Ji Wenxiang, Luo Yifei, Liao Yafang, Wu Wenjun, Wei Xinyi, Yang Yudie, He Xiong Zhao, Shen Yutong, Ma Qingshan, Yi Shuhua, Sun Yi
Institute of Fragile Eco-Environment, School of Geographic Science, Nantong University, 9 Seyuan Road, Nantong 226019, China.
School of Agriculture and Environment, College of Science, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Sep 29;13(19):3069. doi: 10.3390/ani13193069.
Grazing management is one of the most widely practiced land uses globally. Quantifying the spatiotemporal distribution of livestock is critical for effective management of livestock-grassland grazing ecosystem. However, to date, there are few convincing solutions for livestock dynamic monitor and key parameters quantification under actual grazing situations. In this study, we proposed a pragmatic method for quantifying the grazing density (GD) and herding proximities (HP) based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We further tested its feasibility at three typical household pastures on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. We found that: (1) yak herds grazing followed a rotational grazing pattern spontaneously within the pastures, (2) Dispersion Index of yak herds varied as an M-shaped curve within one day, and it was the lowest in July and August, and (3) the average distance between the yak herd and the campsites in the cold season was significantly shorter than that in the warm season. In this study, we developed a method to characterize the dynamic GD and HP of yak herds precisely and effectively. This method is ideal for studying animal behavior and determining the correlation between the distribution of pastoral livestock and resource usability, delivering critical information for the development of grassland ecosystem and the implementation of sustainable grassland management.
放牧管理是全球范围内应用最为广泛的土地利用方式之一。量化牲畜的时空分布对于有效管理牲畜 - 草地放牧生态系统至关重要。然而，迄今为止，在实际放牧情况下，对于牲畜动态监测和关键参数量化，几乎没有令人信服的解决方案。在本研究中，我们提出了一种基于无人机（UAV）量化放牧密度（GD）和畜群接近度（HP）的实用方法。我们在中国青藏高原的三个典型家庭牧场进一步测试了其可行性。我们发现：（1）牦牛群在牧场内自发遵循轮牧模式，（2）牦牛群的离散指数在一天内呈M形曲线变化，且在7月和8月最低，（3）寒冷季节牦牛群与营地之间的平均距离明显短于温暖季节。在本研究中，我们开发了一种精确有效地表征牦牛群动态GD和HP的方法。该方法对于研究动物行为以及确定放牧牲畜分布与资源可用性之间的相关性非常理想，为草地生态系统发展和可持续草地管理实施提供关键信息。
