Evaluating Animal Forage Preference

Abstract

Four relative preference indices were used to rank sheep preference for twelve plant species in a tall-forb community of a summer range in southwestern Montana. Ranking of preference values for the plant species was different by all four indices. Frequency measurements of plant species both in the diet and on the range were found useful in interpreting forage preference. Diet frequency values measure consistency of intake while range frequency values measure plant distribution within a community. These values when incorporated into a relative preference index increase its sensitivity, but do not substitute for measurements of diet composition or forage availability on the rangeland studied.