one of the key factors in managing a rangeland is to determine the relative preference of its major plant species by thegrazing livestock. preference value of each plant species is affected by plant type, companion plants, availability byanimals, phenological stage, climate condition, and the livestock species. we investigated the grazing behaviour of anative goat (garizi) in the steppe rangela...

Defining historic grazing pressures and rangeland management is vital if early landscape threshold crossing and long–term trajectories of landscape change are to be properly understood. In this paper we use a new environmental simulation model, Búmodel, to assess two contrasting historical grazing landscapes in Mývatnssveit Iceland for two key periods—the colonization period (ca. Landnám, A.D. ...

Livestock grazing potentially has substantial influence on fuel characteristics in rangelands around the globe. However, information quantifying the impacts of grazing on rangeland fuel characteristics is limited, and the effects of grazing on fuels are important because fuel characteristics are one of the primary factors determining risk, severity, continuity, and size of wildfires. We investi...

Long-term studies can broaden our ecological understanding and are particularly important when examining contingent effects that involve changes to dominance by long-lived species. Such a change occurred during the last century in Southwestern (USA) ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests. We used five livestock grazing exclosures established in 1912 to quantify vegetation structure in 1941 an...

Frequent and intense defoliation of grasses has been associated with the evolution of “grazing morphotypes” that exhibit a variety of vegetative traits correlated with improved grazing resistance. While recovery from a seed bank is not considered an important grazing resistance mechanism, relatively little is actually known regarding seed (caryopsis) production in grazing morphotypes of caespit...

1. Wetlands as Grazing Grounds 1.1. Wetlands and Traditional Seasonal Grazing: La Puna, Argentina–Bolivia–Chile– Peru 2. Grazing in Wetlands: Should this Threat be Prohibited? 2.1. Maintaining Biodiversity through Semi-Extensive Grazing: Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica 3. Integrated Grazing Management in Wetlands: New Approaches 3.1. Combining Biodiversity Conservation with Livestock Reari...

Livestock grazing practices in rangelands are being recognized as management tool for environmental protection and increased livestock productivity. Continuous grazing has been largely reported to reduce pasture productivity and increase environmental degradation. Rotational grazing is an alternative to continuous grazing and is considered to reduce negative environmental effects and provide qu...

Executive Summary Livestock in Ethiopia has an important economic, functional, and cultural significance. Various functions of livestock include dairy production, meat production, draught labor and transportation. Economically, livestock production accounts for nearly 80% of farmer income 1 in the country. In addition, livestock serves as a “savings account” or a way of building assets. Cultura...

Growing pearl millet and cowpea in combination with raising ruminant livestock is widely practised in the Sahel. In this farming system, livestock feeding depends mostly on rangeland, fallows and cropland grazing. Nutritional constraints to grazing ruminants stem primarily from feed scarcity and seasonal fluctuations in feed supply associated with low rainfall and poor soil fertility. Low feed ...