The assessment of grazing intensity in northern Morocco, using new techniques

In Rif Mountain of Morocco, forest rangelands provide goods and services, which satisfy the diverse needs of local population. These silvopastoral areas represent the most important feed sources for goats. Goats are exclusively conducted in extensive farming systems in which most nutrients from forest pastures. Grazing is associated with daily activities significantly different from those of animals in confinement, such as grazing behavior and distance. The assessment of grazing intensity is important for making adequate management decisions on rangelands. Currently, new techniques have been proposed to characterize the feeding behavior of goats on rangelands and throughout the day. These measures are now determined mainly by GPS collars and IceTag, which are used to monitor activity, location and movement of goat in grazing areas.
The aim was to characterise their spatio-temporal movement and activities depending on the season (spring and summer), i.e. the variation in grazing intensities, daily trajectories of the herds, the number of steps, time spent standing and lying.
This study was conducted in a forest rangeland (Derdara) in western of Rif Mountain. 8 Goats were fitted by GPS collars (attached around the animal’s necks) and IceTags (attached to a rear leg of goat) during three days.
Grazing area was estimated to 151 ha with a perimeter of 10 km. Grazing time and covered distance were estimated to 9 vs 12 hours and 6.9 vs 9.2 km per day, respectively in spring and summer. The short duration of grazing during spring compare to summer can be explained by the high forage supply, coinciding with the vegetative peak of pastoral species. In summer, goats are exhausted due to high temperature which limits their movement in altitude. In spring, 62.4% of animal activity is devoted to grazing, against 68.7% in summer. During dry season (summer) goats move more compared to the spring (6600 vs 4400 steps per day, respectively in summer and spring), which was confirmed by GPS collars results. The study also revealed that the goats consumed mainly of palatable vegetation at ground level.
Pasture area, itinerary and covered distance of goats varies depending on the season. The intersection of several parameters of pastoral assessment with the study of feeding behavior of goats on rangelands by using new techniques, could be useful in future to a better management of herd in time and space.