Humans have exerted large-scale changes on the terrestrial biosphere, primarily through agriculture; however, the impacts of such changes on the hydrologic cycle are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the conversion of natural rangeland ecosystems to agricultural ecosystems impacts the subsurface portion of the hydrologic cycle by changing groundwater r...

Conservation easements have increased dramatically but their social and ecological outcomes are largely unknown. To examine the influence of social relations and institutional structure on easement design and conservation outcomes, we compared two regions where land trusts hold conservation easements protecting large areas of private rangeland: Lassen Foothills, California, and Malpai Borderlan...

Remote sensing technology is very useful in getting synoptic estimates of grass bio-parameters which is important for rangeland monitoring . The retrieval of bio-parameters is usually realized by developing empirical regression formula. However, it is less convincing if the regression line is built on limited observations from one growth stage . In this research, three field surveys were carrie...

Land desertification is one of the most serious environmental and social-economic problems in the North China. The processes of desertification mainly have being controlled by the interaction of human activities and fragile eco-environment, that means the pattern and intension of landuse are major factors for development or reverse of desertification. Because of the increasing pressure of popul...

Maintaining or enhancing the productive capacity and resilience of rangeland ecosystems is critical for the continued support of people who depend on them for their livelihoods, especially in the face of climatic change. This is also necessary for the continued delivery of ecosystem services derived from rangelands for the broader benefit of societies around the world. Multi-paddock grazing man...

The miniaturization of electronics, computers and sensors has created new opportunities for remote sensing applications. Despite the current restrictions on regulation, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with small thermal, laser or spectral sensors has emerged as a promising alternative for assisting modeling, mapping and monitoring applications in rangelands, forests and agricultura...

The study was conducted to explore range management practices, and pastoralists’ views on degradation and its impact on local livelihood in south Ethiopia. The data was gathered from three pastoral and agro-pastoral districts of the Guji zone using structure questionnaires, key respondents and direct observation. The study shows the use of enclosure and herd mobility in basic traditional practi...

In perennial and natural vegetation systems, monitoring changes in vegetation over time is of fundamental interest for identifying and quantifying impacts of management and natural processes. Subtle changes in vegetation cover can be identified by calculating the trends of a vegetation density index over time. In this paper, we apply such an index-trends approach, which has been developed and a...

SUMMARY Operational monitoring of vegetative cover by remote sensing currently involves the utilisation of vegetation indices. Vegetation indices are widely used for assessing and monitoring ecological variables such as vegetation cover, above-ground biomass and leaf area index. This study reviewed and evaluated different vegetation indices for estimating vegetation cover in rangelands in Cente...