A promising technique for the determination of browse utilisation

Abstract

A possible technique for the determination of browse utilization, without any prior measurements, is described. A high correlation (r = 0,8563) exists between twig diameter and total twig mass (twig plus leaf mass) of Portulacaria afra. A grazing experiment was conducted to determine whether this twig diameter : total twig mass relationship could be used to estimate differences in utilization of Portulacaria afra from post-browsing measurements of twig diameter and total twig mass and to determine pre-browsing total twig mass from twig diameter by the regression Y = -49,50134 + 62,30726 x Percentage utilization is calculated as follows:

Keywords: twigs|methods|browsing|experiments|Valley Bushveld|twig diameters|utilisations|browse|techniques|leaves|grazing