Knowledge Resource Center for Ecological Environment in Arid Area
| 项目编号 | 1019148 |
| Effects of grazing Raramuri Criollo vs. Brangus cows on Chihuahuan Desert vegetation and soils | |
| Cibils, Andres | |
| 主持机构 | SAES - NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY |
| 开始日期 | 2019 |
| 结束日期 | 2023 |
| 资助机构 | US-NIFA（美国食品与农业研究所） |
| 语种 | 英语 |
| 国家 | 美国 |
| 中文简介 | 1070 - Ecology |
| 英文简介 | Goals / Objectives A number of reliable climate models now predict that the North American desert southwest will become hotter and drier, that variability in annual precipitation will increase, and that the onset of monsoon rains will occur later in the growing season. The viability of desert ranching enterprises will depend on their ability to adapt to these emerging conditions. An adaptation strategy that is gaining momentum among a growing number of ranchers in the SW United States involves raising drought-adapted indigenous low-input beef cattle biotypes. The Raramuri Criollo (RC) cattle from Chihuahua's Copper Canyon in Mexico is one such biotype that has exhibited intriguing foraging behavior traits. When compared to British crossbreeds, RC cows exhibit higher plasticity in habitat and diet selection; they appear to respond to forage scarcity by ranging farther and broadening the menu of plant species they include in their diets. This has led researchers to speculate that raising RC cattle could lower the environmental footprint of desert beef production because the impact of herbivory appears to be spread out across the landscape during drought periods when vegetation and soils are most vulnerable. This hypothesis, however, has never been formally tested.Our goal is to investigate the effect of raising indigenous vs. introduced beef cattle breeds on long-term plant community dynamics in the Chihuahuan Desert. More broadly, our research addresses the fundamental question about whether innate differences in livestock foraging behavior are of any consequence to the structure and functioning of desert plant communities.The objective of this study will be to determine whether key Chihuahuan Desert soil and vegetation parameters respond differently to conservative stocking rates of Raramuri Criollo vs. Brangus cattle.Project Methods We propose to use four pastures at NMSU's Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC) which have been stocked year-round with Brangus cattle at either conservative (pastures 4 and 14) or light (pastures 1 and 15) rates. We plan to randomly assign breeds (whether RC or Brangus) between pastures 4 and 14, grazed conservatively for 25 years, and pastures 1 and 15, grazed lightly for the same time period. Although precipitation on the CDRRC is usually assumed to decrease from E to W, no differences in precipitation recorded in pastures 1, 4, 14, and 15 were observed over a 15 year period between 1997-2011.Pastures will be stocked year-round with mature cows (4y or older) at a conservative rate to achieve 35% to 40% utilization of key forage species. Stocking rates will be adjusted annually to maintain nearly constant grazing pressure over time. During the 1997-2011 period, conservatively grazed pastures in the previous study were stocked annually with an average of 11.5 AUGoals /pasture. Therefore, this study will require approximately 28 Raramuri Criollo and 20 Brangus cows, assuming body weights of 800 lbs. and 1,200 lbs., respectively. Raramuri Criollo cows will be provided by the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, whereas Brangus cows will be supplied by the CDRRC.Bred cows will be selected for the study at weaning in the fall of 2018. In 2019 and each year thereafter, all cows will be bred via artificial insemination (AI) during the late springGoals /early summer such that calving will occur in February-April each year. AI protocols will be designed and implemented under the direction of Dr. Adam Summers. A detailed protocol for AI and use of clean up bulls will be developed prior to the beginning of this study. All calves born to the Raramuri Criollo herd will be sold at weaning and sale proceeds will be turned over to the Department of Animal and Range Science for use in maintaining infrastructure at the CDRRCCow weight and body condition score (BCS) will be recorded in January, May, and October each year. Reproductive performance and calf weaning weights will be determined in October. We will use beef cattle BCS scales using a 0-9 scoring system where 0 = emaciated and 9 = obese. Breed-specific BCS-based criteria will be developed to determine feed supplementation strategies. The same vaccination and parasite control protocols and other general management practices will be applied to both herds.Spatial foraging patterns of Brangus and Raramuri Criollo cows will be documented via GPS collars during six annual periods (20 to 30 days every other month). Detailed data about the spatial distribution of cattle herbivory will be coupled with spatially explicit vegetation and soil responses. Standard mapping and analysis methods for livestock GPS data will used. Fecal samples will be collected monthly to conduct fecal NIRS analysis to predict diet quality of each breed.Vegetation sampling will follow standard protocols used previously which involve annual measurements of total herbaceous standing crop, forage production, and plant basal cover in 10 key areas in each pasture (40 sampling sites total). We will continue to use the permanent transects established in each area in order to make meaningful inferences regarding vegetation trend. In addition to standard vegetation measurements, we will also determine soil surface stability and gap size each year and plan to include periodic measurements of soil C, N and microbial diversity at each of the 40 permanent transects. We also plan to include periodic measurements of avian biodiversity to support an emerging collaboration with the Audubon Society. Besides on-the-ground sampling of vegetation and soils, we will use MODIS image sequences to compare annual green-up parameters for each pasture. We will also develop GIS layers containing a map of ecological states of each pasture.The basic experimental design will be a randomized complete block with two treatments (Brangus or Raramuri Criollo grazing). Pastures will be the experimental unit (n=2) blocked by recent land use legacy (conservative or light grazing by cattle). Individual animals and transects will be treated as sampling units. Analysis of these data will include initial conditions andGoals /or annual precipitation as a covariate. Repeated measures analysis will be conducted where possible to account for temporal autocorrelation of vegetation and soil response variables. |
| 英文关键词 | heritage cattle climate change adaptation |
| 来源学科分类 | 1070 - Ecology |
| 资源类型 | 项目 |
| 条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/356126 |
| 推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Cibils, Andres.Effects of grazing Raramuri Criollo vs. Brangus cows on Chihuahuan Desert vegetation and soils.2019. |
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