Herbivore Nutrition in the Subtropics and Tropics

Herbivores could potentially play a far greater role in the subtropics and tropics as converters of the abundant plant material into highly nutritious foodstuffs for human consumption. Although nearly half the world's rangelands occur, and half the domestic herbivores live, between latitudes of 30°N and 30'S, these regions nevertheless have a chronic shortage of food of animal origin. Many species of wild and domestic herbivores have adapted to the existing climatic conditions, but their productivity is limited by low intake of the poor-quality feed from natural vegetation, by heat stress, and by other environmental factors. Furthermore, there is a lack of adequate scientific knowledge applicable to the particular conditions in which these animals must live and produce. Nutritional problems concerning Herbivores could potentially play a far greater role in the subtropics and tropics as converters of the abundant plant material into highly nutritious foodstuffs for human consumption. Herbivores in the subtropics and tropics differ from those in temperate regions, and scientific knowledge, which has vastly improved the productivity of ruminants in temperate zones, can seldom be successfully applied to herbivores in tropical zones. For this reason, in Herbivore Nutrition in the Subtropics and Tropics, emphasis has been placed on problems encountered with herbivores in these regions, as well as on basic research required for their solution.