Satellite observations identify the Mongolian steppes as a hotspot of global biomass reduction, the extent of which is comparable with tropical rainforest deforestation. To conserve or restore these grasslands, the relative contributions of climate and human activities to degradation need to be understood. Here we use a recently developed 21-year (1988-2008) record of satellite based vegetation...

Abstract Pastoral systems are over-utilised in many countries due to population growth, land monotony, reconstruction, marketization and climate change. In Oman, particularly the Dhofar Mountains, people concerned about social environmental sustainability of pastoralism because mountain chains, located south have long been regarded as one best agricultural areas country. Overgrazing Mountains a...

Understanding functional traits that capture species response to overgrazing can help optimize ecosystem functioning. However, most studies have ignored the effects of life-form on above- and below-ground overgrazing. Here, we determined whether respond similarly overgrazing; does vary between annual vs. perennial life-forms. We compared common grassland fenced overgrazed meadows at four elevat...

We assessed the effects of overgrazing by feral sheep on watersheds on Santa Cruz Island, California. Overgrazing had a marked effect on stream flow; flows were much greater in overgrazed than in lightly grazed watersheds early in the rainy season, but the difference vanished later in the season. This pattern can be explained by reduced infiltration and increased surface runoff of rainfall in o...

Overgrazing is the key factor that has exacerbated grassland degradation in China’s pastoral regions. Herder’s grazing-based livestock production behavior becomes important to conservation. Several formal environmental institutions and policies exist improve degradation; however, there remain contradicting conclusions regarding contribution of these policies. Informal become major instruments m...

The endangered Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is the only macaque found wild outside of Asia. Its population has declined by over 50% in the last 23 years with the main threats including habitat loss through logging, overgrazing by livestock, illegal trade and developing negative effects of tourism. The last refuge of this species is in the Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco. This refuge is bec...

Previous studies of transgenerational plasticity have demonstrated that long-term overgrazing experienced by Leymus chinensis, an ecologically dominant, rhizomatous grass species in eastern Eurasian temperate grassland, significantly affects its clonal growth in subsequent generations. However, there is a dearth of information on the reasons underlying this overgrazing-induced memory effect in ...

Shifts from productive kelp beds to impoverished sea urchin barrens occur globally and represent a wholesale change to the ecology of sub-tidal temperate reefs. Although the theory of shifts between alternative stable states is well advanced, there are few field studies detailing the dynamics of these kinds of transitions. In this study, sea urchin herbivory (a 'top-down' driver of ecosystems) ...