Atriplex halimas) in the study site.
Table 3. Plant families genus and species for the native vegetation survey at Twanah reserve.
Таблица 3. Роды и виды растений естественной растительности заповедника Твана.
Family Name Family Name
Boraginaceae Nonea ventricoza Cyperaceae Carex divisa
Caryophyllaceae Herniaria hirsuta Ephedraceae Ephedra spp.
Cestaceae Helianthemum ledifolium Geraniaceae Erodium gruinum
Chenopodiaceae Anabasis syriaca Erodium spp.
Atriplex halimus Geranium spp.
Hammada eigii Gramineae Bromus spp.
Noaea mucronata Hordeum spontaneum
Noaea mucronata Hordeum glaucum
Salsola jordanicola Lolium spp.
Salsola jordanicola Poa sinaica
Salsola vermiculata Iridaceae Crocus aleppicus
Compositae Aaronsohnia factorowskyi C. cancellatus
Achillea fragrantisium Iris sisyrinchium
Anthemis spp. Labiatae Salvia spinosa
Artemisia herba-alba Liliaceae Allium spp.
Carduus spp. Bellevalia spp.
Centaurea iberica Colchicum tunicatum
Filago desertorum Gagea reticulata
Ifloga spicata Gagea spp.
Lactuca spp. Tulipa spp.
Matricaria aurea Papaveraceae Roemeria hybrida
Scorzonera judaica Papilionaceae Astragalus spp.
Scorzonera papposa Medicago spp.
Senecio spp. Onobrychis cristan
Cruciferae Allysum spp. O. caput-galli
Biscutella spp. Plantaginaceae Plantago ovata
Hypecoum pendulum Ranunculaceae Ceratocephala falcata
Malcolmia aratica Adonis aestivalis
M. conringioides A. dentata
Matthiola aspera Anemone spp.
Matthiola spp. Tamaricaceae Tamarix spp.
Sisymbrium irio Brassicaceae Diplotaxis erucoides
Torularia torulosa Umbellefereae Caetosciadium spp.
Sisymbrium runcinatum Umbellicum spp.
Torularia torulosa Scrophulariaceae Kickxia spp.
Coverage percent was calculated during the plant survey and estimated by 40% of the total area. While covering percentage in 2005 in the same reserve was 21%. This was related to the developed protection strategies which allowed better plant growth and coverage. Plant density in the year 2005 was 8.53% plant/m2, this was the highest for Eucarea boveana (Ministry ..., 2005). This result is not in agreement with our current study, since this species is not observed in our site survey. The highest plant density investigated in this study was 10.5% plant/m2 for Diplotaxis erucoides, followed by Salsola jordanicola with plant density of 7.2% plant/m2' The large area of the reserve and variation of the topography within its area elucidate why are those differences in the dominant plant species prevalence in the reserve. Table 2 shows stocking rate density results for that are used within the animal behavior study.
Animal behavior. Results on sheep grazing behavior shows that there is significant difference between the three grazing scenarios of the native vegetation use. The vegetation cover decreased significantly under the moderate and heavy grazing intensities (Table 5).
Table 4. Family, scientific name, frequency, abundance, density, relative density, proportion and shinion divers Index (SDI) of the experimental site at twanah reserve in spring, 2007. Таблица 4. Встречаемость, обилие, плотность, относительная плотность и индекс Шеннона (SDI) видов растений на экспериментальных участках в заповеднике Твана в сентябре 2007 г.
Family Scientific name Frequency Abundance Density Relative density Proportion SDI
Gramineae Poa sinaica 53.3 4.0 2.1 4.05 0.04 0.13
Chenopodiaceae Anabasis syriaca 53.3 3.0 1.б 3.04 0.03 0.11
Compositae Artemisia herba-alba 20.0 2.0 0.4 0.7б 0.01 0.04
Brassicaceae Diplotaxis erucoides 8б.7 12.1 10.5 19.87 0.20 0.32
Compositae Scorzonera judaica 40.0 2.0 0.8 1.52 0.02 0.0б
Cestaceae Helianthemum ledifolium 40.0 3.7 1.5 2.78 0.03 0.10
Papilionaceae Astragalus spp. бб.7 б.4 4.3 8.10 0.08 0.20
Cruciferae Torularia torulosa 73.3 5.9 4.3 8.23 0.08 0.21
Cruciferae Matthiola spp. 20.0 1.0 0.2 0.38 0.003 0.02
Liliaceae Allium spp. 33.3 2.2 0.7 1.39 0.01 0.0б
Gramineae Hordeum glaucum 2б.7 1.5 0.4 0.7б 0.01 0.04
Cruciferae Sisymbrium irio 73.3 8.0 5.9 11.14 0.11 0.24
Papilionaceae Onobrychis cristan 33.3 3.8 1.3 2.41 0.02 0.09
Liliaceae Colchicum tunicatum 53.3 2.5 1.3 2.53 0.03 0.09
Liliaceae Gagea reticulata 33.3 3.2 1.1 2.03 0.02 0.08
Cruciferae Malcolmia conringioides 40.0 1.2 0.5 0.89 0.01 0.04
Ranunculaceae Adonis dentata б.7 1.0 0.1 0.13 0.001 0.01
Cyperaceae Carex divisa 80.0 8.б б.9 13.04 0.13 0.27
Iridaceae Crocus cancellatus 13.3 3.0 0.4 0.7б 0.01 0.04
Compositae Filago desertorum 33.3 1.8 0.б 1.14 0.01 0.05
Umbellefereve Caetosciadium spp. 13.3 2.0 0.3 0.51 0.01 0.03
Gramineae Lolium spp. б.7 1.0 0.1 0.13 0.001 0.01
Chenopodiaceae Salsola jordanicola 2б.7 27.0 7.2 13.б7 0.14 0.27
Cruciferae Torularia torulosa б.7 1.0 0.1 0.13 0.001 0.01
Geraniaceae Erodium gruinum б.7 1.0 0.1 0.13 0.001 0.01
Chenopodiaceae Noaea mucronata 20.0 1.0 0.2 0.38 0.003 0.02
Caryophyllaceae Herniaria hirsuta б.7 1.0 0.1 0.13 0.001 0.01
This result was expected, since the number of animals is increased per unit area and due to the increase in dry matter intake for the moderate and heavy grazing intensities. The same result was reported by M.K. Ngugi and R.T. Conant (2003) and by D.N. Hyder, R.E. Bement, E.E. Remmenga, D.F. Hervey (1975).
Table 5. Vegetation cover and dry matter use different grazing, %. Таблица 5. Проективное покрытие растительности и сухая фитомасса, %.
Grazing Vegetation raver Dry matter (DM)
Light 21 47
Moderate 60 57
Heavy 68 60
Table 6 shows that grazing and browsing behavior to be highly significant (P<0.01) differs between the hours of observations. At 18:00 o'clock animals were observed to spend more time in grazing (35.33 minutes) and browsing (5.33 minutes compared with 0:00 at 9:00) than the other hours while it was the lowest during 11:00, 12:00 and 15:00 in grazing, this could be attributed to the fact that the day temperature is lower in the evening than in the mid of the day. Additionally, pasture level and physiological stage influence grazing time (Arnold, 1981). However the sheep's major strategy for meeting their nutritional requirements is to increase total daily grazing time (Gibb, Orr, 1997). This was clear in the evening grazing.
Table 6. Least squares means for animal behavior through the day light. Таблица 6. Сравнение пастбищной активности животных (в минутах в течение наблюдаемого часа) за световой период по методу наименьших квадратов.
Status (minutes) Hours of monitoring (hours of starting at morning)
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Grazing Скусывание 28.23b 15.33c 14.61c 6.13f 5.87f 10.27de 13.2dc 6.93fe 12.13dc 27.89b 35.33a
Browsing Ощипывание 3.14b 0.00d 1.17cd 1.174cd 1.70cd 2.8cb 1.67cd 1.47cd 2.13cb 2.27cb 5.33a
Laying Отдых лежа 1.64e 11.73dc 12.26dc 30.26a 27.91ab 7.733d 14.00c 24.67b 15.87c 2.93e 0.00e
Drinking Водопой 0.00e 0.4ed 1.04cd 0.39ed 4.83a 2.00cb 0.53cd 0.13ed 0.00e 1.73cd 2.53b
Standing Отдых стоя 21.96ec 29.87a 25.96ac 19.57ed 18.39e 29.07a 26.53ab 22.67bd 27.73a 19.47ed 10.40f
Ruminating Пережевывание 5.05bd 2.67ed 4.96bd 2.48ed 3.13ed 8.267a 4.27bd 4.27bd 2.13e 5.73bc 6.4ab
Notes to tables 6-8: Means with the same letter at the same raw are not significantly different. Means in the same raw without a common letters differ (P<0.01). Примечание к таблицам 6-8: Значения с одинаковой буквой в одном ряду различаются незначительно. Значения с разными буквами в одном ряду различаются существенно (P<0.01).
Also during this hour, animals appeared the lowest lying behavior which was 0.00 minutes, compared to 30.26 and 27.91 minutes, respectively at 11:00 and 12:00, which was the highest in lying also. When the shade is lack, animals may show heat stress and walk excessively to optimize evaporative cooling, but this is not the case in Awassi sheep, since this breed of sheep possess a social behavior where they hide their heads under the bodies of the other surrounding sheep. At 12:00 drinking behavior was the highest (4.83 minutes). This may explained by, as the temperature is the highest in the mid of the day and that the grazing time is the lowest during this hour. It could be that the distance animals need to reach the water point and the daily
temperature influence water intake. Water and forage is interrelated, forage intake is well associated with water intake (Hyder et al., 1968). However, through 9:00, 13:00 and 16:00 hour's animals spend the highest time in standing, while ruminating was observed to be the highest in 13:00 (8.27 minutes).
The overall means of grazing behaviors during day light were 15.92±0.57, 2.01±0.17, 13.58±0.66, 1.24±0.16, 22.86±0.48 and 4.47±0.26 minutes/hour, respectively for grazing, browsing, lying, drinking, standing and ruminating. Time of standing, ruminating and laying is higher than what P. Sharp, T.W. Knight and J. Hodgson (1995) has found. This could be attributed to the difference in the experiment location and environmental conditions prevailing in the semi-arid rangelands, and to the fact that Awassi sheep differ from other sheep breeds in laying and standing behavior. Ruminating activity was the highest during the night and decreasing during the day. Increasing in ruminating time could be attributed to the fact that Awassi sheep graze on different shrubs, but not on perennial ryegrasses, this implicate more time for ruminating in the laying time and in the evening. Low browsing may attributed to the high palatability of the annual plants comparing to shrubs.
Non-significant differences were observed between the grazing behavior of the three groups, while the moderate density group have the highest (p<001) browsing, ruminating and drinking behaviors, the heavy density group was significantly (p<001) the highest in lying behavior, while the light density group was observed to behave the highest (p<001) in standing (table 7).
Table 7. Least square means of the effect of grazing density in the animal behavior under light, moderate and heavy stocking rate, minutes/hour. Таблица 7. Сравнение влияния выпаса на поведение скота в условиях низкой, средней и высокой плотности поголовья по методу наименьших квадратов, мин./час.
Status (minutes/hour) Поведенческие показатели (мин./час) Grazing density, степень стравливания
Light Moderate Heavy
Среднее стравливание, 30 гол Слабое стравливание, 15 гол Сильное стравливание, 45 гол
Grazing, Скусывание 15.116 16.5 16.145
Browsing, Скусывание 1.719 b 2.928 a 1.381 b
Laying, Отдых лежа 12.0 b 12.464 b 16.291 a
Drinking, Водопой 1.866 a 1.286 ab 0.581 b
Standing, Отдых стоя 25.939 a 20.929 b 21.782 b
Ruminating, Пережевывание 3.732 b 5.928 a 3.745 b
Table 8. Animal behavior during morning and evening periods, minutes/hour. Таблица 8. Характер поведения животных утром и вечером (мин./час).
Status Part of day
Morning (am) Evening (pm)
Grazing, Скусывание 13.905 b 17.626 a
Browsing, Ощипывание 1.4273 b 2.5111 a
Laying, Отдых лежа 16.811 a 10.867 b
Drinking, Водопой 1.3480 1.1556
Standing, Отдых стоя 23.1278 a 33.6444 a
Ruminating, Пережевывание 3.6476 b 5.1778 a
Morning (8:00-12:00) grazing period (13.98±0.83 minutes/hour) was lower significantly (p<0001) than evening (12:00-18:00) grazing (17.62±0.76), the browsing behavior was observed to be highly significantly (p<001) affected by parts of day light, evening browsing behavior was higher (2.51±0.24) than morning
(1.42±0.26). However, sheep has relatively small mouth and remarkably dexterous lips, they are able to graze closely to the ground and are also able to comfortably adapt to browsing (picking the leaf material from bushes or other plants), this anatomical behavior results in ability of sheep to be extremely selective about what they consume, is reported that if abundance of pasture are available, sheep will be very selective (Gill, 2004). The narrow mouth and flexible lips for sheep allow them to be selective in their grazing by taking individual bites (Weisebrot, 2007). Morning was higher (p<0001; 16.81±0.95) than evening (10.86±0.87) in lying period while evening was higher in ruminating, this is explained as the light determining the rumination rhythm during 24 h. In general small ruminants eat during the day and ruminate during the night (Welch, Hopper, 1988). The same result reported by (Keskin et al., 2005). Non- significant differences were observed between morning and evening drinking and standing behaviors (table 8, fig.).
40 т 35
5 30 л
6 25
20 15 10 5 0
--G -B
/
/
t
11 12 13 14 Hours of the day
Fig. Daily grazing and browsing times (minutes per hour). Legend: G - grazing; B - browsing.
Рис. Скусывание и ощипывание в дневное время (минуты в час). Legend: G - Скусывание; B -
Скусывание.
Conclusion
The study showed that high variation was observed in native vegetation that used for sheep grazing in the reserve. Timing of grazing should be implemented according to sheep grazing behavior as evening grazing is significantly higher than in the morning. Additionally proper stocking rate should be applied in each grazing scenario in order to avoid overgrazing.
Acknowledgement: authors would like to thank ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) for funding this research project. We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Ra'ad Al-Tbaini (Jordanian Badia Research and Development Center, Amman, Jordan) for his assistance in preparation for this study. We would like to thank as well Eng. Ahmad Al-Sharaideh and Mr. Jehad Al-Batta for their assistance in sampling and data collection.
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