ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the primary chemistry of grasses and how structural and functional processes in the plant influence nutrient availability; emphasis is on vertebrate herbivores. Forage quality is a general term that characterizes the ability of an animal to extract essential nutrients from plants. As such, quality becomes a function of both the animal and the plant. The ultimate evaluation of forage quality is its ability to sustain animal life processes. Plants provide different amounts of nutrients to different organisms. Nutrient availability to an animal is dependent on the ability of the animal to locate, ingest, and utilize the dry matter in the plant. Variables of importance are: mobility, anatomy of mouth parts, and the digestive system. Forage quality is a function of four primary factors, phylogenetic origin, anatomy, and photosynthetic pathway, proportion of various plant parts, phenological stage of plant development, and conditions of growth.
