The Fate of Legume Seeds Eaten by Sheep from a Mediterranean Grassland

Abstract

1. The consumption of legume seed by grazing sheep was assessed in a Mediterranean grassland in north-west Syria, during the summers of 1986 and 1987. Large paddocks were also surveyed for the amount of legume seed in sheep faeces. The seed recovery of the most common legumes (Trifolium stellatum L., T. tomentosum L. and T. campestre Schreb.) was also investigated in a pen-feeding experiment, by feeding 150-200g of clover pods to each of 10 sheep in a single meal. The percentage of hard seeds was assessed before and after passage of seeds through the sheep's alimentary tract