Factors Affecting Site Use Preference of Grazing Cattle Studied from 2000 to 2020 through GPS Tracking: A Review

Abstract

Understanding the behaviour of grazing animals at pasture is crucial in order to develop management strategies that will increase the potential productivity of grazing systems and simultaneously decrease the negative impact on the environment. The objective of this review was to summarize and analyse the scientific literature that has addressed the site use preference of grazing cattle using global positioning systems (GPS) collars in the past 21 years (2000–2020) to aid the development of more sustainable grazing livestock systems. The 84 studies identified were undertaken in several regions of the world, in diverse production systems, under different climate conditions and with varied methodologies and animal types. This work presents the information in categories according to the main findings reviewed, covering management, external and animal factors driving animal movement patterns. The results showed that some variables, such as stocking rate, water and shade location, weather conditions and pasture (terrain and vegetation) characteristics, have a significant impact on the behaviour of grazing cattle. Other types of bio-loggers can be deployed in grazing ruminants to gain insights into their metabolism and its relationship with the landscape they utilise. Changing management practices based on these findings could improve the use of grasslands towards more sustainable and productive livestock systems.

A Bibliometric Network Analysis of Recent Publications on Digital Agriculture to Depict Strategic Themes and Evolution Structure

“…In addition, Thrikawakaa et al [ 122 ] demonstrate that applying variable-rate technology through GPS in agricultural vehicles improves the water content in fields and reduces the application of fertilizers. In addition, previous literature reviews introduce the conceptualization and potential of GPS (for more information see, Rivero et al, 2021 [ 123 ]; Peng et al (2017) [ 124 ]). Thus, this cluster highlights the role of GPS as a leading technology capable of improving DA’s effectiveness through its interconnecting capacity with other smart technologies.…”

Condición de una pastura y su relación con el patrón de ingestión en vacas Holstein

“…Un factor que explica mucho del comportamiento de pastoreo es la selectividad (Tedeschi et al, 2019); (Cuchillo-Hilario et al, 2018), que fue definida como la remoción de algún o algunos componentes de la pradera, ya sean plantas o partes de ellas por sobre otras (Cuchillo Hilario et al, 2017;Gregorini et al, 2015). Esta se diferencia de preferencia, la cual se define como la acción de discriminar entre los componentes disponibles, sin restricción, presentes en un pastizal (Rivero et al, 2021); (Villalba et al, 2015). Lombardi et al (2015) al respecto afirma que la búsqueda y selección abarcan en el movimiento del animal en el ambiente procesos cognitivos y sensoriales que hacen a la decisión de tomar un bocado en un lugar específico de la pastura.…”

“…Se ha afirmado que a medida que la altura de la pastura disminuye, el peso de bocado declina y puede ser compensado dentro de ciertos límites por un aumento en el TP y en la tasa de bocado. Las posibilidades de compensación son limitadas debido a que se hace sumamente complicado que los animales puedan superar tiempos de pastoreo de 10 -11 h/día (Rivero et al, 2021), ni aumentar la tasa de cosecha más allá de lo que le permite su anatomía bucal (Chilibroste et al, 2015). Saha et al (2019), al hablar de la calidad de las pasturas, afirman que cambios en la composición química del forraje verde disponible en cada rebrote, en especial en el contenido de fibra, van a modificar el consumo de MS y la producción del animal.…”

Estimation of Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Grazing Intensity Based on Sheep Trajectory Data

“…Topography factors such as elevation, slope and other aspects in the test area have a certain impact on the grazing behavior of sheep [10]. The ASTER GDEM 30 m resolution remote sensing elevation image was selected to obtain the aspect, slope and elevation distribution of the test area as shown in Figure 6.…”

“…The relationship between walking distance and grassland conditions provides effective theoretical data in order to reduce grassland degradation and improve grassland ecology. Brennan et al [9] and Rivero et al [10] used GPS locators to distinguish grazing and non-grazing behaviors of cattle and analyze affected factors in grazing behaviors such as stocking rate, weather conditions, pasture topography and vegetation. It can also provide monitoring data of grassland utilization for managers and promote sustainable development of grassland.…”