Here is a paragraph from a passage talking about feeding habits of east african herbivores:
When biologist Richard Bell and his colleagues analyzed the stomach
contents of four of the five species (they did not study buffalo),
they found that each species was living on a different part of the
[1] vegetation. The different vegetational parts differ in their food
[2] qualities: [3] lower down, there are succulent, nutritious leaves; [3] higher
up are the harder stems. There are also sparsely distributed, highly
nutritious fruits, and Bell found that only the Thomson’s gazelles eat
much of these.What are the contextual meanings of the words/phrases that are in bold?
I think that [1]vegetation means “plant”. But I didn’t understand the others.
Answer
Vegetation – In this case the plants growing in the immediate area and, therefore, available to the herbivores as food.
Qualities – The characteristics of the food. H!ow much fibre it has in it, how hard (or soft) it is, how juicy it is, what nutrients it contains and so on.
Lower down & higher up – Lower down means closer to the ground, higher up means further from the ground. The same would apply to mountains (lower down the slopes are covered in thick forest, higher up there are open slopes and glaciers).
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : ammar , Answer Author : BoldBen
