Browsing (herbivory)

White-tailed deer browsing on leaves in Enderby, British Columbia

Browsing is a type of herbivory in which a herbivore (or, more narrowly defined, a folivore) feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high-growing, generally woody plants such as shrubs.[1] This is contrasted with grazing, usually associated with animals feeding on grass or other lower vegetations. Alternatively, grazers are animals eating mainly grass, and browsers are animals eating mainly non-grasses, which include both woody and herbaceous dicots. In either case, an example of this dichotomy are goats (which are primarily browsers) and sheep (which are primarily grazers).[2]

  1. ^ Chapman, J.L. and Reiss, M.J., Ecology: Principles and Applications. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999. p. 304. (via Google books, Feb 25, 2008)
  2. ^ Houston, Sarah BrownSarah Phylis BrownOrigin; Articles, TexasEducation: Master of Fine Arts| University of Massachusetts Amherst She also has Certificate in Statistical Applications She has written numerous; Posts, Blog; Articles; Descriptions, Product; Reviews, Product; Ghost; Fiction; Kenya, Scripts She has led a team of experts in establishing the impacts of subsidized sewerage connections in rural slums in (2019-04-26). "Difference Between Browser and Grazer". Difference Between. Retrieved 2024-04-13.