Increasing species richness of light demanding species in forests may not be a conservation concern if we accept a macroecological and evolutionary baseline for biodiversity. Most of the current biodiversity in Europe has evolved in the Pleistocene or earlier, and in ecosystems markedly influenced by dynamic natural processes, including grazing. Many threatened species are associated with high-...

Fire is a key disturbance agent in the fire-prone mixed conifer and ponderosa pine forests of the southwestern United States. Human activities (i.e., livestock grazing, logging, and fire suppression) have resulted in the exclusion of fire from these forests for the past century and fire exclusion has caused changes in forest structure and composition. This study quantifies spatial and temporal ...

Routes of transhumance movement as well as both summer and winter destinations are subjected to intense grazing that over the years may shape landscapes. The aim of this study was to investigate land use changes in Aspropotamos area, Trikala from 1985 to 2000 that serves as a summer destination of transhumance flocks. Changes in land cover were explored with the post classification comparison a...

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...

Intensive livestock grazing was an important cause of reduction in surface fire occurrence in many Western forests. This effect occurred primarily during the late 1800s and early decades of the 1900s. Very large herds of sheep, goats, cattle and horses removed the grass cover in under stories of ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests. In 1890, for example, there were more than 5 million sheep...