Objective:

To evaluate the floristic composition and nutritional quality of a meadow used for grazing of hair sheep under the agroecological conditions of the dry Colombian Caribbean.

Material and Methods:

The study was conducted at the Motilonia Research Center, of the Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research AGROSAVIA. Curves of species accumulation and abundance range were made for the data analysis through the statistical program Qeco, as well as the Student’s t-test for independent samples with Infostat.

Results:

Thirteen plant species were recorded in the meadow, 12 were identified at species level and one at genus level. The representation, in terms of family was given by Poaceae (30,8 %), Fabaceae (30,8 %), Cyperaceae (7,7 %), Boraginacea (7,7 %), Portulacaceae (7,7 %), Apocynaceae (7,7 %), and Amaranthaceae (7,7 %). The floristic composition in the entire meadow (control transect) was different, in terms of number of species with regards to the feeding sites of the flock (p = 0,0249). This proves that the animal made a preliminary selection of the forage.

Conclusions:

Thirteen plant species were recorded in the meadow and 12 were identified at species level. In this study, the applied methodology for the determination of the floristic composition of the meadow, with the use of the transects and the cross, was accurate for the identification of the dominant species in the enclosed pastures versus those that were most visited by the animals.

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