RESEARCH Open Access Patterns

of livestock activity on heterogeneous subalpine pastures reveal distinct responses to spatial autocorrelation, environment and management Hermel Homburger1,2, Andreas Lüscher1, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen2 and Manuel K. Schneider1* Background: In order to understand the impact of grazing livestock on pasture ecosystems, it is essential to quantify pasture use intensity at a fine spatial scale and the factors influencing its distribution. The observation and analysis of animal activity is greatly facilitated by remote tracking technology and new statistical frameworks allowing for rapid inference on spatially correlated data. We used these advances to study activity patterns of GPS-tracked cows in six summer-grazing areas in the Swiss Alps that differed in environmental conditions as well as livestock management. Results: Recorded GPS positions were assigned to the activities of grazing, resting, and walking, and were discretized on a regular grid. Regression models with spatially structured effects were fitted to the spatial activity patterns using Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation. They indicated that terrain slope, forage quality, and stocking rate were th