Nine native leguminous shrub species: allometric regression equations and nutritive values

Abstract

Leguminous shrubs play an important role as feed for both wild and domestic herbivores, particularly in the Mediterranean ecosystems. Adenocarpus decorticans, Cytisus galianoi, Dorycnium pentaphyllum, Erinacea anthyllis, Genista cinerea, Genista scorpius, Genista umbellata, Genista versicolor and Ulex parviflorus are all native legumes of the mountains of south-eastern Spain. Here we provide the allometric regression equations (phytovolume vs total and edible browse phytomass) and the nutritive value (crude protein, dry and organic matter digestibility and metabolizable energy) obtained in this study. The correlation coefficient of the regressions equations between phytovolume and phytomass were high in all species (r2 = 0.98 to 0.65) except for Genista versicolor. Crude protein varied from 7.8 to 18.0%. The digestibility of dry and organic matter reached a maximum of 79.4 and 79.0% for Adenocarpus decorticans and a minimum of 27.7 and 24.1% for Dorycnium pentaphyllum. Metabolizable energy ranged from 11.7 to 3.6 MJ kg-1 DM. These data are useful for the management of silvopastoral ecosystems.