Our Department
The Department for "Animal Nutrition and Rangeland Management in the Tropics and Subtropics" conducts research at animal, system and landscape level with the main aim of enhancing the resource-use efficiency and ecological sustainability of forage-based livestock production. While nutritional effects on the protein and carbohydrate fermentation and the efficiency of rumen microbial growth in the fore-stomachs of ruminants are studied in in vitro and in vivo experiments, on-farm studies explore the role of livestock in integrated and/or pastoral agroecosystems. Environmental and management impacts on the feeding behavior of herbivores and the yield and composition of the pasture vegetation are analyzed in grazing experiments to understand possible plant-animal interactions. Research of the working group combines innovative analytical methods, modeling tools, and non-invasive sensor and marker techniques and currently focuses on farming systems of East Africa and South America.
