Larraz Virginia, Barrantes Olivia, Reiné Ramón
Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza-Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Jun 25;14(13):1871. doi: 10.3390/ani14131871.
For centuries, mountain grasslands have been part of the grazing cycle of sheep and cattle in extensive management systems in the Pyrenees; however, traditional guided herding has been, in many cases, replaced by free-ranging flocks at these pastures. The goal of this study was to analyze the grazing behavior of free-ranging sheep in mountain pastures using GPS-based tracking systems and Geographic Information Systems. During the summer seasons of 2019, 2020, and 2021, a transterminant flock of free-ranging sheep was tracked with GPS devices attached to collars at the mountain pastures of Collarada mountain (Central Pyrenees, Spain). Preferences for grazing on certain geomorphological features (slope, aspect, and altitude) and different plant communities present in the area were evaluated using the Manly's standardized preference index. The results show that sheep prefer altitudes between 2400 and 2600 m; SE-, SW-, and E-facing sites; and slopes under 20%. The preferred pastures were , , and ; however, they reject communities. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of GPS and GIS technologies in monitoring free-ranging sheep activity, providing valuable data for enhancing pastoral practices and ensuring sustainable pasture use.
几个世纪以来，山地草原一直是比利牛斯山脉粗放管理系统中绵羊和牛放牧周期的一部分；然而，在许多情况下，传统的引导放牧已被这些牧场的自由放养羊群所取代。本研究的目的是使用基于GPS的跟踪系统和地理信息系统分析山地牧场中自由放养绵羊的放牧行为。在2019年、2020年和2021年的夏季，在科拉达山（西班牙比利牛斯山脉中部）的山地牧场，对一群佩戴着GPS设备项圈的自由放养绵羊进行了跟踪。使用曼利标准化偏好指数评估了对某些地貌特征（坡度、坡向和海拔）以及该地区不同植物群落的放牧偏好。结果表明，绵羊更喜欢海拔在2400至2600米之间、朝东南、西南和东的地点以及坡度在20%以下的地方。首选的牧场是 、 和 ；然而，它们排斥 群落。本研究证明了GPS和GIS技术在监测自由放养绵羊活动方面的有效性，为改进放牧方式和确保牧场可持续利用提供了有价值的数据。
