The Effects Of Different Grazing Management System On Livestock Behavior

Grazing ecology is an important field of grassland ecology.The behavior of livestock is not only related to the livestock itself,but also with the type of grassland,grazing intensity and grazing mode.This control experiment of paper was set in the Inner Mongolia Xilingol typical steppe with different grazing intensity(light grazing,moderate grazing and heavy grazing)and different grazing pattern(mixed grazing cattle and sheep,and grazing alone),using artificial all-day tracking and GPS and Brinno TLC200 to observe sheep and cattle behaviors.The behaviors included feeding behavior,ruminant behavior,standing behavior,lying behavior and travel behavior,analyzing systematically the influence of grazing intensity and grazing pattern on the behavior of domestic animals.This study enriched the theory of grazing ecology and rational utilization of grassland of application practice which had a certain significance.The main conclusions are as follows:1)The time distribution of livestock behavior in defferent grazing intensity and different grazing pattern almost showed:feeding time>rumination time>maintenance time.2)Grazing intensity had a significant effect on livestock behavior.Heavy grazing intensity prolonged sheep feeding time,except for the initial growth season.In the mderate grazing intesity,ruminant rate had decreased.Under the light and moderate grazing intersity,grazing sheep had a tendency to extend rest time.In June,the walking distance of livestock in light grazing areas was higher;and the heavy grazing was higher in July,but it's lower in September;and there was no significant difference in different grazing intensity in August.(3)Grazing pattern had a significant effect on livestock behavior.Mixed grazing pattern could prolong the feeding time of sheep,and shortened the feeding time of cattle.Mixed grazing area could increase the feeding rate.Mixed grazing sheep standing time had a tendency to extend,and shortened sleeping time.The sheep's walking rate when biting and chewing times and time per rumining food bolus was obviously higher than cattle.4)Grazing season had a significant effect on livestock behavior.As time went on,sheep feeding time shortened firstly,and then prolonged.Because of the seasonal changes of plant growth,the livestock chewing times and time per rumining food bolus were gradually increased.With the change of temperature,the standing and lying behavior of sheep changed significantly,while the cattle were relatively stable;When the weather iwas hot,the sheep standing time was prolonged,and the sleeping time was shortened,and on the contrary,the sleeping time was prolonged and the standing time was shortened.The walking distance was related to the quality and quantity of food resources.In the early stage of grazing,the food resources were less,and the livestock walking distance increased.In conclusion,moderate grazing intensity and reasonable livestock combination can make full use of grassland resources and gain greater economic benefits on the basis of keeping grassland sustainable.