Cattle dung distribution in pastoral ecosystems is uneven and affects nutrient availability to plants. Thus, identifying its spatiotemporal patterns is crucial to understanding the mechanisms underlying the system functioning. We aimed to characterize the spatiotemporal distribution of dung patches in mixed black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb.) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) pastures grazed at different intensities (sward heights of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 m) in the winter stocking period of an integrated soybean-beef system in southern Brazil. All dung patches were located and georeferenced every 20 days. Dung distribution was analyzed using Thiessen polygons and semivariogram analysis. The spatial pattern of dung deposition was virtually similar over time but created distinct patterns in paddocks managed at different grazing intensities. Dung patch density was greater close to attraction points, resting and socialization areas regardless of grazing intensity. Lighter grazing intensities presented stronger spatial patterns with increased dung density in those areas, but those patterns weakened with increasing grazing intensity. Dung patches covered 0.4%, 0.9%, 1.1% and 1.5% of the area in paddocks managed at 0.4, 0.3, 0.2 and 0.1 m sward heights, respectively. Geostatistics proved useful for identifying spatial patterns in integrated crop-livestock systems and will potentially support further investigations.

中文翻译：

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不同放牧强度下亚热带大豆-牛肉系统牛粪补丁的时空分布

牧场生态系统中牛粪的分布不均，影响植物养分的利用率。因此，识别其时空模式对于理解系统功能的基础机制至关重要。我们旨在表征混合黑燕麦（Avena strigosa Schreb。）和意大利黑麦草（Lolium multiflorum）中粪块的时空分布。在巴西南部整合的大豆-牛肉系统的冬季放牧期间，牧场以不同的强度（草高分别为0.1、0.2、0.3和0.4 m）放牧。每隔20天对所有粪便进行定位和地理定位。使用Thiessen多边形和半变异函数分析来分析粪便分布。粪便沉积的空间格局随时间变化几乎相似，但在以不同放牧强度管理的围场中形成了独特的格局。无论放牧强度如何，粪便的密度都在靠近景点，休息区和社交区的地方更大。在这些地区，较轻的放牧强度表现出较强的空间格局，粪便密度增加，但随着放牧强度的增大，这些格局减弱。粪便覆盖面积分别为0.4、0.9％，1.1％和1.5％的围场面积，分别为0.3、0.2和0.1 m的草皮高度。事实证明，地统计学对识别作物－畜牧综合系统的空间格局很有用，并有可能支持进一步的研究。