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A conceptual model of the pastoral production system within the arid, winter rainfall shrublands of Western Australia is described. The building blocks of this model are pasture-type models which are considered to represent the major productive resource within individual paddocks. A generalised model of such an arid-zone pasture type is described which incorporates the major components of the soil-plant-animal system, and which treats explicitly the effect of herbivores on the condition of the resource. The model has been parameterised for five pasture types based on data from long term exclosures, grazing trials and rangeland monitoring programmes in Western Australia. Validation of the pasture-type models against a range of hypothetical scenarios has produced results generally in agreement with expectations, suggesting that the models have utility for the evaluation of alternative management strategies and identification of key ecological proceses or research priorities. Future development of the pasture-type models is discussed, in particular the development of a whole property model which would facilitate research into holistic management strategies and the contribution that pasture-type models may make to the development of decision support systems for rangeland management.