Rangeland Ecology & Management
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- Library Collection Record
1 Savanna
Savannas are characterized by the coexistence of trees and grasses and occur largely in the seasonal tropics between the equatorial rainforests and mid-latitude desert ecosystems. This article…Publication Date 2008- climate change
- Deciduous
- Evergreen
- fire
- grazing
- herbivory
- phenology
- Seasonal tropics
- soils
- Tree and grass competition
- savanna
- ecology
- animal impact
- grasslands
- rainfall
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordChanging climate adds a very significant dimension to the complex problem of ensuring that agriculture worldwide can feed the burgeoning human population. Ensuring food security must reduce…Publication Date 2009
- climate change
- plant production
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordAn overview of ecological models of grasslands and their research questions is presented. For the purpose of this article, models are regarded as a simplified and formalized representation of…Publication Date 2008
- competition
- disturbance
- Ecosystem modeling
- Grassland dynamics
- grazing
- Optimal life-history strategies
- primary production
- Remote sensing data
- Spatially explicit models
- succession
- modelling
- ecosystem ecology
- community
- vegetation dynamics
- plant production
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordAbstract Livestock grazing is often viewed as having detrimental effects on plants and plant communities. Livestock grazing can, however, be managed to be an effective tool for vegetation management…Publication Date 2010
- livestock
- grazing
- nutrition
- ecology
- management
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- fire ecology
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary The growth of agricultural production worldwide has led to an increasing role of agro-ecosystems within the global carbon cycle. Arable land in the world covers about one-tenth of the 134…Publication Date 2001
- plant production
- carbon dioxide
- animal nutrition
- animal production
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary The savanna biome is diverse, including formations ranging from almost treeless grasslands to more or less closed-canopy woodlands with considerable variation in plant composition, biomass,…Publication Date 2001
- savanna
- animal production
- plant production
- plant community ecology
- land use
- degradation
- agriculture
- ecology
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordVegetation dominated by grasses, which is among the largest ecosystems in the world, has great environmental significance as well as providing feed for livestock and wildlife. Grassland types vary…Publication Date 2001
- savannah
- steppe
- grasses
- herbivory
- grazing
- fire
- savanna
- grasslands
- disturbance
- livestock
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe world population has increased from 2–10 million at the dawn of settled agriculture about 10–12 millennium ago to 6.5 billion in 2006, and may stabilize at 10–12 billion by 2100. Most of…Publication Date 2007
- socio-economic aspects
- agriculture
- pastoralism
- soils
- management
- plant production
- animal production
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordPublished studies relating erosion and productivity have been generally based on information derived from expert opinion on the extent and severity of soil erosion and on limited data on its impact…Publication Date 2003
- soil erosion
- plant production
- management
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe use of fire in the management of grassland is a common rangeland practice in South Africa. This portends ecological implication for the sustainability of the savannah rangelands as a system. A…Publication Date 2008
- fire ecology
- management
- savanna
- grasslands
- rangelands
- Soil Condition
- plant production
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWe introduce the five rangeland types found in the arid and semiarid regions of South Africa, namely Arid Savanna, Arid Grassland, Nama-karoo, Succulent Karoo, and Thicket, and describe the important…Publication Date 2006
- rangelands
- savanna
- livestock
- grazing
- management
- commercial agriculture
- subsistence agriculture
- Sustainable development
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordTransformation of indigenous vegetation for production purposes impacts negatively on biodiversity but does this necessarily equate with a decrease in phytomass accumulation, which may influence…Publication Date 2008
- grasslands
- plant production
- carbon sequestration
- land use
- management
- conservation
- agriculture
- pasture management
- biodiversity
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary * 1Grasses using the C4 photosynthetic pathway dominate today's savanna ecosystems and account for ~20% of terrestrial carbon fixation. However, this dominant status was reached only…Publication Date 2008
- atmospheric CO2
- C4 plants
- climate change
- fire
- grasslands
- grazing
- Poaceae
- rainfall
- savanna
- seasonality
- carbon dioxide
- palaeoclimate
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection Record1. Gradients of animal impact known as piospheres tend to develop around artificial watering points, particularly in arid zones. Such grazing gradients represent a potential opportunity for…Publication Date 2006
- animal impact
- piosphere
- watering points
- livestock
- species richness
- ecosystem ecology
- rangelands
- grazing
- management
- disturbance
- stocking rates
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe relationship between above and belowground species composition has been researched in forests, grasslands, and wetlands to understand what mechanisms control community composition. I thoroughly…Publication Date 2007
- grasslands
- plant community ecology
- plant production
- plant autecology
- species richness
- seed banks
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordIn Kenya, lands surrounding wildlife protected areas (PAs), referred to as dispersal areas, have undergone widespread land use changes, but these have been little studied. This study investigated…Publication Date 2008
- conservation
- agriculture
- national parks
- land use
- grazing
- biodiversity
- disturbance
- rainfall
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordFlood depth has been frequently used to explain the distribution of plant species in seasonally flooded grasslands, but its relation with vegetation production has remained ambiguous. The…Publication Date 2007
- grasslands
- plant production
- hydrology
- plant autecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordResidues of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may be important for agroecosystem functioning due to their ability to promote soil aggregation, especially in coarse textured soils with little biomass…Publication Date 2007
- soil organic matter
- Glomalin
- arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
- Biomarker
- Arable land use
- savanna
- soils
- ecosystem ecology
- plant production
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe morphometrics of mandible and teeth of mixed-breed goats on rangeland were analyzed to investigate the association between the oral apparatus and diet type. Canonical relationship between sets of…Publication Date 2007
- diet
- grazing
- Mandible
- Jaw
- Incisor
- Molar teeth
- goats
- rangelands
- diet selection
- forage quality
- foraging ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis paper evaluated the capacity of SPOT VEGETATION time-series to monitor the vegetation biomass and water content in order to improve fire risk assessment in the savanna ecosystem of Kruger…Publication Date 2006
- biomass
- Fire risk assessment
- SPOT VEGETATION
- time-series
- Vegetation water content
- fire ecology
- savanna
- vegetation dynamics
- monitoring
- plant production
- national parks
- remote sensing
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe tree-grass interactions of African savannas are mainly determined by varying rainfall patterns and soil fertility. Large savanna trees are known to modify soil nutrient conditions, but whether…Publication Date 2007
- canopy
- Fibre content
- Grass structure
- grazing
- nitrogen
- phosphorus
- savanna
- rainfall
- soil fertility
- plant production
- nutrition
- soil organic carbon
- biomass
- forage quality
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe coexistence of woody and grassy plants in savannas has often been attributed to a rooting-niche separation (two-layer hypothesis). Water was assumed to be the limiting resource for both growth…Publication Date 2006
- fire
- grazing
- Honeycomb rippling model
- Inter-tree competition
- Spatio-temporal rainfall variation
- Tree-grass coexistence
- savanna
- indigenous encroaching species
- grasslands
- soil moisture
- rainfall
- vegetation dynamics
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis paper reports an assessment of the current and potential impacts of invasive alien plants on selected ecosystem services in South Africa. We used data on the current and potential future…Publication Date 2008
- biodiversity
- Fynbos
- grassland
- grazing
- groundwater
- hydrology
- Karoo
- savanna
- water yield
- Alien invasive species
- ecosystem services
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWe tested the scaling effects of proximate desertification drivers (i.e. soil erosion, bush encroachment and grazing pressure) on soil nutrients in northeastern Tanzania. We analyzed nutrient…Publication Date 2008
- Desertified landscapes
- Dysfunctional landscapes
- Proximate desertification drivers
- soil nutrients
- Tanzaniadesertification
- erosion
- grazing
- indigenous encroaching species
- desertification
- landscape ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordDespite the ubiquity of sub-tropical savannas throughout the earth, limitations of savanna productivity are understudied relative to other terrestrial systems. The limitations of savanna productivity…Publication Date 2008
- grass
- nitrogen
- phosphorus
- savanna
- rainfall
- soil nutrients
- plant production
- plant autecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordNo abstract availablePublication Date 2007
- agriculture
- soils
- Soil Condition
- grazing
- rangeland condition
- ecosystem dynamics
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe ability to produce vegetative shoots is a form of persistence in arid and semiarid savannas allowing trees to survive herbivory, fire and cutting. In terms of growth rates and survival, this form…Publication Date 2008
- browsing
- coppice
- Exclosure
- grazing
- Resprouting
- restoration
- Savanna woodland
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordChanges in species richness and vegetation composition in the diverse semi-arid Succulent Karoo vegetation of South Africa were investigated after 67 (1937-2004) years of rest from livestock grazing…Publication Date 2008
- diversity
- Growth Form
- ordination
- species richness
- succession
- Termitaria
- grazing
- vegetation dynamics
- ecology
- insects
- degradation
- restoration ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis paper provides values for nitrogen isotopic abundances of southern African soils and plants along land use gradients of varying aridity. The ?15N values of soils and plants were generally higher…Publication Date 2008
- grasses
- grazing
- mineralization
- nitrification
- savanna
- trees
- soils
- grazing
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordModels predict that desertification, the loss of perennial grasses in arid and semiarid environments, will be difficult to reverse due to the positive feedback between plant cover and water…Publication Date 2007
- arid grassland
- grazing
- hoof action
- perennial grass
- resilience
- restoration
- woody encroachment
- soils
- desertirfication
- models
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe impact of long-term high grazing pressure on geomorphological features, plant community composition and cover and soil characteristics of an ephemeral river system in Namaqualand, South Africa,…Publication Date 2007
- Animal-plant interactions
- Landscape patches
- livestock impacts
- Namaqualand
- Resource control
- riparian vegetation
- grazing
- soils
- degradation
- Plant Productivity
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordIn Namaqualand, heavy grazing of low-lying areas has resulted in the reduction of palatable perennial shrubs and the dominance of the unpalatable shrub, Galenia africana. This study investigates the…Publication Date 2007
- Succulent karoo
- Namaqualand
- Vegetation Change
- rehabilitation
- microhabitats
- grazing
- seeds
- restoration ecology
- vegetation dynamics
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordA national-level land degradation risk monitoring system identified an important grazing area in central northern Namibia as an area at risk of environmental change. A time series analysis of primary…Publication Date 2007
- semi-arid
- local knowledge
- rainfall variability
- water supply
- grazing
- land management
- degradation
- data analysis
- grasslands
- livestock
- rainfall
- participatory rural appraisal
- decision support systems
- management
- traditional knowledge
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWe use the concept of ecological revolutions to explain the environmental history of Namaqualand, from the advent of pastoralism 2000 years BP, to colonial settlement in the 18th century and finally…Publication Date 2007
- degradation
- Environmental history
- human impact
- population
- repeat photography
- socio-economic aspects
- agriculture
- grazing
- management
- land use
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordHerder knowledge of landscape classification and environmental assessments in East Africa has been poorly documented. This study investigated how the Maasai traditionally classified and assessed…Publication Date 2006
- land degradation
- Livestock grazing preference
- Maasai
- Traditional landscape classification
- traditional knowledge
- subsistence agriculture
- degradation
- grasslands
- grazing
- management
- pastoralism
- soils
- animal impact
- biodiversity
- forage quality
- animal nutrition
- animal production
- monitoring
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordOver 70% of South Africa is too arid for crop farming and is used for either commercial livestock ranching, communal livestock ranching, or game ranching. The inherently different management…Publication Date 2006
- Semi-arid rangeland
- pastoralism
- wildlife
- rangeland degradation
- Soil Condition
- Grazing gradients
- rangeland condition
- management
- piosphere
- grazing
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis paper provides an analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics of cyanobacterial soil crusts in the Molopo Basin, South Africa. It details the influence that soil type, livestock…Publication Date 2006
- cyanobacterial soil crusts
- Kalahari
- soil nutrients
- shrub encroachment
- Acacia mellifera
- soil classification
- livestock
- disturbance
- grasslands
- grazing
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordDegradation in semi-arid Karoo rangelands has been ascribed to over-utilization by livestock and variations in rainfall regime. The understanding of vegetation dynamics in confined plant-herbivore…Publication Date 2006
- African wild herbivore
- Herbivore exclosure
- plant functional type
- Protected area
- vegetation monitoring
- rangelands
- rangeland condition
- vegetation dynamics
- livestock
- grazing
- land use
- national parks
- rainfall
- monitoring
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAs part of an investigation of land degradation in the South African Karoo, three types of fine sediment signatures (radionuclides, mineral magnetism and sediment geochemistry) were used to trace the…Publication Date 2007
- Sediment fingerprinting
- South African Karoo
- Erosion history
- Extreme events
- 137Cs and 210Pb
- land use
- soils
- management
- grazing
- fire
- livestock
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordLocalised patterns of erosion and deposition in vegetated semi-arid rangelands have been shown to influence ecological change and biogeochemical cycles. In the flat, vegetated Kalahari rangelands of…Publication Date 2007
- cyanobacterial soil crusts
- Erodibility
- surface roughness
- Cohesivity
- Kalahari
- erosion
- rangeland condition
- ecosystem dynamics
- soil crusts
- grazing
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordRemote sensing has successfully been applied to map the distribution of canopy dominating invasive species. Many invaders however, do not dominate the canopy, and remote sensing has so far not been…Publication Date 2006
- remote sensing
- GIS
- Chromolaena odorata
- seed production
- light intensity
- invasive species
- mapping
- Alien invasive species
- Landsat images
- grazing
- biological control
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis paper traces the history of grazing policy, its conceptual basis, practical implementations and outcomes, in three southern African countries. In spite of the divergent environmental conditions…Publication Date 2006
- pastoralism
- Communal land
- rangeland management
- rangeland ecology
- policies
- grazing
- communal farming
- rangelands
- management
- Sustainable development
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordClimate change factors interact to modify plant growth and development. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response to temperature of big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman)…Publication Date 2007
- big bluestem
- biomass
- development
- Growth Rates
- Partitioning
- Seed number
- climate change
- temperature
- plant autecology
- plant production
- carbon dioxide
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordPrecision agriculture (PA) is an innovative, int+O101egrated and internationally standardized approach aiming to increase the efficiency of resource use and to reduce the uncertainty of decisions…Publication Date 2008
- precision agriculture
- grassland
- Perspectives
- Constraints
- interdisciplinary research
- grasslands
- remote sensing
- plant production
- Economic Aspects
- agriculture
- decision support systems
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordIn semiarid savannas of Southern Africa current land use practices and climate change may lead to substantial changes of vegetation structure in the near future, however uncertainty remains about the…Publication Date 2006
- Acacia erioloba
- Bush encroachment
- global change
- Grewia flava
- overgrazing
- seed dispersal
- shrub encroachment
- Southern Kalahari
- Spatial-explicit simulation model
- savanna
- land use
- grazing
- climate change
- vegetation dynamics
- cattle
- ecosystem ecology
- ecosystem dynamics
- rainfall
- fire ecology
- modelling
- conservation
- management
- carrying capacity
- biodiversity
- indigenous encroaching species
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordUnlike any other biome, savannas consist of both trees and grasses in a persistent and equitable manner. This unique mixture of two different life forms attracted scientific scrutiny for decades.…Publication Date 2006
- Terminalia sericea
- Shallow root system
- savannas
- rainfall
- Etosha National Park
- grazing
- indigenous encroaching species
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordA payments for ecosystem services (PES) system came about in South Africa with the establishment of the government-funded Working for Water (WfW) programme that clears mountain catchments and…Publication Date 2008
- Working for Water
- Payment mechanisms
- ecosystem services
- water supply
- Poverty relief
- Poverty
- Alien invasive species
- fire
- plant production
- biodiversity
- hydrology
- vegetation dynamics
- Economic Aspects
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWe discuss the search for optimal stocking regimes in semi-arid grazing lands. We argue that 'one size does not fit all' and that different stocking regimes are appropriate under different…Publication Date 2006
- stocking strategies
- grazing
- Opportunistic stocking
- Conservative Stocking
- Equilibrium dynamics
- rangeland ecology
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWater erosion creates negative impacts on agricultural production, infrastructure, and water quality across the world. Regional-scale water erosion assessment is important, but limited by data…Publication Date 2006
- Review
- land degradation
- soil erosion
- remote sensing
- modelling
- Validation
- degradation
- agriculture
- plant production
- animal production
- satellite imagery
- monitoring
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSoluble organic N and C were extracted from soils under long-term kikuyu grass pasture, annual ryegrass pasture and annual maize production using water, 0.5 M K2SO4 and 2 M KCl. Quantities…Publication Date 2006
- Arable
- grassland
- nitrate leaching
- nitrogen loss
- Soluble organic matter
- land use
- pasture management
- plant production
- soil fertility
- Africa