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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The small ruminant production system in Northeastern Portugal is an extensive activity based on the
exploitation of spontaneous resources. The shepherds direct their flocks on daily grazing itineraries over
different land use types. These circuits differ hugely throughout the year in organization and duration. The
places visited and time spent in each land use type depend on the environmental conditions and needs of the
animals. Four flocks (two of goat and two of sheep) were monitored monthly for a year. Each flock was
observed for a complete day by an operator using a hand held GPS. Data collected consists of geographical
position and type of land use crossed, plus some variables of territory such as slope, altitude and air
temperature. Also, animal behaviour was monitored. Behavioural activities (grazing, browsing, resting and
walking) and the grazed species were noted every 15 minutes by direct observation (instantly recorded). The
corrected frequencies approach was used for the data analysis. The principal aims were to examine the
relationship between animal behaviour and land use types, and to check how it changes throughout the year
and the time of day (temperature effect and vegetation moisture). Our results suggested a strong relationship
between land use types and behavioural activities.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Castro, Marina; Castro, José Ferreira; Gómez Sal, Antonio (2010). Relationship between small ruminants behaviour and landscape features in Northeast of Portugal. In Azevedo, João; Feliciano, Manuel; Castro, José; Pinto, Maria Alice (Eds.) Book of abstracts of the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference: Forest Landscapes and Global Change ‐ New Frontiers in Management, Conservation and Restoration. Bragança: IPB, IUFRO. ISBN 978‐972‐745‐111‐1