Rural development in Africa’s arid rangelands has been exceptionally difficult. Conventional approaches to range and livestock development have consistently failed to meet desired goals, including increased productivity and improved living standards for pastoralists. Perspectives on constraints to successful development can be divided into two major viewpoints. The dominant view, which has guided these failed attempts, blames pastoralist for traditionalism and clinging to economically irrational and environmentally destructive herding strategies. From this conventional perspective, project planners have sought radical changes from current indigenous practice towards "modern" beef ranching and sedentary agriculture. The other major perspective views pastoral systems as basically economically and environmentally sound, though they are increasingly becoming less so due largely to pressures for such modernization. From this view, development projects should instead include the participation of herder populations and be based upon indigenous livestock and range management practices. Thus far there have been few projects which encourage herders to build upon elements of traditional pastoralism, though such an approach is seen as having a better chance for success than the conventional approach. Several examples of failed projects are presented. Two of these failed partly because they denied genuine herder participation and were based on an inadequate understanding of indigenous pastoral systems. A third project faltered due to the unwillingness of the government in question to follow through on its appropriate, herder-oriented design. Two successful, NGO-sponsored projects are offered as evidence that the participatory/indigenous knowledge approach can serve as a viable strategy in donor-sponsored projects. / Master of Science

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Murdoch University, 2006. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: p. 334-359.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

11 pp. / This publication contains information about browse utilization by ruminant animals. It provides information about the rangelands in Arizona, the nutritional quality of browse, effects of drought and tannin and how to overcome them.

The purposes of this study were to compare Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service methods for determining range condition, to develop a method for determining range condition using plant frequency data and to develop range condition guides using Sorensen's coefficient of similarity. The final objective was to compare condition scores based on frequency data to Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service condition scores. Loamy upland and sandy loam upland range sites in the Empire Valley and Santa Rita Experimental Range of southeastern Arizona were sampled. Three prominent soil series of upland range sites within the study area were selected for study. Within each soil series, areas of apparent high, medium and low levels of past and present livestock use were sampled at three locations. Soil profile descriptions were made for each of the 27 sample areas and soil characteristics were used to confirm soil series sampled. Plant communities were sampled by weight estimates, Parker 3-step transects and 40 x 40 cm frequency plots. Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service condition scores did not correlate well within the loamy upland or sandy loam upland range sites. Condition scores by both methods, especially for Forest Service data, are confounded with site potential. Cluster and factor analysis procedures identified plant groups associated with soil series, range site and sample location. Range condition was not identified as a criterion of plant group association. Sorensen's coefficient of similarity scores for frequency data based on a specific "high condition" reference area had a high coefficient of determination value when correlated with Soil Conservation Service condition scores for loamy upland range sites. Forest Service condition scores had a very low coefficient of determination value for the same comparison. Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service condition scores compared to similarity scores for frequency data for the sandy loam upland range site had positive but low coefficient of determination. Sorensen's coefficient of similarity, using frequency data as an index of condition, can be used to develop a range site condition guide for a homogeneous range site.

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A thesis report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree in Master of Science in GIS and Remote Sensing Faculty of Science University of the Witwatersrand. March 2017 Johannesburg, South Africa / Grass nitrogen is the main indicator of forage conditions in a rangeland environment. The main objectives of the research were to map the quality and quantity of common grass communities and to predict Nitrogen (N) content across different grass communities. A machine-learning algorithm of Support Vector Machines (SVM) was tested in the mapping of grass quality and quantity. An overall accuracy of 72.68% was achieved for the mapping analysis which demonstrated the capability of the Sentinel-2 10m resolution in discriminating the spectral properties of different grass communities. The foliar nitrogen was predicted using univariate regression, stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR), multivariable regression methods, partial least square regression (PLSR) and random forest (RF). Foliar N was predicted using multivariate regression models; the best model was selected based on the highest coefficient of determination (R2) value, and the low root mean square error (RMSE). The best RF model for foliar N estimation was based on the simple ratio (SR) index because the model attained the highest prediction accuracy of 35%. The study demonstrates the applicability of Sentinel-2 MSI utility in mapping and estimation of leaf N at a landscape scale .The results of both regression models (univariate and multivariate) such as random forest and partial least squares indicated that the inclusion of the Sentinel-2 MSI red edge bands provides an opportunity to accurately map and estimate leaf bio-chemical composition using remote sensing techniques. / MT 2017

Dyers woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) is a noxious weed on northern Utah rangelands. Chemical and mechanical means of control are unsuitable for rangelands. A potential alternative, biological control, is difficult due to a lack of basic ecological information. To remedy this, some aspects of the population biology and autecolgy of dyers woad were studied. The feasibility of controlling dyers woad by early spring grazing was also investigated via clipping experiments. A population study followed the survivorship of experimentally established populations over two years. Fall germinating individuals (1984) overwintered as rosettes twice and all survivors reproduced successfully. Spring germinating individuals (1985) overwintered as rosettes only once and 87% seeded the subsequent spring. Thus, on a good condition {high seral) foothill rangeland, dyers woad behaved predominantly as a biennial. Peak mortality in both fall and spring populations coincided with summer drought. The population size of dyers woad was constricted at two stages: (i) germination and establishment, and (ii) young rosette. The risk of mortality mortality in young rosettes was 77%. Dyers woad should be targeted for biological control at this vulnerable stage of growth. The seed dispersal pattern of dyers woad was best described by a negative exponential model of the type logy= a+ bx; (r = .78, a= 1.92, and b = -0.02). Ninety-five percent of a11 fruits were deposited within 54cm of mother plants. The root system of dyers woad was predominantly a taproot with some lateral sin the upper 30cm of the soil. There was little difference between mapped taproot and total mapped root lengths of rosette and mature plants. Significant mortality and reduction in reproductive performance occurred only by clipping, on or after 23 May 1984, at 60% or 90% intensity. Clipping twice, at either intensity, before 23 May had no effect on dyers woad. Sheep utilization of dyers woad ceased after mid-May, and had no significant effect on its mortality, percent flowering, and fruit production. Sheep grazing on dyers woad did not occur when much impact on mortality or seed production could be expected. The stocking re qui red to restrict dyers woad will result in range deterioration. More host-specific biological control agents should be tried.

Growth data were collected on 1848 Targhee and Targhee crossbred lambs from the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station flock at Cedar City for 1981 and 1982. The study objectives were to establish growth curves for seven lamb genotypes and examine within genotype growth differences among four grazing treatments (sheep alone, sheep and cattle mixed, both continuous and rotation). Body weights were measured at birth, and at mean ages of 56, 120, and 154 (weaning) days of age. Linear, quadratic, and cubic regressions of weight on age were used to establish growth curves. Among genotype comparisons of entire growth curves were impossible as non-linear components were significant. (p<.05). Thus, weights per weigh period and average daily gain between weigh periods were examined to determine differences. Rearing type, birth type, genotype, and pasture treatment were 50.9%, 22.7%, 12.4%, and 6.1%, respectively, of the total variance accounted for by the effects on weaning weights examined. Overall growth patterns were the same for all genotypes with the most rapid gains occurring between 56 and 120 days of age (combined mean .66 pounds). Suffolk-sired lambs from Suffolk-Targhee and Targhee-Finn-Targhee ewes were faster gaining (p<.05) than straight-bred Targhee lambs as well as those from Suffolk sires bred to finn-Targhee, Targhee-Suffokl-Targhee ewes. The second most rapid gains (combined mean .56 pounds) occurred between birth and 56 days. All crossbred lambs had higher average daily gains than Targhee lambs (p%lt;.05). The slowest rate of gain (mean .16 pounds) occurred int he 34 days prior to weaning. Not all differences in body weight among pastures can be attributed to grazing treatments as three genotypes exhibited a significant (p<.05) effect of pasture assignment on weight prior to treatment implementation. Despite initial weight imbalances, genotypes responded similarly to pasture treatments. Sheep rotation pastures had the lightest (p<.05) lambs for most genotypes exhibiting differences in grazing treatments at 120 days and in all genotypes at weaning. The fastest gains and heaviest lambs were in mixed species pastures. In sheep alone pastures, lamb performance was better in continuously grazed pastures than in the rotation pastures.

The thesis is based upon research into the historical geography of the pastoral industry in the six major drainage basins in the North West of Western Australia, in an attempt to outline its early development, and to explain how the rangeland degeneration associated with the Big Drought of 1936-1946 was exacerbated by unrealistic official expectations and poor management, particularly of stations in the hands of absentee corporate owners. it discusses the failure of government agencies to appreciate the effects of overstocking in an environment characterised by climatic variability and fragile rangeland resources. It draws attention to the official reluctance to take action against the destructive activities of profit-seeking corporate owners in the period leading up to and including the Big Drought, and of speculative leaseholders in more recent times The thesis attempts to differentiate between the grassmen as leaseholders bent upon generating a sustainable income from the rangeland through conservative management, and the exploitative owners and their (often) incompetent managers. It identifies the specific characteristics of each of the basins in terms of the physical environment, the process of pastoral occupation and the resulting changing patterns of land use. It examines the changing nature of the habitat, economy and society of the Aboriginal people, from the days prior to European penetration up to the late 20th century It also considers the future prospects of the pastoral industry in each basin, with references to such issues as environmental impact, Aboriginal land rights and occupance, and the mining industry. As well as a comprehensive overview of the historical geography of each river basin, the thesis also includes a study of infrastructural elements and bf the activities of all groups of people involved in the development of the river basins.