an outbreak of malignant catarrhal fever (mcf), a fatal viral disease in indigenous tanzanian shorthorn zebu in ngorongoro district of tanzania during the period of june 2004 has been described. the disease was diagnosed by clinical, post mortem findings and the virus was identified using molecular characterization study. the history and clinical features included pyrexia, cornel opacity, nasal...

Riparian meadows occupy a small proportion of the public lands in the western United States but they provide numerous ecosystem services, including the production of high-quality forage for livestock grazing. Modern conservation management strategies (e.g., reductions in livestock stocking rates and adoption of new riparian grazing standards) have been implemented to better balance riparian con...

Considering their contribution to global warming, the sources and sinks of methane (CH4) should be accounted when undertaking a greenhouse gas inventory for grazed rangeland ecosystems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mitigation potential of current ecological management programs implemented in the main rangeland regions of China. The influences of rangeland improvement, utilization a...

Humans have never been healthier, wealthier or more numerous. Yet, present success may be at the cost of future prosperity and in some places, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, poverty persists. Livestock keepers, especially pastoralists, are over-represented among the poor. Poverty has been mainly attributed to a lack of access, whether to goods, education or enabling institutions. More recent...

the arid zone encompasses land that has an imbalance between precipitation and losses through evaporation. globally, arid zones comprise large part of many countries in the mid-latitudes in both the northern and the southern hemispheres. both australia and iran are countries with a large arid zone. this negative water balance in the arid zone affects the type of land use in these countries. at ...

Agricultural ecosystems are dependent for their natural resources on originally natural ecosystems. Agricultural ecosystems are also served by natural ecosystems with ecosystem services. Livestock will play a more important role in the next millennium because of the rising demand for animal food in the developing countries. Structural changes in land use through intensification of mixed farming...

People who perceive economic benefits and enjoy unrestricted access to natural resources tend to support ecosystem conservation efforts. Our study explores whether this remains true in remnant patches of Afroalpine ecosystem in North Ethiopia, where communal land provides valuable natural resources for the local communities and also sustain small populations of the endangered Ethiopian wolf (Ca...

This chapter provides an overview on several topics paramount to understanding domestic free-ranging livestock foraging behavior. Animal behavior has always played a pivotal role in human management strategies involving domestic livestock, only within the last 30 years has there been a coordinated effort to try and use behavior principles in managing free-ranging livestock. Coupled with this fo...