Effect of sheep grazing on soil ingestion and rumen microbial diversity in Eastern Qilian Mountain
Soil ingestion is a common phenomenon in grazing systems and was influenced by vegetation variation, and affecting mineral nutrition of grazing animals. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of grazing on soil ingestion and rumen microbial diversity of livestock following grassland ve...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Applied Animal Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09712119.2025.2526392 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Soil ingestion is a common phenomenon in grazing systems and was influenced by vegetation variation, and affecting mineral nutrition of grazing animals. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of grazing on soil ingestion and rumen microbial diversity of livestock following grassland vegetation variation. Nine-castrated male sheep with 6 months old and 25 ± 2 kg body weight were selected for grazing 13 days on alpine meadow grassland. Sheep grazing obviously reduced the height, coverage and biomass of vegetation and daily dry matter intake (P < 0.01), while increased in the proportion of soil ingestion (P < 0.01). The abundance of Tenericutes and Spirochaetae were obviously higher in late-grazing stage (P < 0.05), and the abundance of Cyanobacteria and Butyrivibrio were higher in early-grazing stage (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed a significant negative relationship between the soil ingestion proportion and grass height, coverage and biomass in grazing systems (P < 0.05). Overall, soil ingestion would affect the rumen microbial structure and improve bacterial community abundance associated with cellulose degradation, which might promote nutrient digestion. Furthermore, the correlation between soil ingestion proportion in diet and grass height and total biomass also suggests a new approach for predicting soil intake in grazing sheep. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0971-2119 0974-1844 |