Abstract
Abstract. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the Global Position System (GPS), are currently used to replace the traditional pastoralism and to remotely control the movements and location of the herds. Besides, the use of this remote monitoring can benefit the understanding of grazing resource use and livestock management. In this work we investigated the herd behaviour in a Spanish organic farm of free pastoralist sheep with a joint use of different geodata sources. The area of study comprised approximately 900 hectares with a variety of land covers dedicated to pasture.A herd of 300 head was monitored during 2009 and 2010. GPS data were acquired every 5 minutes. In addition, a comprehensive map of land uses/land covers (LU/LC) was retrieved through a supervised classification of a mosaic of orthophotographs (visible and near infrared bands, VNIR). Then, the digital elevation model (DEM) and the digital surface model (DSM) were obtained from a 2010 LiDAR (light detection and ranging) campaign, which allowed the retrieval of terrain attributes and vegetation parameters. The positioning and behaviour of the GPS-tracked sheep were analysed in terms of the retrieved topographic characteristics and land uses. The study of the most influential variables indicated that the slope and aspect were the topographic attributes that most exerted impact on the grazing activity, being the north direction the most preferable, as well as a gentle slope. Regarding the LU/LC, grassland areas were selected by the sheep, specifically in areas of short vegetation (i.e., outside shrublands and trees beyond 0.5 m high).
Highlights
Since the late 2010s, an increasing number of applications of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) have been developed to track animals in livestock monitoring
In many of these studies, the positioning dataset is managed into a Geographical Information System with a reference map or aerial photographs together with broad resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) (Schoenbaum et al, 2017)
In more recent studies (Venter et al, 2019), satellite images such as those provided by Landsat and Sentinel-2 missions were included to account for the vegetation vigour
Summary
Since the late 2010s, an increasing number of applications of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) have been developed to track animals in livestock monitoring. GPS sheep monitoring is becoming a popular practice in many countries and an object of research since its very beginning (Ganskopp, 2001; Pandey et al, 2009; Turner et al, 2001) since it allows the assessment of animal behaviour, use of plant resources and interaction with the natural ecosystem. In many of these studies, the positioning dataset is managed into a Geographical Information System with a reference map or aerial photographs together with broad resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) (Schoenbaum et al, 2017). The information derived is overlapped with the GPS locations of the herd to highlight relationships between the animal preferences and the inferred vegetation/terrain characteristics
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