Rangeland Ecology & Management ( IF 2.3 ) Pub Date : 2020-06-26 , DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2020.05.004 Yi Sun , Shuhua Yi , Fujiang Hou , Dongwen Luo , Junqi Hu , Zhaoye Zhou
Managed grazing is the most extensive land use worldwide. Information about the spatio-temporal distribution of livestock is critical for grassland ecosystem management. However, no direct and cost-effective method exists to monitor livestock distribution under natural conditions. We proposed a practical method that uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and tested it at a typical household pasture on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We monitored and analyzed the hourly spatial distribution of each yak (Bos mutus). We found that (1) yak information extracted by our independently developed software was sufficiently accurate (P > 0.05); (2) yak density (frequency/area/period) decreased with increasing distance from campsites in the early growing season, while the pattern reversed in the late growing season; (3) dispersion index (DI, m2/yak) of the yak herd exhibited a tendency to decrease in the morning and then to increase in the afternoon within a day; from June to September DI decreased in both the morning and afternoon, but was similar at noon. The monitoring method we developed in this study characterized the spatial distribution of the whole yak herd dynamically with high frequency, resolution, and efficiency. We conclude that this method is suitable for long-term monitoring of animal behavior, and for studying relationship between the distribution of pastoral livestock and resource availability, which will be beneficial for grassland sustainable management.
中文翻译:
量化无人飞行器(UAV)的牲畜分布动态:以Household牛放牧为例
放牧管理是全球范围内最广泛的土地利用。有关牲畜的时空分布的信息对于草地生态系统管理至关重要。但是,在自然条件下,没有直接且具有成本效益的方法来监视牲畜的分布。我们提出了一种使用无人飞行器(UAV)的实用方法,并在青藏高原的典型家庭牧场上对其进行了测试。我们监测并分析了每只牛(Bos mutus)的每小时空间分布。我们发现(1)由我们独立开发的软件提取的牛信息足够准确(P > 0.05);(2)growing牛密度(频率/面积/时期)随着生长期到营地距离的增加而降低,而在生长期后期则相反。(3)分散指数(DI,m 2/ yak)的ak牛群在一天之内表现出下降的趋势,然后在一天之内上升;从6月到9月,早晨和下午的DI均减少,但中午时相类似。我们在这项研究中开发的监测方法以高频,高分辨率和高效率动态地描述了整个牛群的空间分布。我们得出的结论是,该方法适用于动物行为的长期监测,适合研究牧草分布与资源可利用性之间的关系,有利于草地的可持续管理。