Preference by Donkeys and Goats among Five Mediterranean Forest Species : Implications for Reducing Fire Hazard
Bartolomé, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Broncano Atencia, María José (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Plaixats i Boixadera, Josefina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Rigau, Teresa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals)
Milán Sendra, María José (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Baraza Ruíz, Elena (Universitat de les Illes Balears. Departament de Biologia)
Miró, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals)
Panadès, Xavier (Museu de la Conca Dellà (Isona, Catalunya))

Data:	2020
Resum:	During the second half of the 20th century, European countries experienced an increase in their forest area due to the global change. Consequently, there has been an increase in large forest fires, mainly in the Mediterranean basin, and this has forced the development of several types of prevention programs. One of them is the control of the understory by livestock. In this sense, browsing with a combination of donkeys and goats could be a good option, as both animals usually feed on forest species. However, little is known about their preferences for the key species of the Mediterranean forest. Using a cafeteria test, the preferences and consumption of both animals have been determined for five typical species of the Mediterranean forest, such as Quercus ilex, Pinus halepensis, Phillyrea latifolia, Rubus ulmifolius, and Brachypodium retusum. Results showed that donkeys and goats could act complementarily in the reduction of the fuel biomass of forests. Donkeys appear to act more on fine fuel, such as B. retusum, and goats on the more pyrophyte species, in this case P. halepensis. In addition, given that donkeys are at severe risk of extinction in Europe, this role of providing ecosystem services could contribute to their conservation. Despite this study only showing that goats and donkeys would consume all five presented plant species and that there are some differences in consumption during a short-term test, it constitutes a useful first step for conservation and fire prevention in the Mediterranean forests.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Cafeteria test ; Quercus ilex ; Pinus halepensis ; Phillyrea latifolia ; Rubus ulmifolius ; Brachypodium retusum
Publicat a:	Animals, Vol. 10 Núm. 8 (2020) , p. 1302, ISSN 2076-2615

DOI: 10.3390/ani10081302
PMID: 32751439

9 p, 1.4 MB

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