Tracking their moOOovements
They help us by preventing fires, they enrich the anemone population, and from this year they are more advanced than ever, broadcasting directly from the field
In recent years, cows grazing in the nature park during the spring have become a routine sight, however cows with GPS collars are a quite an innovative sight. We present you with “Moo” model 2018.
During this time of year, visitors to the nature park at Ramat Hanadiv are again met with the pastoral sight of a cattle herd grazing in the field. They enjoy the high-quality forage during the spring and in return they provide us with an important service by reducing fire damage during the summer and conserving landscape diversity across the nature park throughout the year. The innovation during the current grazing season is that we will now be able to follow the movements of the cattle in the field and more accurately monitor spatial grazing intensity. Following a pilot study conducted last year, we decided to attach GPS collars to some of the herd members. These collars document the cows’ movements in the park throughout the grazing season. The information stored in the devices will support better management of the herd in the field and will help the park’s staff make decisions about issues such as the entry and exit times of the herd and its transfer between different paddocks.
Cattle grazing is part of the multi-purpose management approach that has been implemented over the years in the park, and helps, among other things, in reducing fire damage by preventing fires from breaking out and minimizing their spread to residential areas near the park, and vice versa. This management approach supports controlled intervention in the natural system in order to achieve ecological, landscape, social and other benefits. This situation allows conservation of the biodiversity characteristic of the Mediterranean region, and in parallel, fire prevention. Controlled grazing by cattle and small ruminants (sheep and/or goats) is a significant tool in the field manager’s tool box and replaces the need for mowing, pruning and cutting of herbaceous and woody vegetation in certain areas.
We also have good news for anemone-lovers – long-term research conducted at Ramat Hanadiv has found that cattle grazing enriches the population of anemones, which without grazing would have difficulty competing with other plant species. So the next time you meet cows in the park, remember to take off your hat for a moment and thank them for their contribution.
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