Book and DVD
Foraging Behavior: Managing to Survive in a World of Change
Book and DVD:
This 62-page booklet produced for NRCS is filled with information and case studies about grazing animals and forage resource management. The book can be viewed or downloaded in PDF format (below).
We also have a companion DVD. The DVD can be viewed on YouTube or copies of the DVD are $10 and can be ordered by contacting Rae Ann Hart raeann.hart@usu.edu.
Section 1: The Challenge (pdf)
Detecting nutrients · Minimizing ingestion of toxins · Physical attributes of plants · Food on the move · Animals on the move · People on the move
Section 2: Origins of Preference (pdf)
Goats and blackbrush · The importance of experience to production · Mother knows best · The peer group · Meeting the challenge · Advantages of social learning · Unfamiliar environments · Unfamiliar terrain for herbivores and managers · Easing transitions for herbivores and managers · A load of hay · The adaptation trough
Section 3: More than a Matter of Taste (pdf)
Palatability is more than a matter of taste · The wisdom of the body · Changes in palatability are automatic · Excesses and deficits · All forages are not created equal · Nutritional state · Interactions between nutrients and toxins · Helping weed eaters
Section 4: The Spice of Life (pdf)
Variety of theories · Looking over clover · Why animals search for variety · Herding sheep · Variation among individuals · Confined and constrained
If it ain't broke don't fix it · Necessity is the mother of invention · The hazards of exploring new environments · Correcting nutritional deficits · The carnivorous herbivore · Cycles of behavior
Section 6: Old Dogs, New Tricks (pdf)
Two hands clapping · Reinforcement and punishment · Consequences depend on nature and nurture · Using behavior to manage for ecological, cultural, and economic integrity · Skin and gut defenses · Teaching herbivores about toxic foods · Creating cultures that enhance biodiversity · Grazing sagebrush-steppe · Boom-bust management · Culture, social organization, and grazing management