1,721,064 research outputs found
Human choices, slope, and vegetation productivity determine pattern of traditional Alpine summer grazing
No full textGrazing patterns in extensive pastures influence both animal productivity and conservation of grasslands ecosystem services.
This study used Global Positioning Systems (GPS) tracking to describe the daily movement patterns and habitat selection of
Simmental and Alpine grey lactating cows in the summer pastures of ‘Malga Ombretta’, located at 1900 m a.s.l. in the Dolomites,
eastern Italian Alps (46.424549; 11.880871). During the study period (5 July–5 August 2018), the pastures (approximately
35 ha) were grazed by 14 Simmental and 7 Alpine grey cows (stocking rate =0.6 LU/ha). Each morning (8.00–9.00 am) the
farmer-led the cows to graze in a different section of the pasture until 12.30–1.00 p.m. when cows were left free until they returned
spontaneously to the barn (5.30–6.30 p.m), where they spent the night. Nine Simmental and 4 Alpine grey cows were equipped
with GPS collars collecting one position/minute. Recorded positions were edited to exclude the in-barn night periods (final
database =174,208 records) and used to describe grazing patterns at two temporal scales. At the daily scale, total distances walked
varied from 2.0 to 8.9 km (mean: 4.7) across dates and increased with longer daily outdoor periods, reflecting the farmer’s choices
of when/where to move the herd, but showed also a remarkable variation across individual cows, possibly because of individual
features. No differences were found between breeds. At the step scale (i.e. for each interval between subsequent locations), slopes
and altitudes used were higher, and walking speed was lower, in morning hours when cows were guided by the farmer than in
afternoon hours when they were free. Slopes steeper than 30° were very seldom used, possibly indicating a threshold that cows
are unwilling to trespass. Alpine grey cows used slightly higher slopes and altitudes and moved slightly faster than Simmental
cows in the afternoon, suggesting a better adaption to difficult terrain conditions. Finally, in morning hours cows of both breeds
used grassland patches with lower vegetation abundance, as indicated by the satellite-derived Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index, than in afternoon hours. In this study, using high-frequency GPS tracking outlined the great variability of
grazing patterns, and helped to understand how they can be influenced by human (farmer’s decisions) and animal (breed, but also
individual) choices
Effetto della densità sul transito e sulla degradabilità ruminale: impiego della composizione densitometrica per la stima della velocità di passaggio e della degradabilità effettiva degli alimenti
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GPS tracking indicates high variability in grazing patterns of lactating cows in Alpine summer farms
No full textUnderstanding grazing patterns is necessary to manage semi-natural grasslands for both productivity and conservation of biodiversity with the associated Ecosystem Services. This study used GPS tracking to characterize the daily movement patterns and use of Alpine pastures by lactating Brown Swiss cows in three summer farms located at an average elevation of 1,900 m a.s.l. (SD: 90) in the eastern Italian Alps. Herd management was similar for all summer farms. Each day, after the morning milking in the barn, cows were driven to graze in different areas of the pastures, where they were then left free until the return to the barn for the evening milking, after which they were again released free to spend the night outdoor. From July 5th to September 5th in 2019 and 2020, 12 and 10 lactating cows per each farm, respectively, were equipped with GPS ‘collars’ scheduled to collect a position every 2 minutes. After editing data to exclude individual milking periods in the barns and outlier positions, the total daily distances walked by cows were on average close to 7 km but ranged from less than 2 km to around 15 km, varying greatly between dates, but also farms and years, mostly in relation the farmers daily decisions for grazing areas. Slopes steeper than 30° were very seldom used, most likely reflecting the cows choices of single movement steps. The total surface used by the cows of each summer farm (average: 211 ha; SD: 29 ha) varied by 4 to 30% between years, because of pasture patches being used only in one year. Internal use of such surface was highly heterogeneous: the quartile of surface with the lowest locations density contained <1% of total locations, while that with the highest density contained around 80% of the locations and was concentrated in the proximity of the barns. Use of high-frequency GPS tracking outlined the great variability of movement patterns and pasture use of the cows in the extensive conditions of Alpine summer farms, and helped to outline the role of farmers and animals choices. This knowledge is necessary to assess movement costs for the animals, and the fine scale spatial distribution of animals load and potential impacts on the grazed area
Effetti associativi delle buccette d'uva e del silomais sul consumo alimentare e sull'utilizzazione digestiva
No full textEffect of fibre bag size and of sample weight on the estimation of rumen degradability of different feedstuffs
No full textEffetto della densità sul transito e sulla degradabilità ruminale: velocità di passaggio ruminale di particelle fibrose a diversa densità e capacità di imbibizione.
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