Comparison of sheep grazing behavior at different slopes of semi-steppe rangelands (Karsanak, Sarali Abad, Saral, Gavan ban and Qorveh)

This research was conducted to investigate sheep grazing behavior in semi-steppe rangelands (Gavan ban, Qorveh, Saral, Karsanak and Sarali Abad) during 2007-2010. For this purpose, the distance traveled per day, the speed of movement, the time spent for rest, and the time taken to move were measured using GPS..At the end of grazing, all data were extracted using track mode in ILWIS software.Measurements were repeated each month during the grazing season (flowering to seeding stages).Our results clearly showed that the distance traveled by sheep in flowering stage was higher as compared with other stages and the lowest distance traveled by sheep was related to August and September. According to the results, the maximum and minimum time spent for grazing was related to September and May, respectively. In addition, the maximum distance traveled by sheep was recorded on the slopes from zero to 8% and the lowest on the slope more than 50 %.