Stable Isotope Analysis of Forage

Introduction

Livestock in pasture mixes of forage or legumes can choose different forage species to build their diets, meeting their nutritional needs through different ratios. However, this dietary choice can change depending on the pasture. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately represent the diet of a particular animal through pasture sampling alone when multiple species are present in the pasture. Researchers have developed several techniques to represent the diet composition of forageanimals accurately, but all have limitations, such as the number of animals required for invasive techniques and the cost of surgery. In addition, techniques for plant wax composition have been used to estimate dietary plant composition but remain challenging to use under forage conditions due to the labor-intensive requirements associated with quantifying n-alkanes or long-chain alcohols, as well as the high costs associated with sample handling. In conclusion, understanding the diet structure of pasture animals requires linking grass canopy composition to animal forage selection and forage selection to animal production performance.

Solutions

Stable isotopes can be used to estimate livestock dietary choices. As a leading global provider of forage testing services, Lifeasible offers stable isotope techniques to infer the plant composition of the diets of a wide range of pasture animals, with C and N techniques being highly sought after.

❖ Stable C isotope techniques depend on differences in C isotope accumulation in plants with different photosynthetic pathways.

❖ Stable N isotope techniques are widely used in ecological studies to establish nutritional protocols.

We offer an accurate and rapid fecal δ ¹³C method to estimate the dietary plant composition of livestock fed C₃-C₄ binary pastures. The advantages of this technique are the impact of inferring the proportion of C₃ or C₄ species in the diet on short-term intake and the ease of sample collection with minimal sample processing requirements. In addition, based on our expert team's knowledge of the differences in the response of body samples in terms of C and N stable isotope composition, we also develop plasma, red blood cells (RBCs), hair, and feces ¹⁵N and ¹³C to assess the dietary phytoconstituents of cattle fed C₃-C₄ binary pastures. We can help you easily collect these body samples for forage studies. The general process for stable isotope analysis of forages is as follows:

• Sample Collection
• Calculations
• Statistical Analysis

We aimed to accurately establish isotopic equilibrium across body samples to ensure the accuracy of predicting diet composition using stable isotopes in cattle consuming C₃-C₄ binary mix diets.

Advantages of Stable Isotope Analysis of Forages

• Compared to all other sample types evaluated, fecal δ ¹³C is suitable for estimating short-term proportions of dietary intake.
• Fecal δ ¹³C and δ ¹⁵N achieve adequate prediction of the diet composition of pasture animals.
• No additional handling equipment or trained personnel are required.
• The δ ¹³C and δ ¹⁵N of various samples collected are used as predictors of diet composition.

Lifeasible offers emerging stable isotope analysis methods to study the nutritional structure of animals in C₃-C₄ binary pastures, the ecological niche of species, and the dietary composition of animals. Working closely with mammalogists and stable isotope practitioners, we aim to facilitate the application of this expanding field in pasture animal ecology. For more information or to discuss in detail, please contact us.