www.frontiersinecology.org © The Ecological Society of America R – including grasslands, shrublands, savannas, deserts, prairies, steppe, and tundra – comprise 30–40% of Earth’s ice-free terrestrial surface (depending on one’s definition and data sources; Asner et al. 2004) and account for 91% of the world’s grazing lands (Reid et al. 2008). Encompassing watersheds for vast downstream populatio...

Rapid human population growth and habitat modification in the western United States has led to the formation of urban and exurban rangelands. Many of these rangelands are also home to populations of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). Our study aimed to compare the vegetation composition of an urban and exurban rangeland, and explore the role that prairie dogs play in these system...

In the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin, most of the semi-natural grazing lands are covered by rangelands. Rangelands can be defined as highly heterogeneous natural vegetation communities with high conservation value, growing in harsh environments (poor soils, unfavourable climatic conditions). In the recent socio-economic context, traditional livestock grazing practices that enabl...

Article history: Received 14 November 2005 Received in revised form 24 April 2006 Accepted 26 May 2006 Available online 31 July 2006 Classic rangeland theory advocates stocking rangelands at relatively lowand constant levels. This theory has been labelled inappropriate for savanna rangelands, because savannas are strongly influenced by stochastic processes. Opportunistic strategies that force a...

INTRODUCTION In periapical surgery, the absence of standardization between different studies makes it difficult to compare the outcomes. OBJECTIVE To compare the healing classification of different authors and evaluate the prognostic criteria of periapical surgery at 12 months. MATERIAL AND METHODS 278 patients (101 men and 177 women) with a mean age of 38.1 years (range 11 to 77) treated w...

Rangeland ecosystems cover approximately one-third of the land area in the United States and half of the land area of California. This large land area, coupled with the propensity of grasses to allocate a considerable proportion of their photosynthate belowground, leads to high soil carbon (C) sequestration potential. Annual grasslands typical of the Mediterranean climates of the western United...

This paper identifies new ways of moving from land degradation towards sustainable land management through the development of economic mechanisms. It identifies new mechanisms to tackle land degradation based on retaining critical levels of natural capital whilst basing livelihoods on a wider range of ecosystem services. This is achieved through a case study analysis of the Kalahari rangelands ...