rangeland shrubs may provide mechanical facilitation on their understory plants, by protecting themagainst the livestock grazing. however, such a facilitation effect may vary depending on the rangelandutilization rate. in a field research, mechanical facilitation of rangeland shrubs was compared in ahighly grazed, a moderately grazed and an enclosure site; in an arid rangeland, kakhak, gonabad,...

Rangelands worldwide have more shrubs now, and subterranean rangeland rodents show close interaction to shrubs when choosing a burrowing site. The study was conducted in Otindag Sandy Land in Inner Mongolia, China with the objective of determining the effects of slope position on spatial pattern and interaction of shrubs; how rodents choose their habitat in different slope; and shrubs and roden...

We investigated experimental warming and simulated grazing (clipping) effects on rangeland quality, as indicated by vegetation production and nutritive quality, in winter-grazed meadows and summer-grazed shrublands on the Tibetan Plateau, a rangeland system experiencing climatic and pastoral land use changes. Warming decreased total aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) by 40 g x m(-2) x ...

in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, shrubs may act as fertility islands but theireffect may vary depending on their morphology and ecological impacts. this research wasaimed to study effect of three shrubs scariola orientalis, astragalus heratensis, and rosapersica on soil properties and on the microclimate conditions (temperature, luminance, andsoil moisture) of their understory in the steppe ra...

Some endemic shrubs in arid and semiarid ecosystems are in danger of extinction, and yet they can play useful roles in maintaining or restoring these ecosystems, thus practical efforts are needed to conserve them. The shrubs Amygdalus pedunculata Pall., Amygdalus mongolica (Maxim.) Ricker and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim. ex Kom.) Cheng f. are endemic species in arid and semiarid regions of...

Livestock overgrazing can threaten the ecological integrity of rangelands, and can also threaten the sustainability of pastoralist societies who depend on rangelands for their livelihood. Using facilitator plants in the restoration of degraded semi-arid rangelands offers a promising strategy because in such environments, facilitators can ameliorate harsh conditions that often limit the establis...

The role of ungulate grazing in shaping rangeland ecosystems is well known relative to other important plant-animal interactions such as pollination, seed dispersal, granivory, and belowground herbivory. Successful rangeland revegetation may be enhanced by strategies that favor certain groups of animals and discourage others. Many perennial forbs and shrubs require animals for successful pollin...

There is less published research on ecosystems of forested rangeland in Iran. This research was conducted to investigate the forested rangeland area based on legal definition via comparison of indices species richness, diversity, and morphology of the trees and shrubs in Sabzkouh watershed, Chaharmahal Bakhtiari province, Iran. Quantitative characteristics of trees and shrubs were measured by 5...