In 2007, an epizootic of equine influenza (EI) occurred in Australia, involving parts of the states of Queensland and New South Wales. Following an extensive control program, the disease was eradicated within 4 months, after infecting more than 75 000 horses on over 10 000 properties. In Queensland, examination of land use patterns revealed that the majority of infected premises (89.5%) were located in one of three land use classes viz. rural residential, residential-unspecified or grazing natural vegetation.

In this study, we asked the Ariaal herders of northern Kenya to answer “why, what and how” they classified landscape, and assessed and monitored the biodiversity of 10 km2 of grazing land. To answer the “why question” the herders classified grazing resources into 39 landscape patches grouped into six landscape types and classified soil as ‘warm’, ‘intermediate’ or ‘cold’ for the purpose of land use. For the “what question” the herders used soil conditions and vegetation characteristics to assess biodiversity. Plant species were described as ‘increasers’, ‘decreasers’ or ‘stable’.

Large tracts of European rural land, mostly in the less favored areas (LFA), are devoted to low-inputs and large scale grazing systems (LSGS) with potential environmental and social functions. Although these LSGS may provide harbor for a good part of European nature values, their continuity is facing contrasting threats of intensification and abandonment. These areas, however, may be characterized by particular grazing structures and social dynamics of change that should be unveiled prior to attempts to devise rural development strategies or to adapt policy frameworks in general.

In the UK the funding mechanism for moorland restoration is being implemented primarily through agri-environment schemes, yet to date remarkably few comparative grazing studies with domesticated livestock have been conducted on this type of vegetation community. In this experiment the diet composition of four groups of animals grazing heathland swards with low (8%) and high (61%) percentages of cover of Calluna vulgaris was estimated from faeces profiles of n-alkanes and long-chain fatty alcohols.

The scarcity of tree regeneration is a major concern for the long-term conservation of tree cover in the Aïr-Ténéré Nature Reserve (Sahara, Niger), and the causes of this shortage are poorly understood. We raised the hypothesis that livestock pressure is a key-factor in the mortality of tree seedlings and that facilitation processes among plants may enhance tree regeneration. We tested whether the tussock grass Panicum turgidum could facilitate the regeneration of a keystone tree species, Acacia tortilis var. raddiana, under a grazing regime.

Facilitation of tree regeneration by nurse shrubs that offer protection against large herbivores is an important driver of wood-pasture dynamics. Here we asked whether the response to facilitation by nurse shrubs depends on the grazing resistance of the protégé saplings. We experimentally tested the protective effects of the thorny Rosa rubiginosa on browsing frequency, survival, and biomass change of saplings of two species-groups, presumably differing in grazing resistance: the coniferous Abies alba and Picea abies and the deciduous Acer pseudoplatanus and Fagus sylvatica saplings.

Our study examines the effects of grazing exclusion on low-productive subalpine and alpine grasslands of the Central Alps (UNESCO Biosphere Park Gurgler Kamm, Obergurgl, Austria). A long-term exclusion experiment was established in 2000 in the subalpine, the lower, and the upper alpine zone. With exception of the subalpine zone, domestic herbivores have been grazing during the whole growing season. In grazed and exclosure plots species frequencies were recorded for 7 years. We analysed exclosure effects on species number, community composition, life forms, and functional groups.

Based on soil characteristics, watertable level, mineral composition of plant biomass, morphological/reproductive traits and carbon discrimination values, a new concept for the classification of halophytes was developed. Six main groups of halophytes have been described within the desert flora of Central Asia. Significant changes on chemical contents of ions: Cl⁻, SO₄ ²⁻, HCO₃ ⁻, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺among 23 studied halophytic forage species were revealed.

Recent concerns about global warming due to accumulations of atmospheric CO₂ have encouraged the achievement of better understanding of the roles of animal agriculture in mitigating CO₂ emissions. Grazing can accelerate and alter the timing of nutrient transfers, and increase the amount of nutrients cycled from plant to soil.

Interpretation of assessment and monitoring data requires information about how reference conditions and ecological resilience vary in space and time. Reference conditions used as benchmarks are often specified via potential-based land classifications (e.g., ecological sites) that describe the plant communities potentially observed in an area based on soil and climate. State-and-transition models (STMs) coupled to ecological sites specify indicators of ecological resilience and thresholds.

For 3 years, the Future of Australia's Threatened Ecosystems (FATE) Program has been working towards achieving multiple benefits for rangelands by applying conservation through sustainable use (CSU) approaches to the kangaroo industry. A critical component of this work is landholder involvement in kangaroo management that results in commercial gain. We are developing strategies for landholders to add value to the harvest at the same time as achieving better control over the impact that kangaroos can have on their land.

Communal land use system has existed in pastoral Afar (as in many other pastoral areas) since time of immemorial accommodating the interests of different user groups. This form of land use system, which has adapted to the harsh environment in which herders raise their livestock, enables efficient utilization of scattered pastoral resources since it accommodates constant mobility of livestock. In contrast to the mobile way of life, which characterizes pastoralism, farming as a sedentary activity is only marginally present in the lowlands of the Afar region.