For an adequate management of natural grasslands, the knowledge and understanding of the dietary habits of herbivores and their trophic interactions are fundamental. During two summer seasons, in a mountain range of a sector of the Coquimbo Region, Chile, the botanical composition, diversity, and similarity of the diets of horses, European brown hares, and guanacos were studied, as was the selectivity of the main grassland plant species, using feces microhistology. The contribution of hydromorphic grasses was similar in the diets of guanacos (35.90 ± 7.27%) and horses (32.25 ± 4.50%), differing from that found in hares (16.32 ± 5.32%). Dryland grassland grasses contributed similarly to the diets of horses (13.21 ± 3.22%), guanacos (22.53 ± 5.21%) and hares (18.35 ± 3.81%), as well as graminoids, which averaged 47.79 ± 6.66%, 35.63 ± 10.76% and 38.94 ± 7.88%, in diets of horses, guanacos, and hares, respectively, without significant differences. The contribution of herbaceous dicotyledons was only important in hares (23.76 ± 3.76%), while that of shrubs was low (<3%) and similar among the three herbivores. Dietary diversity was similar among the three herbivore species (73–79%), with a higher degree of dietary overlap between horses and guanacos (55.7%), which was higher than that obtained between hares and guanacos (50%) and between horses and hares (48%), for which there would be a potential trophic competition between them. The most abundant species of dryland and wet grasslands generally fulfill a functional role of subsistence and a nutritional role of maintenance; however, for the three herbivores studied, a different selective behavior was evidenced, according to their physiological differences, with the selection process little affected by the relative abundance of these species in the grasslands. Due to the above, herbivores resort to the selection of certain species that, despite being not very abundant in grasslands, play an important nutritional and functional role, improving the quality of their diets.

中文翻译：

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智利科金博地区高安第斯山脉的夏季马匹（Equus ferus caballus Linn。），瓜纳科斯（Lama guanicoeMüller）和欧洲棕兔（Lepus europaeus Pallas）的夏季饮食

为了对天然草地进行适当的管理，对食草动物的饮食习惯及其营养相互作用的知识和了解是至关重要的。在两个夏季，在智利科金博地区的一个山脉中，研究了马，欧洲棕兔和鬣蜥的饮食的植物组成，多样性和相似性，以及主要草原的选择性植物种类，利用粪便的显微组织学。骆驼（35.90±7.27％）和马（32.25±4.50％）的饮食中，水形草的贡献相似，与野兔（16.32±5.32％）的饮食不同。旱地草地草对马（13.21±3.22％），骆马角（22.53±5.21％）和野兔（18.35±3.81％）以及类葛粉的饮食贡献相似，平均分别为47.79±6.66％，35.63±10.76％和38。分别在马，骆马和野兔的饮食中为94±7.88％，无显着差异。草本双子叶植物的贡献仅在兔子中很重要（23.76±3.76％），而灌木的贡献较低（<3％），在三个草食动物中相似。三种草食动物之间的饮食多样性相似（73-79％），马和骆驼科动物之间的饮食重叠程度更高（55.7％），高于野兔和骆马between之间（50％）以及马和骆驼属之间的饮食重叠程度。野兔（48％），它们之间可能会有营养竞赛。旱地和湿地草原上最丰富的物种通常起维持生计的功能性作用和维持营养的作用；但是，对于所研究的三种草食动物，证明了不同的选择性行为，根据它们的生理差异，选择过程几乎不受草原上这些物种的相对丰度的影响。由于上述原因，草食动物选择了某些物种，尽管这些物种在草原上不是很丰富，但仍起着重要的营养和功能作用，从而改善了它们的饮食质量。