Can Soil pH Correction Reduce the Animal Supplementation Needs in the Critical Autumn Period in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem?

Serrano, João; Shahidian, Shakib; Costa, F.; Carreira, Emanuel; Pereira, Alfredo Manuel Franco; Carvalho, Mário de

doi:10.3390/agronomy11030514

Cited by 12 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…This study was performed throughout the vegetative cycles (autumn, winter, and spring) of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, at six dryland Mediterranean permanent pastures, located in Alentejo, in the southern region of Portugal (Figure 2). These bio-diverse pastures (composed of grasses, legumes, and other species) are integrated in a Montado ecosystem (Figure 3), with variable tree density, predominantly Holm oak and Cork oak, and grazed by sheep or cow in a rotational or permanent system [7]. Two of these parcels are located in the district of Beja ("AZI" and "GRO"), three in the district of Évora ("MIT", "MUR" and "PAD") and one in the district of Portalegre ("TAP").…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pasture cycle begins with the emergence of plants, usually between October and November, after the first autumn rains. In years when the autumn is dry, emergence can only happen in the beginning of winter, when the drop in air temperature to 0-10 • C range tends to induce a period of vegetative dormancy, resulting in a shortage of grass for the animals, forcing the continued supplementation with concentrated feed [7]. In the spring period (March-June), rising temperatures and the presence of moisture in the soil tend to lead to high pasture yields, which justifies the dynamic grazing management at the level, for example, of the number of days of grazing and/or the number of animals per unit of area [7].…”

Section: Evolution Of Pasture Quality Parameter Patterns Throughout the Vegetative Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cork oak and Holm oak canopies, with variable spatial density, prevent remote access to pasture in the under-covered areas. Several studies have shown that these are also important areas of pasture quality and animal welfare [7]. The spatial resolution of Sentinel-2 requires open pasture areas where there is no influence of trees on the pixel reflectance [4] or, alternatively, justifies the interest in fusion of multisensor data at a medium-to-high spatio-temporal resolution to address this issue [14].…”

Section: Correlation Between Pasture Quality Parameters and Ndvi Obtained From Proximal And Remote Sensingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2021, 13, 3820 2 of 24 regimes [6]. The evolution of the quality of these pastures is closely related to the seasonal and inter-annual variability that is characteristic of the Mediterranean climate [7]. This variability introduces great unpredictability in the livestock grazing dynamics and management [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evolution of the quality of these pastures is closely related to the seasonal and inter-annual variability that is characteristic of the Mediterranean climate [7]. This variability introduces great unpredictability in the livestock grazing dynamics and management [7]. The estimation of stocking rates depends not only on the assessment of the available pasture biomass but also on its quality [2,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporal Patterns of Pasture Quality Based on NDVI Time-Series in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem

et al. 2021

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The evolution of dryland pasture quality is closely related to the seasonal and inter-annual variability characteristic of the Mediterranean climate. This variability introduces great unpredictability in the dynamic management of animal grazing. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of two complementary tools (satellite images, Sentinel-2 and proximal optical sensor, OptRx) for the calculation of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), to monitor in a timely manner indicators of pasture quality (moisture content, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber). In two consecutive years (2018/2019 and 2019/2020) these tools were evaluated in six fields representative of dryland pastures in the Alentejo region, in Portugal. The results show a significant correlation between pasture quality degradation index (PQDI) and NDVI measured by remote sensing (R2 = 0.82) and measured by proximal optical sensor (R2 = 0.83). These technological tools can potentially make an important contribution to decision making and to the management of livestock production. The complementarity of these two approaches makes it possible to overcome the limitations of satellite images that result (i) from the interference of clouds (which occurs frequently throughout the pasture vegetative cycle) and (ii) from the interference of tree canopy, an important layer of the Montado ecosystem. This work opens perspectives to explore new solutions in the field of Precision Agriculture technologies based on spectral reflectance to respond to the challenges of economic and environmental sustainability of extensive livestock production systems.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evolution Of Pasture Quality Parameter Patterns Throughout the Vegetative Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Correlation Between Pasture Quality Parameters and Ndvi Obtained From Proximal And Remote Sensingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporal Patterns of Pasture Quality Based on NDVI Time-Series in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem

et al. 2021

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Are agroforestry systems more productive than monocultures in Mediterranean countries? A meta-analysis

Scordia,

Corinzia,

Coello

et al. 2023

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Agroforestry is gaining interest due to its potential in enhancing climate resilience and sustainability of farming systems. In this meta-analysis, the crop yield in agroforestry system compared to the control (sole crop) from thirty-six experimental field trials in Mediterranean countries was assessed. The response variable Wlog(RR) (i.e., the weighted natural logarithm of the response ratio) was analyzed by the 95% confidence intervals of mean and by fitting eight linear mixed models. Fixed effects, namely the tree cover (low, medium, high), the tree species (ash tree, chestnut, cork oak, holm oak, olive, poplar, walnut), and the crop species (alfalfa, barley, durum wheat, faba bean, forage, oat, pasture, pea, winter wheat) were significant (P = 0.030, P = 0.017, and P = 0.014, respectively), while the system type (alley cropping, silvo-arable, silvo-pastoral) was not. Among management practices (variety, pruning, fertilization, irrigation, crop age classes, imposed warming and drought, harvest time), only the fertilization significantly improved the response variable (P = 0.006), while the interaction of pruning × crop species was marginally significant (P = 0.065). Relatively large study heterogeneity was observed (Q = 72.6, I2 = 72%), which is quite common for agronomic meta-analysis. On the contrary, publication bias based on funnel plots and the Trim and Fill method suggested symmetrical distribution of studies. The sensitivity analysis for significant models identified room for improvements. Overall, we observed a negative effect of trees on crop yield that could be ascribed to the competition for light. Nonetheless, facilitation could be expected under extreme climate events, provided that agricultural practices will maximize synergies among tree cover, tree species, crop species, and management. Future works are encouraged to focus on the overall benefit agroforestry can provide at the field and landscape level, along with long-term monitoring to assess the whole lifespan of these systems and other companion planting options and designs in the Mediterranean region.

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Sustainable Intensification of the Montado Ecosystem: Evaluation of Sheep Grazing Systems and Soil Amendment

Carreira,

Serrano,

Shahidian

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The objective of this study was to determine how application with dolomitic limestone and grazing type (continuous or deferred) affect sheep grazing location and feed preference when the pasture growth rate is maximum. A 4ha field was divided into 4 plots: P1 and P2- without application of dolomitic limestone, continuous (CG) and deferred grazing (DG), respectively; P3 and P4- with application of dolomitic limestone, DG (1AUE), and CG (2.4 AUE), respectively. In DG, animals were placed and removed from the plots depending on the height of the pasture. In each plot, 12 georeferenced sampling points were identified. Throughout the pasture's vegetative cycle (autumn, winter, spring, and early summer) several measurements of pasture height and cut were carried out. From the beginning of March to the beginning of June, animal behavior was observed, by trained observers, through binoculars on six dates. Animals' activity grazing and location was recorded. The results show that: (i) the application of dolomitic limestone combined with CG provided higher values of pasture height; (ii) there were no significant differences in pasture quality between treatments; (iii) Deferred grazing led to 50% more sheep grazing days than continuous grazing; (iv) there were no significant differences in soil compaction between CG and DG; (v) the type of grazing and the treatment with dolomitic limestone did not seem to change the grazing pattern between treatments. This work contributes to understanding the relationships between different types of grazing in dryland pastures, with and without application of dolomitic limestone, and preferred grazing locations for sheep. This work could help agricultural managers make more informed decisions with the aim of promoting the sustainable intensification of livestock production in the Montado ecosystem.

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Can Soil pH Correction Reduce the Animal Supplementation Needs in the Critical Autumn Period in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem?

Cited by 12 publications

References 40 publications

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Pasture Quality Based on NDVI Time-Series in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Pasture Quality Based on NDVI Time-Series in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem

Are agroforestry systems more productive than monocultures in Mediterranean countries? A meta-analysis

Sustainable Intensification of the Montado Ecosystem: Evaluation of Sheep Grazing Systems and Soil Amendment

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