Production and nutritive value of forage in grasslands at different altitudinal zones of Epirus and Thessaly regions

Grasslands are valuable and of vital importance areas for the future of livestock breeding in Greece. In this paper, the results of a research conducted in 2008 in four different grassland ecosystems of Epirus and Thessaly, concerning botanical composition, dry matter production, chemical composition and digestibility of forage are presented. Grasslands were located on four (4) altitudinal zones, that is: a) low elevation zone (2 areas), b) middle elevation zone and c) high elevation zone. A total of sixteen (16) grazing exclosures were established, four plots (4) in every zone. The results show that a) grasses were the dominant species in all altitudinal zones, b) the highest forage production was found in the low elevation zone grasslands of Epirus with 351.0 g/m2, whereas the lowest forage production in high elevation zone grasslands with 211.8 g/m2, c) vegetation of the high elevation zone grasslands contained the highest amount of crude protein (16,31%), whereas the low elevation zone grasslands contain the smallest amount (11,91%), d) the fiber content of forage was higher in the low elevation grasslands I and II (57,15% and 62,30%, respectively) than in high elevation zone grasslands (49,38%), and e) the in vitro digestibility of forage was greater in the high elevation zone (0,783) than in the low elevation zone of Thessaly (0,618).