sustainable exploitation of land resources is directly affected by considering soil quality which finally will also conclude environmental protection. therefore, assessing different soil quality aspects which are sensitive to various land management practices seems too important. in this study, some selected soil quality indicators have been compared in five land use systems including untouched...

This paper analyzes regulatory design for agroecosystem management on public rangelands. We present an informational and institutional environment where three of the most prominent regulatory instruments on public rangelands – input regulation, cost-sharing/taxation, and performance regulation – can be defined and compared. The paper examines how the optimal regulation is shaped by the informat...

Rangelands in Saudi Arabia extend over more than 175 m.ha. (about 75% of country land area) while woodland forests occupy only 2.7 m.ha. and are limited to the south western highlands. The diversity in landscape has been reflected in terrestrial plant species diversity. Range vegetation as well as forest understory vegetation has long history of grazing by livestock and wildlife herbivores. In ...

West Nile virus has undergone an unprecedented rate of infection in North America, sweeping from New York to California in four years. It attacked an exceptionally broad range of hosts/vectors over a broad geographic area. In 2004, the California Department of Health Services received approximately 98,000 reports of dead birds, representing tens of millions of birds killed by West Nile virus in...

Article history: Received 6 July 2005 Received in revised form 11 October 2005 Accepted 21 October 2005 Available online 4 January 2006 Global Climate Change (GCC) can bring about changes in ecosystems and consequently in their services value. Here we show that the urban population in Israel values the green landscape of rangelands in the mesic Mediterranean climate region and is willing to pay...

PURPOSE: Yellow starthistle is one of most problematic invasive species in grass and rangelands in the western United States. It has expanded its distribution since the 1950’s threatening native species’ diversity and reducing the utility of rangelands for livestock. Control of yellow starthistle has relied heavily on the use of picloram and clopyralid. Although these herbicides have been widel...

In this review, the author discusses how pastoralism, and its many constituent components, is increasingly being recognised as in tune with the changing political and ecological nature of rangelands. He describes ways in which the literature reflects this changing attitude, outlines how rangelands respond to changes in climate and explores the evolving use of livestock resources. In addition, h...

We discuss a figured pin from Shahdad, previously well known but published with a partial and unsatisfactory drawing.  More detailed observations and a new, more realistic recording of this important artifact reconsider its stylistic and iconographic links with the imagery of the Halil Rud civilization and the eastern Iranian Plateau in general, and, at its opposite cultural poles, with Mesopot...