Several abiotic and biotic factors were investigated as possible predictors of local species richness in two sub-alpine grasslands of Jenna and Belles Mountains in Northern Greece. For species ...richness modelling a hierarchical modelling framework based on generalized additive models was adopted. The two sub-alpine grasslands differed in aspect, altitude and soil parent material (volcanic origin, mostly trachyte, and andesite (TA) for Jenna and metamorphic rocks, mostly gneiss (G) for Belles). 12 fenced squared plots, 16 m2 each, were used per grassland, where soil properties, herbage production, species presence and cover of grasses, legumes and forbs were estimated. Mean herbage production was significantly affected by slope and altitude, soil K content and floristic composition as expressed by an ordination axis. Soil pH, floristic composition and average herbage production were significant predictors of forbs and total species richness. For the former, soil N content and for the latter the occurrence of
Agrostis capillaris
, were also included as significant terms in the predictive model. The predictors for grasses species richness were N content, having a positive effect, and average herbage production. In all cases higher species richness was predicted for intermediate values of average herbage production. Differential responses were found between forbs and grasses. The predictors of their species richness were different while for the case of the common predictor (N) the responses of the two groups were also different (grasses species numbers increase and forbs species numbers decreased with increasing N). Maximum species richness of grasses was observed at relatively low production levels while forbs species richness maximized at relatively high production levels.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Interannual and monthly variations of herbage production and nutritive value
regarding grazing ruminants' needs and welfare were evaluated in three
grasslands (semi-mountainous, mountainous and ...sub-alpine) located at
different altitudes (480–900, 901–1500 and 1501–2334 m,
respectively) in northern Greece during 2015–2016. Herbage biomass was
collected from 30 experimental cages (10 per grassland), weighed, dried at
65
∘
C, milled and analyzed for crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid
detergent fiber (ADF), lignin, calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) content
and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). The sub-alpine grassland was the most
productive (1031 and 1231 kg DM ha
-
1
) with the
highest mean annual herbage CP content (93 and 87 g kg
-
1
dry matter; DM) for 2015 and 2016, respectively. CP content was sufficient to meet small
ruminants' and beef cattle maintenance requirements until April and May in
the semi-mountainous and mountainous grasslands, respectively, while it
could cover the above requirements in the sub-alpine grassland until June and
August, respectively. The herbage Ca concentration was higher than the
grazing ruminants' needs, while the phosphorus concentration was
insufficient. Protein and phosphorus supplementation should be provided to
animals to cover their maintenance requirements during the whole period and
to reach high levels of welfare. Even though grazing is considered as a
welfare-friendly procedure, it is uncertain whether all the welfare
principals are satisfied in extensive production systems due to variations
of forage availability and nutritive value as well as the lack of
infrastructure in grasslands.
Water buffaloes are considered social animals and perform several activities
on pasture, such as grazing, moving, standing, ruminating, wallowing, lying,
and drinking. However, the way these animals ...form their social structure in
the herd during each one of these activities is still unknown. Literature
for water buffaloes has focused mainly on their productive characteristics,
impact of grazing on wetlands and behavior during grazing but failed to
address the way these animals form their social organization during their
activities on pasture. In this study, the tools of social network analysis
are used to analyze, detect, and depict the proximity patterns in water
buffaloes' activities on pasture and the effect of their age and gender on
them. We describe and interpret a series of global and local network
indices, and show that the water buffaloes differentiate their social
structure in their activities on pasture and that the animals' age and
gender affect their interacting patterns, and provide a framework for the
application of social network analysis on grazing animals' social behavioral
studies. We expect that this framework could be used in future research to
provide information regarding the social structure of other kinds of animals
that graze in different forage and climatic environments and help animal
breeders to improve their management practices.
The Greek Thrakian sheep breed is under extinction and information about their grazing behaviour is important to both welfare and performances. The grazing behaviour of the Thrakian sheep breed was ...investigated in the mountainous rangelands of North-Eastern Thrace, Greece from April to October 2012. Direct observations were carried out on six female sheep for two consecutive days at each month and the time spent on grazing, resting and rumination was recorded. Also, the daily distance travel by sheep flock was recorded with a handheld Global Positioning System. Sheep travelled on average 4.5 km/day and they walked their shortest distances during the summer months (July and August). Sheep spent 324.3 min/day (64.2 % of their grazing activities) on feeding while they devoted less time (P<0.05) to resting and ruminating (134.4 and 46.4 min/day, respectively). The higher values of resting and ruminating were recorded during summer (163.2 min/day and 54.2 min/day, respectively). Time spent on grazing by sheep had significant (P<0.05) negative relationship to air temperature (r=−0 .966) while the resting and ruminating time had a positive one (r=0.935; P<0.01 and r=0.815; P<0.05, respectively).
Grazing animals explore different forage resources to satisfy their daily nutrient needs, following specific spatial and temporal patterns throughout the year. In this study four different flocks of ...sheep and goats (two of each species) were selected to record their spatial location with a handheld GPS during spring, summer and winter. At the same time, three animals in each flock were followed to study their grazing activities by direct observation. These data with the time information and a detailed land use map were manipulated in a GIS to assign animal activities to different forage resources. Sheep and goats were travelling long distances (7.5 km and 9.0 km, respectively) to satisfy their nutritional needs throughout the year. They were found to graze in two main forage resources, rangelands (grasslands, shrublands and forest ranges) and agricultural land (fallow land, stubble fields and temporary pastures). Both grazer species spent significantly less time (P≤ 0.05) feeding in rangelands (38.9% & 18.1%) than in agricultural land (63.6% & 53.4%) during spring and summer. It appears that a heterogeneous landscape is necessary for supporting extensive farming systems of small ruminants since rangelands and agricultural land complement each other in providing forage throughout the year.
Pašne živali se hranijo z različnimi krmnimi rastlinami, da zadostijo svojim dnevnim potrebam po hrani, pri tem sledijo različnim prostorskim in časovnim vzorcem skozi leto. V raziskavi smo izbrali štiri različne črede ovac in koz (dve za vsako vrsto) in opazovali njihovo prostorsko razporeditev z ročnim GPS spomladi, poleti in jeseni. Istočasno smo tri živali v vsaki čredi neposredno opazovali pri paši. Podatke o času in natančno karto rabe tal smo obdelali v GIS-u, da smo dobili povezavo med aktivnostmi živali in različnimi krmnimi rastlinami. Ovce in koze so prehodile dolge razdalje (od 7,5 km do 9,0 km), da so v celotnem letu zadovoljile potrebe po hrani. Pasle so se na dveh glavnih tipih krme: pašnikih (travišča, grmišča in gozdni robovi) in kmetijskih površinah (prahe, strnišča in začasni pašniki). Obe vrsti sta se statistično značilno (P≤ 0.05) pasli krajši čas na pašnikih (38,9% in 18,1%) kot na kmetijskih površinah (63,6% in 53,4%) v spomladanskem in poletnem času. Očitno je, da je pestrost krajine nujna za ekstenzivne kmetijske sisteme z drobnico, saj se pašniki in kmetijske površine dopolnjujejo pri celoletni oskrbi s krmo.
The grazing activities of indigenous sheep of the greek breed »Serres« was investigated in a typical lowland, and in a mountainous pasture in northern Greece during the vegetative period ...(April–October) of 2008. Grazing time, resting and ruminating time, distance travel and air temperature in relation to pasturing month and altitude were examined. It was remarked significant effect (P<0.001) of the pasturing month on grazing time, and resting time of sheep. Mean grazing time was greater in the lowland (315.71 min/day ±4.57) than in the mountainous pasture (283.57 min/day ±4.79). On the contrary, the resting time and the distance travel of sheep were shorter in the lowland pasture. The resting time had significant (P<0.01) positive relationship to air temperature (r=0.777).
The importance of goat production systems in the Mediterranean countries is related to the ability of these animals to convert the vegetation of marginal areas into high quality products. In such ...environments, shrub species are very often the main available feed source. Among domestic ruminants, goats have a unique ability to adapt to a wide variety of climatic conditions and forage species that very often are characterized by low nutritive value. This is due to the particular behaviour of goats, classified as opportunistic feeders and to their higher digestive efficiency for high-fibre, low-quality forages compared with sheep and cattle. The utilization of woody vegetation by goats can also be used as a tool to reduce shrub encroachment and the risk of wildfires. Since knowledge of the foraging behaviour and intake of goats browsing on Mediterranean shrublands is important to their efficient production, these aspects are discussed in this chapter.
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