TABLE 1.

Alpha-diversity indices for species richness, abundance, and population diversity in the rumen epimural population in diets with increasing levels of high-quality hay^a

Index	Results by diet				SEM	P valueb
	CON	60HQH	75HQH	100HQH
Observed OTUs	729	676	693	640	69.3	0.75
Chao1	993	893	986	897	67.6	0.48
Simpson index	0.97 A	0.92 B	0.91 B	0.89 B	0.016	0.003
Shannon index	6.95 A	6.18 B	6.07 B	5.70 B	0.268	0.004

^aTreatments include control (CON), 60% high-quality hay (60HQH), 75% high-quality hay (75HQH), and 100% high-quality hay (100HQH). Values are the least square means, and means with different letters in a row are significantly different.

^bP value is an adjusted Tukey HSD value.