Toxic Plants Affecting Grazing Cattle in Colombia

摘要

Plant biodiversity in Colombia is very high, comprising about 25,000 species of vascular plants, both native and naturalized. This biodiversity corresponds to about 8% of the total vascular plants on earth, which makes the country the second largest in plant biodiversity in the world. The impact of toxic plants on Colombian livestock has not been fully evaluated, although it is estimated that more than 40 million ha of the country are used for livestock production of which 26 million ha are for bovines. Colombia is counted amongst the ten largest countries in the world in terms of cattle production. However, livestock production is mostly extensive with a very low population of animals kept under intensive production systems. Conservative estimatesindicate that in Colombia, toxic plants cause an annual mortality rate of about 0.5% (Pefta et al. 1980) which is equivalent to about 130,000 cattle/year. The present review describes a selection of the most important native and introduced toxic plants that affect grazing cattle in Colombia.