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Agroecosystems represent a large geographical footprint in most terrestrial landscapes, and management decisions within these systems affect their function in species conservation. We evaluated the effects that rangeland management systems (based on stocking density, rotation frequency, and the number of avermectin applications) have on conserving the dung arthropod community in the Northern Great Plains of North America. Comprehensive bioinventories of arthropods were collected from 16 rangelands using core samples of dung pats. Ivermectin was quantified in pats from each ranch using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Arthropods in dung were abundant (116,244 specimens) and diverse in eastern South Dakota (172 morphospecies). Rangelands managed with more regenerative practices (frequent rotation at high stocking densities and lack of ivermectin applications) had greater species richness, diversity, predator species abundance, and dung beetle abundance than more conventionally managed rangelands. Ivermectin quantity in cattle pats was negatively correlated with dung beetle abundance and diversity. This work shows that herd management (specifically high-intensity, frequent rotational grazing and eliminating prophylactic ivermectin use) that aims to mimic intensive grazing of large migrating herds of ruminants can foster dung arthropod community structure, a key trait correlated with nutrient cycling, pest suppression, and productivity of cattle-grazed rangelands.

We report state-and-transition models for Uruguayan grasslands built on a methodological approach that objectively defined states/phases associated, a priori, with rangeland management. Such approach was based on randomly sampled areas corresponding to mapped grassland communities. Each sampled area matched a MODIS pixel. Vegetation structural indicators were recorded in every pixel. After a multivariate analysis, field observations were grouped according to similarities in terms of structure, and different “states” and “phases” were identified. Ecosystem functioning and the supply of regulating ecosystem services were estimated for each grassland state/phase using the normalized difference vegetation index derived from the MODIS sensor. Finally, workshops were held in order to detect local stakeholders’ perceptions and discuss the management practices to promote the desired transitions among phases. Results were presented for two vegetation units of the Basaltic “Cuesta” region. The “inductive approach” applied led to not only the description of “states” but also the identification of more subtle changes in vegetation ("phases"). Our approach minimized biases due to personal experience, as well as differences derived from using different observation protocols. The two vegetation units presented an internal heterogeneity associated with changes in basal stratum height, total cover, stratification, frequency of decreasing species due to grazing, and proportion of plant life forms. The ecosystem functioning descriptors of each phase responded to extreme climatic events differently. On the basis of stakeholder’s opinions and experiences, stocking rate, sheep/cattle ratio, and grazing method were the main management practices promoting the transition among phases.

Bu çalışma; Türkiye’nin Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi’nde yer alan doğal bir meranın farklı yükseltilerinin vejetasyon yapısını belirlemek amacıyla 2018 yılında yürütülmüştür. Modifiye Edilmiş Tekerlekli Lup (halka) metodu kullanılarak yapılan bu çalışma ile iki farklı yükseltideki (sırasıyla 863 m ve 1083 m) meranın bitki örtüsü ve vejetasyon yapısı incelenmiştir. Çalışma alanında bitkiyle kaplı alan, botanik kompozisyon, tür sayıları, mera durumu ve sağlığı gibi özellikler tespit edilmiştir. Araştırma sonucuna göre; birinci yükseltide (863 m) ortalama bitki ile kaplı alan % 63, ikinci yükseltide (1083 m) ise % 59 olarak belirlenmiştir. Birinci yükseltide bitki ile kaplı alanda buğdaygillerin, baklagillerin ve diğer familyaların oranı sırasıyla % 19.5, % 17.25 ve % 26.25 olarak belirlenirken, ikinci yükseltide bu oran sırasıyla % 15.0, % 14.75 ve % 29.25 olarak gerçekleşmiştir. Bitki ile kaplı alanda botanik kompozisyondaki buğdaygillerin ortalama oranı % 28.06, baklagillerin oranı % 26.08 ve diğer familyalara ait bitkilerin oranı ise % 45.86 olarak saptanmıştır. Meranın botanik kompozisyonu üzerinde yapılan incelemelere göre mera durumu “zayıf mera”, mera sağlığı ise “riskli mera” sınıfında değerlendirilmiştir. Bu nedenle çalışmaya konu olan mera alanları ile bölgede bulunan diğer benzer alanlarda mera amenajman ilkelerine uyulması ve ıslah çalışmalarının yapılması gerektiği sonucuna varılmıştır.

The land degradation in Kuwait presents into two main forms, namely, soil compaction and loss to native plants. These two forms of land degradation are highly related to off-road vehicle tracks and grazing points. Therefore, the off-road vehicle tracks and grazing points were delineated for the first time within all Kuwait using Worldview and Rapid Eye images 2017 and ArcGIS. There is 871,811 grazing livestock (sheep, goats, and camels) spread into 2473 grazing points was detected in Kuwait open desert in 2017. There are around 354 as average livestock in each grazing point. The total length for off-road vehicle tracks is 14,774.7 km spread over Kuwait which is equivalent to 1.16 times more than the length of the planet earth mean diameter. The off-road vehicle tracks and grazing points are a leading cause for land degradation and soil compaction in Kuwait. Aeolian activities were monitored for 1 year at downwind of an off-road vehicle track at 10 m, 50 m, and 200 m. The results show more quantities of mobile sand, and dust was trapped at 10 and 50 m compared with the 200 m distance from off-road vehicle track. Consequently, the total area affected by soil compaction due to off-road vehicle tracks and grazing points in Kuwait is 1390.23 km2 representing 7.8% of the total area of Kuwait. It is concluded that grazing points and off-road vehicle tracks are highly related to each other, and both are jumped to higher densities around the urban area and watering points. As a result, it is strongly recommended to develop a national action plan to control off-road vehicle tracks and grazing points by putting into practice a proper rangeland management plan in Kuwait. Steps of the action plan were outlined for this study.

Small, isolated, depressional wetlands increasingly exist in developed landscapes and are highly vulnerable to hydrologic alterations and eutrophication. Globally, grazing lands contain a significant number of these wetlands, and the practices of grazing, prescribed fire and fertilizing have all been shown separately to influence wetland nutrient dynamics. However, wetlands are often exposed to a combination of these practices and the interactive effects have yet to be fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of pasture management, grazing, and fire on water quality in isolated wetlands on a subtropical ranch in South-Central Florida. We used a factorial experiment on 40 whole wetland ecosystems manipulating grazing (fenced or not) and fire (burned or not) in two pasture types (intensely managed and semi-native). Grab samples of water were collected over 8 years, including one pre-treatment year, at peak growing season, in all wetlands and analyzed for nitrogen and phosphorous. In addition, we conducted a laboratory experiment to simulate the effect of a prescribed burn on water quality using live plant tissue, detritus, and soil taken from grazed and fenced wetlands to investigate the interactions of these practices on short-term responses of water quality. In the field experiment, after one year of experimental treatments, wetlands exposed to both grazing and prescribed burns had relatively low phosphorous in water in intensely managed pastures. After multiple years of treatment only ammonia was reduced with burning and fencing in both pasture-types. In the lab experiment, simulated burning caused a pulse release of phosphorous and a reduction of nitrogen due to volatilization of both live plant tissue and detritus, but the magnitude was influenced by grazing and pasture-type. This study of rangeland management on wetland water quality demonstrates the effect of these practices, especially prescribed burns, on improving nutrient release in agricultural wetlands and shows that management effects on nutrient release varies with historical land use and over time.

The biotic and abiotic factors can alter the temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition in rangeland areas. This is a key issue that directly affects soil fertility and productivity. On the other hand, most of the rangelands in Iran are involved overgrazing. However, there is a lack of information about these effects, especially, in semi-arid environments. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of land management on soil nutrient contents and their stoichiometry on the temperature sensitivity of SOM decomposition (Q10) in semi-arid rangeland ecosystems. Soil samples (at three different soil depths) were collected in adjacent rangeland areas with different management in Iran. Soils were incubated at three different temperatures. The soil heterotrophic respiration was measured using an Alkali absorption method and then was calculated Q10. The decrease in Q10 values was observed with increasing carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) of soil content. Changes of Q10 in relation to stoichiometry C:N and P:N showed a linear model and a second-order polynomial model in grazed and ungrazed rangeland respectively. Ungrazed rangeland had the lower Q10 value (0.97) compared to grazed rangeland (1.21). Labile C variability at soil due to effects in land management such as trampling and erosion, altering plant biomass and microbial communities may be able to partly explained variation of Q10 values. Overall, trend of decreasing Q10 values associated with increasing C, N and P contents of soil in all rangeland management can be explained by the high microbial CUE. The obtained results presumably indicated that stoichiometry of C:P:N can play as an important determinant in increase CUE and decrease Q10 in rangeland ecosystems. Overall, the results of this research will valuable for prediction of the condition and succession trend via Q10 and C losses in various grazing management in semi-arid rangeland ecosystems.

Net primary production (NPP) is an indicator of rangeland ecosystem function. This research assessed the potential of the Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) model for estimating NPP and its spatial and temporal changes in semi-arid rangelands of Semirom County, Iran. Using CASA model, we estimated the NPP values based on monthly climate data and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) obtained from the MODIS sensor. Regression analysis was then applied to compare the estimated production data with observed production data. The spatial and temporal changes in NPP and light utilization efficiency (LUE) were investigated in different rangeland vegetation types. The standardized precipitation index (SPI) was also calculated at different time scales and the correlation of SPI with NPP changes was determined. The results indicated that the estimated NPP values varied from 0.00 to 74.48 g C/(m2·a). The observed and estimated NPP values had different correlations, depending on rangeland conditions and vegetation types. The highest and lowest correlations were respectively observed in Astragalus spp.-Agropyron spp. rangeland (R2=0.75) with good condition and Gundelia spp.-Cousinia spp. rangeland (R2=0.36) with poor and very poor conditions. The maximum and minimum LUE values were found in Astragalus spp.-Agropyron spp. rangeland (0.117 g C/MJ) with good condition and annual grasses-annual forbs rangeland (0.010 g C/MJ), respectively. According to the correlations between SPI and NPP changes, the effects of drought periods on NPP depended on vegetation types and rangeland conditions. Annual plants had the highest drought sensitivity while shrubs exhibited the lowest drought sensitivity. The positive effects of wet periods on NPP were less evident in degraded areas where the destructive effects of drought were more prominent. Therefore, determining vegetation types and rangeland conditions is essential in NPP estimation. The findings of this study confirmed the potential of the CASA for estimating rangeland production. Therefore, the model output maps can be used to evaluate, monitor and optimize rangeland management in semi-arid rangelands of Iran where MODIS NPP products are not available.

Land degradation has become a global concern that requires countries to take prompt actions. The objective of the study was to assess land management in respect to activities of livestock keeping in the Ruvu and Zigi river basins in Eastern Tanzania. The two basins attract a huge number of livestock from nearby and relatively distant areas in pursuit of pasture and water resources. The results indicated that modes of livestock keeping differs with more free grazing in the lowland and zero grazing in the mountainous areas. Overall, the free grazing in the lowland is dominated by seasonal movement of livestock in and out of the basins in various times of the year. Of the two basins, Ruvu is highly affected by haphazard livestock keeping compared to Zigi. Challenges associated with excessive number of livestock include forest degradation, increased incidences of wildfire, soil degradation, poor maintenance of water resources and ensued conflicts with crop farmers. The number of livestock involved in both basins is under reported due to the non-cooperation received from the pastoralists during livestock census. Pastoralists in the two basins often times defies the government decrees prohibiting movement of livestock from district to another. Limited conflicts have been reported among pastoralists from different tribes while the situation is critical with crop farmers. This study observed that monitoring of livestock movement in the two basins is crucial. The study recommends assessment of the carrying capacities of the basins and subsequent development of the basin-wide rangeland management plans. Key words: Rangeland management, livestock management, land degradation, water catchment.

The ecological history of rangelands is often presented as a tale of devastation, where fragile drylands are irreversibly degraded through inappropriate land use. However, there is confusion about how to recognize and measure degradation, especially in low-productivity environments characterized by extreme natural variability and where abrupt and comprehensive management upheavals preclude benchmarks. These issues have important consequences for rangeland management programs, which are typically founded on presumptions of substantial and ongoing degradation from former “natural” states. We explore complementary approaches to critically assess degradation: the historical record, long-term grazing exclosures, surveys for potentially rare and sensitive plant species, and assessment of water-remote areas in relation to rare plant occurrence. Employing these approaches in inland Australia, we show that prevailing paradigms have become entrenched despite being inconsistent with empirical evidence. Our methodology can be applied to drylands with abrupt changes in management and contentious ecological narratives.

Integrating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with remote sensing capabilities to monitor rangeland dynamics could lead to more acceptable, efficient, and beneficial rangeland management schemes for stakeholders of grazing systems. We contrasted pastoralists’ perception of summer pasture quality in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) metrics obtained from Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor. The spatial relationship between satellite-based assessment of the grassland quality and on-the-ground evaluation by local herders was first assessed for a single year using 49, 1 × 1 km grassland blocks sampled in July 2013. Herder-derived forage value was positively and strongly (63% of variance explained) related to satellite-derived NDVI values (MODIS 1 km monthly data, MOD13A3) as well as field estimates of % vegetation cover (62% explained) and to a lesser degree to vegetation height (28% explained). Herders’ multi-year perception (i.e., recall ability) was also contrasted with satellite observations of their herding areas over the period of 2006–2016 during which NDVI temporal anomaly explained >11% of variance in estimates of pasture quality recalled. Few herders in Kazakhstan could recall pasture conditions, most herders in Russia and China could but inconsistently (4 and 7% variation explained, respectively), whereas most herders in Mongolia could recall pasture conditions in strong agreement with NDVI anomaly (30% variation explained), patterns reflecting herders’ regional dependence on herding as a livelihood. Corroboration of herder-derived estimates and satellite-derived vegetation indices creates opportunity for re-expression of satellite data in map form as TEK-derived indices more compatible with herder perceptions.

Global livestock husbandry provides ecosystem goods and services but also emits 7.1 Gt CO2-eq. of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year. To lower GHG emissions intensity, appropriate production management systems should be identified. Since the 1980s, grassland livestock husbandry in China has transformed gradually from pastoralism into individual household management under the Grassland Household Contract System Policy. However, little is known about how this transition influences GHG emissions. We selected two case study sites representing two different forms of rangeland management systems in Ruoergai county of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, viz. 1) household-based all year continuous grazing under the individual use of rangeland with fences demarcating boundaries; 2) community-based seasonal grazing under the common use of the whole rangeland. The objective was to examine the differences in greenhouse gas emission intensity between the two systems using life cycle assessment (LCA). The results showed that the transition from community-based seasonal grazing into household-based continuous grazing increased the GHG emissions intensity from -0.62 kgCO2-eq/kg meat to 10.51 kgCO2-eq/kg meat. The increase was primarily attributed to changes in soil carbon storage. Findings suggest that to minimize GHG emissions and environmental degradation, community-based seasonal grazing in the pastoral area of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau should be maintained. Enhancing soil carbon sequestration by adopting appropriate practices would further reduce the GHG emissions intensity arising from the livestock system.

Pastoralism is often associated with a particular group of people or ethnic group whose livelihoods are mainly based on livestock production in the rangelands. With changing climatic conditions as a driving force of desertification and the mounting pressure on land due to population growth, the livestock-based livelihood strategy of pastoralism is rapidly becoming unsustainable. This study examines the impact of environmental hazards and violent conflicts on pastoral sustainability. The analysis using instrumental variable regression revealed two key findings. First, hazards and violent conflicts have strong negative effects on livestock holding. These effects can be found across all pastoral households with various sizes of livestock holding. Second, the loss of livestock is negatively affecting some critical indicators of welfare, such as income and per capita expenditure. In this sense, reducing both environmental hazards and violent conflicts is key to sustainable pastoral development. While there is a need to incorporate pastoral sustainability into the sustainable environment agenda, sustainable pastoral development not only depends on the pace but how effectively anti-climatic change, rural policing, poverty reduction and rangeland management policies are implemented.

Evidence-based policy guidance necessary for addressing mixed outcomes of community-based rangeland management (CBRM) is limited, dominated by case studies, and lacking coverage of diverse ecological settings. In remedy, we studied 65 traditional neighborhoods and 77 formally-organized CBRM groups across four ecological zones and investigated how and when CBRM obtains greater social outcomes than non-CBRM neighborhoods. We measured pastoralists’ social capital, rangeland management practices, and behavior using a mixed-methods approach including qualitative interviews, focus groups, and quantitative questionnaires of 706 herder households. We applied a conditional process analysis method, novel to CBRM studies, to investigate potential mechanisms by which CBRM affects social outcomes. CBRM members used significantly more information sources, had stronger leadership, more opportunities for knowledge exchange, and rules for resource use, which were significantly associated with greater social outcomes including the use of traditional and innovative rangeland and herd management practices, proactive behavior, and social networking. Access to diverse information sources emerged as an important variable related to strong local leadership, knowledge exchange, and setting rules for rangeland use. Ecological context had a strong association with the level of CBRM social outcomes achieved through this process. The statistical effect of CBRM, mediated by information, leadership, knowledge exchange, and rules, was significantly greater on proactive behaviors of desert steppe herders compared to herders in non-desert steppe zones. Further, CBRM mediated by the same four variables, was associated with higher social networking among herders in the mountain and forest steppe, steppe, and desert steppe but not in the eastern steppe. Our findings suggest why CBRM outcomes have been mixed in Mongolia and elsewhere, and point to the importance of accounting for local context in facilitating development of pastoral institutions. Policies to support CBRM should consider prioritizing resource users’ access to diverse information, leadership development, and involvement in elaborating community rules for resource management and local forums for information exchange.

Scattered oaks in traditional silvopastoral systems (i.e., “dehesas”) provide important ecological services. However, livestock intensification applied to these systems over the last century has affected the architecture of young oak plants. This unsuitable rangeland management practice jeopardizes the long-term system sustainability. Here we examine the alterations in architecture of regenerating oak plants in Mediterranean dehesas under three representative management regimes: (1) traditional management with extensive sheep grazing, (2) commercially driven management with extensive cattle grazing, and (3) native deer grazing at moderate stocking rates (&lt, 0.11 livestock units × ha−1). Plant architecture was considerably altered in cattle-grazed “dehesas”, finding a 50% reduction in plant height–diameter ratios, compared to sheep-grazed dehesas where plants with higher height–diameter ratios predominated. Young oak plants, however, showed less altered architecture and less probability of damage on shoot apex (0.20-fold difference) in areas with deer grazing at moderate stocking rates. In addition, those young oak plants with multi-stemmed individual architecture were more stunted (lower values of crown height–diameter ratio) in areas with livestock grazing than wildlife areas (0.78-fold difference). Shrub presence, under all management schemes, helped to increase in plant height, except when shrubs were located under tree canopies. Conversely, plants without shrub protection showed stunted architecture with well-developed basal diameters but short stature. Appropriate sustainable practices should include cattle stocking rate reduction, traditional sheep grazing promotion, nurse shrub preservation and fencing stunted individuals along with pruning basal sprouts. Our study indicates that management may have important consequences on dehesa regeneration via alterations of plant architecture and therefore on system sustainability.

Overgrazing plays an important role in the grassland desertification in global drylands. The effectiveness of policies related to grazing directly affects efforts to combat desertification and sustainable rangeland management. However, there remain questions around how the interplay of grassland desertification and poverty affects the implementation of policies. To reveal the effectiveness of the desertification prevention policy that delineates national key ecological function areas (NKEFAs), the main objective was to perform a sustainability assessment and on-site investigation in Northwest China. A parallel index system, which integrates the indices for economic input–output and material supply–demand to represent sustainability, and the indices for interview records from managers and questionnaires from residents to represent the effectiveness of NKEFA policy, was proposed to comprehensively judge the performance of NKEFA policy, and the underlying causes behind undesirable effects were further analyzed. The results indicate that (1) the performance of desertification control policy is related to socioeconomic conditions—a few counties with increased socioeconomic and land resource sustainability (SLS) are peri-urban or resource-rich, (2) the fact that the socioeconomic benefits of the NKEFA policy are not obvious to impoverished farmers greatly reduces their enthusiasm for preventing desertification, and (3) the livelihood needs and defective ecological compensation force residents with underdeveloped comprehensive quality to overdevelop or use grassland resources even though they have received subsidies for conserving grassland. It is concluded that poverty and grassland desertification interact to influence potential policy performance. Our analysis can help decision makers to formulate desertification control policies with multiple goals to achieve sustainable performance in an economy–ecology system.

Classic theories suggest that common pool resources are subject to overexploitation. Community-based resource management approaches may ameliorate “tragedy of the commons” effects. Using a randomized evaluation in Namibia’s communal rangelands, we find that a comprehensive four-year program to support community-based rangeland and cattle management led to persistent and large improvements for eight of thirteen indices of social and behavioral outcomes. But effects on rangeland outcomes, cattle productivity and household economics were either negative or nil. Positive impacts on community resource management may have been offset by communities’ inability to control grazing by non-participating herds and inertia in the rangeland sub-system. This juxtaposition, in which measurable improvements in community resource management did not translate into better outcomes for households or ecosystem health, demonstrates the fragility of the causal pathway from program implementation to intended socioeconomic and environmental outcomes. It also points to challenges for improving climate change adaptation strategies.

Grazing intensity (GI) is a major determining factor that controls the functioning of rangelands and the overall nutrient cycle. The Teltele rangeland is used for communal grazing area by the local pastorals; however, to date, there is no documented study data about the impact of GI. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of grazing intensity on selected soil properties in the Teltele rangeland, Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from different GI sites using different elevation gradient and soil depth from both open grazing and bush-encroached grazing land sand-assessed soil properties. Grazing intensity, elevation, and soil depth significantly (p < 0.05) affected both soils’ physical and chemical properties but rangeland types had no significant effect. The correlation analysis of soil characteristics with the principal component analysis axes showed significant variation. The highly weighted and correlated properties under principal component 1 (PC1) were electrical conductivity, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and potassium, and under principal component 2, sand and bulk density with equal loaded value (r = −0.998), clay and silt, with silt (0.962) a more loaded one. Soil pH (0.743) demonstrated a significant (p < 0.05) positive correlation with sodium (−0.960) at PC1 (r = 0.610). Based on our results, we recommend further model-based studies on spatial–temporal change of soil properties due to impact of grazing intensity, combined with GIS and remote sensing data to be developed for sustainable rangeland management.

While rangeland ecosystems are globally important for livestock production, they also support diverse wildlife assemblages and are crucial for biodiversity conservation. As rangelands around the world have become increasingly degraded and fragmented, rethinking farming practice in these landscapes is vital for achieving conservation goals, rangeland recovery, and food security. An example is reinstating livestock shepherding, which aims to recouple grazing regimes to vegetation conditioned to semi-arid climates and improve productivity by reducing overgrazing and rewiring past ecological functions. Tracking the large-scale ecosystem responses to shifts in land management in such sparsely vegetated environments have so far proven elusive. Therefore, our goal was to develop a remote tracking method capable of detecting vegetation changes and environmental responses on rangeland farms engaging in contrasting farming practices in South Africa: wildlife friendly farming (WFF) implementing livestock shepherding with wildlife protection, or rotational grazing livestock farming with wildlife removal. To do so, we ground-truthed Sentinel-2 satellite imagery using drone imagery and machine learning methods to trace historical vegetation change on four farms over a four-year period. First, we successfully classified land cover maps cover using drone footage and modelled vegetation cover using satellite vegetation indices, achieving 93.4% accuracy (к = 0.901) and an r-squared of 0.862 (RMSE = 0.058) respectively. We then used this model to compare the WFF farm to three neighbouring rotational grazing farms, finding that satellite-derived vegetation productivity was greater and responded more strongly to rainfall events on the WFF farm. Furthermore, vegetation cover and grass cover, patch size, and aggregation were greater on the WFF farm when classified using drone data. Overall, we found that remotely assessing regional environmental benefits from contrasting farming practices in rangeland ecosystems could aid further adoption of wildlife-friendly practices and help to assess the generality of this case study.

Political instability (PI) occurs between governments and other political elites either at the local, regional, and/or national levels. Planning, implementing, and monitoring of sustainable rangeland management strategies have a significant impact on the political environment of an area. In this study, the term PI implies an unsafe and unstable exercise of political power, and is a major obstacle to the implementation of sustainable rangeland management. The main purpose of this research was to provide empirical and theoretical knowledge by testing hypotheses about the impact of PI on the implementation of sustainable practice of rangeland management. Using in-depth interviews, this study conducted both structured and unstructured group discussions with 300 representative households of local pastoralists and others who were considered the key stakeholders in the sustainable activities of rangeland management. Results indicated that the local communities are significantly susceptible to the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural effects of sustainable management of rangeland due to PI. Furthermore, the impact of PI on the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural aspects of rangelands indicators was evaluated. The findings also proved that the satisfaction of pastoralists with rangeland productivity and function was significantly affected, and prevented pastoralists from participating in rangeland management practice.

Globally, grassland biomes form one of the largest terrestrial covers and present critical social–ecological benefits. In Kenya, Arid and Semi-arid Lands (ASAL) occupy 80% of the landscape and are critical for the livelihoods of millions of pastoralists. However, they have been invaded by Invasive Plant Species (IPS) thereby compromising their ecosystem functionality. Opuntia stricta, a well-known IPS, has invaded the ASAL in Kenya and poses a threat to pastoralism, leading to livestock mortality and land degradation. Thus, identification and detailed estimation of its cover is essential for drawing an effective management strategy. The study aimed at utilizing the Sentinel-2 multispectral sensor to detect Opuntia stricta in a heterogeneous ASAL in Laikipia County, using ensemble machine learning classifiers. To illustrate the potential of Sentinel-2, the detection of Opuntia stricta was based on only the spectral bands as well as in combination with vegetation and topographic indices using Extreme Gradient Boost (XGBoost) and Random Forest (RF) classifiers to detect the abundance. Study results showed that the overall accuracies of Sentinel 2 spectral bands were 80% and 84.4%, while that of combined spectral bands, vegetation, and topographic indices was 89.2% and 92.4% for XGBoost and RF classifiers, respectively. The inclusion of topographic indices that enhance characterization of biological processes, and vegetation indices that minimize the influence of soil and the effects of atmosphere, contributed by improving the accuracy of the classification. Qualitatively, Opuntia stricta spatially was found along river banks, flood plains, and near settlements but limited in forested areas. Our results demonstrated the potential of Sentinel-2 multispectral sensors to effectively detect and map Opuntia stricta in a complex heterogeneous ASAL, which can support conservation and rangeland management policies that aim to map and list threatened areas, and conserve the biodiversity and productivity of rangeland ecosystems.

Sub-Saharan savanna ecosystems are undergoing transitions such as bush encroachment, desertification or agricultural expansion. Such shifts and persistence of land cover are increasingly well understood, especially bush encroachment which is of major concern in pastoral systems. Although dominant factors can explain such transformations, they often result from intertwined causes in which human activities play a significant role. Therefore, in this latter case, these issues may require integrated solutions, involving many interacting components. Ecosystem modelling has proved appropriate to support decision-makers in such complex situations. However, ecosystem models often require lots of quantitative information for estimating parameters and the precise functional form of interactions is often unknown. Alternatively, in rangeland management, States-and-Transitions Models (STMs) have been developed to organize knowledge about system transitions and to help decision-makers. However, these conceptual diagrams often lack mathematical analyzing tools, which strongly constrains their complexity. In this paper, we introduce the Ecological Discrete-Event Network (EDEN) modelling approach for representing the qualitative dynamics of an East-African savanna as a set of discrete states and transitions generated from empirical rules. These rules are derived from local knowledge, field observations and scientific literature. In contrast with STMs, EDEN generates automatically every possible states and transitions, thus enabling the prediction of novel ecosystem structures. Our results show that the savanna is potentially resilient to the disturbances considered. Moreover, the model highlights all transitions between vegetation types and socio-economic profiles under various climatic scenarios. The model also suggests that wildlife diversity may increase socio-economic resistance to seasonal drought. Tree-grass coexistence and agropastoralism have the widest ranges of conditions of existence of all vegetation types and socio-economic profiles, respectively. As this is a preliminary use of EDEN for applied purpose, analysis tools should be improved to enable finer investigation of desirable trajectories. By translating local knowledge into ecosystem dynamics, the EDEN approach seems promising to build a new bridge between managers and modellers.

Rangelands provide significant socioeconomic and environmental benefits to humans. However, climate variability and anthropogenic drivers can negatively impact rangeland productivity. The main goal of this study was to investigate structural and productivity changes in rangeland ecosystems in New Mexico (NM), in the southwestern United States of America during the 1984–2015 period. This goal was achieved by applying the time series segmented residual trend analysis (TSS-RESTREND) method, using datasets of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies and precipitation from Parameter elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and developing an assessment framework. The results indicated that about 17.6% and 12.8% of NM experienced a decrease and an increase in productivity, respectively. More than half of the state (55.6%) had insignificant change productivity, 10.8% was classified as indeterminant, and 3.2% was considered as agriculture. A decrease in productivity was observed in 2.2%, 4.5%, and 1.7% of NM’s grassland, shrubland, and ever green forest land cover classes, respectively. Significant decrease in productivity was observed in the northeastern and southeastern quadrants of NM while significant increase was observed in northwestern, southwestern, and a small portion of the southeastern quadrants. The timing of detected breakpoints coincided with some of NM’s drought events as indicated by the self-calibrated Palmar Drought Severity Index as their number increased since 2000s following a similar increase in drought severity. Some breakpoints were concurrent with some fire events. The combination of these two types of disturbances can partly explain the emergence of breakpoints with degradation in productivity. Using the breakpoint assessment framework developed in this study, the observed degradation based on the TSS-RESTREND showed only 55% agreement with the Rangeland Productivity Monitoring Service (RPMS) data. There was an agreement between the TSS-RESTREND and RPMS on the occurrence of significant degradation in productivity over the grasslands and shrublands within the Arizona/NM Tablelands and in the Chihuahua Desert ecoregions, respectively. This assessment of NM’s vegetation productivity is critical to support the decision-making process for rangeland management; address challenges related to the sustainability of forage supply and livestock production; conserve the biodiversity of rangelands ecosystems; and increase their resilience. Future analysis should consider the effects of rising temperatures and drought on rangeland degradation and productivity.

In contrast to agricultural settings, the process of urbanization in the pastoral regions of China are largely driven by long-term influences of ecological conservation and the provision of social services. Consequently, many of the herders who have migrated into nearby secondary urban centers depend on resources from pastoral regions to support their livelihoods, forming complex patterns of rural–urban linkages. While current literature has discussed the processes of herder out-migration and their implications on rural and urban livelihood development, few studies have examined the linkages between the herders living in the pastoral regions and those who have out-migrated to urban regions and their importance in rural livelihood transformation. Based on past studies, we argue that, in a changing pastoral social–ecological system, herders living in both rural and urban regions depend on each other to support their livelihoods through three types of mobility: (1) livestock mobility, (2) herder mobility, and (3) resource mobility. However, what innovative institutions in rangeland resource management and herder economic cooperation can do to help maintain these three types of mobility to sustain rural livelihood development, becomes a critical challenge. Innovative community cooperative institutions developed by pastoral communities from the Tibetan Plateau and Inner Mongolia may be able to offer new perspective and insight on how to better maintain rural–urban linkages in the processes of urbanization in pastoral regions. In this current study will present the two cases of innovative institutions and the roles they play in facilitating the three types of mobility to address livelihood challenges. While current studies recommend an increase of government subsidies, provision of vocational training, and social insurance that help herders better adapt to urban livelihood, we argue that rangeland management and community economic cooperation in innovative institutions are needed to facilitate the mobility of livestock, resources, and the herder population, and maybe only then the livelihood challenges that migrated herders are facing will be addressed effectively.

This work analyzes possible obstacles to developing new products or old merchandise using an innovative method. It will look into stakeholders of fine fiber and meat products from three distinctive socioecological systems. Through three case studies, we explore how natural resources management is connected to interests, values, and knowledge by stakeholders, which include government, the scientific community, and people with rural livelihoods. The government vertex is the national and provincial authorities involved with decision-makers at the national and provincial level. The Scientific-Technological vertex includes researchers from INTA, CONICET, and Universities. Rural livelihoods include livestock keepers, farmers, and local people with traditional knowledge. We will address the goods and services provided by two species of wild camelids and domestic livestock. The three cases have both similarities and differences in their focus and common ground of controversial spaces. They create complex networks of relationships and bonds leading to diverse outcomes. Top-down or bottom-up experiences hold distinct epistemology and research consequences, they affect rural livelihoods in various ways. For the three rural livelihoods, meaningful regulations should be endogenous social constructions. However, there are no longitudinal studies on the trajectories of these case studies. Long-term multispecies grazing opportunities are available for the three case studies. It depends on how stakeholders identify flexibility in their common ground to enable resilience to catastrophic events. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Von Thungen, Julieta. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Martin, Elisa. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Lanari, Maria Rosa. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Área de Recursos Naturales; Argentina

Various factors lead to increased woody species density, biomass and cover (so-called ‘bush encroachment’) that influence ecosystem functioning and services in semi-arid rangelands. Ultimately, bush encroachment has adverse effects on human livelihoods. An increased understanding of ecosystem functioning in bush-encroached rangelands could contribute to improved management, conservation and restoration. This study, therefore, aimed to determine landscape functioning of bush-encroached and controlled savanna rangelands in the Molopo region, South Africa, by using the landscape function analysis (LFA) monitoring procedure. Mixed models revealed no significant differences based on LFA indices between bush-thickened and bush-controlled sites due to drought conditions that prevailed while the survey was carried out. Stability, which revealed the largest LFA contributing factors, always had the highest numerical value for sites that were still bush-encroached. Soil analyses revealed that grass litter patches from aeroplane-controlled sites had the highest average nutrient levels. As expected, high percentages of carbon and calcium levels were found in bush-encroached shrub litter patches. Bush-encroached landscapes are fully functional areas, especially under drought conditions. Long-term research is required to determine the effects successful management has on ecosystem functioning, especially during periods of higher rainfall.

Alien Invasive Plants (AIPs) have been proclaimed to be a significant non-climatic driver of global change. The Siam weed (Chromoleana odorata) is highly invasive in South African rangelands, with serious environmental, agricultural and socio-economic consequences. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of C.odorata's spatial distribution is necessary for implementing relevant mitigation and management approaches to vulnerable and invaded landscapes. Remotely sensed data offer a viable opportunity for detecting and mapping AIPs spatial extents. Hence, this study sought to compare the value of algorithms (i.e. maximum likelihood and random forest) in detecting and mapping C.odorata's spatial distribution in relation to other land use land cover classes (LULC) using the freely available Sentinel-2 multispectral image data. The findings of the study revealed that the vegetation red edge and near-infrared spectral bands of Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery (MSI) sensor were the most important spectral variables for discriminating C.odorata from other land cover classes. The random forest algorithm yielded the highest overall classification accuracy of 83%, outperforming the traditional maximum likelihood classifier (75%) in classifying C.odorata's spatial distribution. Overall, results demonstrate that the combination of freely available Sentinel-2 MSI satellite data and machine learning random forest algorithm produces the highest accuracies for detecting the spatial distribution of C.odorata, particularly in heterogeneous environments. These results could be beneficial to sustainable rangeland management and the adoption of site-specific mitigation approaches in areas invaded by C.odorata.

This study has examined traditional coping systems, emerging adaptation strategies and barriers to the adoption of these strategies. Structured questionnaires on coping and adaptation strategies were conducted among Nyangatom households, expounded by focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Correlations between times series (1987–2016) on rainfall, temperature and the local perceptions on CC were examined. The time series analysis confirmed pastoralists' perception that the frequency of extreme drought has increased since 1987. The Nyangatom responded by temporal migration and herd diversification. Other responses include flood cultivation and enhancing alliance formation with other ethnic groups. Multi-nominal logistic regression analyses indicated that age of household head (−), livestock ownership (+), crop productivity (+), off-farm income (+) and access to climate information (+) proved to be key determinants with a statistically significant (negative or positive) effect on adoption. Other factors that hindered climate change adaption include intermittent conflicts with neighbouring ethnic groups and limited access to alternative livelihood options. Interventions to facilitate transition towards sustainable, adaptation-based communities need to incorporate deliberate, longer-term, risk-reducing strategies, including rangeland management, water harvesting and small scale-irrigation schemes. Improved education access, extension services, and a conducive pastoral policy environment will help to enhance the Nyangatom adaptive capacity.

The present study investigates the ecological requirements of Astragalus curvirostris Boiss, with emphasis on determining the ecological factors that affect the distribution of plant species, and the species’ response to changes in ecological factors using a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) in the Iranian Province of Zanjan from 2017 to 2019. Randomized-systematic sampling was used to collect vegetation data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS17 and CANOC4.5 software. The results showed that the growth and development of A. curvirostris change according to environmental factors linked to the composition of the soil and the variety of the other species present. This model is indicative of a competitive limitation along the environmental gradient. By understanding all environmental parameters, the necessary steps could be taken towards planning proper management programs, including rangeland grazing management and determining the proper moment for seed collection, which will result in the conservation, improvement, and restoration of rangelands.

Mongolia's transition from a centralized socialist economy to a market economy since 1990 has led to enormous changes in the country's socio-economic and environmental conditions. The livestock privatization was one of the most significant reforms in a country that promotes herders to increase their herd size to improve their livelihood. Although rangeland is under state authority by law, its strict control on rangeland management disappeared, and the herding system of Mongolia turned into de facto open access. There are differing opinions as per conflicts between private livestock versus public rangelands, and the pastoral livestock sector of Mongolia is a classic case of "tragedy of commons." Thus, Mongolia was faced with the dilemma of increasing the number of livestock and the need to manage natural resources properly. As livestock is the primary livelihood of rural households and provides most of the foodstuffs for Mongolia, an increase in livestock number is supported. However, a massive increase in livestock number creates high pressure on the rangeland and leads to rangeland degradation caused by overgrazing and other problems in the long run.Rangeland degradation caused by overgrazing is one of the most significant environmental challenges that Mongolia is facing. According to the recent statistics, livestock numbers have tripled within the last two decades, which has put pressure on the rangelands, exceeding the rangeland carrying capacity by more than 30 million heads. Although the number of livestock has reached its highest record, the livestock number-based inequality is high within the herder households. Herders with less than 200 livestock, which is below the subsistence level, take up more than 50 percent of the total herder households.The main reason for the increase in livestock number is a lack of Government policy on rangeland management and markets to regulate its natural expansion. Because privatization of the livestock took place before the appropriate livestock support services could be introduced, that would have replaced the former negdel service and state procurement system.The objective of this study was 'to obtain insights into the relationship between poverty and sustainability of rangeland use under different arrangements for community-based rangeland management systems in different agro-ecological regions of Mongolia.' The objective is achieved by answering four research questions throughout the five separate chapters.Chapter 2 analyzed herders' behavior using game theory to characterize which type of game is being 'played' in the Mongolian livestock sector and provides better insight into the dynamics of the pastures' carrying capacity. The game estimation results suggest a so-called non-coordination game for steppe regions and a chicken's game for the Gobi region. Increasing herders' payoffs from the herding business would also be significant in the Gobi region by taking a more market-based approach. It has shown that when we allow the carrying capacity to be dynamic by letting it depend on weather conditions, the cycle of animal losses and increases can be explained better.Chapter 3 described the current institutional arrangements of rangeland management in Mongolia and the stakeholders participating in this area. The government of Mongolia and donor organizations supported and strengthened the institutions involved in rangeland management. This chapter analyzed the approaches of the donor organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP, and SDC. Since 2006, the territory based PUG approach have been promoted by the Administration of Land Affairs, Geodesy and Cartography. The nested PUG system vision is comprehensively organized throughout Mongolia and takes the lead in rangeland and livestock management and improvement.Chapter 4 deals with the specification of rangeland management in the Gobi region where it needs to have a long-distance move to seek better grazing areas or areas with less dzud and drought and have high pasture yields and adequate water supply. The case study presents general conditions in the Gobi region and introduction of PUG approach. The institutional arrangement of rangeland management in Gobi region needs a specific policy to regulate large mobile communities within and across soum and aimag territory.Chapter 5 analyzed the performance of the newly introduced institutional arrangement for community-based rangeland management in Mongolia. In recent years, community-based rangeland management approaches such as PUGs have been introduced in selected regions of Mongolia to explore appropriate mechanisms for countering rangeland degradation. The results show that the current select institutional arrangements have significant impacts on rangeland quality. A well-defined rangeland boundary is key to supporting rangeland quality, which is in line with the current government policy to introduce this scheme within the framework of an annual land management planning scheme. Inequality in herd sizes within a PUG negatively affects rangeland quality; the impact of group size resembles an inverted U-shaped relationship. Intermediate group sizes have the highest monitoring effort on rangeland management and lead to the best outcomes in rangeland quality.Chapter 6 investigates the comparative advantage of selected livestock-oriented products using the revealed comparative advantage index to show export opportunities for different types of livestock-oriented products. The study results illustrate that there are possibilities to develop export-oriented livestock production in Mongolia in various stages. The export of livestock-oriented products, combined with other policies, is a way to substantially reduce the animal number to sustainable levels, reduce overgrazing pressure, and increase export income. Long-term policy on meat and other livestock-oriented products should provide a legal framework of rangeland use to secure Mongolia's livestock sector's sustainable development.In general, many herders do not have enough animals to sustain themselves traditionally. Therefore, herders need to combine subsistence livestock-keeping with various other jobs to become more market-oriented herders to increase their income, health, and maintain the rangeland. The key innovation of the community-based rangeland management in Mongolia is herders' entire organization on a territorial basis, which is necessary to transfer the leadership role in pasture management from local governments to the herders themselves. However, pasture user groups cannot perform these management functions on their own. They need support and collaboration from soum and aimag governments to allocate pasture use rights and must assist with enforcing the rules that are agreed upon within and among PUG. Moreover, this system would be best introduced in conjunction with alternative income generation activities and economic support to compensate for losses associated with limiting herd sizes. The government of Mongolia aims to ensure the sustainable livestock sector, to secure herder households' livelihoods, and improve economic opportunities within the sector. One of their significant policy is to increase resilience to climate change by addressing overgrazing and balancing the livestock numbers with the rangelands' carrying capacity. For instance, an increase in meat exports would support decreasing livestock numbers to a level that would balance the carrying capacity. However, promoting exports will need to be combined with appropriate rangeland management policies, such as a user fee (pasture tax), to control the overgrazing problem. Possible policies that would support the export of meat and other products of animal origin in this context are developing a meat export industry and strategic animal breeding, reintroducing a livestock tax, supporting the growth of more productive animals.The research on this thesis contributes to the literature by i) adding a new country case to the World rangeland management study where still have nomadic pastoral livestock, ii) testing the interrelation between poverty and rangeland use, iii) analyzing the adoption of CBNRM approach in Mongolia's condition within the theoretical framework of sustainable governance of common-pool resources, and, iv) systematically analyzing the characteristics of pastoral livestock and its linkage to the market system.