Although humans are assumed to be rational beings, there has been little consensus regarding the criteria for distinguishing rational from irrational behaviors. For example, overgrazing that often results in a tragedy of the commons is usually considered irrational. A subsequent question may be why there are always some rational people engaging in irrational overgrazing. Based on rationality th...

Overgrazing affects plant communities, and is a significant disturbance factor in arid and semi-arid regions. The immediate changes of plant communities after overgrazing in the disturbed arid ecosystems of Iran have been poorly studied. We recorded data from 100 random samples before and after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain located in the northeastern Iran to determine the changes in the pl...

the superficial strata of ground have been perennially exposed to the action of natural agents such as heat, cold and water. however, grazing agent was not different from them when soils were investigated from temperate rangelands of kashmir and caused the soil compaction, soil structure degradation and loss of soil organic c and c/n ratio. soils from three grazing intensities were investigated...

To understand effects of soil microbes on soil biochemistry in alpine grassland ecosystems under environmental changes, we explored relationships between soil microbial diversity and soil total nitrogen, organic carbon, available nitrogen and phosphorus, soil microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities in alpine meadow, alpine steppe and cultivated grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau unde...

Picture a pasture open to all (...) As a rational being, each herdsman seeks to maximize his gain. Explicitly or implicitly, more or less consciously, he asks, "What is the utility to me of adding one more animal to the herd?" This utility has one negative and one positive component. 1) The positive component is a function of the increment of one animal. Since the herdsman receives all the proc...