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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Managing For Vegetation Heterogeneity On Rangelands: An Exploration Of Rancher Attitudes, Stephanie Marie Kennedy
Managing For Vegetation Heterogeneity On Rangelands: An Exploration Of Rancher Attitudes, Stephanie Marie Kennedy
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Grasslands provide food, fiber, and numerous ecosystem services to human populations as well as habitat for wildlife. They are also some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world because of their productive soils and open topography. This problem is exacerbated by the accelerating conversion of grassland to cropland and encroaching trees and shrubs. The quality of remaining grasslands will be of increasing importance because of the biodiversity and vital ecosystem services they provide. Heterogeneity is a term specific to rangeland science that is illustrative of grassland health. Grassland species require very specific and differing habitats and without the variation …
Facts From A Year Of Drought: Forage Competition Between Livestock And The Mongolian Pika (Ochotona Pallasi) And Its Effects On Livestock Densities And Body Condition, Vroni Retzer
Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298
Burrowing small mammals in grasslands have long been regarded as pests because they compete for forage with livestock and reduce the forage availability for livestock by destroying pastures through their intensive digging activity.
In order to investigate forage competition between the Mongolian Pika (Ochotona pallasi) and livestock an exclosure experiment consisting of four different treatments was set up. The treatments were: 1) accessible only for pikas, (only pika) 2) accessible only for livestock, (only livestock) 3) accessible for both herbivore groups (pika & livestock) and 4) no grazing (no grazing). During the investigation period all requirements for forage …
Is Degradation A Major Problem In Semi-Desert Environments Of The Gobi Region In Southern Mongolia?, Karsten Wesche, Vroni Retzer
Is Degradation A Major Problem In Semi-Desert Environments Of The Gobi Region In Southern Mongolia?, Karsten Wesche, Vroni Retzer
Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298
This paper tests predictions derived from the non-equilibrium theory of rangeland science. Data were collected in livestock enclosures situated in the relatively moist desert steppes of the Gobi Gurvan Saykhan region of southern Mongolia from 2000 to 2003. Plant community composition and species’ richness in enclosures showed clear differences between years, but these were equally strong in ungrazed controls. Thus, changes were mainly attributed to differences in precipitation between years as opposed to grazing, as no significant effects thereof were detected. This was also confirmed by data on above-ground standing biomass. This changed tremendously over the years, with differences between …