Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland

Abstract Factors influencing grazing behavior in species‐rich grasslands have been little studied. Methodologies have mostly had a primary focus on grasslands with lower floristic diversity. We test the hypothesis that grazing behavior is influenced by both animal and plant factors and investigate t...

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Autores principales:	Stephen J. G. Hall, David R. Arney, Robert G. H. Bunce, Elis Vollmer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wiley 2021
Materias:	animal‐borne video grazing behavior plant‐animal interactions sheep behavior Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0f825871aaf24486b9a82ba72eb47eb5
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0f825871aaf24486b9a82ba72eb47eb52021-11-08T17:10:40ZVideo recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland2045-775810.1002/ece3.8172https://doaj.org/article/0f825871aaf24486b9a82ba72eb47eb52021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8172https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758Abstract Factors influencing grazing behavior in species‐rich grasslands have been little studied. Methodologies have mostly had a primary focus on grasslands with lower floristic diversity. We test the hypothesis that grazing behavior is influenced by both animal and plant factors and investigate the relative importance of these factors, using a novel combination of video technology and vegetation classification to analyze bite and step rates. In a semi‐natural, partially wooded grassland in northern Estonia, images of the vegetation being grazed and records of steps and bites were obtained from four video cameras, each mounted on the sternum of a sheep, during 41 animal‐hours of observation over five days. Plant species lists for the immediate field of view were compiled. Images were partnered by direct observation of the nearest‐neighbor relationships of the sheep. TWINSPAN, a standard vegetation classification technique allocating species lists to objectively defined classes by a principal components procedure, was applied to the species lists and 25 vegetation classes (15 open pasture and 10 woodland) were identified from the images. Taking bite and step rates as dependent variables, relative importance of animal factors (sheep identity), relative importance of day, and relative importance of plant factors (vegetation class) were investigated. The strongest effect on bite rates was of vegetation class. Sheep identity was less influential. When the data from woodland were excluded, sheep identity was more important than vegetation class as a source of variability in bite rate on open pasture. The original hypothesis is therefore supported, and we further propose that, at least with sheep in species‐rich open pastures, animal factors will be more important in determining grazing behavior than plant factors. We predict quantifiable within‐breed and between‐breed differences, which could be exploited to optimize conservation grazing practices and contribute to the sustainability of extensive grazing systems.Stephen J. G. HallDavid R. ArneyRobert G. H. BunceElis VollmerWileyarticleanimal‐borne videograzing behaviorplant‐animal interactionssheep behaviorEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 21, Pp 14873-14887 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	animal‐borne video grazing behavior plant‐animal interactions sheep behavior Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	animal‐borne video grazing behavior plant‐animal interactions sheep behavior Ecology QH540-549.5 Stephen J. G. Hall David R. Arney Robert G. H. Bunce Elis Vollmer Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland
description	Abstract Factors influencing grazing behavior in species‐rich grasslands have been little studied. Methodologies have mostly had a primary focus on grasslands with lower floristic diversity. We test the hypothesis that grazing behavior is influenced by both animal and plant factors and investigate the relative importance of these factors, using a novel combination of video technology and vegetation classification to analyze bite and step rates. In a semi‐natural, partially wooded grassland in northern Estonia, images of the vegetation being grazed and records of steps and bites were obtained from four video cameras, each mounted on the sternum of a sheep, during 41 animal‐hours of observation over five days. Plant species lists for the immediate field of view were compiled. Images were partnered by direct observation of the nearest‐neighbor relationships of the sheep. TWINSPAN, a standard vegetation classification technique allocating species lists to objectively defined classes by a principal components procedure, was applied to the species lists and 25 vegetation classes (15 open pasture and 10 woodland) were identified from the images. Taking bite and step rates as dependent variables, relative importance of animal factors (sheep identity), relative importance of day, and relative importance of plant factors (vegetation class) were investigated. The strongest effect on bite rates was of vegetation class. Sheep identity was less influential. When the data from woodland were excluded, sheep identity was more important than vegetation class as a source of variability in bite rate on open pasture. The original hypothesis is therefore supported, and we further propose that, at least with sheep in species‐rich open pastures, animal factors will be more important in determining grazing behavior than plant factors. We predict quantifiable within‐breed and between‐breed differences, which could be exploited to optimize conservation grazing practices and contribute to the sustainability of extensive grazing systems.
format	article
author	Stephen J. G. Hall David R. Arney Robert G. H. Bunce Elis Vollmer
author_facet	Stephen J. G. Hall David R. Arney Robert G. H. Bunce Elis Vollmer
author_sort	Stephen J. G. Hall
title	Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland
title_short	Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland
title_full	Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland
title_fullStr	Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland
title_full_unstemmed	Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland
title_sort	video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland
publisher	Wiley
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/0f825871aaf24486b9a82ba72eb47eb5
work_keys_str_mv	AT stephenjghall videorecordingandvegetationclassificationelucidatesheepforagingecologyinspeciesrichgrassland AT davidrarney videorecordingandvegetationclassificationelucidatesheepforagingecologyinspeciesrichgrassland AT robertghbunce videorecordingandvegetationclassificationelucidatesheepforagingecologyinspeciesrichgrassland AT elisvollmer videorecordingandvegetationclassificationelucidatesheepforagingecologyinspeciesrichgrassland
_version_	1718441448176615424

Video recording and vegetation classification elucidate sheep foraging ecology in species‐rich grassland

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