PapersFlow Research Brief
Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
Research Guide
What is Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology?
Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology is the study of rangeland degradation's effects on pastoral livelihoods, encompassing causes, consequences, management strategies, ecological knowledge, climate change adaptation, sustainable land management, and sustainability of pastoral communities.
This field includes 92,314 works on topics such as rangeland degradation, pastoralists, livelihoods, ecological knowledge, climate change, sustainability, land management, grassland, herders, and adaptation. "Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Development" by Reynolds et al. (2007) addresses dryland challenges with integrative approaches from global change and sustainability science. Growth rate over the past 5 years is not available.
Topic Hierarchy
Research Sub-Topics
Rangeland Degradation
This sub-topic analyzes soil erosion, vegetation loss, and productivity decline in grasslands due to overgrazing and climate stressors. Researchers quantify rates, map extents, and model future trajectories using remote sensing.
Pastoral Livelihoods
This sub-topic studies income diversification, vulnerability, and resilience of herder communities amid land pressures. Researchers use household surveys to assess adaptation strategies and policy impacts.
Sustainable Rangeland Management
This sub-topic evaluates rotational grazing, enclosure systems, and restoration techniques for maintaining forage and biodiversity. Researchers test practices through long-term experiments and socio-ecological modeling.
Climate Change Adaptation in Rangelands
This sub-topic explores herder responses to drought, shifting rainfall, and temperature rises, including migration and water harvesting. Researchers model scenarios and evaluate community-based adaptations.
Ecological Knowledge in Pastoralism
This sub-topic documents indigenous range monitoring, stocking decisions, and biodiversity management practices. Researchers integrate traditional knowledge with scientific data for hybrid approaches.
Why It Matters
Rangeland management and livestock ecology directly affect pastoral communities through strategies addressing degradation, which impacts livelihoods dependent on grasslands and herding. "Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Development" by Reynolds et al. (2007) identifies research, management, and policy challenges in drylands, where advances in development science support sustainable practices. "Global Consequences of Land Use" by Foley et al. (2005) demonstrates how land use changes drive global alterations to forests, farmlands, and waterways to meet demands for food, fiber, water, and shelter for over six billion people, with 12,610 citations underscoring its influence on rangeland policy.
Reading Guide
Where to Start
"Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Development" by Reynolds et al. (2007) first, as it directly tackles dryland problems central to rangeland management and provides an accessible overview of research and policy challenges.
Key Papers Explained
"Global Consequences of Land Use" by Foley et al. (2005) establishes land use as a global force affecting rangelands (12,610 citations), which Lambin et al. (2001) in "The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths" refines by debunking myths on causes. Reynolds et al. (2007) in "Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Development" builds on these with dryland-specific science, while Huang et al. (2015) in "Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change" adds climate dimensions.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Focus on dryland expansion under climate change from Huang et al. (2015) and global desertification frameworks in Reynolds et al. (2007); no recent preprints or news available to indicate shifts.
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Global Consequences of Land Use | 2005 | Science | 12.6K | ✕ |
| 2 | Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth | 2001 | BioScience | 8.2K | ✓ |
| 3 | Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity | 2012 | Nature | 7.0K | ✕ |
| 4 | Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent Declines | 2010 | Science | 4.8K | ✕ |
| 5 | The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond th... | 2001 | Global Environmental C... | 3.7K | ✕ |
| 6 | Proximate Causes and Underlying Driving Forces of Tropical Def... | 2002 | BioScience | 3.0K | ✓ |
| 7 | Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Develop... | 2007 | Science | 2.7K | ✕ |
| 8 | Purposive Sampling as a Tool for Informant Selection | 2007 | Ethnobotany Research a... | 2.4K | ✓ |
| 9 | Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change | 2015 | Nature Climate Change | 2.4K | ✕ |
| 10 | The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild | 2002 | BioScience | 2.4K | ✓ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What causes rangeland degradation?
Rangeland degradation stems from land use changes, as detailed in "Global Consequences of Land Use" by Foley et al. (2005), which links global shifts in forests, farmlands, and waterways to demands for food and resources. "The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths" by Lambin et al. (2001) examines proximate causes and underlying forces beyond common myths.
How does climate change affect drylands in rangeland management?
"Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change" by Huang et al. (2015) shows dryland expansion speeding up due to climate factors. This impacts pastoral livelihoods by altering grasslands used for livestock ecology.
What role does ecological knowledge play in livestock ecology?
Ecological knowledge supports sustainable land management for pastoralists and herders. "Purposive Sampling as a Tool for Informant Selection" by Tongco (2007) describes purposive sampling to select knowledgeable informants in ethnobotanical studies relevant to rangeland practices.
What are key strategies for sustainable rangeland management?
"Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Development" by Reynolds et al. (2007) proposes integrative approaches from global change and sustainability science for dryland management. These address degradation consequences for pastoral communities.
How is biodiversity linked to rangeland management?
"Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth" by Olson et al. (2001) maps ecoregions including rangelands, aiding conservation efforts. "Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity" by Cardinale et al. (2012) connects biodiversity declines to human impacts in grassland systems.
Open Research Questions
- ? How can management strategies mitigate accelerated dryland expansion driven by climate change?
- ? What are the precise underlying driving forces of rangeland degradation beyond proximate causes?
- ? How do global land use changes specifically alter pastoral livelihoods in drylands?
- ? What integrative science approaches best address dryland development challenges for sustainability?
- ? How does informant ecological knowledge inform adaptive practices for herders facing degradation?
Recent Trends
The field encompasses 92,314 works with no specified 5-year growth rate; highly cited papers like "Global Consequences of Land Use" by Foley et al. with 12,610 citations remain central, alongside dryland-focused works such as Reynolds et al. (2007).
2005No recent preprints or news coverage in the last 12 months or 6 months reported.
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