Birds as environmental indicators for the design of sustainable livestock systems.

DARDANELLI, SEBASTIÁN; ALDABE, JOAQUÍN; CALAMARI, NOELIA C.; CANAVELLI, SONIA B.; BARZAN, FLAVIA; GOIJMAN, ANDREA P.; LEZANA, LUCRECIA; SOCA, PABLO; BLUMETTO, OSCAR

Montevideo

Congreso; 6th Symposium Farming Systems Design; 2019

Universidad de la República (Uruguay)

Wild birds, strongly associated with the vegetation structure of livestock farms, are often used as indicators of environmental sustainability. Here, we explore the relationship between the intensity of grazing, as a driver of vegetation structure in livestock farms, and the bird communities present in thefarms. The study was conducted in 36 livestock farms in natural fields in Uruguay and Argentina, in the austral spring-summer (October 2017-February2018). The birds were recorded using transects or point counts, according to the predominant vegetation type. Then, we analyzed bird communities of open areas (grasslands and savannahs) and examined the relationships between occupancy of the species, the height of the herbaceous vegetation, and the grazing intensity. Most of the species were strongly associated with both the height of the herbaceous vegetation and the grazing intensity. Some species were more frequent in fields with higher herbaceous vegetation height or lower grazing intensity while other species showed an inverse relationship, according to their particular environmental requirements. The management of the grazing intensity of livestock farms seems like an adequate tool to design the landscape in livestock farms, allowing not only to increase livestock productivity, as shown in other studies but also to conserve and enhance the natural capital of the bird biodiversity of grassland and savannah from Uruguay and Argentina.