Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism

Soil loss is not limited to change from forest or woodland to other land uses/covers. It may occur when there is agricultural land-use/cover modification or conversion. Soil loss may influence loss of carbon from the soil, hence implication on greenhouse gas emission.

The socio-ecological system dominated by pastureland in the Asteroussia Mountains (Crete, Greece) was analyzed over a long time interval (1945–2010) to identify the most relevant system’s characteristics and changes. Vegetation cover and land-uses have been quantified by analyzing aerial photographs exploring the whole study period.

The adoption and adaptation of enclosures in the arid and semi-arid rangelands of sub-Saharan Africa is driven and sustained by a combination of factors. However, reviews indicate that these factors cannot be generalized, as they tend to be case specific.

Research was done in the upper part of the Genale River basin in the Sidama Zone, Ethiopia. The research focussed on answering the question whether coffee-based agroforestry could ve an impact on the local hydrology. Discharge data, land use data and soil data was collected in the field and from literature and together put into a SWAT model to investigate the hydrological cycle of the basin.

The purpose of this study is to help build a clear picture of grazing in an agriculture region of China, to find out why farmers buy supplemental feed which is used in winter when their farmland is abandoned and covered by weeds. To meet this goal, I used the case of a village where farmers not only supplied but also bought supplemental feed to see how they used farmland.

Our study focuses on pasture reform in Azerbaijan within the context of transition and pasture reform in Central Asian and Caucasian countries. Despite the rapid emergence of individualised rights for pasture plots, which is an exceptional development in this region, pasture reform in Azerbaijan has received little attention in the scientific literature.