converting the native rangelands to simplified agronomic communities causessome changes in soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. establishing of perennial plantcommunities on formerly cultivated rangelands is expected to stabilize soil properties andincrease the amount of c, n, p stored in rangeland soils, but there is little information on whatplant communities are the most effective for impro...

The importance of accurately monitoring rangeland degradation dynamics over decades is increasing in Linxia rangeland, the birthplace of the Yellow River in China. Since 2000, the Chinese government has implemented the “Grain for Green” program and enforced a grazing ban in Gansu province, one of the most degraded provinces, to mitigate the problem of rangeland degradation. The effects of these...

The introduction of domestic livestock particularly sheep and rangeland grazing by Norse settlers to Faroe during the 9th century has generally been described as a major pressure on a sensitive landscape, leading to rapid and widespread vegetation change and contributing to land degradation. This view has, however, been developed without consideration of Norse grazing management practices which...

We examine relationships between landscape scale measurements of rangeland complexity and cattle stocking rates in Kansas. Rangeland complexity was characterized using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite imagery and the USGS National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD). Satellite Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values were summed over the 2002 growing-season and then ...

the “Three-River Headwaters” region (TRHR) rangeland ecosystem is extremely sensitive and fragile, and in recent years has undergone continuous degradation. The vast area and severe nature conditions inhibit data acquisition and field experiments, resulting in different understandings about the spatial characteristics and dynamics of rangeland degradation in the region. Therefore, reliable moni...

Soil characteristics and functions are critical determinants of rangeland systems and the ecosystem services that they provide. Rangeland soils are extremely diverse, but an emerging understanding is that paradigms developed in more mesic forest ecosystems may not be applicable. Vascular plants, biological soil crusts, and the soil microbial community are the three major functional groups of or...

Contemporary Australian rangeland management is characterised by concurrent processes of a continuing intensification of land management practices and simplification of landscape ecological processes. This dual characteristic is associated with increasing levels of potential conflict between land management practices that promote improved economic performance of rangeland enterprises at the app...