Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism

Understanding ecosystem resilience to human impacts is critical for conservation and restoration. The large‐scale die‐off of New England salt marshes was triggered by overfishing and resulted from decades of runaway crab grazing. In 2009, however, cordgrass began to recover, decreasing die‐off ∼40% by 2010.

The time-integrated normalized difference vegetation index (iNDVI) provides key remote-sensing-derived information on the interactions between vegetation growth, climatic and soil conditions, and land use. Using a time-series of Landsat imagery obtained for Queensland, Australia, it has been demonstrated how robust geostatistics can be used to predict iNDVI.

Recent studies using low-resolution satellite time series show that the Sahelian belt of West Africa is witnessing an increase in vegetation cover/biomass, called re-greening. However, detailed information on local processing and changes is rare or lacking.

Rangelands encompass 30-40% of Earth's land surface and support 1-2 billion people. Their predominant use is extensive livestock production by pastoralists and ranchers. But rangelands are characterized by ecological, economic, and political marginality, and higher-value, more intensive land uses are impinging on rangelands around the world.

This paper analyzes increasingly individualized herding behavior after the implementation of a grazing ban policy in northern China based on empirical research in 12 pastoralist villages. The findings reveal that de-collectivization of pastureland has not necessarily led to direct changes in individual land use strategies.

Arsenic concentrations are reported for the

Researchers of ICARDA are slowly improving towards participatory and community-based approaches to incorporate users’ perspectives. This not only increases the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural research, but delivers what farmers want.

Rangeland scientists and quantitative ecologists have developed numerous methods and monitoring techniques that can be used for vegetation sampling (Barbour et al. 1987). The methods used to position samples (transects, quadrats, lines, and points) vary and can be classed as selective, capricious, systematic, or random.

La Politique cadre pour le pastoralisme en Afrique, présentée dans ce rapport, est la première initiative de politique à l’échelle d’un continent ayant pour but de sécuriser, protéger et améliorer la vie des pasteurs africains.

The CCAFS Regional Program for Southeast Asia (CCAFS-SEA) organized a convergence meeting involving CGIAR CCAFS focal persons and selected partners on 11-13 December 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.