This experiment was conduced on a three ha lowland area formed by Lolium multiflorum Lam and Trifolium repens L. species and located at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). The objective of this work was to study diet selection by grazing cattle under different treatments (P and K fertilizer levels) and time of the year. The experiment design was a randomized complete block with two replications. The grazing was continuous with fixed animal number and variable grazing pressure. During winter, spring and summer of 1999/00 diet botanical composition was determined by microhistological analysis of feces by identification of leaf epidermis of L. multiflorum Lam, T. repens L., Paspalum urvillei Steud, Setaria geniculata (Lam) Beauv and Echinochloa spp. and results compared by randomization. Diet botanical composition was not affect by the treatments applied on the pasture (P=0.87), but sampling times had a significant effect on selection (P=0.03). Although management had a negative effect on native plants, these species were also selected by the grazing animals, been an important component of the diet.
animal diet; selective grazing; micro histological; lowland agriculture; Lolium multiflorum Lam; Trifolium repens L.
