Determination of Mineral Elements in Different Phonological Stage for Two Rangeland Species in Yazd Province Rangelands

In this study, indices of some nutritional elements, namely calcium, magnesium, and sodium in the vegetative and flowering phonological stages for two species Agropyrum intermedium, Scariola orientalis as the dominant types of the studied area were measured. At least10 plants were randomly selected for each sample. Plant samples from1cm above the soil surface, including leaves and stems in the vegetative stage as well as leaves, stems, and flowers were clipped at the flowering stage. At each stage, three replicates of each sample (at least 10 plants per replication) and from each species 2 kilograms were clipped and then dried in laboratory conditions. The samples were then analyzed to determine the species metal ions. Duncan’s test using SAS software was run to analyze the data, which showed that in samples calcium, magnesium and sodium increased more significantly in the vegetative stage than in the flowering stage. The results indicated that determining the nutrient content of forage, detecting the nutrients imbalance, and timing the animals grazing can improve animal nutrition in rangelands and support valuable rangeland plants. Moreover, adding supplements to rangelands and forage can compensate for mineral elements deficiency.