Forage management practices influence the quantity and quality of forage available to grazing cattle. The objectives of this experiment were to determine the effects of prescribed fire or herbicides on the density of forbs, the production and nutritive value of the herbage, and the performance of beef steers grazing Yellow bluestem [Bothriochloa ischaemum (L.) Keng var. ischaemum (Hack.) Celari...

Community-based management (CBM) has been implemented in socio-ecological systems (SES) worldwide. CBM has also been the prevailing policy in Sámi pastoral SES in Norway, but the outcomes tend to vary extensively among resource groups ("siidas"). We asked why do some siidas self-organize to manage common pool resources sustainably and others do not? To answer this question we used a mixed metho...

Pasture-based cattle farming has dramatically modified the rural landscapes on a continental scale and has been recognized as a process with huge environmental and social impacts. In Latin America and the Caribbean region, there are currently more than 602 million hectares occupied by permanent pastures, which accounts for more than 33% of the said region (Chará & Murgueitio 2005). Cattle produ...

IHDP Update 2.2008 Fundamental, policy-driven changes are transforming China's rangelands in response to a perceived threat of environmental degradation. Having transferred livestock property from state to private ownership over the past two decades, government policy is now encouraging pastoralists to privatise parts of the natural resource, in the form of fenced enclosures. In other areas, th...

This trial provided information about effects of defoliation frequency, defoliation intensity and winter management (grazing or rest) on the productivity, morphology and plant population of a 3-year-old plantain (Plantago lanceolata) stand. Plant population density declined drastically over time independently of grazing management, with the greatest decrease in summer. Winter grazing had a crit...

We studied the distribution of sandflies (Diptera: Phlebotominae)--insect vectors of several diseases, including leishmaniasis--at the interface between primary forest and cattle pasture and between primary forest and secondary forest (< 15 yr old) in Southern Brazilian Amazonia. Sandflies were collected by using a combination of light traps and traps having vertebrates as baits. Strong differe...

Alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau are claimed to be sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and human disturbance. The mechanism, direction and magnitude of climatic and anthropogenic influences on net primary productivity (NPP) of various alpine pastures remain under debate. Here, we simulated the potential productivity (with only climate variables being considered as drivers; NPPP) ...

AIM To know the prevalence of gastrointestinal nematode larvae (L3) in the grazing land of cattle in Guwahati, Kamrup district, Assam. MATERIALS AND METHODS Pastures were collected and examined for the presence of nematode larvae (L3) from six localities of Guwahati at monthly interval from August 2012 to July 2013. The counted larvae were then expressed as per kg dry matter of herbage (L3/kg...

Reproductive wastage was investigated over two seasons in ten Merino flocks grazing pastures based on oestrogenic subterranean clover. Only 65 percent of ewes were served during the first 16 days of joining. Ovulation rates were low, averaging 1.13. Fertilization rates (73%) were low when compared with flocks unaffected by oestrogenic pastures. Embryonic mortality varied considerably between pr...