Describing Cattle Grazing Distribution in Communal Rangelands of the Eastern Cape South Africa: Towards Improving Livestock Rangeland Use

This study used global positioning systems (GPS) to understand grazing distribution of three cattle in the communal rangeland of Eastern Cape, South Africa. Free ranging cattle were randomly selected from participating households and were fitted with neck GPS collars, which recorded geographic position every five-minute interval during wet and dry season. The study identified three production domains where cattle were reported to be spending most of their time grazing, separated by bound polygons on google earth Pro to further extract MODIS EVI???. The recorded GPS points were loaded into google earth Pro to analyse the distribution of cattle grazing in the rangeland. The results revealed that cattle spent most of their time grazing in areas associated with human features such as areas around homesteads, paths and riparian zones. Furthermore, MODIS EVI showed high production taking place in the concentrated grazed areas, suggesting that cattle may be attracted to those grazing lawns because of high nutrient deposition through to the repeated visitation during grazing. This study will help in providing an informed basis for the development of South African communal rangeland policies for effective livestock management