GIS grid analysis of utilization of adjacent pastures by two herds of goats

Many goat producers divide their herd into 2 or more groups for grazing in adjacent pastures with or without other livestock species. The objective of this study was to observe the spatial patterns of two adjacent herds of goats pastured with and without cattle. A 15.8-ha pasture was stocked with 36 Spanish goats and 12 Angus cows (GC), and a 14.1-ha pasture was stocked with 36 Spanish goats without cattle (GO). Neither group of goats had been exposed to cattle before. The pastures consisted of fescue, bermudagrass, various Panicum such as switchgrass, bahiagrass, and broomsedge bluestem, but areas were reverting to woody plant species such as sapling-sized trees of pecan, elm, and honey locust. Eleven goats in GC and 10 goats in GO were fitted with GPS collars that recorded a fix every 5 min in the first 2 wk. A GIS point-in-polygon analysis using a 10 × 10 m grid was conducted for each pasture. The GO had greater (χ2 = 858, P