The spatial and temporal patterns of cattle and elk grazing in a riparian area in northern Arizona were captured over a 3 week period by taking high resolution photographs at a time step of 30 seconds from 5 am to 7 pm each day. The resultant images were stitched to create time-lapse videos (6 minutes per 14 real time hours per day). The videos were evaluated to track individual animal and herd movement and behavior in the riparian area. The photographs collected in this study are insufficient to draw conclusions regarding specific vegetation impacts, and traditional monitoring such as measuring stubble height does not capture levels of animal presence that produce these impacts. When the two data collection methods are coupled a more complete description of cattle and elk occupation and impact can be determined. Research is ongoing to apply high resolution time-lapse photography for understanding grazing behavior across a range of environmental conditions.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.