Journal of Rangeland Science
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Autumn 2020

Rangeland cover approximately 85% of Kenya’s land mass and is a major resource for livestock farming with a considerable potential to mitigate climate change, yet these lands are stressed differently by various management. Our study aimed at predicting the long-term changes in Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) in grazing lands of Kenya under different grazing management systems (rotational, continuous and ungrazed), for a 50-year period using RothC 26.3. This research was conducted on a commercial grazing ranch which practices the two grazing management systems. Soil samples were collected at the depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm for the determination of soil organic carbon concentrations and bulk densities, results were later used for running the RothC model. The predicted results showed that the rate of SOC stock [t/ha] was higher under rotational grazing system in comparison to ungrazed and continual grazing system for the modelling period of 2015-2064. In the absence of grazing, the system was predicted to accumulate 19.22 Mg C ha-1 of SOC at the rate of 0.369 Mg C ha-1yr-1, whereas rotational grazing system was predicted to accumulate 30.46 Mg C ha-1 at the rate of 0.61 Mg C ha-1yr-1. The continual grazing management system resulted in the accrual of 18.49 Mg C ha-1 at the rate of 0.37 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 over 50 years. Thus, rotationally grazing management system have the potential of accumulating soil organic carbon in semi-arid grasslands.

Prioritizing the rangeland plants for ecological functions is one of the main concerns in the operation of multifunctional rangelands. Considering that the use of various functions of plant species in rangelands can lead to higher renter's income and change single-livelihoods to multi-livelihoods. This research aims to prioritize the rangeland plants using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and VIKOR software on the basis of indigenous knowledge of ranchers during 2017-2018 in Titoeieh rangelands of Baft Township, Kerman, Iran. The results, based on analyzing the hierarchical method of questionnaires on 29 plant species revealed that the coefficients of importance of plant species for kinds of functions including forage, medicinal, beauty, beekeeping and soil conservation were different. In this regard, there was no unique plant with similar coefficients of importance for all functions. Vikor scenario illustrated that scoring 0.25 coefficients to the forage production function (and giving remain one to others as equal coefficient) resulted in Artemisia aucheri species as the first priority species, priority even when the yield of forage functions scored by 0.25 and o.50 and 0.75 coefficients. Furthermore, by giving these coefficients to other functions, Artemisia aucheri was allocated as the first  rank with the exception of scenarios 8 and 13 (scored respectively 0.5 and 0.75 to beauty function associated with the remains to other functions) that resulted in Amygdalus scoparia as the first one. According to indigenous knowledge, ground reality and scenario making results, it can be concluded that since Artemisia aucheri was ranked in the first priority species at almost all scenarios, it can be thinkable and manageable in the multiple use of rangeland. According to extensive habitats of Artemisia aucheri in mountainous rangelands of Iran, this research can be applicable for increasing the income of range holders with holistic view.

To find an accurate and rapid method of estimating herbage crop, Double Sampling (DS), Comparative Yield (CY), and clipping and weighing (CW) methods were applied to a summer rangeland in North-eastern Alborz Mountains, Iran. The method was called SMFY (Simulation Model of Forage Yield) to emphasize the statistical aspects of simulated model. In representative stands five 1-m2 reference plots were chosen to represent the ranges of standing crop. Using a systematic-random design, 180 1-m2 plots were ranked against the reference plots for CY, visually estimated for DS, and subsequently, all of them were Clipped and Weighed (CW). After clipping and weighing 5 reference plots with 6 replications for CY and estimating and clipping 37 plots for DS, regression lines were plotted between the estimated, ranked, and clipped plots. This study was conducted during 2011-13. There was high correlation (0.90-0.99) for DS and CY, so the estimated and ranked data were corrected based on the regression equations. There were strong linear relationships between the corrected and clipped data for the DS and CY methodswhich confirmed the suitability of both methods against the CW, so all of 180 estimated plots were corrected and were compared by ANOVA. The non-significant F for CY, DS, and CW confirmed the high efficiency of DS and CY, so based on the estimated production, grazing capacity of study area was calculated. Preferring one of these methods depends on further research in time and cost efficiency of DS and CY. Available DM of 389.75 kg/ha support 6.5 AUM per ha and for the grazing period of 4 months, each hectare of this rangeland can carry on 1.62 AU per ha. The current stocking rate of study area is about 0.82 AU per hectare which was suitable based on carrying capacity of study area.

The Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) activities has become the main source of income for the local people in Sekotong sub-district since 2008. However, the decreasing gold production enforce them to leave the ASGM activities and work back to the agricultural sector. The study aims to evaluate and develop a crop and beef cattle integration model in Sekotong sub-district, West Lombok district, Indonesia. The area was chosen purposively considering that Sekotong sub-district is the rural area of the district and had decreasing ASGM activities. The study was conducted with field research method consisted of case study, survey, in-depth interview and field observation to collect the data. In addition, the soil characteristics of Sekotong sub-district were also analyzed to determine the suitable crop in the proposed integrated system. The demographic, cattle population, crops availability, and farmer characteristics data were collected and potential crop and livestock integration model is proposed. The result showed that an integrated cattle and corn farming system under farmers group is recommended in order to increase cattle production and better farming management. In addition, other supporting farming practices which positively contribute to the system should be implemented in the model. The study concludes that an integrated cattle and corn farming model under guided farmer groups is recommended to support the farming practice by the local people who transitioned back from unsustainable ASGM into agricultural sector.

Estimation of long-term pasture production using important factors of climate and soil characteristics on forage production is inevitable. Reduced water and precipitation is important factor limiting production of fodder, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Water use efficiency in these areas is the amount of water stored in the root orientation early in the growing season and water spread area of effective rainfall in the growing season that is used for evaporation and transpiration in plants. One of the important sections of the hydrological cycle is evapotranspiration. The transpiration directly affects forage production. The basis of estimating the water requirement of plants is the potential evapotranspiration which can be calculated by different methods. In this study, forage production in steppe rangelands of Dehsir, Yazd province, Iran were estimated using climatic index of potential and actual evapotranspiration and soil characteristics using Penman-Montith (Cropwat 8.0 software). The climatic data were provided from Dehshir Rainfall and Abarkooh Synoptic Station. Soil samples were taken by Auger at the beginning period of the growing season and soil moisture content was obtained weighing the soil before and after drying to constant weight in oven (100°C) in 2013. Then the regression model for estimation of forage production using soil moisture and evapotranspiration as independent variables was developed. The results showed that forage production had a strong correlation with the climatic index of actual evapotranspiration according to the estimation of actual evapotranspiration in a ten-year period, a model was provided for forage production as Ya=194.85+1.132(ETact). It could be said that actual evapotranspiration as an index for climate yield is one of the fundamental factors in estimating forage production.

The survey was conducted in Urban and peri urban areas of mid and high land of Bale, Ethiopia during September 2016 to June 2017 with the objective of identifying available feed resources, its utilization methods and constraints related to feeding. The three major towns of Bale zone Ginir, Goba and Robe and the villages surrounding them that have a border with the town were included. A total of 180 households was selected using both purposive and random sampling techniques. Out of the total respondents, 66.1% indicated feed and feeding system as primary constraints. In peri-urban, the principal dry season feed resources available to livestock in the study area include crop-residue, stubble grazing, natural pasture and hay in their descending order. Milled grain, Agro-industrial byproduct and by product of local beverage “atela” are the main supplements used. In urban, feeds are mostly purchased from flour milling and oil producing houses. Despite high price and shortage of supplementary feeds, about 80% of the total respondents are supplementing concentrate to their dairy cattle. The total average protein and energy supplement provided per day for lactating cow is 0.94kg and 1.22kg, respectively which cost 0.93$ and 0.91$ in average in urban and peri urban area to produce the total average milk of 3.65 litters. The overall average daily dairy production output is 1.94$ birr and the average net profit is 0.07$ and 1.02$ per day/cow for local and hybrids, respectively. Feed quantity and quality problem was the first ranked, followed by lack of improved breed and health problem. Hence, to bring a meaningful increase in livestock productivity, livestock should be supplemented with a reasonable quantity and quality feeds. Similarly, the traditional husbandry practice, management of natural pasture and feeding value of crop residues should be improved.

A study was conducted in May–July, 2019 to determine the nutritional values of selected forages consumed by ruminants in the derived Savannah zone of Nigeria. The leaves of plant species were separated, identified, washed, screened, air-dried and milled for chemical analyses and in vitro degradability measurement. Three West African Dwarf rams were used to ascertain the acceptability of these forages using cafeteria feeding trial method. Co-efficient of Preference (CoP) was then calculated. The experiment was of a completely randomized design and all data were statistically analyzed. The chemical analyses showed that the crude protein (CP) content of Mangifera indica (13.17%) was higher than Pennisetum purpureum (11.57%), Panicum maximum (9.57%) and Terminalia catappa (8.75%). The NDF of T. catappa (51.58%) was least compared to P. maximum (57.02%) which was the highest while P. maximum (37.10%), P. purpureum (54.66%) and M. indica (37.93%) were statistically (P<0.05) similar. However, P. maximum had the least value of ADF. The assayed macro-minerals concentrations were the highest in T. catappa but it had relatively high levels of phytate, saponin, alkaloids and tannin. At the end of incubation, in vitro gas production by P. maximum (5.00 ml/DM) was the highest compared to other species. Hence, rate of degradation varied. P. maximum was most preferred (with the highest CoP of 1.10) of the forages compared to other test forages. The relatively raised levels of antinutrients in T. catappa could be due to its low acceptability. It could be concluded that the forages had good nutritive value, adequate minerals composition with tolerable anti-nutrients levels and their preferential ranking from Panicum maximum>Pennisetum purpureum>Terminalia catappa>Mangifera indica indicating that they could be suitably recommended as sole or partial feed for ruminants.

One of the main factors to decrease water quality in rivers is land use changes. This study was conducted to choose the best way for land use management in order to increase water quality related to the least turbidity, improving natural landscape quality and attracting ecotourism. So, the effect of land use changes on turbidity was investigated for 2 to 100-year periods using GIS and Hydrologic Engineering Center–Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) model in 2012, in Manshad watershed, Yazd province, Iran. The Curve Number (CN) and land use planning model were variables in each simulation stage. After preparing the CN map, HEC-HMS model was calibrated for the observed rainfall-runoff events using CN method, Soil Conservation Service (SCS) model and lag time searching process. Finally, the best model was chosen among linear and non-linear sediment rating curves. The results showed that there was a lot of conformity between present land use and land use planning model. Terrace removing in land use planning model (as a scenario) increased flood volume (6.11%), peak discharge (6.23%) and turbidity in the peak discharge (11.02%) compared to the current land use. Therefore, according to the results, garden terracing in allowable slopes helps to manage water and soil so that there was almost no difference between two scenarios in terms of water turbidity in Watershed. It means that this watershed is managed on the basis of optimum land use.

Before starting any classical breeding program on plants, it is necessary to dominate the fertilization behavior of that plant. Despite a large number of Salvia species in the flora of Iran, there is little information about the breeding system of this genus. In the current study, the flower specifications and breeding system of seven Salvia species (Lamiaceae) have been described during 2017-2018. Plants phenology and some flower features were recorded as well as hand pollination used for fertility investigation. The results showed that all species had long flowering periods. The highest flowering period (41 days) was observed in S. virgata. The most frequent pollinators were bees and flies. Salvia virgata and S. nemorosa showed about 90% survival to the new habitat. Two species including S. atropatana and S. syriaca had heterostylous flowers (long-styled morph). The results of manual pollination indicated that open pollination provided the best treatment with the highest average of seed set (73.63%) in all species. The seed set in the xenogamy treatment of different species and accessions was in the range of 10.2 (S. syriaca) to 32.5% (S. frigida). It was observed that seed set among different species in geitonogamy andspontaneous autogamy varied widely from 2.60 - 17.30% and 2.98 - 12.18%, respectively. It was concluded that Salvia species in the present study were relatively self-incompatible (ISI) and out-cross. They need pollinators to adequate fertility. They did not observe any correlations between ISI and heteromorphy.

This book brings together and discusses information relating to animal production systems in different parts of the world. Throughout this book there are examples of systems comprised of a collection of interdependent and interactive elements that act together to accomplish a desired outcome. As indicated in the Editor’s Preface, we sought to give a broad description of existing systems of livestock production in different parts of the world. We discuss some of their important components and try to identify why and how these components have interacted with the systems being described. By editorial concept and by cross referencing between chapters this book should serve as a synthesis of several key issues. Along with the extensive bibliography (some in languages other than English) here and in each other chapter we present an approach to global livestock production that is up to date and comprehensive. The editors have commissioned writers from Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas and from Europe. The information they present helps our understanding of the complexity of the issues faced in the rapidly changing world in which we all live. What to do about burgeoning populations, rising living standards, shrinking areas of agricultural and pastoral lands, dilemmas about the morality of eating meat, competition for arable lands to grow food crops for humans or to provide fodder and grain for livestock have not yet been resolved.

Professor Dana KellyPresident of the International Grassland and Rangelands CommitteeDr Dana Kelly is a lecturer in the Master of Integrated Water Management program at the International Water Centre. Her role includes the development and implementation of the Collaborative Planning module, and supervision of final projects for students, particular those working with Indigenous communities around the world. She has undertaken various research and teaching roles with The University of Queensland since 2004.Dana has implemented projects that fostered very successful collaborations at regional and national levels in diverse fields of natural resource management, agriculture and mental health.Previously Dana worked for government, NGOs and private enterprise, including as state-wide coordinator for pest management extension, in protected area management and in tourism. In 2011 she was appointed as the Australian representative to the Continuing Committee for International Rangeland Society.Dana is a social scientist with particular interests in collective social learning, participatory action research, participatory local governance and evaluation. Her PhD focused on power relations in community engagement processes.Now she is President of the International Grassland and Rangelands Congress in Nairobi, Kenya-October 25-30, 2020.She has written a number of articles and books that are about natural resource management.