is when per capita production and consumption grow. This may occur when more hours are spent working; but more important, for the long-term, is new technology, which leads to higher rates of extraction and/or more effi cient use of resources. For most nations, economic growth refl ects a concurrent increase in population and per capita production and consumption, all facilitated by the developm...

One hundred twenty crossbred steers (450 lb, +/37 lb) were stratified by weight and randomly assigned to one of two feeding blocks. The cattle grazed dormant rangeland for 56 days from October 12 through December 7. Each block was supplemented three times a week with the equivalent of 7 days of dried corn distiller’s grains (DDG) at 0, 0.25, 0.50, or 0.75% body weight (BW)/d on a dry matter bas...

Land degradation of alpine rangeland in Dachigam National Park, Northern India, was evaluated in this study using MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land products. The park has been used by a variety of livestock holders. With increasing numbers of livestock, the managers and users of the park are apprehensive about degradation of the grazing land. However, owing to weak infr...

The combined impacts of woody plant encroachment and climate variability have the potential to alter water balance in many sagebrush steppe ecosystems Western USA, leading reduced availability these already water-scarce regions. This study compared water-balance characteristics two adjacent semiarid watersheds central Oregon, USA: one dominated by big western juniper. Precipitation, springflow,...

Biological Soil Crusts (BSCs), consisting of prokaryotes, microalgae, lichens, mosses and eventually small vascular plants, cover wide areas in arid and semi-arid environments. In the present study, the microbial diversity of these crusts was explored at extrazonal mountain steppe sites in the western Khentej (Northern Mongolia). At the study site the Siberian taiga borders on the Mongolian-Dau...

The hypothesized presence of large regions of grass and forb-dominated "steppe tundra" across Alaska and Siberia during the Pleistocene glacial epochs has led to a search for modern analogs. Evidence is presented for the presence of steppe vegetation on south-facing slopes and summits of pingos within the central Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Vegetation, floristics, soils, and climatic factor...

Kachergis, E. (corresponding author, emily. [email protected]): Rangeland Resources Research Unit, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, 8408 Hildreth Road, Cheyenne, WY, 82009, USA Rocca,M.E. ([email protected]): Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA Fernandez-Gimenez,M.E. ([email protected]): De...

Herbivory and fire are natural interacting forces contributing to the maintenance of rangeland ecosystems. Wildfires in the sagebrush dominated ecosystems of the Great Basin are becoming larger and more frequent, and may dramatically alter plant communities and habitat. This synthesis describes what is currently known about the cumulative impacts of historic livestock grazing patterns and short...

A partial steppe bison (Bison priscus) carcass was recovered at Tsiigehtchic, near the confluence of the Arctic Red and Mackenzie Rivers, Northwest Territories, Canada in September of 2007. The carcass includes a complete craniumwith horn cores and sheaths, several complete post-cranial elements (many of which have some mummified soft tissue), intestines and a large piece of hide. A piece of me...

The objective of the current study was to determine seasonal changes in glucose, cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), serum inorganic phosphorous (SIP), calcium, magnesium and iron concentrations in Nguni and crossbred cattle on the sweet and sour rangelands of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Body weights, body condition scores (BCS) and serum concentrations of energy-rela...