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

Abstract

Cattle behavior and grazing distribution is probably related to the available food, although it could also be influenced by the canopy shade, ambient temperature and access to water. The objective of this study was to evaluate the interaction among tree cover (TC) and cattle positions (CP) when searching for food and comfort areas, under warm and hot weather, in a silvopasture system. Analyses were conducted on Pajonales farm, located in the municipality of Ambalema (lat. 4° 45’ 25.9” N; 74° 52’ 20.8” W) in Colombia, from December 2009 to January 2010. The farm has an average elevation of 300 masl. Mean precipitation is 1270 mm.year-1, and temperatura 28°C. The pasture used for this study had an area of approximately 54 ha, with topography from flat to gently sloping. TC was determined from digital orthophotos QuickBird using ArcGIS® 9.1. The paddock was segmented into a 0.25 ha grid cell lattice and all sapling canopies within grid cells and animal movement were mapped.Six cows (3 Brahman and 3 F1, Brahman x Holstein) equipped with GPS-collars (Garmin eTrex-Vista) configured to record and store position, were tracked during 60 days at 5‐min intervals. Average values indicate that cows, generally, traveled greater distances in warm period (7.4 km) and 6.1 km in the hot period. Cows prefer areas with low TC (˂ 20%) and intermediate TC (20-40%); these areas had more biomass of fodder dry matter. The study is an important contribution to understanding the dynamics of animals in search for food under grazing conditions.

Behavioral fractal method associated with GPS tracking to spatial activity sequences of grazing cattle

“…These results agree with what was reported by Russell et al (2012), in which Brahman cows traveled more considerable distances per day during the summer seasons (p < 0.01) than Angus or Brangus cows. A more significant proportion of time dedicated to resting was observed per climatological cycle, consistent with findings in the same tropical ecological zone, indicating a higher proportion of time dedicated to this activity (Mora-Delgado et al, 2018). Thus, on average, the cows spent 33 % of their time grazing for food, 42 % resting, and 25 % traveling.…”

“…In two contrasting climatological cycles, the observation of time and space were carried out for 30 d. The equipment placed on the collar was always installed in the morning hours around 7h00 and was removed at around 17h00. The GPS records were compiled every minute with a daily average of 9 h. The field protocols implemented were those of Mora-Delgado et al (2018). The geographical study site where the experiment was performed is a 4-ha field at coordinates 5°02'29.78" N, 74°53'19.41" W, altitude 275 m, an average annual temperature of 26 °C and annual precipitation of 1,732 mm in the city of Armero Guayabal, Tolima, Colombia.…”

“…Using computational algorithms, geographic information systems (GIS) speed up animal movement modeling time in various environmental conditions. This methodology is used to evaluate animal displacement or movement patterns by assigning spatial ranges in resting, grazing or eating, and traveling activities in interaction with biotic factors, such as breed, forages, and tree systems (Stephenson and Bailey, 2017;Mora-Delgado et al, 2018;Xu et al, 2020), jointly with abiotic factors such as meteorological seasons, access to water, and land slopes (Bailey et al, 2018). Accordingly, this research aimed to implement computational procedures to determine the typical trace of spatio-temporal fractal self-similarity as a function of displacement and as a non-linear variable of interest related to the sequences of activities such as resting, grazing, traveling, and complementary activities carried out daily by cows interacting with habitat factors.…”

Cattle movement as a function of some biotic and abiotic factors in a tropical pasture

“…There is little information on modeling herbivore behavior of cattle in tropical climate zones in South America. The few studies conducted in this area are limited to the works carried out by Mora-Delgado et al (2016); Mora-Delgado et al (2018); Polanía et al (2013).…”

“…These technological systems allow consolidating data on the movement of livestock in grazing activities and carry out comparative analyzes to associate variables and interaction factors in the habitat with the grazing and comfort-seeking activities registered (Davis et al, 2011;Ku-Vera et al, 2014;Mora-Delgado et al, 2016;Mora-Delgado et al, 2018).…”