Comparative behavior and herbage selections of twelve domestic farm animal species foraging ninety common tropical plant species in Leyte, Philippines.

摘要

Water Buffalo (Bos bovinae), indigenous cattle (Bos taurus), native chickens (Gallus gallus), ducks (Carina muscata), goats (Capra hircus), geese (Anser anser), guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), horse (Equus caballus), zebu cross cattle (Bos Indicus), swine (Sus scrofa), sheep (Ovis aries), turkeys (Melagris galapavo), were monitored for 217 feeding trials to determine range foraging behavior under subsistence agriculture practices in Leyte, Philippine field conditions. Animals directly interacted with 146 of the 188 prevalent plants that were monitored during the trials. Fifty-six of the 146 plant species were uncommon, leaving 90 plant species with information from more than 10 trials. Plant species available in grazing plots varied between animal species. Horses and cattle interacted with 97 and 96 plants species during the trials whereas chickens and ducks interacted with 21 and 46 species respectively.;Water buffalo and goats were least selective of plant species, eating more of the plant species present than any other animals. However, goats were most selective of plant parts and ate only small parts of any of the plants present. Average number of plants selected per trial ranged from 1 for the chicken, to 10 for the goat. Most animal species exhibited an affinity for certain plants (e.g., geese first choice selected Elusine indica, buffalo selected Paspalum conjugatum, chickens preferred rice, goats selected Mimosa pudica). Certain species selected plants rejected by all other species (e.g., sheep ate Urena Lobata which was rejected by all other animals).;Of the 90 plant species present in 10 or more trials, only 10 were rejected by all animals. Forty-five of the plant species were eaten by at least one of the animal species in all of the trials. There was a significant variability between animals in rate of selecting and rejecting plants in their environment. Chickens were the most selective, selecting only 8.7 percent of the plants with which they interacted. Goats selected 61.8 percent of the plants they interacted with. The remaining 26 plant species were eaten in at least 50% of the trials by one of the animals. Differences in plant species selection make it clear that, in most cases, Integrated Weed Management in tropical areas requires more than one animal species to properly control a majority of the plant species present. When using multiple animal species which are optimally matched to plant species, 85 to 90 percent of the plant species present in tropical subsistence agriculture can be utilized by the foraging animals.