The basic ecological unit in arid areas under grazing animals is envisaged as a zone round a watering point and is termed the piosphere (from the Greek "pios" = to drink). A piosphere in which sheep tracks can be distinguished in aerial photographs has been investigated; length, direction and type of track are described; remarkable adherance of the tracks to the near radial (significant deviation of 2.5° to left) indicate navigational skill in sheep. Sheep forage but do not cut visible tracks between the radial tracks. Sheep density can be estimated from dung density since pellets of dung persist for long periods in the arid regions. It is suggested that understanding the piosphere will contribute to management in arid rangelands. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.