Rangeland Ecology & Management
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- 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 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 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 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 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 RecordGovernance structures in Botswana are highly centralized and top-down in orientation. For water and related resources management in rural areas, this creates particular difficulties - from lack of…Publication Date 2006
- Okavango River Basin
- Ngamiland
- governance
- Sustainable resource use
- Integrated water resources management
- access
- Livelihoods
- socio-economic aspects
- policies
- degradation
- stakeholders
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary Poverty and environmental degradation seem to be endemic in many of the former homeland territories of South Africa. The political legacy of Apartheid might have ceased, but the economic and…Publication Date 2006
- conservation
- degradation
- Ecosystem goods and services
- Poverty
- restoration
- valuation
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary The Okavango basin comprises the Cuito and Cubango active catchment areas in Angola, in addition to the Kavango-Okavango non-active catchment in northern Namibia and Botswana. The Okavango…Publication Date 2006
- Okavango River
- Livelihoods
- economic development
- Natural Environment
- Botswana
- Namibia
- Angola
- socio-economic aspects
- eco - tourism
- land use
- degradation
- ecosystem ecology
- ecosystem 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 RecordThis paper analyses the role of institutions in the management of common pool resources (CPRs) in semi-arid Tanzania. Common property regimes have often been considered inadequate for the management…Publication Date 2007
- Common pool resources
- Common property regimes
- natural resource management
- institutions
- management
- communal farming
- socio-economic aspects
- degradation
- household income studies
- Sustainable development
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThere is an urgent need for quantitative methods by which actual, as opposed to potential degradation can be mapped using spatially consistent criteria for large regions. This study tested the Local…Publication Date 2008
- AVHRR
- Communal lands
- desertification
- Local NPP scaling
- rangelands
- South Africa
- communal farming
- remote sensing
- degradation
- mapping
- 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 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 RecordLivestock overgrazing can threaten the ecological integrity of rangelands, and can also threaten the sustainability of pastoralist societies who depend on rangelands for their livelihood. Using…Publication Date 2008
- Microenvironment
- Nurse plants
- positive interactions
- rangeland degradation
- Shrub islands
- Vegetation restoration
- restoration ecology
- degradation
- rangelands
- 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 RecordThis paper introduces the Special Issue on Sustainable Land Use in Namaqualand which arose out of a conference held in the region in May 2005. It outlines the main themes and issues covered by 19…Publication Date 2007
- degradation
- Environmental history
- Karoo
- restoration
- semi-arid
- land reform
- sustainability
- land use
- restoration ecology
- socio-economic aspects
- politics
- subsistence agriculture
- 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 RecordPastoral production around artificial watering points in semi-arid environments affects the density and composition of plant communities. In the Kalahari desert of southwestern Africa, bush…Publication Date 2007
- Rural livelihoods
- watering points
- land degradation
- Fodder trees
- Indigenous ecological knowledge
- Herero
- pastoralism
- traditional knowledge
- piosphere
- degradation
- cattle
- household income studies
- participatory rural appraisal
- livestock
- subsistence agriculture
- socio-economic aspects
- 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 RecordThree-quarters of a century ago diamond mining was added to livestock grazing and cereal cropping as a serious cause of landscape degradation in the north-western semi-arid region of South Africa,…Publication Date 2007
- soils
- wind erosion
- Seedbanks
- patch dynamics
- Succulent karoo
- semi-arid
- degradation
- mine rehabilitation
- restoration ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWe investigated the effects of rainfall and the number of animals on changes in vegetation and on the output of milk and meat from the communal areas of Namaqualand. Previously published short- and…Publication Date 2007
- climate change
- degradation
- desert
- Karoo
- livestock production
- Disequilibrium
- sustainability
- animal nutrition
- rainfall
- pastoralism
- subsistence agriculture
- animal production
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAdvanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data (NDVI, 1 km2, 1985-2003) and modeled net primary production (NPP, 8 km2, 1981-2000) data were used to…Publication Date 2007
- monitoring
- AVHRR
- NDVI
- rain-use efficiency
- NPP
- Communal lands
- South Africa
- degradation
- land use
- remote sensing
- NDVI values
- mapping
- rainfall
- 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 RecordThe objective of this paper is to examine the spatial variability of islands of enhanced hydrologic activity and its application to remediation of degraded arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Factors…Publication Date 2006
- Biotic productivity
- heterogeneity
- rangeland
- remediation
- runoff
- Water ponding dikes
- restoration ecology
- degradation
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- 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 RecordElevated levels of nitrate in streamwaters draining forested catchments in the eastern escarpment area of South Africa are thought to occur as a result of land use change from natural high altitude…Publication Date 2006
- Nitrogen mineralisation
- nitrification
- nitrogen fixation
- nitrate leaching
- forest soils
- land use
- degradation
- grasslands
- pollution
- nutrient loads
- Soil Condition
- 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 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 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 RecordThis paper forms part of a long-term study of land degradation in the Klein Seekoei valley in the Sneeuberg uplands about 30 km southwest of the town of Middelburg, South Africa (Fig. 1). Landscape…Publication Date 2006
- erosion
- Karoo
- rainfall intensity
- Stock numbers
- land degradation
- Gullies
- rainfall
- degradation
- rangeland condition
- rangelands
- 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 RecordThe worldwide loss of utilisable rangeland in (semi-) arid areas results in huge economic and social costs. Only adaptive management strategies are able to cope with these systems, which are mainly…Publication Date 2007
- Non-equilibrium system
- grazing
- Opportunistic management
- Resting
- semi-arid
- simulation model
- rangeland condition
- rangelands
- modelling
- Economic Aspects
- management
- rainfall
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordDeserts are known to mankind, but the term desertification has always been an elusive concept. It is now defined in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as land degradation…Publication Date 2007
- land degradation
- Land use and land cover changes
- overgrazing
- Biomass burning and atmospheric emissions
- Air Pollution
- Forest and woodland clearing
- wind erosion
- climate change
- degradation
- erosion
- land use
- grazing
- management
- Carbon Sink
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordIn the biodiversity rich regions of western South Africa transhumance grazing strategies were practised for thousands of years. Today only vestiges of these systems remain with private ownership…Publication Date 2007
- Ecosystem goods and services
- livestock management
- productivity
- phenology
- landscape heterogeneity
- livestock
- management
- ecosystem dynamics
- Economic Aspects
- ecosystem services
- grazing
- household income studies
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSlash-and-burn agriculture (tavy) is the major cause of upland degradation and deforestation in eastern Madagascar. Upland degradation studies are largely based on floristic loss and have ignored the…Publication Date 2007
- Tavy
- Betsimisaraka
- Vegetation succession
- Agricultural productivity
- biodiversity
- Upland rice
- degradation
- species richness
- agriculture
- subsistence agriculture
- management
- fire
- household income studies
- traditional knowledge
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe intrinsic value of soil to national, regional and local agroecological and economic productivity in sub-Saharan Africa is not adequately manifest in financial planning and decision making,…Publication Date 2006
- Emergy synthesis
- soil erosion
- Kenya
- Externality
- Natural capital
- systems analysis
- soils
- degradation
- system economics
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordDebate among scientists about ecological dynamics and appropriate management of semi-arid rangelands has led to a challenge of received wisdoms of range management and pastoral development in dryland…Publication Date 2008
- Semi-arid rangeland
- pastoralism
- Water Point
- grazing gradient
- ordination
- species response curve
- Namibia
- rangeland condition
- rangelands
- piosphere
- grazing
- biodiversity
- management
- Africa