Walter J. Lusigi
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195309454
- eISBN:
- 9780199871261
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309454.003.0011
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This chapter discusses seven key policy failures that have contributed to deterioration of rangelands in English-speaking East Africa. These are (1) land tenure policy issues, (2) anti-pastoral ...
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This chapter discusses seven key policy failures that have contributed to deterioration of rangelands in English-speaking East Africa. These are (1) land tenure policy issues, (2) anti-pastoral colonial policies, (3) wildlife management policies, (4) institutional policy issues, (5) poverty alleviation policies, (6) rangeland-specific fiscal policy issues, and (7) policies on diversification of rangeland economies. It urges the adoption of innovative policies that recognize the complexity of linkages between pastoral people and their environment. National parks and game reserves must be accepted by local rangeland people to be successful. Planning must be based on an appropriate consideration of cultural, political, and socioeconomic factors, in addition to ecological factors. Conservation objectives must be balanced against short- and long-term local human needs, and the conservation program implemented in a manner that is acceptable to the local African population.Less
This chapter discusses seven key policy failures that have contributed to deterioration of rangelands in English-speaking East Africa. These are (1) land tenure policy issues, (2) anti-pastoral colonial policies, (3) wildlife management policies, (4) institutional policy issues, (5) poverty alleviation policies, (6) rangeland-specific fiscal policy issues, and (7) policies on diversification of rangeland economies. It urges the adoption of innovative policies that recognize the complexity of linkages between pastoral people and their environment. National parks and game reserves must be accepted by local rangeland people to be successful. Planning must be based on an appropriate consideration of cultural, political, and socioeconomic factors, in addition to ecological factors. Conservation objectives must be balanced against short- and long-term local human needs, and the conservation program implemented in a manner that is acceptable to the local African population.
Joe Truett
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520258396
- eISBN:
- 9780520944527
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520258396.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
Part autobiography, part philosophical rumination, this conservation odyssey explores the deep affinities between humans and our original habitat: grasslands. The book traces the evolutionary, ...
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Part autobiography, part philosophical rumination, this conservation odyssey explores the deep affinities between humans and our original habitat: grasslands. The book traces the evolutionary, historical, and cultural forces that have reshaped North American rangelands over the past two centuries. It introduces an intriguing cast of characters—wildlife and grasslands biologists, archaeologists, ranchers, and petroleum geologists—to illuminate a wide range of related topics: our love affair with turf and how it manifests in lawns and sports, the ecological and economic dimensions of ranching, the glory of cowboy culture, grasslands and restoration ecology, and more. This book ultimately provides the background against which we can envision a new paradigm for restoring rangeland ecosystems—and a new paradigm for envisioning a more sustainable future.Less
Part autobiography, part philosophical rumination, this conservation odyssey explores the deep affinities between humans and our original habitat: grasslands. The book traces the evolutionary, historical, and cultural forces that have reshaped North American rangelands over the past two centuries. It introduces an intriguing cast of characters—wildlife and grasslands biologists, archaeologists, ranchers, and petroleum geologists—to illuminate a wide range of related topics: our love affair with turf and how it manifests in lawns and sports, the ecological and economic dimensions of ranching, the glory of cowboy culture, grasslands and restoration ecology, and more. This book ultimately provides the background against which we can envision a new paradigm for restoring rangeland ecosystems—and a new paradigm for envisioning a more sustainable future.
Brian J. Wilsey
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198744511
- eISBN:
- 9780191805738
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198744511.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry, Ecology
This accessible text provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to the biology of global grasslands. Grasslands are vast in their extent, with native and non-native grasslands now covering ...
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This accessible text provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to the biology of global grasslands. Grasslands are vast in their extent, with native and non-native grasslands now covering approximately 50 percent of the global terrestrial environment. They are also of vital importance to humans, providing essential ecosystem services and some of the most important areas for the production of food and fibre worldwide. It has been estimated that 60 percent of calories consumed by humans originate from grasses, and most grain consumed is produced in areas that were formerly grasslands or wetlands. Grasslands are also important because they are used to raise forage for livestock, represent a source of biofuels, sequester vast amounts of carbon, provide urban green-space, and hold vast amounts of biodiversity. Intact grasslands contain an incredibly fascinating set of plants, animals, and microbes that have interested several generations of biologists, generating pivotal studies to important theoretical questions in ecology. As with other titles in the Biology of Habitats Series, the emphasis is on the organisms that dominate this environment although restoration, conservation, and experimental aspects are also considered. The Biology of Grasslands is suitable for both senior undergraduate and graduate students (in departments of biology, geography, and environmental science) taking courses in grassland ecology, plant ecology, and rangeland ecology as well as the many professional ecologists and conservation biologists requiring an authoritative overview of the topic.Less
This accessible text provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to the biology of global grasslands. Grasslands are vast in their extent, with native and non-native grasslands now covering approximately 50 percent of the global terrestrial environment. They are also of vital importance to humans, providing essential ecosystem services and some of the most important areas for the production of food and fibre worldwide. It has been estimated that 60 percent of calories consumed by humans originate from grasses, and most grain consumed is produced in areas that were formerly grasslands or wetlands. Grasslands are also important because they are used to raise forage for livestock, represent a source of biofuels, sequester vast amounts of carbon, provide urban green-space, and hold vast amounts of biodiversity. Intact grasslands contain an incredibly fascinating set of plants, animals, and microbes that have interested several generations of biologists, generating pivotal studies to important theoretical questions in ecology. As with other titles in the Biology of Habitats Series, the emphasis is on the organisms that dominate this environment although restoration, conservation, and experimental aspects are also considered. The Biology of Grasslands is suitable for both senior undergraduate and graduate students (in departments of biology, geography, and environmental science) taking courses in grassland ecology, plant ecology, and rangeland ecology as well as the many professional ecologists and conservation biologists requiring an authoritative overview of the topic.
Karen R. Merrill
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520228627
- eISBN:
- 9780520926882
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520228627.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This book is about the remarkable set of slippages in Joe Starrett and Rufus Ryker's conversation about the public range, where opposing visions of righteousness justify property rights and opposing ...
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This book is about the remarkable set of slippages in Joe Starrett and Rufus Ryker's conversation about the public range, where opposing visions of righteousness justify property rights and opposing assertions of property rights involve the government, which, on the surface, seems so absent from the scene. It is also about the political resonance of that conversation throughout the first half of the twentieth century, when ranchers engaged in a national debate over the kinds of claims they could make to western rangeland. It explores the industry's changing ideas about public rangelands from the time when ranchers began to organize to the time when they had clearly become a significant political lobby. The chapters in this book argue that relations of property stand at the center of the conflict between the federal government and public land ranchers. Finally, an overview of these chapters is presented.Less
This book is about the remarkable set of slippages in Joe Starrett and Rufus Ryker's conversation about the public range, where opposing visions of righteousness justify property rights and opposing assertions of property rights involve the government, which, on the surface, seems so absent from the scene. It is also about the political resonance of that conversation throughout the first half of the twentieth century, when ranchers engaged in a national debate over the kinds of claims they could make to western rangeland. It explores the industry's changing ideas about public rangelands from the time when ranchers began to organize to the time when they had clearly become a significant political lobby. The chapters in this book argue that relations of property stand at the center of the conflict between the federal government and public land ranchers. Finally, an overview of these chapters is presented.
Alon Tal
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780300189506
- eISBN:
- 9780300190700
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300189506.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Environmental History
This book provides a detailed account of Israeli forests, tracing their history from the Bible to the present, and outlines the effort to transform drylands and degraded soils into prosperous parks, ...
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This book provides a detailed account of Israeli forests, tracing their history from the Bible to the present, and outlines the effort to transform drylands and degraded soils into prosperous parks, rangelands, and ecosystems. The book's description of Israel's trials and errors, and its exploration of both the environmental history and the current policy dilemmas surrounding that country'ss forests, hope to provide valuable lessons in the years to come for other parts of the world seeking to reestablish timberlands.Less
This book provides a detailed account of Israeli forests, tracing their history from the Bible to the present, and outlines the effort to transform drylands and degraded soils into prosperous parks, rangelands, and ecosystems. The book's description of Israel's trials and errors, and its exploration of both the environmental history and the current policy dilemmas surrounding that country'ss forests, hope to provide valuable lessons in the years to come for other parts of the world seeking to reestablish timberlands.
JOE C. TRUETT
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520258396
- eISBN:
- 9780520944527
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520258396.003.0014
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
Government subsidies to aid indigent people or elevate corporate profits have become widespread in America, and their dispensation a recurring point of contention among politicians and ordinary ...
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Government subsidies to aid indigent people or elevate corporate profits have become widespread in America, and their dispensation a recurring point of contention among politicians and ordinary people. This chapter discusses the impacts of subsidy on Great Basin rangelands. It also describes a way to expose the hidden subsidies in livestock operations so as to judge long-term sustainability. The method of analysis, using energy output/input ratios, had been used for some time by ecologists to describe how ecosystems function.Less
Government subsidies to aid indigent people or elevate corporate profits have become widespread in America, and their dispensation a recurring point of contention among politicians and ordinary people. This chapter discusses the impacts of subsidy on Great Basin rangelands. It also describes a way to expose the hidden subsidies in livestock operations so as to judge long-term sustainability. The method of analysis, using energy output/input ratios, had been used for some time by ecologists to describe how ecosystems function.
Nathan F. Sayre
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226083117
- eISBN:
- 9780226083391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226083391.003.0001
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Cultural and Historical Geography
Rangelands comprise between one-third and one-half of all the ice-free land on Earth, one-and-a-half times the area of all forests and two-and-a-half times greater than croplands. But rangelands and ...
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Rangelands comprise between one-third and one-half of all the ice-free land on Earth, one-and-a-half times the area of all forests and two-and-a-half times greater than croplands. But rangelands and the science of rangelands have remained remarkably invisible to the general public and scholars alike. The introduction gives an overview of the history of efforts to understand rangelands scientifically, and it proposes an argument for the importance of rangelands that can also account for their obscurity. Rangelands are vast, sparsely inhabited, and relatively unproductive, qualities that have discouraged or made difficult sustained scholarly research and resulted in a generalized public indifference to these lands. And yet it is precisely rangelands’ manifold marginality that enables them to defy and disrupt social forces that elsewhere seem so powerful, and to thereby illuminate core tendencies, contradictions and limitations in modern ways of knowing, using and governing land and people.Less
Rangelands comprise between one-third and one-half of all the ice-free land on Earth, one-and-a-half times the area of all forests and two-and-a-half times greater than croplands. But rangelands and the science of rangelands have remained remarkably invisible to the general public and scholars alike. The introduction gives an overview of the history of efforts to understand rangelands scientifically, and it proposes an argument for the importance of rangelands that can also account for their obscurity. Rangelands are vast, sparsely inhabited, and relatively unproductive, qualities that have discouraged or made difficult sustained scholarly research and resulted in a generalized public indifference to these lands. And yet it is precisely rangelands’ manifold marginality that enables them to defy and disrupt social forces that elsewhere seem so powerful, and to thereby illuminate core tendencies, contradictions and limitations in modern ways of knowing, using and governing land and people.
Thomas E. Sheridan and Nathan F. Sayre
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226165684
- eISBN:
- 9780226165851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226165851.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Western forests and rangelands provide diverse products for consumers, but their future productivity is becoming increasingly threatened. Western timber harvesting dropped by 60% over the last two ...
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Western forests and rangelands provide diverse products for consumers, but their future productivity is becoming increasingly threatened. Western timber harvesting dropped by 60% over the last two decades while recreational use of federal lands has increased dramatically. A 42% drop in forest products employment has severely impacted nearby communities. Western working rangelands support one-fifth of the cattle and half the sheep in the U.S. The number of cattle has remained fairly stable over the past two decades while sheep have dropped by about half. Ranching typically operates from a core of private land using grazing allotments on adjacent public land; pressure from environmental and recreational interests to reduce grazing on public lands thus threatens ranching operations. Private forests and ranchlands both are increasingly being divided into smaller parcels, often for development. The resulting increase in number of owners and diversity of uses fragments habitats and threatens biodiversity.Less
Western forests and rangelands provide diverse products for consumers, but their future productivity is becoming increasingly threatened. Western timber harvesting dropped by 60% over the last two decades while recreational use of federal lands has increased dramatically. A 42% drop in forest products employment has severely impacted nearby communities. Western working rangelands support one-fifth of the cattle and half the sheep in the U.S. The number of cattle has remained fairly stable over the past two decades while sheep have dropped by about half. Ranching typically operates from a core of private land using grazing allotments on adjacent public land; pressure from environmental and recreational interests to reduce grazing on public lands thus threatens ranching operations. Private forests and ranchlands both are increasingly being divided into smaller parcels, often for development. The resulting increase in number of owners and diversity of uses fragments habitats and threatens biodiversity.
