The effect of polyethylene glycol on browsing behaviour of beef cattle in a tanniferous shrubby Mediterranean range ☆ Zalmen Henkin a,b, ⁎, Avi Perevolotsky b , Arik Rosenfeld b , Arieh Brosh c , Fred Provenza d , Nissim Silanikove e a Beef Cattle Section, Newe-Ya'ar Research Center, Department of Natural Resources, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel b Department of Natural Resources, Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center, P.O.B. 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel c Department of Animal Science, Newe-Yaar, Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center, Israel d Department of Wildland and Resources, Utah State University, Logan, USA e Department of Animal Science, Rehovot, Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center, Israel article info abstract Article history: Received 7 January 2009 Received in revised form 27 July 2009 Accepted 27 July 2009 The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) supplementation on grazing behaviour of beef cattle and on utilization of the woody components of a Mediterranean shrubland. Two experiments were conducted on two different sites in Northern Israel, Ramat Hanadiv (RH) and Hatal. On each site, the study area was divided into two paddocks, in one cattle were supplemented with 50 g PEG day -1 per cow, while the other served as a control, with no PEG supplementation. In RH site the cows had free access to Prolix and in Hatal to poultry litter, both serving as a nitrogen supplement during the experiment. In the RH site, the consumption of Pistacia lentiscus, a shrub whose leaves contain high concentration of tannins, was found higher (P =0.001) in the PEG group diet than in the control group. In Hatal site PEG increased foraging time by 18%, daily foraging distance by 15% and reduced the use of supplementary feed (poultry litter) by 20%. However, PEG did not affect the average cow body weight or water consumption on either site. It is concluded that PEG influences grazing behaviour of beef cattle on shrubby rangeland and increases the use of woody species with high tannin concentrations. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Alkane analysis Calicotome villosa Condensed tannins Grazing management Mediterranean rangeland Phillyrea latifolia Pistacia lentiscus Quercus calliprinos 1. Introduction Livestock has been raised on woodlands and scrublands in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Basin for centu- ries, a practice that utilized the predominantly woody vegeta- tion effectively and maintained an open landscape. Small ruminants, especially goats, can use the vegetation efficiently (Tsiouvaras et al., 1989; Magadlela et al., 1995), but socio- economic factors have caused a significant reduction in small ruminant populations in the more developed Mediterranean countries (Seligman and Perevolotsky, 1994). In Israel, for example, the number of goats raised in the Mediterranean region during the 1990s (ca. 60,000) was only about 20% of the goat population of the 1930s (Landau et al., 1995) and the numbers did not change till these days (2008). Unpopularity of goat herding as a vocation, poor economic conditions and lack of support for goat husbandry following the Israeli anti-goat legislation in the 1960s have hastened the decline. Recently, however, rangeland managers and conservation authorities have become aware of the severe ecological problems created by the decline of grazing pressure in general and of that exerted by goats, in particular (White and Wadsworth, 1994). Uncontrolled shrub encroachment has produced dense stands in which wildlife is sparse, the fire hazard is high and the amenity value is low. Herbicides are virtually ruled out as a means to decrease the shrub cover, because of their high economic and environmental Livestock Science 126 (2009) 245–251 ☆ Research was funded by a contribution from the Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel, 106/2009. ⁎ Corresponding author. Beef Cattle Section, Newe-Ya'ar Research Center, Department of Natural Resources, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. Tel.: +972 4 9539559; fax: +972 4 9836936. E-mail address: henkinz@volcani.agri.gov.il (Z. Henkin). 1871-1413/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2009.07.008 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Livestock Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/livsci