|
Common name |
Latin name |
Information |
Source |
|
Common Bent-grass |
Agrostis capillaris |
Low Calcium concentrations |
Grime, Hodgeson and Hunt (1990) |
|
Sweet Vernal Grass |
Anthoxanthum odoratum |
Thought to be relatively unpalatable but was formerly included in commercial seed mixtures and is preferred by stock to species such as Festuca ovina, despite the presence of coumarin |
Grime, Hodgeson and Hunt, (1990) |
|
Wood False-brome |
Brachypodium sylvaticum |
A highly unpalatable species |
Crofts and Jefferson (1999) |
|
Cock's-foot |
Dactylis glomerata |
Pasture grass, so relatively palatable? |
n/a |
|
Tufted Hair-grass |
Deschampsia cespitosa |
The coarse leaves have a high silica content, and mature leaves are usually avoided by herbivores. As a result, D. cespitosa may thrive as a weed of lowland cattle pasture. However, young foliage may be eaten by horses and rabbits, and in upland areas, where leaves tend to have less silica, the species is grazed freely by cattle, sheep and deer. |
Grime, Hodgeson and Hunt, (1990) |
|
Wavy Hair-grass |
Deschampsia flexuosa |
Leaves contain low amounts of N and P. Eaten by sheep and rabbits |
Grime, Hodgeson and Hunt, (1990) |
|
Sheep's Fescue |
Festuca ovina |
Less palatable than some of the other pasture grasses with which it occurs. Grazed extensively by sheep |
Grime, Hodgeson and Hunt, (1990) |
|
Yorkshire Fog |
Holcus lanatus |
Sign of improved pasture |
The management of unimproved lowland grassland for nature conservation - Information and Advisory Note Number 11 |
|
Yorkshire Fog |
Holcus lanatus |
Yorkshire fog has been considered a weed in lowland ryegrass swards because of its low palatability to grazing animals once it begins to flower but there is some disagreement about this (Watt, 1978; Tansley, 1949). It tends to be less digestible than perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne (Wilman & Riley, 1993). In drier pasture the plant is hairy and animals avoid it (Morse & Palmer, 1925). In damp pastures, however, it is smoother and is eaten by cattle without objection. Yorkshire fog has been used for land stabilisation and for sheep grazing on soils of low nutrient status (Thompson & Turkington, 1988). Young shoots are readily eaten by stock, digestibility is good and mineral status relatively high but the dry matter content is low |
The biology and non-chemical control of Yorkshire fog (Link to external site) |
|
Creeping Soft-grass |
Holcus mollis |
Does not persist in heavily grazed pasture, as its few robust shoot stems are eaten more quickly than they are replaced |
Grime, Hodgeson and Hunt, (1990) |
|
Purple Moor-grass |
Molinia caerulea |
Tolerant of grazing. Grazing value intermediate between that of Agrostis-Festuca grasslands and impoverished Nardus grasslands. Leaves are deciduous but new growth, fuelled by below-ground carbohydrate reserves, begins in April or May |
Grime, Hodgeson and Hunt, (1990) |
|
Purple Moor-grass |
Molinia caerulea |
Dry matter digestibility reasonably high in late spring/early summer, then declines |
Grant and Campbell (1978) |
|
Purple Moor-grass |
Molinia caerulea |
Usually little grazed |
Torvell, Common and Grant (1988) |
|
Mosses |
Mosses |
Grazing avoidance strategy: have virtually no nutritional value |
Colin Legg, personal communication |
|
Blaeberry, Billberry |
Vaccinium myrtillus |
It was found that the sheep consistently chose to graze the blaeberry swards much more heavily in Autumn than the rest of the year |
Welch (1998) |
|
Greater Wood-rush |
Luzula sylvatica |
Moderately good in vitro digestibility, phenolic compounds not found |
Odeyinka (2006) |
|
Bracken |
Pteridium aquilinum |
Green bracken is toxic to grazing animals |
MacDonald et al (1998) |
Additional information
- Unpalatable species are sometimes taken depending partly on what else is available, on the stage of plant growth, and on how intimately mixed the unpalatable plants are with more palatable species. The apparency of plants is important. Where a plant of a more palatable species is growing within dense cover of less palatable species it often gains a degree of protection, and vice versa. MacDonald et al (1998).
- Experts ranked species in descending degrees of palatability as follows: Agrostis sp.> Festuca ovina > Deschampsia flexuosa & Anthoxanthum odoratum > Vaccinium myrtillus > mosses. Pollock et al (2007).
- Vaccinium myrtillus is preferred to Deschampsia flexuosa. R. Thompson (pers. com)
- Geranium sylvaticum, Hedera helix, Lonicera periclymenum, Luzula sylvatica and Rubus fruticosus are more palatable than Oxalis acetosella and Hyacinthoides non-scripta. MacDonald et al (1998).
- Very occasionally young bracken fronds are eaten by cattle, apparently with no ill-effect. B. Black (pers. comm)
References
- Crofts, A. and Jefferson, R.G. (eds) (1999) Lowland Grassland Management Handbook. English Nature. 2nd Edition. (Chapter 5, page 10),
- Grime, J.P., Hodgson, J.G. and Hunt, R. (1990) Comparative plant ecology. A functional approach to common British species. Unwin Hyman Ltd.
- Grant, S. A. and D. R. Campbell (1978) Seasonal variation in in vitro digestibility and structural carbohydrate content of some commonly grazed plants of blanket bog. Journal of the British Grassland Society 33: 167-173.
- MacDonald, A.M., Stevens, P., Armstrong, H.M, Immirzi, P. & Reynolds, P. (1998). A Guide to Upland Habitats. Surveying Land Management Impacts. Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby.
- Odeyinka, S.M., Hector, B.L. and Orskov, E.R. (2006) Nutritive evaluation of some trees and browse species from Scotland. European Journal of Scientific Resear: 14, 311-318.
- Pollock, M. L., Legg, C. J., Holland, J.P., and Theobald, C.M. (2007) Assessment of expert opinion: seasonal sheep preference and plant response to grazing. Rangeland Ecology and Management, 60: 125-135
- Torvell, L., Common,T. G. and Grant, S.A. (1988) Seasonal patterns of tissue flow and responses of Molinia to defoliation. In: Usher, M.B., Thompson, D.B.A. (Eds). Ecological Change in the Uplands. Special publications series of the British Ecological Society, 7, 219-222.
- Welch, D. (1998) Response of bilberry Vacinium myrtillus L. stands in the Derbyshire Peak District to sheep grazing, and implications for moorland conservation. Biological Conservation 83(2): 155-164.