干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Certain geomorpholigical situations in the Sahara are favourable to the development and survival of spontaneous plants that are characteristic and well adapted to the climatic hazards of the desert. These plants of the Sahara rangelands contribute to the feeding of the dromedaries. The nutritional value of 21 spontaneous perennial species of the Algerian Sahara rangelands was studied. Their chemical composition is characterized by a large content of cell-wall constituents and crude fibre and a small content of crude protein and tannins. The in vitro digestibility ranges from 27 to 81% of the DM. A great variability is observed among species, according to the different ecotypes and edaphic conditions. Remarkably, the species most appreciated by the domedaries appear to be those with rather large contents of cell-wall constituents, and have low crude protein contents and a low digestibility : with dromedaries, palatability seems to be linked to factors not accounted for in this study