Evaluating rangeland's grazing capacity for livestock and wild herbivores using the Delta Diet tool and GIS technology.

Rangelands are dynamic and complex systems requiring appropriate adaptive decision-making to calculate grazing capacity integrating livestock and herbivore wildlife. This work describes the development and application of an integrated framework using the microhistological analysis (DeltaDiet tool) to identify key forage used by different herbivores from the same area associated with GIS technology to mapping landscape containing forage productivity and quality information. This study was conducted in a management unit, representative of the Nhecolândia sub-region landscape, Pantanal. During the dry period, representative fecal samples were collected from cows, capybaras and deer grazing in the same management unit for diet analysis, using the DeltaDiet tool. A field survey was conducted to assess key forage composition and utilization degree of the pastures. Landscape units and satellite image maps were made in order to define the main pastures categories. An algorithm was used to evaluate grazing capacity for livestock and wildlife integrating all the diet and pastures information as well as information available from the literature. It was then possible to define grazing capacity for each pasture categories and quality of diet selected by different herbivores.