The adoption and adaptation of enclosures in the arid and semi-arid rangelands of sub-Saharan Africa is driven and sustained by a combination of factors. However, reviews indicate that these factors cannot be generalized, as they tend to be case specific. A study was therefore conducted to explore the history and reasons for enclosure establishment in Chepareria, a formerly degraded communal ra...

Some endemic shrubs in arid and semiarid ecosystems are in danger of extinction, and yet they can play useful roles in maintaining or restoring these ecosystems, thus practical efforts are needed to conserve them. The shrubs Amygdalus pedunculata Pall., Amygdalus mongolica (Maxim.) Ricker and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim. ex Kom.) Cheng f. are endemic species in arid and semiarid regions of...

this research aimed to evaluate the effect of planting seasons (autumn and spring) on 10 accessions of two species of astragalus effusus and astragalus brachyodontus in the field condition (homand absard station, damavand). after preparing the seedbed, the plant species were planted on two lines in 2 m, where the spacing between the lines of each accession was 0.5 m, and the spacing between the...

Federal land management agencies provide stewardship over much of the rangelands in the arid and semi-arid western United States, but they often lack data of the proper spatiotemporal resolution and extent needed to assess range conditions and monitor trends. Recent advances in the blending of complementary, remotely sensed data could provide public lands managers with the needed information. W...

We examined changes in rangeland health in the semi-arid woodlands of eastern Australia at fixed sites between 1989 and 1999. Over the 11-year period there were significant declines in the quality of the vegetation, and changes in plant species were driven largely by seasonality, and to a lesser extent, amount of rainfall. Three indices of rangelands health (composition, function and stability)...

Small−holder farming in semi−arid areas is being forced to change to compensate for the needs of more people living under conditions of increasingly variable rainfall. As more land is used for agriculture, rangeland areas are reduced, so limiting the availability of animal fodder. The length of fallow periods where soil fertility may be restored is also reduced. This has forced herders and farm...

The mountain rangeland chain of Matmata (southern Tunisia) is characterised by an arid Mediterranean climate with severe droughts and high temperatures, combined substantial human disturbance....

Detecting land cover change over semi-arid rangeland is important for monitoring vegetation responses to drought, population expansion, and changing agricultural practices. Such change can be detected using vegetation indices, but these do not represent non-green vegetation and are dominated by seasonal changes. An alternative is to observe spatial changes in thermal emissivities, a measure tha...

This article examines the history of rangeland management on the El Rito District of the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. The area became part of the U.S. Forest Service system in the late nineteenth century, when Mexican land grants in the area were not confirmed by U.S. courts. In the 1940s, the Forest Service implemented a series of grazing restrictions in the district. The art...