Tracking Free-Ranging Pantaneiro Sheep during Extreme Drought in the Pantanal through Precision Technologies

Q2 Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Agriculture Pub Date : 2024-07-16 DOI:10.3390/agriculture14071154

Gianni Aguiar da Silva, Sandra Aparecida Santos, P. R. L. Meirelles, Rafael Silvio Bonilha Pinheiro, Marcos Paulo Silva Gôlo, Jorge Luiz Franco, Igor Alexandre Hany Fuzeta Schabib Péres, Laysa Fontes Moura, Ciniro Costa

{"title":"Tracking Free-Ranging Pantaneiro Sheep during Extreme Drought in the Pantanal through Precision Technologies","authors":"Gianni Aguiar da Silva, Sandra Aparecida Santos, P. R. L. Meirelles, Rafael Silvio Bonilha Pinheiro, Marcos Paulo Silva Gôlo, Jorge Luiz Franco, Igor Alexandre Hany Fuzeta Schabib Péres, Laysa Fontes Moura, Ciniro Costa","doi":"10.3390/agriculture14071154","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The Pantanal has been facing consecutive years of extreme drought, with an impact on the quantity and quality of available pasture. However, little is known about how locally adapted breeds respond to the distribution of forage resources in this extreme drought scenario. This study aimed to evaluate the movement of free-grazing Pantaneiro sheep using a low-cost GPS to assess the main grazing sites, measure the daily distance traveled, and determine the energy requirements for walking with body weight monitoring. In a herd of 100 animals, 31 were selected for weighing, and six ewes were outfitted with GPS collars. GPS data collected on these animals every 10 m from August 2020 to May 2021 was analyzed using the Python programming language. The traveled distance and activity energy requirements (ACT) for horizontal walking (Mcal/d of NEm) were determined. The 31 ewes were weighed at the beginning and end of each season. The available dry matter (DM) and floristic composition of the grazing sites were estimated at the peak of the drought. DM was predicted using power regression with NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) (R2 = 0.94). DM estimates averaged 450 kg/ha, ranging from traces to 3830 kg/ha, indicating overall very low values. Individual variation in the frequency of use of grazing sites was observed (p < 0.05), reflecting the distances traveled and the energetic cost of the activity. The range of distances traveled by the animals varied from 3.3 to 17.7 km/d, with an average of 5.9 km/d, indicating low energy for walking. However, the traveled distance and ACT remained consistent over time; there were no significant differences observed between seasons (p > 0.05). On average, the ewes’ initial weight did not differ from the weight at the drought peak (p > 0.05), indicating that they maintained their initial weight, which is important for locally adapted breeds as it confers robustness and resilience. This study also highlighted the importance of the breed’s biodiverse diet during extreme drought, which enabled the selection of forage for energy and nutrient supplementation. The results demonstrated that precision tools such as GPS and satellite imagery enabled the study of animals in extensive systems, thereby contributing to decision-making within the production system.","PeriodicalId":7447,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture","volume":"1 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Agriculture","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14071154","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Agricultural and Biological Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The Pantanal has been facing consecutive years of extreme drought, with an impact on the quantity and quality of available pasture. However, little is known about how locally adapted breeds respond to the distribution of forage resources in this extreme drought scenario. This study aimed to evaluate the movement of free-grazing Pantaneiro sheep using a low-cost GPS to assess the main grazing sites, measure the daily distance traveled, and determine the energy requirements for walking with body weight monitoring. In a herd of 100 animals, 31 were selected for weighing, and six ewes were outfitted with GPS collars. GPS data collected on these animals every 10 m from August 2020 to May 2021 was analyzed using the Python programming language. The traveled distance and activity energy requirements (ACT) for horizontal walking (Mcal/d of NEm) were determined. The 31 ewes were weighed at the beginning and end of each season. The available dry matter (DM) and floristic composition of the grazing sites were estimated at the peak of the drought. DM was predicted using power regression with NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) (R2 = 0.94). DM estimates averaged 450 kg/ha, ranging from traces to 3830 kg/ha, indicating overall very low values. Individual variation in the frequency of use of grazing sites was observed (p < 0.05), reflecting the distances traveled and the energetic cost of the activity. The range of distances traveled by the animals varied from 3.3 to 17.7 km/d, with an average of 5.9 km/d, indicating low energy for walking. However, the traveled distance and ACT remained consistent over time; there were no significant differences observed between seasons (p > 0.05). On average, the ewes’ initial weight did not differ from the weight at the drought peak (p > 0.05), indicating that they maintained their initial weight, which is important for locally adapted breeds as it confers robustness and resilience. This study also highlighted the importance of the breed’s biodiverse diet during extreme drought, which enabled the selection of forage for energy and nutrient supplementation. The results demonstrated that precision tools such as GPS and satellite imagery enabled the study of animals in extensive systems, thereby contributing to decision-making within the production system.

查看原文本刊更多论文

通过精准技术追踪潘塔纳尔极端干旱期间自由活动的潘塔内罗绵羊

潘塔纳尔（Pantanal）地区连续多年遭遇特大干旱，可用牧草的数量和质量都受到了影响。然而，人们对适应当地情况的品种在这种极端干旱情况下如何应对牧草资源的分布知之甚少。本研究旨在评估自由放牧的潘塔内罗绵羊的运动情况，使用低成本的全球定位系统评估主要放牧地点，测量每天的行走距离，并通过体重监测确定行走所需的能量。在一群 100 只绵羊中，选取了 31 只进行称重，并为 6 只母羊安装了 GPS 项圈。在 2020 年 8 月至 2021 年 5 月期间，使用 Python 编程语言对这些母羊每 10 米采集的 GPS 数据进行了分析。确定了水平行走的行走距离和活动能量需求（ACT）（Mcal/d of NEm）。在每个季节的开始和结束时，对 31 只母羊进行称重。在干旱高峰期对放牧地的可利用干物质（DM）和植物组成进行了估计。利用归一化差异植被指数（NDVI）的功率回归法（R2 = 0.94）对干物质进行了预测。DM估计值平均为450千克/公顷，从微量到3830千克/公顷不等，表明总体数值很低。使用放牧点的频率存在个体差异（p < 0.05），这反映了放牧活动的距离和能量成本。动物的行走距离从 3.3 到 17.7 千米/天不等，平均为 5.9 千米/天，这表明行走的能量较低。然而，随着时间的推移，行走距离和 ACT 保持一致；在不同季节之间没有观察到显著差异（p > 0.05）。平均而言，母羊的初始体重与干旱高峰时的体重没有差异（p > 0.05），这表明母羊保持了初始体重，这对适应当地气候的品种非常重要，因为它赋予了母羊稳健性和恢复力。这项研究还强调了该品种在极端干旱期间的生物多样性饮食的重要性，这有助于选择饲料来补充能量和营养。研究结果表明，全球定位系统和卫星图像等精确工具能够对大范围系统中的动物进行研究，从而有助于生产系统中的决策制定。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Agriculture Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Horticulture

CiteScore

1.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

11 weeks

期刊介绍： The Agriculture (Poľnohospodárstvo) is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes mainly original research papers. The journal examines various aspects of research and is devoted to the publication of papers dealing with the following subjects: plant nutrition, protection, breeding, genetics and biotechnology, quality of plant products, grassland, mountain agriculture and environment, soil science and conservation, mechanization and economics of plant production and other spheres of plant science. Journal is published 4 times per year.