Feeding station behaviour of ewes in response to forage availability and sward phenological stage

Roguet, Christine; Prache, Sophie; Petit, M.

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(97)00104-4

Cited by 41 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…These two variables were negatively related ( Figure 2a) and received opposite effects of the three predictors (equations (1) and (2)). The present results agree with previous observations in that step is generally a minor component of feeding station behavior compared with bite in terms of the number (Murray, 1991;Lazo and Soriguer, 1993;Hirata et al, 2008), with the majority of feeding station-to-feeding station movements as single-step moves (Roguet et al, 1998b;Ogura et al, 2004;Shingu et al, 2010). The bite/step ratio in animals is likely to decrease as vegetation becomes scarce and discretely distributed (Murray, 1991).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Bite number, residence time and intake per feeding station, feeding station number per unit foraging time and step number between feeding stations are major feeding station behavior variables, which reflect profitability or unprofitability of feeding stations (Ruyle and Dwyer, 1985;El Aich et al, 1989;Roguet et al, 1998b;Gregorini et al, 2007Gregorini et al, , 2009Gregorini et al, and 2011Hirata et al, 2008;Shingu et al, 2010). The cost-benefit concept of the feeding station behavior is useful for a better understanding of foraging behavior of animals (Roguet et al, 1998b) and adjusting management strategies of various grazing systems ranging from an intensively managed small paddock of a sown pasture to an extensive rangeland across a landscape (e.g. Ruyle and Dwyer, 1985).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ruyle and Dwyer, 1985;El Aich et al, 1989;Gregorini et al, 2011). However, previous studies have focused mainly on relatively short-term (<1 day to about 30 days) variations in feeding station behavior in order to investigate the effects of forage availability (Ruyle and Dwyer, 1985;Roguet et al, 1998b), sward structure (Gregorini et al, 2009), plant species (Hirata et al, 2008), grazing management (Gregorini et al, 2011), animal species (Shingu et al, 2010) and rumen fill (Gregorini et al, 2007). Relatively little information has been reported on how grazing animals modify feeding station behavior seasonally and interannually in response to varying environmental conditions (El Aich et al, 1989;Jiang and Hudson, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal and interannual variations in feeding station behavior of cattle: effects of sward and meteorological conditions

Hirata

Matsumoto

Izumi

et al. 2015

Animal

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A feeding station is the area of forage a grazing animal can reach without moving its forefeet. Grazing behavior can be divided into residence within feeding stations (with bites as benefits) and movement between feeding stations (with steps as costs). However, relatively little information has been reported on how grazing animals modify their feeding station behavior seasonally and interannually in response to varying environmental conditions. The feeding station behavior of beef cows (Japanese Black) stocked on a tropical grass pasture (bahiagrass dominant) was monitored for 4 years (2010 to 2013) in order to investigate the association of feeding station behavior with meteorological and sward conditions across the seasons and years. Mean air temperature during stocking often exceeded 30°C during summer months. A severe summer drought in 2013 decreased herbage mass and sward height of the pasture and increased nitrogen concentration of herbage from summer to autumn. A markedly high feeding station number per unit foraging time, low bite numbers per feeding station and a low bite rate were observed in summer 2013 compared with the other seasons and years. Bite number per feeding station was explained by a multiple regression equation, where sward height and dry matter digestibility of herbage had a positive effect, whereas air temperature during stocking had a negative effect (R 2 = 0.658, P < 0.01). Feeding station number per minute was negatively correlated with bite number per feeding station (r = -0.838, P < 0.001). It was interpreted that cows modified bite number per feeding station in response to the sward and meteorological conditions, and this largely determined the number of feeding stations the animals visited per minute. The results indicate potential value of bite number per feeding station as an indicator of daily intake in grazing animals, and an opportunity for livestock and pasture managers to control feeding station behavior of animals through managements (e.g. fertilizer application, manipulation of stocking intensity and stocking time within the day).Keywords: cattle, grazing, bite, step, sward condition ImplicationsThis 4-year study is the first work investigating how grazing cattle modify their feeding station behavior seasonally and interannually in response to varying meteorological and sward conditions. Bite number per feeding station was affected positively by the sward height and dry matter digestibility of the pasture, and was affected negatively by the air temperature during stocking, as the major variable responsible for the seasonal and interannual variation. There is an opportunity for livestock and pasture managers to control feeding station behavior by animals through managements such as fertilizer application and manipulation of stocking intensity and stocking time within the day.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal and interannual variations in feeding station behavior of cattle: effects of sward and meteorological conditions

Hirata

Matsumoto

Izumi

et al. 2015

Animal

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“…In September, they also more strongly increased their biteto-step ratio compared with the animals grazing at lower stocking rates. This indicates that their initial tactic of research was gradually abandoned in favour of a 'lawnmower'-type tactic (see Roguet et al, 1998 andGarcia et al, 2003, for similar conclusions on grazing sheep). Hence, both their daily distance covered and average number of steps per minute of grazing were reduced at the end of the season.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of cattle grazing a species-rich mountain pasture under different stocking rates on the dynamics of diet selection and sward structure

Dumont

Garel²,

Ginane

et al. 2007

Animal

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Although stocking rate is a key management variable influencing the structure and composition of pastures, only few studies have simultaneously analysed the seasonal patterns of pasture use by cattle, and the adjustments the animals make to maintain intake of a high-quality diet over the grazing season. Therefore, over a 3-year study, we recorded diet selection, plot use and impact of heifers on sward structure and quality under three different stocking rates (0.6, 1.0 and 1.4 livestock units (LU) per ha) in a species-rich mountain pasture of central France. Measurements were made on three occasions between early June and the end of September each year. Overall, heifers selected for bites dominated by legumes or forbs, and against reproductive grass, whatever the stocking rate or season. Selection for tall mixed (P , 0.05), short mixed (P , 0.05) and short pure grass bites (P , 0.01) was more pronounced in plots grazed at the lowest stocking rate. Although heifers' selection for short patches decreased at the end of the season (P , 0.001), they continued to graze previously grazed areas, thus exhibiting a typical 'patch grazing' pattern, with the animals that grazed at the lowest stocking rate tending to better maintain their selection for short patches in September (treatment 3 period: P 5 0.078). Neither diet quality nor individual animal performance were affected by the different stocking rate treatments despite high variability in the quantity and quality of herbage offered and differences in diet selection. However, at the 1.4 LU per ha stocking rate, the quantity of forage available per animal at the end of the season, 0.79 t dry matter (DM) per ha of green leaves with the median of sward height at 4.6 cm, approached levels limiting cattle's ability to compensate for the effects of increasing stocking rate. In plots grazed at 0.6 LU per ha, the total herbage biomass remained higher than 3 t DM per ha with more than 30% of plot area still covered by reproductive grass patches at the end of the grazing season, which in the medium term should affect the botanical composition of these pastures. Sward heterogeneity was high in plots grazed at 1.0 LU per ha, with sufficient herbage availability (1.1 t DM per ha of green leaves) to maintain animal performance, and more than 15% of plot area was kept at a reproductive stage at the end of the grazing season. Hence, it could represent the optimal balance to satisfy both livestock production and conservation management objectives.

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“…In a recent model, we aimed to describe in a realistic manner the way a herd of ruminants graze a heterogeneous pasture [5]. Proximate choices of an animal were determined by cell distance and direction (defoliation probability is higher for cells in front of the animal), together with the perception of cell quality by the animal [5], and we used experimental data (e.g., [41]) to calibrate these parameters. Social attraction was considered as an animal checked distance from its peers at regular intervals, walking in priority towards the core group when over a parametrised distance from it.…”

Section: Agent-based Models Of Group Foraging By Herbivoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatially explicit models of group foraging by herbivores: what can Agent-Based Models offer?

Dumont

Hill

2004

Anim. Res.

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-Spatially explicit models of herbivore foraging can increase the knowledge of ethologists by enabling the prediction of the evolution of complex systems and revealing underlying behavioural mechanisms. We first show how spatially explicit models that do not distinguish between individuals imply making assumptions which violate some basic biological principles. Next, we describe how the main behavioural processes that determine herbivore foraging have already been incorporated in spatially explicit individual-based models of foraging. We then discuss how the use of agent technology promotes the inclusion of social oriented cognition in individual-based simulations, emphasising the emergence of macro-phenomena from the local interactions between individual organisms. This approach makes agent-based models particularly suited to simulate the behaviour of groups of foraging herbivores. We discuss how agent-based models can help to investigate conditions that are not easily amenable to experimentation, such as the effects of differences in memory capacity or in sociability, and how they are adapted to integrate the experimentally-demonstrated laws, processes and theoretical frameworks developed in herbivore foraging. agent-based model / grazing / individual-based model / social behaviour / spatial memory Résumé -L'apport des systèmes multi-agents à la modélisation du pâturage des herbivores. Les modèles spatialisés relatifs au pâturage des herbivores augmentent la connaissance des éthologues lorsqu'ils permettent de comprendre les mécanismes sous-jacents au fonctionnement des systèmes, et de prédire leur évolution. Nous commençons par montrer que les modèles spatialisés qui ne prennent pas en compte les caractéristiques individuelles des animaux vont à l'encontre de principes biologiques majeurs. Puis, nous décrivons comment les principaux mécanismes comportementaux qui déterminent le comportement des herbivores au pâturage ont déjà été pris en compte dans des modèles spatialisés individus-centrés. Ensuite, nous discutons que l'approche multi-agents s'adapte remarquablement bien à la représentation du comportement de groupes d'animaux, parce qu'elle permet de représenter les conséquences d'intéractions d'agents agissant en parallèle, de telle manière qu'elles influencent le comportement de l'ensemble du système. Nous montrons alors comment un modèle multi-agents peut permettre d'explorer des situations difficiles à tester expérimentalement, comme par exemple les conséquences de variations des capacités mémorielles des animaux ou de

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Feeding station behaviour of ewes in response to forage availability and sward phenological stage

Cited by 41 publications

References 32 publications

Seasonal and interannual variations in feeding station behavior of cattle: effects of sward and meteorological conditions

Seasonal and interannual variations in feeding station behavior of cattle: effects of sward and meteorological conditions

Effect of cattle grazing a species-rich mountain pasture under different stocking rates on the dynamics of diet selection and sward structure

Spatially explicit models of group foraging by herbivores: what can Agent-Based Models offer?

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