A simple model to support grazing management by direct field observation

•An alternative cheaper methodology to assess spatial distribution of grazing pressure.•Importance of drinking trough placement for the temporal behavior pattern of cattle.•Grazing pressure modeling: an effective low cost methodology to support biodiversity.•Extensive grazing can be a cheap solution to produce highly diverse landscape mosaic.

In the framework of grassland conservation, extensive grazing represents a management tool which is both cheaper than mechanical management and produces a highly diverse landscape mosaic, thus addressing economic and conservation purposes. The understanding of the key ecological processes involved in grazing systems is a basic step towards the sustainable application of such a system. The aims of this study were: (1) assessment of the grazing pressure and the grazing damage in a fenced cattle pasture; (2) identification of the environmental factors driving the grazing pressure; (3) development of a mathematical model (based on multivariate linear regression analysis) explaining the grazing pressure in the area; and (4) modeling of a grazing pattern scenario that would result from manipulation of an environmental variable.Management facilities were found to be the main factors driving the behavior of grazing cattle and, consequently, the distribution of undergrazed and overgrazed areas, with the highest grazing pressure close to drinking troughs.The search for new foraging areas promotes a better distribution of animals in the pasture as shown by the increase in grazed area frequented by cattle during the season.Grazing pressure modeling is a potentially effective low cost methodology to support biodiversity preservation and the efficient use of pastures in specific situations, such as habitats listed in Directive 92/43/EEC. It can be extended to studies at a Pan-European scale by using recently developed data sources and instruments. Pasture management based on the application of our model could be used to optimize grazing patterns without costly repositioning of fences.