TABLE 1.

Characteristics of chemical and microbial composition of fresh Elymus nutans before ensiling.

	Site2					P-value
Item1	TZ (2965 m)	GL (3763 m)	DX (4228 m)	NQ (4752 m)	SEM3	Linear	Quadratic
pH	6.29b	6.27b	6.25b	6.66a	0.06	<0.001	<0.001
DM (g/kg)	305.1b	292.1c	307.7b	317a	3.31	0.001	<0.001
WSC (g/kg DM)	63.9c	62.9c	86.9b	95.4a	5.38	<0.001	0.062
CP (g/kg DM)	75.1c	103.2b	106.8b	127.8a	6.93	<0.001	0.113
NDF (g/kg DM)	624.8b	652.6a	586.8c	572.2d	11.94	<0.001	<0.001
ADF (g/kg DM)	412.2a	351.2b	335.8c	333.9c	12.20	<0.001	<0.084
LAB (log cfu/g FM)	5.48c	7.34a	6.05b	7.38a	0.31	<0.001	0.001
Yeasts (log cfu/g FM)	6.47a	5.78b	6.66a	5.00c	0.23	<0.001	0.002
Molds (log cfu/g FM)	3.48b	3.60b	3.30c	3.78a	0.07	0.037	0.009

^a−cMeans within a row without a common superscript letter differ. ¹DM, dry matter; WSC, water-soluble carbohydrate; CP, crude protein; NDF, neutral detergent fiber (NDF assayed with a heat stable amylase and expressed inclusive of residual ash); ADF, acid detergent fiber; LAB, lactic acid bacteria. ²TZ, samples from grassland of Tianzhu County; GL, samples from grassland of Golog Prefecture; DX, samples from grassland of Damxung County; NQ, samples from grassland of Nagqu Prefecture. ³SEM, error of the means.