engleski

The utilisation of three woody species by European mouflon in Mediterranean part of Croatia

The paper analyzes utilisation of three woody species of macchia shrubland by European mouflon: manna ash (Fraxinus ornus), crack phillyrea (Phillyrea latifolia) and laurestine (Viburnum tinus). All three species are palatable species for small ruminants in Mediterranean area. Sprout length was used as a preference criterion. The research was conducted in early June on young sprouts from the stump. All three woody species had the same number of browsed sprouts (35.02 ± 2.42% SE ; χ2 = 0.8495 ; p = 0.654). Compared to the same diameter, manna ash has longer sprouts than crack phillyrea and laurestine, and laurestine has significantly longer sprouts than crack phillyrea. The utilisation of sprouts shows a significant correlation with the diameter of the base of the sprouts, and is highest in the manna ash. Crack phillyrea has the lowest efficiency of sprouts because mouflons consume up to 34, 1 % of branches and up to 18, 2 % of stump sprouts.

preference ratio index, utilisation, manna ash, laurestine, crack phillyrea

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