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    Sheep Spatial Grazing Strategies at the Arid Patagonian Monte, Argentina

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    Author
    Bertiller, Mónica B.
    Ares, Jorge O.
    Issue Date
    2008-01-01
    Keywords
    arid shrublands
    grazing behavior
    grazing tactics
    patch selection
    visibility
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Bertiller, M. B., & Ares, J. O. (2008). Sheep spatial grazing strategies at the arid Patagonian Monte, Argentina. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 61(1), 38-47.
    Publisher
    Society for Range Management
    Journal
    Rangeland Ecology & Management
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10150/642923
    DOI
    10.2111/07-130.1
    Additional Links
    https://rangelands.org/
    Abstract
    We asked what vegetation traits influence sheep in selecting foraging paths on the range. We obtained 40 000 records of positions of six ewes (Ovis aries) collared with Global Positioning System receivers during several seasons in a paddock of 1 250 ha at the Patagonian Monte shrublands, Argentina. We classified the vegetation through ground-truth floristic analyses and remotely sensed imagery, and overlaid the ewes’ positions onto a digital map of vegetation units. For each vegetation unit, we assessed the cover of main life forms and preferred plants, the visibility range at ewe’s head height, and several structural/chemical traits of dominant shrubs (leaf mass/area, lignin-phenolics-nitrogen concentration in leaves, presence of thorny stems and spiny leaves). Ewes followed diverse paths across the paddock but always selected among a limited number of vegetation units. Selected vegetation units were those with structural traits allowing wide ewes’ visibility ranges and low structural antiherbivore defenses, irrespective of their local abundance, relative cover of preferred plants, or distance to the watering point. Within preferred vegetation units, ewes further selected those with high cover of preferred plants and/or reduced structural/chemical antiherbivore defenses. We concluded that sheep selectivity at our study paddock resulted from compromises among different structural/visual cues related to visual impairment, antiherbivore physical/chemical defenses, and the offer of preferred plants. In a hierarchy of decisions, the abundance of preferred plants was not a sufficient condition for a high selection of vegetation units. Monitoring animal movements within shrubby paddocks of the Patagonian Monte with high visual impairment can supply criteria to assess the relevance of nonnutritional environmental traits on grazers’ decisions. This information is valuable in identifying and predicting spots of potential land degradation, and planning the distribution of flocks within paddocks in the context of sustainable management practices for shrubby rangelands. 
    Type
    text
    Article
    Language
    en
    ISSN
    0022-409X
    ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
    10.2111/07-130.1
    Scopus Count
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    Rangeland Ecology & Management, Volume 61, Number 1 (January 2008)

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