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Habitat use and behaviour of cattle in a heterogeneous desert environment in central Australia

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 13:46 authored by Anke Frank, Dickman, CR, Wardle, GM
The activities of livestock in arid environments typically centre on watering points, with grazing impacts often predicted to decrease uniformly, as radial piospheres, with distance from water. In patchy desert environments, however, the spatial distribution of grazing impacts is more difficult to predict. In this study sightings and dung transects are used to identify preferred cattle habitats in the heterogeneous dune system of the Simpson Desert, central Australia. The importance of watering points as foci for cattle activity was confirmed and it was shown that patchily distributed gidgee woodland, which comprises only 16% of the desert environment, is the most heavily used habitat for cattle away from water and provides critical forage and shade resources. By contrast, dune swales and sides, which are dominated by shade- and forage-deficient spinifex grassland and comprise >70% of the available habitat, were less utilised. These results suggest that habitat use by cattle is influenced jointly by water point location and by the dispersion of woodland patches in a resource-poor matrix. The findings were used to build a modified conceptual model of cattle habitat use which was compared with an original piosphere model, and the consequences for wildlife in environments where the model applies are discussed.

History

Publication title

Rangeland Journal

Issue

34

Pagination

319-328

ISSN

1036-9872

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Australian Rangeland Soc

Place of publication

54 Broome St, Cotteslow, Australia, 6011

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 Australian Rangeland Society

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems

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