Rangelands represent one of the most important natural resources in mountainous regions of northern Nepal. However, a poor understanding of the social dimensions of rangeland use has limited their proper management and sustainable development, which represent major challenges for Nepal's resource managers. Institutional development is thought to be a viable solution to this problem and may ulti...

In recent years, steps have been taken to implement a new crop insurance program for rangeland and pasture. Unlike traditionally insured row and cereal crops, which have directly measurable yields, there is no such simple, ideal yield standard for rangeland and pasture because of uncertainties regarding how to generally and objectively quantify annual production. With remotely sensed imagery ac...

Understanding the distribution pattern and maintenance mechanism of species diversity along environmental gradients is essential for developing biodiversity conservation strategies under environmental change. We have surveyed the species diversity at 192 vegetation sites across different steppe zones in Inner Mongolia, China. We analysed the total species diversity (γ diversity) and its composi...

Abstract Background Model simulations of wildfire spread and assessments their accuracy are needed for understanding managing altered fire regimes in semiarid regions. The can be evaluated from post hoc comparisons simulated actual perimeters, but this requires information on pre-fire vegetation fuels that is typically not available. We assessed the Fire-Area Simulator (FARSITE) model parameter...

Introduction: Rangeland ecosystems provide multiple ecosystem services, including feed resources for wild and domestic herbivores in semi-arid areas. However, under the ever increasing environmental changes, the impact of rainfall variability on the productivity and vegetation dynamics of rangelands are the great challenges that pastoral community are facing today. As a result, the potentials o...

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...

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...

Preference value means livestock preference to eat some plants relative to other plants or species. Accordingly, by studying the preference values, the range managers could determine the rangelands grazing capacity to achieve the optimum performance of livestock and to guarantee the stability of rangeland ecosystem. The objective of this study was to determine the preference value of perennial ...

In the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin, most of the semi-natural grazing lands are covered by rangelands. Rangelands can be defined as highly heterogeneous natural vegetation communities with high conservation value, growing in harsh environments (poor soils, unfavourable climatic conditions). In the recent socio-economic context, traditional livestock grazing practices that enabl...

Biodiversity in rangelands is decreasing, due to intense utilization for livestock production and conversion of rangeland into cropland; yet the outlook of rangeland biodiversity has not been considered in view of future global demand for food. Here we assess the impact of future livestock production on the global rangelands area and their biodiversity. First we formalized existing knowledge ab...