Veld condition and animal performance: application of an optimal foraging model.

Abstract

An optimal foraging model was used to predict food ingestion rate, food digestion rate and animal energy gains relative to requirements as functions of dietary composition. Energy gains were maximized by ranking food types in order of their effective value, as limited by either ingestion or digestion rate. Illustrates with graphs and tablesLanguage: English

Keywords: Diet choices; Food ingestion; Foraging models; Grassland conditions; Herbivores; animal performance; animal production; diet choice; digestion rate; grazing; needs; quality; veld condition score; condition; performance; grassland; production; foraging; model; food; ingestion; digestion; food preferences; food quality; models; south africa