Concerns were raised over the past decades, on the degradation condition of arid and semi-arid rangelands in South Africa, mainly in areas under communal land management. Baseline information on soil quality is essential to monitor changes in land conditions and assess impacts of land uses and management over time. The objectives of this study, initiated within the framework of the Desert Margins Program, were to characterize and establish baseline indicators of soil quality health, and to investigate the potential effects of grazing and exclusion management (hypothesized as grazing effect) on selected soil properties in the western Bophirima District in South Africa. Soils were characterized for physical, chemical, enzymatic activity and microbial biomass properties, and grazing effects were evaluated on selected properties. The aboveground herbaceous species composition and biomass production were also determined. Sandy, poor fertile soils (low organic carbon and phosphorus) characterized all sites. Various levels of enzymatic and microbial biomass were recorded at the sites. Grazing had no significant effects on most of soil chemical properties, but did affect selected enzymatic activities, site-specifically. No significant differences of grazing effects were observed on soil microbial biomass. The inconsistent responses of soil properties across the sites prompt to caution regarding the generalization and/or extrapolation of grazing effects to other areas, without consideration of the prevailing environmental and management characteristics to each site. Notwithstanding the alarming plea about degradation at these communal sites, indicators of soil quality did not significantly differ between communal and surrounding commercial and/or game managed areas, despite their apparent vegetation degradation. The results showed that rangeland under the communal management were characterized by increaser species of low grazing value, but this situation did not necessarily interpret severe soil degradation as tacitly described. Soil degradation depends on land use, management and environmental conditions, and references are needed to assess degradation. Important interrelationships between the aboveground vegetation and soil belowground activity were observed. This emphasized the need to integrate both soil and vegetation into rangeland monitoring, as these interrelationships and associated ecological processes sustain rangeland health. Further research is needed to re-examine the "inferred degradation of rangelands in communal areas, taking into consideration their history, and using appropriate baselines and references sites. Only then, can degradation trends and hotspots be identified and thereof, appropriate management decisions (through participatory research) taken locally to combat degradation and sustain long-term rangeland resources uses. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Concerns were raised over the past decades, on the degradation condition of arid and semi-arid rangelands in South Africa, mainly in areas under communal land management. Baseline information on soil quality is essential to monitor changes in land conditions and assess impacts of land uses and management over time. The objectives of this study, initiated within the framework of the Desert Margins Program, were to characterize and establish baseline indicators of soil quality health, and to investigate the potential effects of grazing and exclusion management (hypothesized as grazing effect) on selected soil properties in the western Bophirima District in South Africa. Soils were characterized for physical, chemical, enzymatic activity and microbial biomass properties, and grazing effects were evaluated on selected properties. The aboveground herbaceous species composition and biomass production were also determined. Sandy, poor fertile soils (low organic carbon and phosphorus) characterized all sites. Various levels of enzymatic and microbial biomass were recorded at the sites. Grazing had no significant effects on most of soil chemical properties, but did affect selected enzymatic activities, site-specifically. No significant differences of grazing effects were observed on soil microbial biomass. The inconsistent responses of soil properties across the sites prompt to caution regarding the generalization and/or extrapolation of grazing effects to other areas, without consideration of the prevailing environmental and management characteristics to each site. Notwithstanding the alarming plea about degradation at these communal sites, indicators of soil quality did not significantly differ between communal and surrounding commercial and/or game managed areas, despite their apparent vegetation degradation. The results showed that rangeland under the communal management were characterized by increaser species of low grazing value, but this situation did not necessarily interpret severe soil degradation as tacitly described. Soil degradation depends on land use, management and environmental conditions, and references are needed to assess degradation. Important interrelationships between the aboveground vegetation and soil belowground activity were observed. This emphasized the need to integrate both soil and vegetation into rangeland monitoring, as these interrelationships and associated ecological processes sustain rangeland health. Further research is needed to re-examine the "inferred degradation of rangelands in communal areas, taking into consideration their history, and using appropriate baselines and references sites. Only then, can degradation trends and hotspots be identified and thereof, appropriate management decisions (through participatory research) taken locally to combat degradation and sustain long-term rangeland resources uses. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

abstract: The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae), a small burrowing lagomorph that occupies the high alpine grassland ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in western China, remains a controversial subject among policymakers and researchers. One line of evidence points to pikas being a pest, which has led to massive attempts to eradicate pika populations. Another point of view is that pikas are a keystone species and an ecosystem engineer in the grassland ecosystem of the QTP. The pika eradication program raises a difficult ethical and religious dilemma for local pastoralists, and is criticized for not being supported by scientific evidence. Complex interactions between pikas, livestock, and habitat condition are poorly understood. My dissertation research examines underpinning justifications of the pika poisoning program leading to these controversies. I investigated responses of pikas to habitat conditions with field experimental manipulations, and mechanisms of pika population recovery following pika removal. I present policy recommendations based on an environmental ethics framework and findings from the field experiments. After five years of a livestock grazing exclusion experiment and four years of pika monitoring, I found that grazing exclusion resulted in a decline of pika habitat use, which suggests that habitat conditions determine pika population density. I also found that pikas recolonized vacant burrow systems following removal of residents, but that distances travelled by dispersing pikas were extremely short (~50 m). Thus, current pika eradication programs, if allowed to continue, could potentially compromise local populations as well as biodiversity conservation on the QTP. Lethal management of pikas is a narrowly anthropocentric-based form of ecosystem management that has excluded value-pluralism, such as consideration of the intrinsic value of species and the important ecological role played by pikas. These conflicting approaches have led to controversies and policy gridlock. In response, I suggest that the on-going large-scale pika eradication program needs reconsideration. Moderation of stocking rates is required in degraded pika habitats, and Integrated Pest Management may be required when high stocking rate and high pika density coexist. A moderate level of livestock and pika density can be consistent with maintaining the integrity and sustainability of the QTP alpine steppe ecosystem. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2016