ABSTRACT The relationship between grazing intensity and ecosystem performance is complex and can ... more ABSTRACT The relationship between grazing intensity and ecosystem performance is complex and can depend on the prevailing ecological conditions. Previous studies have revealed that,in traditional grazing ecosystems, grazing can reduce ecosystem diversity in poor soils, butincrease diversity and productivity in rich ecosystems subject to moderate grazing pressure. We are interested in detecting long-term structural changes or drift in an ecosystem before itis too late to prevent irreversible degradation. We analyzed vegetation spatial patterns andcomplexities of four Mediterranean communities: Tihmadit Region (Middle Atlas, Morocco),Camiyayla (Namrum) Region (Taurus Mountain, Turkey), Sykia Region (south of theSithonia Peninsula, Greece), and Cabo de Gata Nijar Natural Park, Spain. Grazingdisturbance was most intense near shelter and water points, which lead to gradients in soilsurface disruption, compaction, and changes in the composition and cover of perennialvegetation. Dense matorral was more resistant to species loss than were moderately denseand scattered matorral, and grassland. Information fractal dimension decreased as we movedfrom a dense matorral to a discontinuous matorral, and increased as we moved to a morescattered matorral and to a grassland, which resulted in two opposing processes (interactiondeclining with ecosystem development, and immigration increasing with degradation) in acommon pattern, i.e., small patches homogeneously distributed in the landscape. Characteristic species of the natural vegetation declined in frequency and organization inresponse to higher grazing disturbance, while species of disturbed areas exhibited theopposite trend. Overall, the spatial organization of the characteristic plants of each community decreased with increasing vegetation degradation, with the intensity of the trend being related to the species' sensitivity to grazing. Developmental instability analyses of key species were used to determine the sensitivity of dominant key species to grazing pressure. Palatable species, which are better adapted to being eaten, such as Periploca laevigata, Phillyrea latifolia and Genista pseudopilosa, were able to resist moderate grazing pressure, while species of disturbed, grazed sites did not change developmental instability in response to increasing grazing pressure, such as Thymus hyemalis, Teucrium lusitanicum and Cistus monspeliensis. The usefulness of these monitoring tools in preventing land degradation is discussed.
Pastoralism is a traditional land use in the Mediterranean region lasting for several thousands o... more Pastoralism is a traditional land use in the Mediterranean region lasting for several thousands of years, where vegetation and animal communities are adapted to deal with summer drought periods and grazing pressure. There is a difference between the two shores of the Mediterranean in terms of pastoralism, it is more a mode of subsistence in the South, whereas in the North is a complementary activity each time less profitable. In addition, there is a clear North-South climatic gradient that determines rangelands productivity, carrying capacity, sustainable management and resilience. The environmental and socio-economical differences among the Northern and the Southern shores of the basin determine separated trends in both shores, leading to different management and future perspectives of rangelands. In addition to climate, differences in demographic pressure and socio-economical context influence rangeland status across the Mediterranean basin. Abandonment of grazing activities in No...
Portugal’s Northeast production of sheep and goats are based on the exploitation of landscape by-... more Portugal’s Northeast production of sheep and goats are based on the exploitation of landscape by-products such as spontaneous native vegetation and agriculture leftovers. Shepherds tend the flocks throughout grazing itineraries every day, crossing a mosaic of patches of varied land uses. During the journey, the shepherd acts together with the sheep and goats to select each patch in creating an ordered sequence of land uses. The focus of the research is on the land-use composition of the grazing itineraries; determinate how they depend on the patterns of the landscape mosaic. It is utilized a data set of 26 monthly herd’s itineraries, 13 of sheep and 13 of goats, to investigate the relationship of the land uses crossed by the flocks and the land uses of the landscape, evaluating the land-use preferences and selectivity of the sheep and goats. It is utilized the divergences in the time spent and distance travelled by the herds and the area of the land uses in the landscape, the chi-sq...
Natural products for upgrading sustainability of land resources and landscapes: the case of the A... more Natural products for upgrading sustainability of land resources and landscapes: the case of the Argan forest A. ElAich1, A. Bourbouze2, P. Bas3 & P. Morand-Fehr3 1InstitutAgronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, BP 6202 ... Goats rarely receive a ration of barley, corn or bran. ...
This study, conducted in the southwestern Argan forest of Morocco, aimed to assess goat feeding b... more This study, conducted in the southwestern Argan forest of Morocco, aimed to assess goat feeding behaviour and goat diet composition. Overall grazing time averaged 387min/day and represented on average 70% of total time when the goats were released on pasture. Grazing time was higher during winter months. Bipedal grazing was low and never exceeded 10%. Soil grazing varied according to the period of the year. Aerial grazing increased when herbaceous layer was depleted. Walking activity that accounted for 24% of the presence of goats on pasture, varied with the period of the year. Resting time accounted for less than 39min contributing less than 6% of the temporal behavior budget. The contribution of all argan to the goat's diet ranged from a minimum of 47% in June to a maximum of 84% in December. Aerial argan leaves contributed continuously to goat diets a proportion from 35% to 68%. Under-tree grazing accounted for 50% during June when herbaceous plants and stubble were available, but less than 15% when they were depleted. Total intake changed with advance in season. Total goat intake reached its lowest level when animals spent large amounts of their time grazing argan trees in response to shortage of feed on the ground. Variation of the intake rate was mainly due to bite size, since rate of biting varied little among months. Goats ingested larger bite size from March through June when argan fruits were available and when diversity of availability was the highest. The goats adaptation capacity in argan forest allows a kid meat production when other ruminants such as sheep probably would not be able to do.
a comparison between sheep and goats Hassidou M., Castro J., El Aich. A.,Castro M. * *Corresponde... more a comparison between sheep and goats Hassidou M., Castro J., El Aich. A.,Castro M. * *Correspondence author: marina.castro@ipb.pt 1 Student of Erasmus + ICM International Credit Mobility, Master of Science in Forest Resources Management, Polytechnic lnstitute of Bragança and Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II 2 Dep. of Environment and Natural Resources, Polytechnic lnstitute of Bragança. Campus de Santa Apolónia, Bragança, Portugal Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan, PO Box 6202 Rabat-Institute 10101, Rabat – Morocco 4 Mountain Research Centre CIMO-ESA-IPB. Bragança Portugal
In the Moroccan Middle Atlas, changes are occurring in the production system because of the disap... more In the Moroccan Middle Atlas, changes are occurring in the production system because of the disappearance of great transhumance, the sedentarisation of stockbreeders, the appropriation of land, the extension of crops at the expense of pasture, etc. Knowing that quality of lamb meat depends on the diet, it was considered important to evaluate performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs raised on grass compared to those fed partially or completely on concentrate and hay. Two experiments were carried out on two consecutive years (2006, Experiment 1, and 2007, Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 18 entire male lambs, of about 6 months of age and about 16 kg liveweight, were used, whereas the experiment 2 involved 39 lambs of about 6 months of age. Three diets were compared: pasture (PP), oat hay (50%) and concentrate (50%) (CC), and pasture and hay and concentrate (PC). In Experiment 2, feed intake was adjusted for CC and PC groups to achieve similar growth rate to PP gro...
La foret aide a nourrir les chevres. Il est certain que le pâturage des chevres a un impact sur l... more La foret aide a nourrir les chevres. Il est certain que le pâturage des chevres a un impact sur le developpement des arganiers. Selon une etude recente, le pâturage, certes, affecte la biomasse produite par les arganiers, mais sans pour autant nuire a la croissance de l'arbre. Par ai leurs, l'alimentation prelevee par les caprins dans la foret d'arganier confere a la viande du chevreau une certaine typicite. En effet, les lipides des chevreaux de l'arganeraie sont caracterises par des pourcentages eleves en acides gras impairs et ramifies, en acides gras poly-insatures n-6 et n-3, un rapport n-6/n-3 plus reduit, et des teneurs plus faibles en acide palmitique. La plus faible adiposite des chevreaux de l'arganeraie et le profil en acide ; gras des lipides des depots adipeux et des muscles peuvent etre consideres comme un caractere de typicite de leur viande et conferent a cette viande une caracteristique plus benefique pour la sante des consommateurs. Le chevreau ...
Dans l’arganeraie, la gestion des ressources naturelles a pour base le terroir, au sein duquel on... more Dans l’arganeraie, la gestion des ressources naturelles a pour base le terroir, au sein duquel on distingue les terres de statut prive, le plus souvent cultivees, et celles de statut domanial couvertes d’arganiers tantot privatisees de facto (agdal), tantot utilisees collectivement (mouchaa). Quatre acteurs majeurs, dont les interets s’opposent ou se completent, sont ainsi impliques dans la gestion et l’exploitation de l’arganeraie : les services forestiers, les agriculteurs-eleveurs, les elus et les autorites locales. Les eleveurs portent une grande attention a la chevre qui est un element important de l’economie locale et est un maillon cle du systeme agro-sylvo-pastoral. Le systeme alimentaire qui est en partie fonde sur les ressources alimentaires tirees de l’arganeraie repond a de nombreux facteurs de variation, et notamment aux conditions sociales d’acces. Il apparait que l’eleveur est un bon gestionnaire de ses terres privees et des arganiers qu’il « possede » dans le domania...
ABSTRACT The relationship between grazing intensity and ecosystem performance is complex and can ... more ABSTRACT The relationship between grazing intensity and ecosystem performance is complex and can depend on the prevailing ecological conditions. Previous studies have revealed that,in traditional grazing ecosystems, grazing can reduce ecosystem diversity in poor soils, butincrease diversity and productivity in rich ecosystems subject to moderate grazing pressure. We are interested in detecting long-term structural changes or drift in an ecosystem before itis too late to prevent irreversible degradation. We analyzed vegetation spatial patterns andcomplexities of four Mediterranean communities: Tihmadit Region (Middle Atlas, Morocco),Camiyayla (Namrum) Region (Taurus Mountain, Turkey), Sykia Region (south of theSithonia Peninsula, Greece), and Cabo de Gata Nijar Natural Park, Spain. Grazingdisturbance was most intense near shelter and water points, which lead to gradients in soilsurface disruption, compaction, and changes in the composition and cover of perennialvegetation. Dense matorral was more resistant to species loss than were moderately denseand scattered matorral, and grassland. Information fractal dimension decreased as we movedfrom a dense matorral to a discontinuous matorral, and increased as we moved to a morescattered matorral and to a grassland, which resulted in two opposing processes (interactiondeclining with ecosystem development, and immigration increasing with degradation) in acommon pattern, i.e., small patches homogeneously distributed in the landscape. Characteristic species of the natural vegetation declined in frequency and organization inresponse to higher grazing disturbance, while species of disturbed areas exhibited theopposite trend. Overall, the spatial organization of the characteristic plants of each community decreased with increasing vegetation degradation, with the intensity of the trend being related to the species' sensitivity to grazing. Developmental instability analyses of key species were used to determine the sensitivity of dominant key species to grazing pressure. Palatable species, which are better adapted to being eaten, such as Periploca laevigata, Phillyrea latifolia and Genista pseudopilosa, were able to resist moderate grazing pressure, while species of disturbed, grazed sites did not change developmental instability in response to increasing grazing pressure, such as Thymus hyemalis, Teucrium lusitanicum and Cistus monspeliensis. The usefulness of these monitoring tools in preventing land degradation is discussed.
Pastoralism is a traditional land use in the Mediterranean region lasting for several thousands o... more Pastoralism is a traditional land use in the Mediterranean region lasting for several thousands of years, where vegetation and animal communities are adapted to deal with summer drought periods and grazing pressure. There is a difference between the two shores of the Mediterranean in terms of pastoralism, it is more a mode of subsistence in the South, whereas in the North is a complementary activity each time less profitable. In addition, there is a clear North-South climatic gradient that determines rangelands productivity, carrying capacity, sustainable management and resilience. The environmental and socio-economical differences among the Northern and the Southern shores of the basin determine separated trends in both shores, leading to different management and future perspectives of rangelands. In addition to climate, differences in demographic pressure and socio-economical context influence rangeland status across the Mediterranean basin. Abandonment of grazing activities in No...
Portugal’s Northeast production of sheep and goats are based on the exploitation of landscape by-... more Portugal’s Northeast production of sheep and goats are based on the exploitation of landscape by-products such as spontaneous native vegetation and agriculture leftovers. Shepherds tend the flocks throughout grazing itineraries every day, crossing a mosaic of patches of varied land uses. During the journey, the shepherd acts together with the sheep and goats to select each patch in creating an ordered sequence of land uses. The focus of the research is on the land-use composition of the grazing itineraries; determinate how they depend on the patterns of the landscape mosaic. It is utilized a data set of 26 monthly herd’s itineraries, 13 of sheep and 13 of goats, to investigate the relationship of the land uses crossed by the flocks and the land uses of the landscape, evaluating the land-use preferences and selectivity of the sheep and goats. It is utilized the divergences in the time spent and distance travelled by the herds and the area of the land uses in the landscape, the chi-sq...
Natural products for upgrading sustainability of land resources and landscapes: the case of the A... more Natural products for upgrading sustainability of land resources and landscapes: the case of the Argan forest A. ElAich1, A. Bourbouze2, P. Bas3 & P. Morand-Fehr3 1InstitutAgronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, BP 6202 ... Goats rarely receive a ration of barley, corn or bran. ...
This study, conducted in the southwestern Argan forest of Morocco, aimed to assess goat feeding b... more This study, conducted in the southwestern Argan forest of Morocco, aimed to assess goat feeding behaviour and goat diet composition. Overall grazing time averaged 387min/day and represented on average 70% of total time when the goats were released on pasture. Grazing time was higher during winter months. Bipedal grazing was low and never exceeded 10%. Soil grazing varied according to the period of the year. Aerial grazing increased when herbaceous layer was depleted. Walking activity that accounted for 24% of the presence of goats on pasture, varied with the period of the year. Resting time accounted for less than 39min contributing less than 6% of the temporal behavior budget. The contribution of all argan to the goat's diet ranged from a minimum of 47% in June to a maximum of 84% in December. Aerial argan leaves contributed continuously to goat diets a proportion from 35% to 68%. Under-tree grazing accounted for 50% during June when herbaceous plants and stubble were available, but less than 15% when they were depleted. Total intake changed with advance in season. Total goat intake reached its lowest level when animals spent large amounts of their time grazing argan trees in response to shortage of feed on the ground. Variation of the intake rate was mainly due to bite size, since rate of biting varied little among months. Goats ingested larger bite size from March through June when argan fruits were available and when diversity of availability was the highest. The goats adaptation capacity in argan forest allows a kid meat production when other ruminants such as sheep probably would not be able to do.
a comparison between sheep and goats Hassidou M., Castro J., El Aich. A.,Castro M. * *Corresponde... more a comparison between sheep and goats Hassidou M., Castro J., El Aich. A.,Castro M. * *Correspondence author: marina.castro@ipb.pt 1 Student of Erasmus + ICM International Credit Mobility, Master of Science in Forest Resources Management, Polytechnic lnstitute of Bragança and Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II 2 Dep. of Environment and Natural Resources, Polytechnic lnstitute of Bragança. Campus de Santa Apolónia, Bragança, Portugal Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan, PO Box 6202 Rabat-Institute 10101, Rabat – Morocco 4 Mountain Research Centre CIMO-ESA-IPB. Bragança Portugal
In the Moroccan Middle Atlas, changes are occurring in the production system because of the disap... more In the Moroccan Middle Atlas, changes are occurring in the production system because of the disappearance of great transhumance, the sedentarisation of stockbreeders, the appropriation of land, the extension of crops at the expense of pasture, etc. Knowing that quality of lamb meat depends on the diet, it was considered important to evaluate performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs raised on grass compared to those fed partially or completely on concentrate and hay. Two experiments were carried out on two consecutive years (2006, Experiment 1, and 2007, Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 18 entire male lambs, of about 6 months of age and about 16 kg liveweight, were used, whereas the experiment 2 involved 39 lambs of about 6 months of age. Three diets were compared: pasture (PP), oat hay (50%) and concentrate (50%) (CC), and pasture and hay and concentrate (PC). In Experiment 2, feed intake was adjusted for CC and PC groups to achieve similar growth rate to PP gro...
La foret aide a nourrir les chevres. Il est certain que le pâturage des chevres a un impact sur l... more La foret aide a nourrir les chevres. Il est certain que le pâturage des chevres a un impact sur le developpement des arganiers. Selon une etude recente, le pâturage, certes, affecte la biomasse produite par les arganiers, mais sans pour autant nuire a la croissance de l'arbre. Par ai leurs, l'alimentation prelevee par les caprins dans la foret d'arganier confere a la viande du chevreau une certaine typicite. En effet, les lipides des chevreaux de l'arganeraie sont caracterises par des pourcentages eleves en acides gras impairs et ramifies, en acides gras poly-insatures n-6 et n-3, un rapport n-6/n-3 plus reduit, et des teneurs plus faibles en acide palmitique. La plus faible adiposite des chevreaux de l'arganeraie et le profil en acide ; gras des lipides des depots adipeux et des muscles peuvent etre consideres comme un caractere de typicite de leur viande et conferent a cette viande une caracteristique plus benefique pour la sante des consommateurs. Le chevreau ...
Dans l’arganeraie, la gestion des ressources naturelles a pour base le terroir, au sein duquel on... more Dans l’arganeraie, la gestion des ressources naturelles a pour base le terroir, au sein duquel on distingue les terres de statut prive, le plus souvent cultivees, et celles de statut domanial couvertes d’arganiers tantot privatisees de facto (agdal), tantot utilisees collectivement (mouchaa). Quatre acteurs majeurs, dont les interets s’opposent ou se completent, sont ainsi impliques dans la gestion et l’exploitation de l’arganeraie : les services forestiers, les agriculteurs-eleveurs, les elus et les autorites locales. Les eleveurs portent une grande attention a la chevre qui est un element important de l’economie locale et est un maillon cle du systeme agro-sylvo-pastoral. Le systeme alimentaire qui est en partie fonde sur les ressources alimentaires tirees de l’arganeraie repond a de nombreux facteurs de variation, et notamment aux conditions sociales d’acces. Il apparait que l’eleveur est un bon gestionnaire de ses terres privees et des arganiers qu’il « possede » dans le domania...
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