mahmood Goudarzi; Mozhgan azimi; Ehsan zandi esfahan; ghader karimi; Amrali shahmoradi
Volume 22, Issue 3 , November 2015, , Pages 552-562
Sedighe Zarekia; Parvaneh Ashouri; Mohammad Fayaz; Mahmood Goudarzi; Niloofar Zare
Volume 21, Issue 4 , March 2015, , Pages 676-684
Abstract
Livestock is one of the components of rangeland ecosystems. Different grazing behaviors would be observed according to the climatic conditions, the type of livestock and vegetation. Knowledge of livestock grazing behavior on rangelands could be useful in the planning and utilization of rangelands. For ...
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Livestock is one of the components of rangeland ecosystems. Different grazing behaviors would be observed according to the climatic conditions, the type of livestock and vegetation. Knowledge of livestock grazing behavior on rangelands could be useful in the planning and utilization of rangelands. For this purpose, in this study, the grazing behavior of sheep in the steppe rangeland of Saveh was investigated. Initially, a three-year-old ewe was selected, then, using a geographic positioning system (GPS), the path of movement, the time of arrival and departure of livestock, time of rest and movement speed were recorded. Data were entered into the GIS and statistically analyzed using two-way analysis of variance. Results showed that, except for the livestock average speed, there was no significant difference among the measured parameters of grazing behavior during the four years of study. The time spent for movement and rest in different months of the grazing seasonshowed significant differences, while the length of the grazing path had no significant difference during different months. The highest time spent for movement and rest was attributed to May, although the grazing distance in May was not significantly different from other months, indicating the presence of more and better forage for grazing in this month. The lowest average speed of livestock was recorded in May. The most covered distance by sheep occurred in slope gradient ranging from 0 to 8% with dominant cover of Artemisia sieberi and Salsola laricina. Generally, it could be concluded that livestock grazing behavior and rangeland management could be better evaluated using GPS technology and GIS.
Ghader Karimi; Hasan Yeghaneh; Mehdi Moameri; Mahmoud Goudarzi
Volume 21, Issue 2 , August 2014, , Pages 295-306
Abstract
In order to understanding of the grazing cycle and grazing behavior at different slopes of Kordan rangelands, the grazing behavior of Fashandy breed sheep was investigated for four years. Parameters examined in this study included daily distance traveled by livestock, livestock path in the ...
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In order to understanding of the grazing cycle and grazing behavior at different slopes of Kordan rangelands, the grazing behavior of Fashandy breed sheep was investigated for four years. Parameters examined in this study included daily distance traveled by livestock, livestock path in the rangeland considering the slope, livestock speed (mean, maximum and minimum) and the time spent for livestock rest and movement per day. To determine the parameters, Garmin GPS was used on the back of a 4-year-old ewe using a special belt. After livestock exit from the fold, GPS was active and at the end of the day all recorded data were extracted by Mod-track in Ilwis software. The livestock path was determined by shepherd. Results showed that during the first month of grazing season and when vegetation was more, the distance traveled by livestock was less than that of other months. In addition, the maximum and minimum distances traveled by livestock were obtained at slopes of 30-60% and less than 15%, respectively. According to the results of grazing behavior during the months of grazing season, maximum and minimum livestock speed were recorded in July and in May and June, respectively. Therefore, the grazing program in similar areas could be managed at different slopes using the obtained results in this study.