Effect of the Silvopastoral System on the Thermal Comfort of Lambs in a Subtropical Climate: A Preliminary Study

Frederico Márcio C. Vieira, Jaqueline Agnes Pilatti, Zilmara Maria Welfer Czekoski, Vinicius F. C. Fonsêca, Piotr Herbut, Sabina Angrecka, Edgar de Souza Vismara, Vicente de Paulo Macedo, Maiane Cristina Rodrigues dos Santos and Iwona Paśmionka
Additional contact information
Frederico Márcio C. Vieira: Biometeorology Study Group (GEBIOMET), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos Campus, Estrada para Boa Esperança, km 04, Comunidade São Cristóvão, Dois Vizinhos 85660-000, Brazil
Jaqueline Agnes Pilatti: Biometeorology Study Group (GEBIOMET), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos Campus, Estrada para Boa Esperança, km 04, Comunidade São Cristóvão, Dois Vizinhos 85660-000, Brazil
Zilmara Maria Welfer Czekoski: Biometeorology Study Group (GEBIOMET), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos Campus, Estrada para Boa Esperança, km 04, Comunidade São Cristóvão, Dois Vizinhos 85660-000, Brazil
Vinicius F. C. Fonsêca: Animal Science Department, Federal University of Paraíba, Rodovia PB 079, km 12, Areia 58397-000, Brazil
Piotr Herbut: Department of Rural Building, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Land Surveying, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
Sabina Angrecka: Department of Rural Building, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Land Surveying, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
Edgar de Souza Vismara: Biometeorology Study Group (GEBIOMET), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos Campus, Estrada para Boa Esperança, km 04, Comunidade São Cristóvão, Dois Vizinhos 85660-000, Brazil
Vicente de Paulo Macedo: Animal Science Coordination, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos Campus, Estrada para Boa Esperança, km 04, Comunidade São Cristóvão, Dois Vizinhos 85660-000, Brazil
Maiane Cristina Rodrigues dos Santos: Biometeorology Study Group (GEBIOMET), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos Campus, Estrada para Boa Esperança, km 04, Comunidade São Cristóvão, Dois Vizinhos 85660-000, Brazil
Iwona Paśmionka: Department of Microbiology and Biomonitoring, Faculty of Agriculture and Economics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 31-120 Kraków, Poland

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: The silvopastoral system has the potential to alleviate the negative impacts of heat stress on livestock. Through a preliminary study, we assessed the thermal environment experienced by hair coat lambs, as well as the impacts on their bio-thermal and behavioural responses, when either kept in either the silvopastoral system, or exposed to full sun. Twelve hair coat lambs (Dorper × Santa Ines) were randomly assigned to a silvopastoral system or full sun exposure during the summer (from January to February 2017). Parameters, including air temperature, black globe temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and ground surface temperature, were measured daily for both thermal environments. From 14:00 to 16:00, lambs kept in silvopastoral areas experienced lower levels of air temperature, radiant heat load, and ground surface temperature. Consequently, they had a lower hair coat surface and lower body rectal temperatures. Lambs exposed to a shaded environment spent more time grazing and walking, and less time standing at rest. In conclusion, lambs kept in a silvopastoral system experienced lower levels of radiant heat load and ground surface temperature. In addition, the animals showed a reduced requirement for evaporative cooling and expressed behaviours that indicated a comfortable thermal environment.

Keywords: agroforestry systems; biometeorology; thermal comfort; behaviour; sheep production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/8/790/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/8/790/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:8:p:790-:d:617288

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().