Alpacas protect the environment

TheAlpacas are well suited to areas where forage is limited and nutrients are highly diluted by structural carbohydrates that are difficult to digest. These features are characteristic of habitats where they are originated (Altiplano), in it there are long periods of drought during the year (usually in the year there are 4 dry months) and frequent cycles of dry years.
Under these conditions and due to the selective characteristics, low power consumption, longer retention of digesta in the digestive tract, in addition to being physiologically adapted to survive in high altitudes, the Alpacas are better adapted to benefit the poor and fibrous vegetation of mountain ecosystems (San Martin and Bryant, 1987).

The Alpacas are classified in ruminant animals, these animals have digestive properties, anatomical and functional and allow them to obtain energy from food proteins are not usable by man, thereby making it uncompetitive.
The morphological and functional characteristics are not cause for this review, however it is delivered some general descriptions of the main mechanisms of adaptation to the environment, in relation to nutrition and feeding of the CSA.
Grazing behavior

The Alpaca generally have a pattern of grazing behavior different from other species, the special characteristics such as smallness of the legs, with a footpad in a balanced way that supports an agile body and lightweight, it allows natural grasslands are not deteriorate with trampling. On the other hand to perform the grasping of the grasses do not pulling or removing vegetation as sheep, cattle and goats, but carry out a cut that best preserves the herbaceous (Bustinza, 1986).
Experimental studies have indicated that consumption of pasture, compared with the sheep, is less to maintain and make possible the production of a given unit of body. It has also been observed that when grazing in green pastures and cultivated, have no bloat, widespread in other ruminant species (Bustinza, 1985).
Alpacas prefer the wetter areas for food, eating a high proportion of leaves, which further increases in the rainy season, however the flames are a selection of tall grasses and fibrous. It is generally accepted that the preferred alpaca grazing forages that grow in wetlands and prefer shepherd called xeromorphic sectors (Raggi, 1989).

In relation to the conduct of grazing in the dry Mediterranean, now only know the background information provided by Simonetti and Fuentes (1981), who studied the effect of the guanaco in semi-captivity on the heath, by browsing behavior, compared with goats and rabbits . According to these authors, the effect on the shrub vegetation of the central area can be reflected in 2 situations, the first a process of defoliation and the second the destruction of seedlings of shrubs. The effect of removing seedlings obtained by these authors, indicates that the goat and rabbit massively eliminate shrub seedlings from mature trees located in the guanaco change would have little effect on shrub seedlings. On the other hand, consumption of shrubs by the guanaco is also low, which leads to the conclusion that the guanacos are essentially grazers and browsing behavior is not important in your relationship trophic vegetation.
Botanical composition of the diet.

The alpaca consumes mostly tall grasses in the rainy season and low grasses in the dry season (Tapia and Lazcano, 1970). Compared with sheep, alpacas select more high grasses that low. In cultivated pastures of sheep consumed 2.6 times more legumes than Alpaca, it may explain in part the fact that the Alpaca no reported instances of bloat when grazing areas with high percentages of legumes.
The caller selects the tall grasses more fibrous as compared with the alpaca and sheep. San Martin and Bryant (1987), Cardozo (1954), Franklin (1982), based on visual observations, indicate that the preferred name, rather than other ruminants, forages high and fibrous, while the alpaca shows a greater willingness to use forages that grow in wetlands. These observations on the flames targeted behaviors suggest to me that this animal is adapted to arid environments, in reviewing the current distribution of the flame in South America, we can see that most people are in the dry highlands of Bolivia (70% world population), on the other hand has seen these animals in damp soils have different pathologies (Sumar, cited by San Martin and Bryant, 1987).

When comparing the selectivity of the 3 species can be observed that sheep are the animals most selective and alpacas occupy an intermediate position between sheep and llamas (San Martín, 1987). The alpaca would be a highly adaptable animal, varying selectivity of native forage plants, according to availability. Thus, when the availability of grass is high and the availability of grass and similar plants is limited, the grasses make up the bulk of the diet. On the other hand, when the availability of grass is high, they are important constituents of the diet. Studies of complementarity between species for grazing management, suggest that the flame and sheep offered the best alternative to efficiently utilize the forage resource, while the alpaca seems to be most suitable for the use of pasture as a single animal species.
Information of the journal "Advances Vets" Univ De Chile

The guanaco, as Raedecke (1978), shows a greater use of trees and shrubs in the winter months, as the rest of the vegetation is covered by snow. Ortega (1985), Torres del Paine determined that these animals have a high preference for grass and shrub species are only consumed when the herbaceous layer is covered with snow. In short, the guanaco is not an animal expert in the selection of their diet, because in Patagonia, no pressure from other large wild herbivores. The flame on the other hand seems to be in the group of ruminants consuming forages classified as fibrous and dry. The alpaca according to their feeding behavior as an animal would rank opportunist and classified in the intermediate group of herbivores in the selection of forage, this animal is characterized by using a wide variety of vegetation types.