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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #270472
Title: Characterizing foraging patterns among cattle and bonded and non-bonded small ruminants using spatial point process techniques

Author
item Anderson, Dean
item MURRAY, LEIGH - Kansas State University
item SUN, PEIXN - Glaxosmithkline
item Estell, Richard - Rick
item Frederickson, Eddie
item NAKAMATSU, VIVIANA - National University Of Argentina

Submitted to: Applied Statistics In Agriculture Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/13/2011
Publication Date: 5/1/2011
Citation: Anderson, D.M., Murray, L.W., Sun, P., Estell, R.E., Fredrickson, E.L., Nakamatsu, V. 2010. Characterizing foraging patterns among cattle and bonded and non-bonded small ruminants using spatial point process techniques. 22nd Annual Conference on Applied Statistics In Agriculture Conference Proceedings. April 25-28, 2010, Manhattan, Kansas. CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Two mixed-species livestock groups were monitored while foraging on 410 ha of brush-infested Southern New Mexico rangeland during July and August 1988. The groups consisted of crossbred Bos taurus and Bos indicus beef cattle with white-faced sheep (Ovis aries) and mohair goats (Capra hircus). The bonded group consisted of small ruminants that had their behaviours modified through socialization with cattle to form a flerd in which small ruminants consistently remained near cattle. Small ruminants in the non-bonded group had not been socialized with cattle. A subset of animal location data measured during the morning over five days for both the bonded and non-bonded groups was analyzed for spatial patterns. Only data for five morning periods (0700-0800 h) are reported because morning and afternoon spatial patterns were similar. Distance measures and Monte Carlo simulations for spatial point processes were used to analyze the data. Results suggested bonded and non-bonded groups were similar in spatial patterns of intra-specific distances for both cattle and small ruminants. However, bonding changed the repulsive relationship observed between cattle and non-bonded small ruminants stocked together to one of inter-specific attraction. Bonded small ruminants remained close to and formed inter-specific clusters with cattle. In addition, the mean number of bonded small ruminants near an arbitrary cow was consistently high. Finally, the spatial pattern of cattle across the paddock did not differ between bonded and non-bonded groups, while bonded small ruminants tended to disperse slightly more uniformly across the paddock than did non-bonded small ruminants. These findings suggest paddock utilization may be positively influenced using flerds compared to flocks and herds.