Comparison of grazing behaviour, dietary overlap and performance in non-lactating domestic ruminants grazing on marginal heathland areas

Celaya, R.; Oliván, Mamen; Ferreira, L. M. M.; Martínez, A.; García, U.; Osoro, K.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2006.08.013

Cited by 77 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…A reduction in sheep numbers is often recommended [3,7,34]. Additional recommendations include sheep exclusion from severely damaged areas until vegetation has recovered [8,54], cutting thrice-yearly of undamaged, but arguably undergrazed, Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench-dominant areas to promote recovery by Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull [47] and mixed grazing of cattle or goats with sheep [10,33]. However, cutting would not be a practical option on a site such as that studied with deep peats and steep slopes prohibiting tractor access, and grazing cattle would need to be restricted to periods when water levels are low to minimise poaching by heavier animals.…”

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Williams¹,

Walls²,

Walsh³

et al. 2009

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Athenry, Co. Galway, 2 Applied Ecology Unit, Centre for Environmental Science, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland (phone: +353-91-492294; fax: +353-91-494598) Abstract. Irish and UK uplands and peatlands are of international importance but are under threat from several factors, including heavy grazing pressure. Sheep preferentially graze patches of acid grassland with short dense swards, sometimes referred to as 'grazing lawns', and have been implicated in damage to uplands. The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of resource selection by grazers to further inform the design and implementation of conservation strategies. Grazing lawn frequency and habitat condition were mapped and GPS collars were used to track Scottish Blackface sheep on a hill farm in Ireland. Weighted compositional analysis (multivariate analysis of variance) was used to test for random use of different categories of grazing lawn frequency and habitat condition. Grazing lawn frequency was spatially uneven and habitat condition ranged from undamaged to very severely damaged areas. Typically, selection of differing categories of habitat condition was not significant (P>0.05), although the highest selection rank was consistently for the 'moderate-undamaged' category. Sheep most selected 1 ha grid squares containing numerous/extensive grazing lawns (P<0.05) day, night and yearround. As a simple, efficient indicator of hill use by sheep, which would be a valuable input in models predicting grazing impact on hill vegetation, the mapping of grazing lawn frequency is suggested. Keywords: agriculture; ecology; environment; resource management; resource selection IntroductionIrish and UK uplands and peatlands are of international importance due to the limited global distribution of the habitats, plant communities and fauna they support [9,56]. Many of these habitats and associated species are protected under the EC Habitats (92/43/EEC) and Birds (79/409/EEC) Directives [21], and are included in biodiversity action plans [16,37] and agri-environment scheme measures [14,49]. Despite this, the quality of remaining upland and peatland continues to be under threat from heavy grazing pressure, burning, afforestation, peat extraction, undergrazing and/or land abandonment [22,48,56,57].Damage in this study refers to habitat conditions which fail to meet biological conservation objectives. While habitats are affected by natural phenomena such as topography [24] and wind-driven rain [11], management practices including grazing [55] play a key role in habitat condition and can be altered. Therefore, the focus of this study is on grazer behaviour as grazing is the predominant management practice on

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Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Williams¹,

Walls²,

Walsh³

et al. 2009

Appl Ecol Env Res

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“…From the literature, there are many data on the grazing behaviour of cattle, sheep and goats in the temperate (e.g. Celaya et al, 2007) and tropical zones (e.g. Schlecht et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency to reach age of puberty and behaviour of buffalo heifers (Bubalus bubalis) kept on pasture or in confinement

Sabia¹,

Napolitano

Rosa

et al. 2014

Animal

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In order to evaluate the influence of rearing system (free-ranging (FR) v. confinement (C)) on buffalo heifer efficiency to reach age of puberty and on behavioural and immune functions, two experiments were conducted from September 2010 to October 2011. In Experiment I, 32 subjects aged 8 to 9 months at the start of experiment were used. A total of 16 animals (group C) were group housed in an indoor slatted floor pen (4 m 2 /animal) with an outdoor paddock (4 m 2 /animal); 16 others grazed on a Mediterranean natural pasture of 40 ha (group FR). Behavioural data were collected and organic matter digestibility, blood metabolites and progesterone were determined. At the end of the experiment, a novel object test and a skin test were conducted, and the avoidance distance (AD) at the manger was measured. Free-ranging animals were able to express natural behaviours such as wallowing and grazing. C animals devoted more time to the novel object than FR animals, whereas AD at manger was lower in group FR than in group C ( P < 0.01). Cellular immune response was higher in FR heifers than in C animals ( P < 0.01). FR animals also showed a higher digestibility of organic matter ( P < 0.01). Heifers from group FR had higher plasma concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids ( P < 0.001) and lower concentrations of glucose than heifers from group C ( P < 0.001). C animals showed higher daily weight gains ( P < 0.01) and weight at the puberty ( P < 0.05), but there were no differences in terms of age of puberty between the two groups. The intakes of dry matter (DM), CP and energy to reach the age of puberty were similar in both groups. In order to verify whether the results obtained in Experiment I could be replicated in different rearing conditions (reduced pasture availability, different location and altitude), a second experiment was conducted on 26 animals, where only onset of age of puberty and metabolic profile were monitored. In Experiment II, 13 heifers grazed on a natural pasture of 5 ha, other 13 received the same space as indicated for Experiment I. Results from Experiment II generally confirmed those of Experiment I. Only the intakes of DM and energy to reach the age of puberty were higher in group C than in FR ( P < 0.001). A lower competition with human nutrition, reproductive performances similar to those shown by confined animals and the indications given by immune and behavioural variables, suggest that a free-range-based system may be conveniently used for buffalo heifer farming purposes.

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“…A greater influence on DM intake of bite size as compared with bite rate in goats was observed by Dziba et al (2003). Celaya et al (2007) demonstrated that with a lower sward height, ewes and goats were still able to increase their BW while the BW of cows decreased. These results demonstrated that different species have variable reactions to the sward structure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Mixed grazing systems of goats with cattle in tropical conditions: an alternative to improving animal production in the pastureq

d'Alexis¹,

Périacarpin²,

Jackson

et al. 2014

Animal

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Mixed grazing systems combining sheep and cattle have shown better growth performance for one or both species. This observation has been attributed to their complementary feeding behaviour and the reduced host infection by gastrointestinal nematodes. Less attention has been paid to mixed grazing systems combining goats and cattle. Here, continuously grazing goats mixed with cattle (M) were compared with control goats reared alone (C) under tropical conditions. The comparison was conducted with gastrointestinal nematode-infected (I) and non-infected (nI) goats. Thus, the four treatments were cattle with gastrointestinal nematode-infected goats (MI), gastrointestinal nematode-infected goats alone (CI), cattle with non-infected goats (MnI) and non-infected goats (CnI). Average daily gain (ADG, g/day) and grass production were measured for the four groups of animals (six goats and two heifers treated with MI or MnI) grazing for 3 months on 4 subplots. Monthly measurements were performed over 5-day periods. This pattern was replicated in space for a second set of four subplots and in time for six successive cohorts of animals (bands 1 to 6). The ADG of goats in mixed grazing conditions was higher than controls irrespective of the infection status (32.6 v. 18.4 g/day for MI v. CI; 44.2 v. 33.5 g/day for MnI v. CnI). Concomitantly, the average biomass was lower for mixed grazing animals compared with controls (174 v. 170 for MI and MnI; 235 v. 208 for CI and CnI, respectively), suggesting better use of the sward. For daily BW gain (g/kg DM), mixed grazing also yielded better results than the control (1.88 v. 0.52 g BW/kg DM per day for MI v. CI; 2.08 v. 1.47 g BW/kg DM per day for MnI and CnI). Mixed grazing of goats and heifers offers a promising alternative for increasing goat and overall animal production as well as improving the management of pastures.Keywords: mixed grazing, BW, goat, agro-ecological management, tropical ImplicationsThis study conducted over 2 years showed a higher average daily gain of grazing goats pastured together with cattle compared with goats reared alone, considering either the individual gain or gain per hectare. This increased gain occurred irrespective of the infection status of the goats. Moreover, the biomass was lower in mixed grazing conditions, likely due to improved use of the pasture by goats that were mixed with cattle. These results suggest that integrated grazing could be employed as an alternative agroecological strategy to increase performance per hectare and control residual biomass. In addition, this strategy represents an important alternative to reduce the use of anthelmintics.

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Comparison of grazing behaviour, dietary overlap and performance in non-lactating domestic ruminants grazing on marginal heathland areas

Cited by 77 publications

References 28 publications

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Efficiency to reach age of puberty and behaviour of buffalo heifers (Bubalus bubalis) kept on pasture or in confinement

Mixed grazing systems of goats with cattle in tropical conditions: an alternative to improving animal production in the pastureq

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