Relationship between climatic factors and the diet selected by ruminants on Karoo veld (Short communication)

Diet selection and intake by cattle, goats and sheep was related to climatic factors by principal-component analysis. Digestibility of selected material and digestible organic matter intake per metabolic size (DOMI/kg W^0.75) were significantly correlated to a principal component combining rainfall, and minimum and maximum temperature which described 49,3% of climate-factor variation. The selection pattern of cattle was more closely related to this principal component than the pattern in goats and sheep. This was ascribed to a more precise diet selection ability by small stock.