The transhumance system, which consists in moving animals to high mountain pastures during summer, plays a considerable role in preserving both local biodiversity and traditions, as well as protecting against natural hazard. In cows, particularly, milk production is observed to decline as a response to food shortage and climatic stress, leading to atypical lactation curves that are barely described by current lactation models. Here, we relied on five million monthly milk records from over 200,000 Braunvieh and Original Braunvieh cows to devise a new model accounting for transhumance, and test the influence of environmental, physiological, and morphological factors on cattle productivity. Counter to expectations, environmental conditions in the mountain showed a globally limited impact on milk production during transhumance, with cows in favourable conditions producing only 10% less compared to cows living in adverse conditions, and with precipitation in spring and altitude revealing to be the most production-affecting variables. Conversely, physiological factors as lactation number and pregnancy stage presented an important impact over the whole lactation cycle with 20% difference in milk production, and may therefore alter the way animals respond to transhumance. Finally, the considered morphological factors (cow height and foot angle) presented a smaller impact during the whole lactation cycle (10% difference in milk production). The present findings can help farmers to establish sustainable strategies for alleviating the negative effects of transhumance on productivity and preserving this important livestock practice.

中文翻译：

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大型乳制品数据揭示了地质环境，生理和形态因素对山区放牧的布劳恩牛的产奶量的影响

这种超人类系统包括在夏季将动物转移到高山牧场，在保护当地生物多样性和传统以及防止自然灾害方面发挥着重要作用。特别是在奶牛中，由于对食物短缺和气候压力的反应，牛奶的产量下降，导致目前的泌乳模型几乎没有描述非典型的泌乳曲线。在这里，我们依靠超过200,000头Braunvieh和原始Braunvieh奶牛的500万个月牛奶记录，设计出一种计算超人类现象的新模型，并测试环境，生理和形态因素对牛生产力的影响。与预期相反，该山区的环境条件表明在季节性牲畜迁移期间，全球对牛奶生产的影响有限，与处于不利条件下的母牛相比，处于有利条件下的母牛的产量仅减少10％，而春季和海拔高度的降水是影响生产的最大变量。相反，诸如泌乳次数和妊娠期等生理因素在整个泌乳周期中产生了重要影响，乳汁产量差异为20％，因此可能改变动物对超人类反应的方式。最后，在整个泌乳周期中，所考虑的形态学因素（母牛的身高和脚底角）的影响较小（产奶量相差10％）。目前的发现可以帮助农民建立可持续的战略，以减轻超人类对生产力的负面影响并保护这一重要的牲畜活动。