Phenology and nutritive value of the foliage of some forage tree species of Caatinga

摘要

Researches on the botanical composition of the diet have shown the importance of native forage trees as source of fodder for the ruminants in caatinga. A total of 23 tree species, corresponding to 70% of the arboreous species on the sites, was found to participate hi the botanical composition of the diets of goats and sheep (Araujo Filho et al., 1998). Due to high predominance of leguminous species among the caatinga forage trees, the protein content of the diet has been found adequate, even in the dry season, in most of the researches (Pfister, 1983 and Araujo Filho et al., 1996). The protein content in those diet studies varied from 25% in the wet season to 9,0% in the dry period. However, very few researches have been conducted on the nutrient content of the foliage of the caatinga trees and even less on their phenology (Pereira et al., 1989). This research dealt with the study of the nutrient content and digestibility of the foliage of some caatinga forage trees, with respect to their annual phenologic cycle.