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<p>In many natural habitats worldwide, native large herbivorous mammals have been replaced by domestic livestock, potentially defining novel rules for plant–herbivore interactions. Understanding how livestock respond to and shape vegetation, through their foraging strategies, dietary selectivity, and functional traits, is essential to predicting their ecological impacts. Our study examined how the foraging behaviours of goats and cattle differ across seasons and vegetation types in a savanna landscape in Yunnan Province, southwest China, varying in architectural and chemical defences and nutrient availability. Using scan sampling, we monitored cattle (11,478 sightings) and goats (2760 sightings) over four consecutive days in three distinct seasons to analyse their diurnal time budgets and feeding choices. Both cattle and goats foraged in open landscapes and avoided forests. Thicket–savanna was a consistent choice throughout the year; however, during the hot dry season, cattle concentrated in Riverine grassland and goats increasingly used Dodonaea thicket. Goats covered more ground than cattle to satisfy their forage requirements. Cattle exhibited significant seasonal feeding shifts, increasing their time spent feeding on woody plants in drier seasons. In contrast, goats maintained more consistent dietary preferences across seasons, predominantly feeding on woody plants, and showed stable intake of nutrients and phenolics. This behavioural difference resulted in cattle transitioning from a high-carbon and high-K, low-N and low-condensed tannins diet in the hot–wet season, to a diet richer in N and phenolics in the two dry seasons. These findings highlight how feeding preferences, shaped by plant traits and seasonal resource dynamics, drive differences in foraging and landscape use between domestic grazers and browsers. Recognizing these roles can help guide grazing management strategies that mimic natural herbivory patterns to maintain ecosystem processes.</p>

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Seasonal Shifts in Space and Diet of Free-Ranging Domestic Herbivores in a Monsoonal Savanna Landscape in Southwest China

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月9日

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  • Waraporn Phoncharoen,
  • Uriel Gélin,
  • Tristan Charles-Dominique,
  • Evgenii Baiakhmetov,
  • Shen Xianhui,
  • Adek Adi Putra,
  • Amar Kunwar,
  • Yang Neng,
  • Lisa Ong,
  • R. Sedricke Lapuz,
  • Kyle W. Tomlinson

摘要

In many natural habitats worldwide, native large herbivorous mammals have been replaced by domestic livestock, potentially defining novel rules for plant–herbivore interactions. Understanding how livestock respond to and shape vegetation, through their foraging strategies, dietary selectivity, and functional traits, is essential to predicting their ecological impacts. Our study examined how the foraging behaviours of goats and cattle differ across seasons and vegetation types in a savanna landscape in Yunnan Province, southwest China, varying in architectural and chemical defences and nutrient availability. Using scan sampling, we monitored cattle (11,478 sightings) and goats (2760 sightings) over four consecutive days in three distinct seasons to analyse their diurnal time budgets and feeding choices. Both cattle and goats foraged in open landscapes and avoided forests. Thicket–savanna was a consistent choice throughout the year; however, during the hot dry season, cattle concentrated in Riverine grassland and goats increasingly used Dodonaea thicket. Goats covered more ground than cattle to satisfy their forage requirements. Cattle exhibited significant seasonal feeding shifts, increasing their time spent feeding on woody plants in drier seasons. In contrast, goats maintained more consistent dietary preferences across seasons, predominantly feeding on woody plants, and showed stable intake of nutrients and phenolics. This behavioural difference resulted in cattle transitioning from a high-carbon and high-K, low-N and low-condensed tannins diet in the hot–wet season, to a diet richer in N and phenolics in the two dry seasons. These findings highlight how feeding preferences, shaped by plant traits and seasonal resource dynamics, drive differences in foraging and landscape use between domestic grazers and browsers. Recognizing these roles can help guide grazing management strategies that mimic natural herbivory patterns to maintain ecosystem processes.