Abstract
In countries where livestock production based on native grasslands is an important economic activity, information on structural characteristics of forage is essential to support national policies and decisions at the farm level. Remote sensing is a good option for quantifying large areas in a relative short time, with low cost and with the possibility of analyzing annual evolution. This work aims at contributing to improve grazing management, by evaluating the ability of remote sensing information to estimate forage height, as an estimator of available biomass. Field data (forage height) of 20 commercial paddocks under grazing conditions (322 samples), and their relation to MODIS data (FPAR, LAI, MIR, NIR, Red, NDVI and EVI) were analyzed. Correlations between remote sensing information and field measurements were low, probably due to the extremely large variability found within each paddock for field observations (CV: Around 75%) and much lower when considering satellite information (MODIS: CV: 4%–6% and Landsat:CV: 12%). Despite this, the red band showed some potential (with significant correlation coefficient values in 41% of the paddocks) and justifies further exploration. Additional work is needed to find a remote sensing method that can be used to monitor grasslands height.
Highlights
Native grasslands are one of the largest ecosystems in the world with an estimated cover area of 40 to 50 million square kilometers [1,2]
In Uruguay, livestock production is mainly based on extensive grazing of native grasslands, which represent over 65% of the countrys total area
We first analyzed the correlation of remote sensing much lower when considering satellite information (MODIS) variables (MIR, near infrared band (NIR), Red channel, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and NDWI) with field information from all farms considered together
Summary
Native grasslands are one of the largest ecosystems in the world with an estimated cover area of 40 to 50 million square kilometers [1,2]. They are defined as natural ecosystems dominated by naturally occurring grasses and other herbaceous species with the possible presence of woody species, used mainly for grazing by livestock and wildlife [3]. “Campos” are grasslands consisting mainly of grasses, along with other herbaceous species, small shrubs, and occasional trees They occur on undulating and hilly landscapes, with variable soil fertility, in sub-tropical humid climate, warm in summer and mild in winter, found in Uruguay, southern Brazil, and north-eastern Argentina [3]
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