Investigation on changes in consumption and production of rangeland species in Gharebagh rangelands of Urmia

Each species has a specific production during the grazing season and different years. Also, the grazing livestock consumes certain forage which is different in terms of different conditions and breeds. Planning and management of rangeland and livestock is not possible without understanding the production characteristics of plants and forage consumption of a rangeland during the grazing period. This study was implemented during four years in Urmia-Gharebagh rangelands to evaluate the vegetative characteristics and forage production and consumption by livestock at different phenological stages. For this purpose, with the start of the grazing season and livestock entry to rangeland, the remaining forage of each species was harvested with one -month intervals until the departure of livestock grazing and the consumption rate was calculated by subtracting it from the production inside the exclosure. Finally, in order to study the effect of years and months on the production and consumption of species, data were analyzed. The results of combined analysis of variance showed that, in most species, the highest forage production and consumption were obtained in the fourth year along with the increment of rainfall in this year compared to other years. During the six months (April to September), the highest forage production and consumption was recorded in May in all years of study. The lowest forage production and consumption was recorded in September and April, respectively. The highest production and consumption were recorded for Festuca ovina, Helychrism and Bromus tomentelus and Poa bulbosa, Astragalus effuses, Dactilis glomerata, Ziziphora clinopodioides and Koeleria cristataamong showed the lowest production and consumption.