Spatio-temporal movement of livestock in relation to decreasing pasture biomass

Abstract

The use of spatio-temporal livestock monitoring to investigate animal behaviour in relation to available biomass has the potential to improve pasture utilisation in rotational grazing systems. The aim of this study was to examine if movement metrics derived from GPS monitoring could identify variations in animal behaviour in response to decreasing pasture availability. GPS tracking collars were deployed on six cattle grazing for 46 days and data analysed to determine grazing time and spatial variation in utilisation. Unexpectedly, grazing time did not seem to be affected by decreasing pasture biomass. However, spatial utilisation of the paddock appeared to increase as biomass decreased.