Foraging Behavior in Grazing Animals and Its Impact on Plant Communities

This chapter presents information from a range of sources to show the developing understanding of the factors influencing forage intake and diet composition in grazing animals, and the impact of these animals on the plant communities on which they depend. Biting rate and grazing time are often regarded as the primary compensating responses of the animal to limitations in intake per bite. The influence of sward canopy structure on the assessment of selective grazing has been a matter of contention for some time, with particular reference to the vertical and horizontal distribution of plant components and the interpretation of differences in the botanical composition of sward and diet. Models of tissue dynamics provide the basis for projecting the impact of grazing on pasture production and, if they can accommodate species differences in the dynamics of response to defoliation, may be appropriate for modelling aspects of community change.