A Comparison of Red Grouse (Lagopus L. scoticus) Stocks with the Production and Nutritive Value of Heather (Calluna vulgaris)

10.2307/2741 ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Moss
Keyword(s):  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Red Grouse

The nutritive value of Calluna vulgaris II. A preliminary study of digestibility

1953 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Armstrong ◽  
Brynmor Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Protein Digestibility ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Conventional Procedure ◽  
Future Work

1. Earlier work on the digestibility of Calluna vulgaris has been briefly reviewed.2. Determination of the digestibility of heather has been made by two methods, viz. (a) the conventional procedure involving the use of metabolism crates and (b) the lignin-ratio technique applied to tethered sheep.3. A diet consisting of heather alone, and fed in metabolism crates, proved unsatisfactory as a result of low feed intake. Agreement between duplicate sheep in respect of digestive capacity was also poor.4. Satisfactory feed intakes were attained when heather was admixed at levels of 40 and 70% with hay. At both levels the digestibility of the organic matter was approximately the same, and agreement between sheep was good except for crude protein.5. The lignin-ratio technique applied to tethered sheep gave digestibility coefficients for organic matter which were consistent with those obtained by the conventional method; the values for crude protein were somewhat higher. While the organic matter of 10-year-old heather was digested to about the same extent as that of 4-year-old heather, its crude protein digestibility was rather less.6. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods have been discussed; it has been concluded that the lignin-ratio technique is likely to play a useful part in future work of this kind.7. These preliminary results suggest that heather has a higher nutritive value than earlier work would indicate, and that even the winter foliage may compare favourably with hay of moderate to poor quality.

The nutritive value of Calluna Vulgaris: III. Digestibility at four and ten years after burning

1954 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brynmor Thomas ◽  
Allan N. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Crude Protein ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Unit Weight ◽  
Crude Fibre ◽  
Medium Quality ◽  
Effect Of Age

1. The necessity for further information on the digestibility of heather, with particular reference to the effect of age, has been discussed.2. The digestibility of well-defined samples of heather of 4 and 10 years of age has been determined.3. Four-year-old Blackface wethers in crates were fed diets containing 50% of heather and 50% of medium-quality meadow hay.4. The younger sample of heather was found to have appreciably higher digestibility coefficients for all nutritive constituents other than crude fibre.5. Agreement between duplicate sheep in respect of their capacity to digest crude protein was found to be good, and faecal metabolic nitrogen outputs were similar.6. Faecal metabolic nitrogen output was inversely related to the percentage of heather contained in the diet. No relationship between faecal metabolic nitrogen and bulk, as measured on a basis of volume per unit weight, could be established.7. It has been concluded that heather, though inferior as a source of protein, provides rather more energy than a poor-quality meadow hay, and is thus of value as a winter feed.

Strategies for nematode transmission: selective migration of Trichostrongylus tenuis infective larvae

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.M. Saunders ◽  
D.M. Tompkins ◽  
P.J. Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Nematode Species ◽  
Food Plant ◽  
Red Grouse ◽  
Selective Migration ◽  
Infective Larvae ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
General Response ◽  
Trichostrongylus Tenuis ◽  
Nematode Transmission

Successful transmission of macroparasites is dependent on exposure of susceptible hosts to free-living infective stages. When these hosts are herbivores that feed mostly on a single food plant then natural selection should favour those infective larvae that selectively ascend this main food plant. Red grouse feed predominantly on heather,Calluna vulgaris, so we predict that the infective larvae (L3) of the caecal nematodeTrichostrongylus tenuisselectively locate and ascend heather plants. To determine whether the presence of heather influences the horizontal dispersal ofT. tenuisL3 across soil, the movement of L3 across trays of soil with and without heather was investigated in the laboratory. MoreT. tenuisL3 were recovered from soil when heather was present, implying that larval migration may be influenced by chemical cues produced by heather plants. This was investigated in a second experiment, in which the horizontal dispersal ofT. tenuislarvae was examined in the presence of heather and grass vegetation. This trial was repeated with larvae of a second species,Haemonchus contortus, a nematode whose hosts feed on a wide range of grass and shrub species. Significantly more larvae of both nematode species were recovered in the region of the heather than the grass or controls. This implies thatT. tenuisandH. contortusL3 exhibit selective migration towards heather, perhaps reflecting a general response to plant cues which may be stronger for heather than for grass.

scholarly journals Population responses of Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica to expansion of heather Calluna vulgaris cover on a Scottish grouse moor

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja C. Ludwig ◽  
Nicholas J. Aebischer ◽  
Damian Bubb ◽  
Michael Richardson ◽  
Staffan Roos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Red Grouse ◽  
Lagopus Lagopus ◽  
Population Responses

The nutritive value of calluna vulgaris IV. Digestibility at three, seven and fourteen years after burning

1956 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan N. Smith ◽  
Brynmor Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Experimental Technique ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Crude Fibre ◽  
Digestible Energy

1. The digestibility of samples of heather of 3, 7 and 14 years of age has been determined.2. The experimental technique was the same as that used in the previous digestibility studies of heather.3. The digestibility of the organic matter, and of all its components other than crude fibre and ether extractives, was found to decline with advancing age. This decline became apparent in heather of 7 years of age.4. Gross digestible energy values were determined for the three ages of heather under investigation. Starch equivalents derived from these values proved to be lower than starch equivalents calculated in the usual way.5. Confirmation of earlier conclusions concerning the value of heather as a source of energy has been obtained.

The dynamics of nematode transmission in the red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus) : studies on the recovery of Trichostrongylus tenuis larvae from vegetation

1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.M. Saunders ◽  
D.M. Tompkins ◽  
P.J. Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Control Plant ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Red Grouse ◽  
Infective Larvae ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
Lagopus Lagopus Scoticus ◽  
Trichostrongylus Tenuis ◽  
Nematode Transmission ◽  
Larval Recovery

Attempts to recover the infective third-stage larvae of Trichostrongylus tenuis from heather (Calluna vulgaris) vegetation in the field are rarely successful because the larvae may be: (i) concealed within heather leaflets; (ii) concentrated in dew droplets which are lost from the plants upon sampling; or (iii) simply highly aggregated in the field. Heather plants were exposed to T. tenuis larvae in the laboratory and kept under suitable conditions for larval migration. Few larvae were found in dew droplets or concealed within heather leaflets; most larvae were recovered from the plant surface. This suggests that the low larval recovery from vegetation in the field simply reflects a highly aggregated distribution of few larvae. In a second experiment, the efficiency with which infective larvae migrate up the structurally complex heather plants was compared with migration up two control plant species with simpler structures: a monocotyledon, wheat, and a dicotyledon, hebe. After constant exposure, significantly more larvae were recovered from heather than from either of the control plants. This implies that the structural complexity of heather causes no problems for the infective larvae.

The effects of season and age of stand on the nutritive value of heather (Calluna vulgaris, L. Hull) to sheep

1974 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Milne
Keyword(s):  
Flower Development ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Plasma Urea ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
Negative Balance ◽  
Mature Stands ◽  
Dietary Origin ◽  
Male Sheep

SUMMARYIn two experiments frozen heather (Calluna vulgaris, L. Hull), which contained 85–90% of the current season's shoots, was offered ad libitum to castrated male sheep. In one experiment, heather harvested in July, September, November and March was offered to six sheep per harvest, D.M. digestibility fell from 55.9% in July to 41.9% in March, with the greatest decline occurring after flower development in August. There were no significant changes with season in voluntary intakes, which were low, ranging from 29 to 39 g D.M./kg W0.75/day. Apart from the July harvest, intakes of digestible D.M. were insufficient to maintain the sheep. The apparent digestibility of N(14·3–42·2%) and plasma urea N values (5–6 mg/100 ml) were low and undigested N of dietary origin in the faeces was high (25–45%). Sheep offered the September, November and March harvests were in considerable negative apparent balances of N and it was calculated that the sheep were in a negative balance of truly digested N. In a second ex-periment, heather harvested in August from pioneer, building and mature stands was offered to six sheep per harvest. There were no significant differences between stands in voluntary intake and digestibility.

Behavioural responses of Trichostrongylus tenuis (Cobbold) larvae in relation to their transmission to the red grouse, Lagopus Iagopus scoticus

1984 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon E. McGladdery
Keyword(s):  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Red Grouse ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
Trichostrongylus Tenuis ◽  
Phototactic Behaviour

ABSTRACTThird-stage larvae of Trichostrongylus tenuis, the caccal threadworm of red grouse, show strong positive phototactic behaviour which is reinforced by negative geotactic behaviour. The surfaces of various grouse food plants were examined and those of young Calluna vulgaris (common heather) were suitable for ncmatodc migration. Transmission is probably achieved by third-stage larvae of 71 tenuis migrating up young heather plants, rather than by direct ingestion with grit from the ground.

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