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Comparison of dry season forage availability in rotational and continuous grazing areas, July 2008, on a cattle ranch in the Aquidauana subregion of the southern Pantanal.
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Deforestation and conversion of native habitats to exotic pasture and crops, plus inefficient agricultural and cattle management practices, are placing great pressures on natural resources in the Pantanal and Cerrado. To prevent further deforestation and protect biodiversity, areas already developed for farming and ranching need to be managed more...
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Context 1
... was significantly greater in the rotational system throughout the year (March: t = 13.96, df = 13, P < 0.0001; August: t = 4.22, df = 13, P = 0.0010; May: t = 10.21, df = 13, P < 0.0001; October: t = 5.85, df = 13, P = 0.0001) (Fig. 2). Differences were especially large during the wet season, but continued through the dry season as well (Fig. 2). Fig. 3 shows the obvious difference in forage availability between the rotational and continuous grazing areas during the dry season of 2008. Cattle weights from January 2008 were not significantly different between the two groups of 2- to 3-year-old, non-pregnant animals that were placed in the rotational system and continuous- grazing ...
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... -1 used by Crispim et al. [4] vs. 0.36 -0.38 AU.ha -1 used in the continuous grazing areas of this study. Crispim et al. [4] recorded much higher quantities of forage dry mass compared to the continuously grazed areas of this study. The latter showed obvious signs of overgrazing and pasture degradation, e.g., the prevalence of bare soil patches (Fig. 3). Compared to the rotational system of this study, which had an even higher stocking rate (i.e., 0.43 AU.ha -1 ), Crispim et ...
Citations
... For grasslands, adopting precision nutrient management through soil testing and application of fertilizers based on grass species requirements can significantly reduce excessive application of fertilizers, reducing nutrients from leaching into the drainage channels [53]. Meanwhile, implementing rotational grazing practices can prevent overgrazing and maintain vegetation cover, which aids in nutrient retention and minimizes soil erosion [54,55]. ...
Peat soils, when drained and transformed for different land uses, can release pollutants such as nitrate and phosphate into nearby water bodies and ecosystems through ditch networks. However, there have been limited studies to ascertain the extent and impact of these nutrient releases under various peatland use types. A total of fifty-four water samples were collected between October 2021 and January 2022 from five industrial cutaway bogs, twenty-five grasslands, and twenty-four forest plantations. The water samples were subsequently examined for nitrate–nitrogen and phosphate–phosphorus using the HACH DR890 colorimeter. This study showed that the nitrate–nitrogen concentration of the discharge water ranged from 6.9 mg/L from forestry to 10.52 mg/L from grassland. The phosphate–phosphorus concentration ranged from 0.43 mg/L from forestry to 0.78 mg/L from grassland. The nitrate–nitrogen and phosphate–phosphorus concentrations in the drainage channel exhibited by the grassland and the cutover did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). Upon comparing the results obtained with the established safety limits set by the European Union (EU) and World Health Organization (WHO), it was observed that phosphate–phosphorus and nitrite–nitrogen concentration in the surface water (specifically, discharge water) exceeded the permissible threshold concentrations in surface water. The nutrient pollution index revealed that the discharge water from the ditch networks across the studied peatland use type was highly polluted, with a trend following the order of grassland > cutover > forestry. These results are in line with the broader issue of excessive nutrient inputs in freshwater ecosystems, which can lead to eutrophication. This study promotes sustainable water resources and peatland management practices by determining nitrate–nitrogen and phosphate–phosphorus concentrations in discharge water from ditch networks associated with different peatland use types: grassland, forestry, and cutover. This research emphasizes the critical need for sustainable peatland management to improve water quality in the river basin districts under the Water Framework Directive.
... The problems encountered have more to do with the introduction of exotic grasses. In the Brazilian Pantanal, the vast natural grassland plains, allied with a favorable climate, promoted extensive cattle ranching in this ecosystem in often pervasive areas (10,000 ha; Seidl et al., 2001;Eaton et al., 2011). Thus, in many Pantanal sites using cattle, there are private lands with livestock histories of at least 100 years using native grasses resistant to the seasonal flooding that occurs in this biome. ...
Dung beetles are one of the most representative groups of insects associated with livestock, as they take advantage of the manure of livestock for food and reproduction. They have been widely used as a bio-indicator group to evaluate their responses to land-use change and other environmental disturbances by analyzing species diversity at different spatial and temporal scales. However, the impacts of livestock management practices, forms, and history on dung beetle diversity are still poorly understood. This paper is an exhaustive and systematic review of the existing peer-reviewed and indexed literature on the taxonomic diversity (species richness and composition), functional diversity, and ecological functions of dung beetles from different provinces and biogeographic domains in tropical grazing lands of the Neotropics. We analyzed the timeline of the studies conducted so far, and we detected increasing literature produced mainly in South America. We included the most frequent objectives, tendencies, software, and statistical analyses. Given the significant heterogeneity of livestock landscapes in the Neotropics, the reviewed studies have conceptualized broadly what a pasture is, and the authors have used different descriptions of other grazing lands. Additionally, management data and livestock practices vary widely among studies, and management history is poorly described. In future research, it is relevant to include as much information as possible and the consequences of different livestock management practices on additional ecological attributes of dung beetle assemblages at different landscape scales (spatial and temporal) to predict how ecological processes change in Neotropical landscapes. Considering the importance of the data to be included in future work, we propose a collection format to unify the information collected in the field when conducting ecological studies in grazing lands. Moreover, we define a classification system to homogenize the features that distinguish the multiple tropical grazing lands reported in the literature. Preserving dung beetle diversity and associated ecological functions is urgent for maintaining ecosystem services in grazing lands. The challenge for research institutions is to continue filling gaps in knowledge to help those who work in transferring knowledge, to help ranchers exercise better options for more sustainable livestock farming, and to publish results for conservation decision-making.
... As the dry season advanced and the water levels fell, cattle were moved more frequently into the private area, with a maximum occurring at the end of the dry season (July, August), which is one of the main periods when cattle feed is limited (de Abreu et al., 2010). This result is in agreement with previous studies that analyzed the spatial movements of cattle within the Pantanal (Cavalcanti and Gese, 2010;Eaton et al., 2011). With the start of the rainy season, when the study area is seasonally inundated, there was a clear decrease in cattle occurrences. ...
... We are aware that native pasturelands in the Pantanal are spatially heterogeneous (Eaton et al., 2011) and that we conducted acoustic monitoring within a limited area, so some of our generalizations may require further research and careful analysis based on cattle occurrences and local conditions. We also detected a clear cattle occurrence peak around sunset, and further research should try to elucidate whether the detected diel pattern is related to changes in cattle vocal activity over the day (i.e., cows call more often around sunset) or because farmers introduce cattle into the private area more often during the last hours of the day. ...
Passive acoustic monitoring coupled with automated signal recognition software has been widely used in recent years as an effective and affordable tool for wildlife monitoring and to combat illegal activities within protected areas. Here, we evaluate this technique to monitor the patterns of illegal cattle occurrence in the Brazilian Pantanal over a complete annual cycle. We aim to provide one of the first assessments of the performance of automated signal recognition software to detect ungulates. Cattle occurrences reached their maximum during the end of the dry season when lowland areas provide excellent pastures for cattle. In contrast, cattle occurrences were very low during the rainy season when the study area was seasonally inundated. Automated software was an efficient tool that was able to detect approximately three-quarters of cow calls within the recordings. Passive acoustic monitoring can be used to direct patrols to areas where illegal activities, such as cattle and poaching or logging, have been confirmed, which could be a method that would be especially well suited for remote areas, such as tropical forests. Future studies should evaluate whether there is a relationship between cattle grazing intensity and its associated impacts on wildlife and flora. Rapid advances in automated recognition and the recent development of low-cost recorders foresee a new era of acoustic ecology for improved conservation in the short term.
... In Brazil, almost 150 million hectares are used as pastures for cattle ranching (IBGE, 2019), mostly concentrated in biomes characterised by open ecosystems such as Pampa, Pantanal, Caatinga and Cerrado and, more recently, in the Amazon (ABIEC, 2019). Indeed, livestock production is the dominant economic land-use activity of the Pantanal (Eaton et al., 2017), where approximately 80% of the land is used for cattle ranching (Eaton et al., 2011), with the second-largest approximately US$ 10.35 billion (USDA, 2019). In this sense, the widespread use of antiparasitics, mostly macrocyclic lactones such as Ivermectin, has been employed in Brazil, often becoming a scenario of indiscriminate use of these veterinary medical products (VMPs) (Brito et al., 2019). ...
The indiscriminate use of Ivermectin is becoming a frequent scenario in Brazil, one of the largest beef cattle herds in the world, and the second‐highest commercial production, despite this product having harmful effects on non‐target organisms. Among these organisms, dung beetles are essential for the maintenance of ecosystem functioning in introduced pastures.
This study evaluated the effects of Ivermectin on dung beetle assemblage attributes (species richness, abundance, species composition, functional groups and indicator species) as well as their ecological functions (dung removal and soil bioturbation) in introduced pastures with different priorities for livestock intensification in Brazil; Amazon (high) and Pantanal (low).
We found a negative response of dung beetle assemblages to Ivermectin in both Brazilian ecosystems, where these negative effects were more pronounced in the Pantanal. Tunneler beetles are the functional group most negatively affected in both ecosystems. Finally, the Ivermectin reduces the ecological functions performed by dung beetles, with a dung removal reduction of ca. 50% and 70% in the Amazon and Pantanal, respectively.
The most negative impacts in the Brazilian Pantanal reflect the long‐term consequences due to a long history of Ivermectin use than in the Amazon. However, these results also indicate a drastic future for dung beetles in Amazonian pastures.
Thus, a sustainable cattle production system reducing Ivermectin use will be important for conserving dung beetles on introduced Brazilian pastures and the ecological functions that these insects provide in livestock‐dominated landscapes.
... Several studies have evaluated the chemical composition of native grasslands and reported that the potential and nutritional contents of indigenous plant species differin all seasons agro-climates (Angassa and Oba 2010;Geleti et al. 2012;Keba et al. 2013). Natural grazing lands are heterogeneous (Eaton et al. 2011). Its chemical constituents differ with environmental factors such as altitude, rainfall, soil type, cropping intensity, grazing land management and variation in the genetic characteristics inherent to specific individual plant species (Alemayehu 2003;Robles et al. 2008;Teka et al. 2012). ...
A study was conducted in Adola Reedde to identify major grass species and evaluate their chemical composition, in vitro digestibility, and dry matter yield. Sixty key informants taken from the sampled kebele of three agro-climates were interviewed to identify common grasses in their vernacular name. Relative feed value and dry matter digestibility were computed using neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre contents. Spearman's rank correlation was used to examine relationships between laboratory results and farmers' perception of grass quality. Fifteen grass species were identified and ranked by farmers according to the species' preferences for cattle. Crude protein values ranged from 56.5 g/kg DM for lowland to 113 g/kg DM for highland agro-climate. overall mean of neutral detergent fibre was 662 g/kg DM, and in vitro dry matter digestibility and relative feed value were 446.5 g/kg DM and 60.97%, respectively. Total dry matter yield and dry matter of individual grass species were significantly (P < 0.001) higher in highland than in low land agro-climate. Dry matter yield across agro-climate ranged from 92.47 ± 0.04 g m⁻²-119.41 ± 0.07 g m⁻² for highland and lowland agro-climate, respectively. Generally, study highlights the potential of herbaceous species to support livestock production if the grassland is properly rehabilitated and managed.
... The Pantanal is considered the largest Neotropical seasonal freshwater wetland on Earth, with a vast area of grassland plains often used for extensive cattle ranching (Eaton et al. 2017). Therefore, livestock production has been the main economic activity in this ecosystem, where approximately 80% of the land is used as native and introduced pastures (Eaton et al. 2011). The regional climate is Aw (tropical hot-wet), with a rainy summer and dry winter according to the K€ oppen classification (Alvares et al. 2013). ...
Livestock is a globally widespread farming practice, with benefits and harms for biodiversity. Biodiversity responses to vegetation and soil conditions associated with cattle grazing removal are poorly understood in tropical grassy ecosystems, especially in a long-term chronosequence. In this study, we aimed to identify the main drivers of local conditions on dung beetle taxonomic and functional diversity across a chronosequence of natural grasslands with different cattle grazing removal ages. We expect that vegetation and soil variables associated with environmental changes caused by longer time after cattle grazing removal will drive the taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles. We sampled dung beetles and recorded local environmental filters (vegeta-tion and soil variables) in 14 natural grasslands with distinct cattle grazing removal ages (from 3 months to 22 years) and also in 10 reference sites (with cattle grazing). We used structural equation models to evaluate the relationships between the most informative explanations (vegetation and soil variables) of dung beetle taxonomic and functional metrics. Our results provide evidences that local conditions related to vegetation and soil variables in natural grasslands affect the taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles differently. Soil conditions (compaction and silt content) had more influence, mostly negative, on taxonomic metrics, while vegetation complexity had more influence on functional metrics, with positive or negative effects depending on the functional metric evaluated. Understanding the temporal change in vegetation and soil conditions can shed light on the process of recovering biodiversity and ecosystem functions in areas with different times of abandonment of livestock farming. Finally, using taxonomic and functional approaches together can also help to better understand how organisms are responding to the process of abandoning livestock farming over time.
... In the specific case of Beef-cattle ranches in the Paraguayan Chaco, management practices and strategies to increase cattle-ranching productivity that are currently underused could be generalised. These included rotational grazing of native pastures (Eaton et al., 2011), crop rotation with nitrogen-fixing legumes (Glatzle et al., 2019;Latawiec et al., 2014), the use of improved high-yielding and drought-heat-tolerant forage varieties (Glatzle, 2004;Glatzle et al., 2019;Schnellmann et al., 2018), the adoption of soil conserving production practices, such as soil covering to prevent erosion, and the use of improved animal breeds and crossbreeding through artificial insemination (Ferraz & Felício, 2010). Also, the adoption of precision technologies and tools for more efficient use of irrigation water, pesticides and fertilisers could be very useful in this type of ranches to improve resource efficiency and, therefore, the sustainability of the Beef-cattle activity. ...
The Paraguayan Chaco has experienced, in the last few decades, some of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. In parallel, this region has registered an increase in the number of cattle heads of 60% in the last decade. Taking into account the high environmental and socioeconomic impact of this expansion, the aim of this work was to reveal how Beef–cattle ranching is carried out and to establish a typology that allows us to identify the different land-use patterns followed by the ranches. Data were collected using face-to-face structured interviews of 80 ranch owners. In the region ranches co-exist that practise the cow–calf system, the whole-cycle system and the fattening system. In all cases, ranches are very large, pasture based, highly specialised in Beef–cattle and export-oriented. Three groups of ranches were identified, being the main differentiating drivers: (i) the availability of the different production factors, (ii) the distribution of total area, and (iii) the degree of intensification in the use of capital, labour and/or technology per unit of agricultural area. In addition, it is noted that the years of activity of the ranches are related to these drivers. The typology of ranches contributes to a better understanding of one of the most active livestock frontiers in the world and shows that the expansion process taking place in the Paraguayan Chaco is associated with an intensification of Beef–cattle systems. These results provide a useful approach to develop policies that regulate the expansion of the cattle frontier in the Paraguayan Chaco.
... In order to evaluate the FR algorithms, the UEs are positioned in four different representative scenarios in agribusiness industry: In the specific application of sugarcane cultivation, this type of scenario reflects a situation in which transport trucks connected to the Internet move together to receive or deliver sugarcane. Such scenarios may reflect other crop and livestock farming applications, such as cattle monitoring in limited pasture areas [33] or precision rotational grazing techniques [34], among other cases. Scenario (IV) simulates a more generic case with random positioning that aims to analyze the behavior of the system with a large number of UEs. ...
The growing demand for Internet of Things (IoT) applications in agribusiness increases the necessity of reliable and secure connectivity in rural areas. Thus, in the particular case of Brazil, some initiatives aim to take advantage of frequency bands dedicated to limited private services. For instance, cellular networks based on orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) in 250 MHz bands require specialized adaptations because the interference between cells increases when these systems operate in the Very High Frequency (VHF) band. This work presents an analysis based on a reliable simulation of interference mitigation in OFDMA systems at 250 MHz using a network simulator. The simulator is calibrated with data obtained in the field by an extensive and rigorous drive test. Therefore, the analysis is based on a comparison of traditional frequency reuse schemes with a machine learning approach based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to reduce inter-cell interference. The numerical results indicate that the DRL approach outperforms the traditional frequency reuse (FR) schemes in four different typical agribusiness scenarios.
... For example, several studies have demonstrated that conservational tillage, no-tillage (Carmo et al., 2012;Elder and Lal, 2008;Linn and Doran, 1984;Reinsch et al., 2018) and integrated crop-livestock systems (Carvalho et al., 2014(Carvalho et al., , 2010Grassmann et al., 2020) can mitigate gas emissions when compared with conventional systems that use soil tillage followed by fertilization. Other agronomic practices can also be adopted to enrich the soil's potential to act as carbon and nitrogen sink (Mosquera et al., 2012), such as the use of lime (Mazzetto et al., 2015), integrated nutrient management, phosphorus management (Soltangheisi et al., 2019;Withers et al., 2018), the use of more productive grass (Casas et al., 2019;Roscher et al., 2016), rotational grazing (Campbell et al., 2015;Eaton et al., 2011), mulching, and pasture improvement. Finally, avoiding generating hot moments for N 2 O emissions by adopting the best management practices and considering the environmental conditions is paramount. ...
Brazilian beef production has been recognized as an important path to achieve environmental, social and economic sustainability, and to ensure food security. Although, traditionally, beef production in Brazil has relied on unmanaged pastures (i.e. extensive pasture), a growing demand for beef combined with increased competition for land to grow crops without increasing deforestation has led to the incremental conversion of pastures from unmanaged to intensive systems. To better understand the implications of changing pasture management on nitrogen availability and CO2 and N2O fluxes, a field experiment simulating the extensive-to-intensive pasture conversion was set up in São Paulo State, Brazil. Soil and gas samples were collected during two 6 months periods (October, 2013 to March, 2014 and December, 2014 to May, 2015) in an area of extensive pasture (EP), which served as a control, and also in two treatment areas where pasture intensification was simulated using practices typically adopted in the region. The treatment areas included conventionally tilled pasture without inorganic fertilizer (TP) and tilled pasture with inorganic fertilizer (IP). Environmental conditions and soil characteristics were also determined during the study period. The results clearly illustrated the impacts of commonly adopted pasture management systems in Brazil. Fluxes of CO2 and N2O fluxes increased with the application of fertilizer, with CO2 averaging about 4.1, 4.0 and 5.2 g m⁻² day⁻¹, and N2O fluxes averaging 0.2, 0.3 and 0.98 mg m⁻² day⁻¹ in EP, TP and IP, respectively. Despite equal rates of fertilizer application, differences in weather conditions and soil management resulted in different emission rates and dynamics for each pasture system type. Depending on the sampling period, emissions factors were 1.55% or 0.59%. The adoption of conservation management practices is vital to prevent “hot” moments of N2O emission arising from pasture intensification in Brazil.
... Riparian vegetation and small remnants could be further reduced in the near future (Soares-Filho et al., 2014), and these are important habitats for WLP (Keuroghlian and Eaton, 2008a) not located inside protected areas, representing 28% of the Brazilian territory suitable for WLP. Furthermore, applying sustainable agricultural production strategies that minimize forest reduction, such as rotation management systems for cattle and crop production -reducing area requirement and the impact on native trees (Eaton et al., 2011), encouragement for programs of payment for ecosystem services (Pearce, 2001), compliance of the forest code as a criteria for marketing, as well as the use of green certificates for exportation of rural products and reduction of meat consumption (Eisler et al., 2014), will be essential to decrease the impact of food production on white-lipped peccaries and other wild species (Phalan et al., 2011). ...
Mammals are important components of biodiversity that have been drastically and rapidly impacted by climate change, habitat loss, and anthropogenic pressure. Understanding key species distribution to optimize conservation targets is both urgent and necessary to reverse the current biodiversity crisis. Herein, we applied habitat suitability models for a key Neotropical forest ungulate, the white-lipped peccary (WLP Tayassu pecari), to investigate the effects of climate and landscape modifications on its distribution, which has been drastically reduced in Brazil. We used 318 primary records of WLP to derive habitat suitability maps across Brazil. Our models included bioclimatic, topographic, landscape, and human influence predictors in two modelling approaches. Models including all categories of predictors obtained the highest predictive ability and showed prevalence of suitable areas in forested regions of the country, covering 49% of the Brazilian territory. Filtering out small forest fragments (
