The Bale Mountains of Ethiopia represent the world’s largest continuous extent of afroalpine habitat. With a peak combined density of over 8000 individuals/km, the endemic giant mole rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, Blick's grass rat Arvicanthis blicki and the brush-furred mouse Lophuromys melanonyx are the dominant wild herbivores within this ecosystem and may be affected by the presence of hig...

We studied five lower forest–grassland ecotones in the Darhad Valley in northern Mongolia and investigated the effects of 20th Century grazing regimes and changes in grazing management on ecotone dynamics at a local scale. A total of 2968 Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) trees were cored and tree-age distribution was constructed to determine 20th Century tree establishment. Tree age and location...

overgrazing and inappropriate use of taleghan rangelands has led to poor and very poor condition for almost all vegetation types. taking the importance of rangelands in forage production and other benefits into consideration, management of these rangelands and improving their condition seems essential. the present research was conducted using data integration of vegetation, condition, slope, so...

The contemporary southwestern United States is characterized by fire-adapted ecosystems; large numbers of federally listed threatened and endangered species; a patchwork of federal, state, and private landownership; and a long history of livestock grazing as the predominant land use. I compared eight sites in southern Arizona and New Mexico to assess the interacting effects of these characteris...

Over the last three decades, livestock exclosure research has emerged as a preferred method to evaluate the ecology of riparian ecosystems and their susceptibility to livestock impacts. This research has addressed the effects of livestock exclusion on many characteristics of riparian ecosystems, including vegetation, aquatic and terrestrial animals, and geomorphology. This paper reviews, critiq...

Livestock grazing has the potential to substantially alter carbon (C) storage in grassland ecosystem. In this study, we evaluated the soil-plant system C (0-30cm) under three different grazing intensities by yaks (light: 1.2, moderate: 2.0, and heavy: 2.9 yaks/ha) in alpine meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Soil organic C at 0-30cm depth and total plant components C increased from light gr...

Reports of positive or neutral effects of grazing on plant species richness have prompted calls for livestock grazing to be used as a tool for managing land for conservation. Grazing effects, however, are likely to vary among different response variables, types, and intensity of grazing, and across abiotic conditions. We aimed to examine how grazing affects ecosystem structure, function, and co...

Finding an optimal balance between livestock production and grazing impact on animal diversity is important for the development of sustainable grazing systems. This paper tests the hypothesis that extensification of grazing management enhances animal diversity. Similar treatments were applied over a period of three years to sites in the UK, France, Germany and Italy. There were three treatments...

Extensive livestock grazing even in unsuitable land has increasingly grown in most parts of semi-arid rangeland. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to identify suitable land for livestock grazing for optimum utilization while causing minimum impact to the environment. This paper adapted the schematic model based on the concepts presented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of suitabi...

Rotational grazing is commonly assumed to improve livestock distribution compared to continuous grazing, but little evidence supports this contention. Research was conducted on the effects of rotational grazing (RG) compared to continuous grazing (CC) on the preference of cattle for plant communities. Diffeant livestock densitiea in the RG treatments were created by varying the size of paddocka...