Traditional Mobile Pastoralism in a Contemporary Semiarid Rangeland in Namaqualand,South Africa

Pastoral systems are regarded as complex social-ecological systems with components that interact and change over a range of spatial and temporal scales. As such, herd mobility has traditionally been used to respond to the dynamic nature of these systems. However, mobile pastoral systems around the world are becoming more constrained and increasingly fragmented with important implications for herd mobility. This study assessed the spatial distribution of 256 herds and their mobility patterns over a decade in the 10 villages that comprise the spatially constrained Leliefontein pastoral area in South Africa. We developed a hierarchical model of rangeland use, which showed that several stratified and connected socioeconomic, climatic, and environmental factors determined the spatial and temporal use of grazing areas in this 192 000-ha semiarid environment. At the highest level of use, access to the Leliefontein pastoral area is formally regulated. At the next level, the place of residence of herd owners largely defined which village commons was used by their livestock. At the third level of rangeland use, the wealth status of owners determined where in relation to human settlements their herds were located. At the lowest level in the hierarchy, the locations of water and croplands delineated seasonal grazing areas and the movement of stockposts. These stratified factors, together with the overall variability in grazing resource availability and the different decision making processes involved, resulted in high flexibility and diversity of herd mobility patterns at the lowest level of rangeland use. This, in turn, ensured heterogeneity in resource use over a range of spatial and temporal scales. It was concluded that policies should embrace the complexity of the pastoral system and enable the adaptive management of herds. This could reduce the level of vulnerability experienced by pastoralists to climate variability and wider societal change.     

Adaptive,Multipaddock Rotational Grazing Management: A Ranch-Scale Assessment of Effects on Vegetation and Livestock Performance in Semiarid Rangeland

A comprehensive understanding of multipaddock, rotational grazing management on rangelands has been slow to develop, and the contribution of adaptive management (Briske et al. 2011) and sufficient scale (Teague and Barnes 2017) have been identified as key omissions. We designed an experiment to compare responses of vegetation and cattle in an adaptively managed, multipaddock, rotational system with that of a season-long, continuous system at scales comparable with those of a working ranch. We hypothesized that 1) year-long rest periods in the adaptively managed, rotational pastures would increase the density and productivity of perennial C₃ graminoids compared with continuously grazed pastures and 2) adaptive management, supported with detailed monitoring data, would result in similar cattle performance in the rotational as in the continuously grazed pastures. However, we found little supporting evidence for grazing management effects on C₃ graminoid abundance or production under either above-average or below-average precipitation conditions during the 5-yr experiment. Furthermore, adaptive rotational grazing resulted in a 12–16% reduction in total cattle weight gain relative to continuous grazing each year. Our work shows that the implementation of adaptive management by a stakeholder group provided with detailed vegetation and animal monitoring data was unable to fully mitigate the adverse consequences of high stock density on animal weight gain. Under adaptive rotational grazing, C₃ perennial grass productivity and stocking rate both increased following above-average precipitation. But when adaptive rotational management was directly compared with continuous grazing with the same increase in stocking rate, continuous grazing achieved similar vegetation outcomes with greater cattle weight gains. We suggest that managers in semiarid rangelands strive to maintain cattle at stock densities low enough to allow for maximal cattle growth rates, while still providing spatiotemporal variability in grazing distribution to enhance rangeland heterogeneity and long-term sustainability of forage production.     

Different Serum Haemolytic Complement Levels in Indigenous Chickens from Benin,Bolivia, Cameroon,India and Tanzania

Titres of classical (CPW) and alternative (APW) complement pathways were measured in clinically healthy local chicken populations (ecotypes) from Africa (Benin, n = 78; Cameroon, n = 299; Tanzania, n = 101), Asia (India, n = 96) and South America (Bolivia, n = 64). A wide variation was found in haemolytic complement levels between the various ecotypes. Distributions of the classical and alternative complement titres were not normal but were skewed to the right. Differences in complement were found both within and between ecotypes. Furthermore, CPW titres of the indigenous chickens were lower than those determined in commercial layer chickens. This suggests that complement levels background and husbandry. The relationships between complement levels, the chicken MHC(B) complex, environmental antigenic pressure, and survival of the scavenging local chickens are discussed.     

Livestock grazing has minimal effect on the species richness and diversity of semi-arid shrubland in the Western Little Karoo,South Africa

The Succulent Karoo, one of two arid biodiversity hotspots in the world, is known for its high plant species richness, but little is known about the influence of topography and how it mediates the potentially deleterious effects of grazing. Changes in vegetation species composition, cover and species diversity were examined along piosphere gradients on northerly slopes, bottomlands and low-lying plains on 45 farms. Landscapes differed in the plant speciesand life-form composition, species richness and cover, with the more species-rich, heterogeneous grassy northerly slopes distinct from the plains and bottomlands, which were dominated by Pteronia pallens, Psilocaulon junceum and Drosanthenum spp. with more annual and ephemeral species. Overall, species richness declined linearly with decreasing rangeland condition. A weak grazing effect was detected only on the north-facing slopes, where shrubs and grass decreased with intense grazing. Years of overgrazing have resulted in the widespread dominance of P. pallens, especially on the plains and bottomlands, rendering them insensitive to grazing. The current condition of the northern slopes should be maintained and managed such that palatable species can spread to more degraded areas of the landscape.     

施肥和覆盖模式对旱地冬小麦花后干物质转移、糖代谢及其籽粒产量的影响

选择不同的施肥(无机+有机)和覆盖模式,2012-2015年在典型的西北半干旱雨养农业区甘肃省农业科学院小麦研究所清水试验站进行大田试验,研究不同施肥+覆盖模式对旱地冬小麦干物质转移、糖代谢及其籽粒产量的影响,并分析糖含量与产量、物质转移之间的相关关系。结果表明,比较对照T₁(不施任何肥料),不同的施肥+覆盖模式均不同程度地提高了籽粒产量,依次为高量化肥+有机肥(T₆)>等量化肥+有机肥(T₄)>高量化肥+地膜覆盖(T₅)>等量化肥+地膜覆盖(T₃)>常规化肥(T₂)>不施肥(T₁)。增施有机肥(T₄、T₆)提高后期干物质转移量、转移比率、贡献率,增加粒重,并保证较高的有效成穗,从而增加籽粒产量,处理T₆、T₄分别比对照T₁增产119.22%和118.24%。地膜覆盖(T₃、T₅)增加了花后不同时期叶片、茎秆、叶鞘、颖壳干物质累积量和单穗粒数,为籽粒产量的提高奠定了基础。相反,地膜覆盖(T₃、T₅)降低干物质转移比率和贡献率。增施氮肥(T₃~T₆)提高了叶片干物质累积量,但过多的氮肥不利于籽粒增重,并降低了干物质转移比率和贡献率。不同的施肥+覆盖模式(T₂~T₆)降低了灌浆中前期(10、20 d )各个营养器官可溶性糖和蔗糖含量,延缓了前期叶片和叶鞘可溶性糖和蔗糖下降的速度,叶片、茎秆、叶鞘、颖壳可溶性糖含量下降最快的时期均在花后30~40 d,籽粒在花后10~20 d。相关分析表明,产量、株高、单位面积穗数、穗长、旗叶面积均与中前期(花后10、20 d)叶片、茎秆、叶鞘可溶性糖和蔗糖含量呈极显著和显著负相关。本研究结果证实,在甘肃旱地雨养农业区,结合有机肥施用(T₄、T₆),适当增加氮、磷用量完全能达到地膜覆盖对籽粒产量的增加,是更为持续、稳产的旱地小麦栽培模式。     

青藏高原东北缘天祝县土地利用/土地覆盖变化研究

青藏高原东北缘的天祝县位于青藏高原、内蒙古高原和黄土高原三大高原交错带,生态环境脆弱。因其处于石羊河上游地区,所以其环境变化还可能影响整个石羊河流域。此外,天祝县还是个国家级贫困县,经济发展与生态保护的矛盾也比较突出。文章基于3S技术,研究了20世纪90年代土地利用/覆盖变化格局。结果表明:耕地以每年2.34%的速率递增,主要增长方式是开发林草地和未利用土地,同时耕地摞荒现象比较严重,74%的耕地减少方向是转为未利用土地;91%的新增林草地来自未利用地,而且,大部分以分散形式发生在4000 m以上的高山上部。因此,人类农耕活动对该区域的扰动比较剧烈;高山上部未利用地向林草地的转化可能是对研究区域气候变暖的响应;研究区域持续的耕地增长带来的水消耗增加可能会加剧下游民勤绿洲的生态环境恶化。