Study of palatability of range plants in steppe rangelands of Yazd province (Case study: The Nodoshan Site in Sadogh City)

There are a variety of rangeland habitats with different plant species composition in Iran. Range and livestock management will require an understanding of different phenological and vegetative characteristics of plants as well as continuous changes in palatability of plants during the growing season. Grazing behavior of Yazdi native goat was evaluated in Nodushan rangelands of Yazd within a 4-year period (2007-2001). A 3-yaer old goat was selected as the representative of the whole flock for investigations at the beginning of each year. The timing method was applied to determine the palatability of plants. Experiment was repeated with three 20-minute periods in each stage. Results indicated that the grazing was found to be mainly concentrated on Artemisia siaberi, stipa barbata, stipa causasica, Iris songarica, Eurotia ceratoides and annual plants based on spending more than 85% of the grazing time by the goat on these species. The preference value for annual plants was higher than perennial plants at the beginning of the growing season on normal and favorable conditions. According to the results of this research, the conservation and restoration of these native species in steppe range management should be considered.