Rangeland Management Series: Factors and Practices that Influence Livestock Distribution

Abstract

Reducing the impact of livestock on water quality, aquatic and riparian habitat, and biodiversity is a continuing goal for livestock producers, natural resource managers, and conservation groups. Livestock' s environmental impact is frequently determined by livestock distribution. While fences are usually an effective tool for controlling livestock distribution and reducing impacts on riparian zones or other critical areas, manipulation of grazing patterns can also reduce adverse effects from livestock. Another helpful practice is the use of grazing to manipulate vegetation to meet management goals. An awareness of livestock needs and management is crucial for livestock producers, land managers, community watershed groups, environmental interest groups, and policy makers. By understanding the factors that influence where animals graze, rest, and drink, livestock can be redistributed in a predictable and effective manner so that they do not have undesirable effects in grazed watersheds. In this publication we describe pasture and animal management knowledge and practices that can be used to alter livestock distribution and to attract livestock away from environmentally critical areas or into areas targeted for grazing. While basic livestock distribution practices have changed little in the last 50 years, new research suggests ways to fine tune and combine these management techniques that will improve their effectiveness. The practices derive from basic and applied research in animal behavior and landscape ecology, and they involve changes in pasture management or changes in livestock management. Instead of documenting these practices with extensive literature citations, the reader is directed to a few comprehensive reviews and recent reports on the factors and practices that influence livestock distribution (Bailey et al. 1996; Bailey 2004). DAILY ACt IVI t IES INfLUENCE DIS t RIBUt ION Each day grazing animals must decide where to graze, ruminate, rest, and drink. Large herbivore activity and use patterns in different areas of a grazing unit, pasture, or habitat are based on the kind of resources found there. Both abiotic and biotic factors influence the way livestock use rangelands (Bailey et al. 1996). Abiotic factors include slope, distance to water (horizontal and vertical), weather, and barriers. Biotic factors include forage quality, forage quantity, and secondary compounds. With the exception of weather, abiotic factors usually remain somewhat constant while biotic factors may change due to forage growth, senescence, and grazing. Riparian zones often receive heavy use because they provide water, shade, thermal cover, and a productive source of high-quality forage. Animal cognitive abilities to select foraging areas, such as spatial memory, also influence grazing distribution (Bailey et al. 1996).

Determining the Effects of Cattle Grazing Treatments on Yosemite Toads (Anaxyrus [=Bufo] canorus) in Montane Meadows

“…forage quality and quantity, plant composition, and plant morphology) and abiotic conditions (e.g. slope, distance to water, topography [41,42];, their densities in the meadow systems in this study did not approach those in more intensively grazed systems. …”

The Behavioural Responses of Beef Cattle (Bos taurus) to Declining Pasture Availability and the Use of GNSS Technology to Determine Grazing Preference

“…Numerous variables are proposed to influence how cattle select areas to graze [44][45][46], but the addition of "new" information from readily available technology will help facilitate producers' understanding of the real world drivers of forage selectivity by cattle. It is acknowledged that a limitation of our study is its focus on NDVI as a proxy for pasture biomass/availability and not on other quality parameters of pasture.…”

Use of gps and gis for monitoring of cattle´s grazing on a silvipasture of Tolima (Colombia)

“…On tropical regions, the temperature is perhaps the most important climatic factor, but others factor can influence grazing distribution. Daily, the large herbivore must decide where to graze, rest and drink (1). They use grazing patterns in function of different king of resources biotic and abiotic; those resources include distance and allocation of water, slope and weather.…”