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Pastoral systems are some of the most fragile human ecosystems that exist and are under threat from the expansion of cultivation, changes in social patterns and climate change. These ecosystems are of major importance since they contain a rich biological and cultural diversity. The aim of the book is to take a holistic view of pastoral systems by bringing together papers written by specialists in plant and animal ecology with an interest in the application of their research with papers taking an economic and social perspective. The focus is on marginal environments where the issues are in greatest relief with the papers tackling key issues in semi-arid and disadvantaged temperate areas. The key issues relate to identifying the biological constraints of these pastoral systems, understanding soil/plant/animal relationships, exploring biodiversity, landscape and social issues in multi-functional systems and providing solutions to constraints through a number of case studies. By comparing and contrasting these two environments, the book will be taking a completely new approach to understanding how pastoral systems function and how they will evolve in the future. The book is of value to all those with an interest in pastoral systems by providing an up-to-date account of current understanding of these multi-functional systems and new insights into how they function and how they will develop in the future.
This book brings together two aspects of grassland soil management which, by and large, have hitherto been considered separately. Issues related to nutrient cycling and soil quality have dominated research directed towards aiding broad and local scale policy issues for improving land use. Protecting the environment and maintaining/preserving natural habitats and biodiversity, tend to be considered separately. In this book we attempt to bring what are, in reality, inseparable aspects of grassland soil characteristics together and consider physical, chemical and biological components of soils, their interrelations and the way that they influence nutrient transformations and flows and soil quality. Keynote discussions will be lead by the following experts: Physical constraints and drivers: Professor Iain Young, Abertay University, Scotland Biological aspects: Professor Tim Seastedt, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA Chemical aspects: Dr Mike Beare from Crop and Food, Research, Lincoln New Zealand Over-arching synopsis of these issues: Professor Richard Bardgett, Lancaster University, UK. Bringing together international expertise and experience does much to progress understanding and points ways forward to maintain what is a base resource, our soils, whether it be for production targets, environmental benefit or for maintenance of natural ecosystems for future generations. This volume is useful to all those interested in soils and their function, and all grassland managers, whether their aims are directed at producing food, forage or fibre of sustainable quantity and quality or at maintaining, restoring or encouraging above and below ground biodiversity. The international perspective on this is very important so that experiences in wide ranging circumstances can be cross-referenced and used to the advantage of all.
Pastoral systems are some of the most fragile human ecosystems that exist and are under threat from the expansion of cultivation, changes in social patterns and climate change. These ecosystems are of major importance since they contain a rich biological and cultural diversity. The aim of the book is to take a holistic view of pastoral systems by bringing together papers written by specialists in plant and animal ecology with an interest in the application of their research with papers taking an economic and social perspective. The focus is on marginal environments where the issues are in greatest relief with the papers tackling key issues in semi-arid and disadvantaged temperate areas. The key issues relate to identifying the biological constraints of these pastoral systems, understanding soil/plant/animal relationships, exploring biodiversity, landscape and social issues in multi-functional systems and providing solutions to constraints through a number of case studies. By comparing and contrasting these two environments, the book will be taking a completely new approach to understanding how pastoral systems function and how they will evolve in the future. The book is of value to all those with an interest in pastoral systems by providing an up-to-date account of current understanding of these multi-functional systems and new insights into how they function and how they will develop in the future.
Agroecosystems in a Changing Climate considers the consequences of changes in the atmosphere and climate on the integrity, stability, and productivity of agroecosystems. The book adopts a novel approach by bringing together theoretical contributions from ecologists and the applied interpretations of agriculturalists. Drawing these two approa
The question in the title of this book draws attention to the shortcomings of a concept that has become a political tool of global importance even as the scientific basis for its use grows weaker. The concept of desertification, it can be argued, has ceased to be analytically useful and distorts our understanding of social-environmental systems and their resiliency, particularly in poor countries with variable rainfall and persistent poverty. For better policy and governance, we need to reconsider the scientific justification for international attempts to combat desertification. Our exploration of these issues begins in the Sahel of West Africa, where a series of severe droughts at the end of the 20th century led to the global institutionalization of the idea of desertification. It now seems incontrovertible that these droughts were not caused primarily by local land use mismanagement, effectively terminating a long-standing policy and scientific debate. There is now an opportunity to treat this episode as an object lesson in the relationship between science, the formation of public opinion and international policy-making. Looking beyond the Sahel, the chapters in this book provide case studies from around the world that examine the use and relevance of the desertification concept. Despite an increasingly sophisticated understanding of dryland environments and societies, the uses now being made of the desertification concept in parts of Asia exhibit many of the shortcomings of earlier work done in Africa. It took scientists more than three decades to transform a perceived desertification crisis in the Sahel into a non-event. This book is an effort to critically examine that experience and accelerate the learning process in other parts of the world.
Land tenure in pastoral and agro pastoral areas of Tanzania is under stress. The stress emanates mainly from changing natural and demographic environments. Other underlying causes are social, economic and political changes. In the past three to four decades, both pastoral and agro-pastoral areas have been experiencing rapid population increase, with a national mean population growth rate estimated at 3 per cent per annum (Kurian 1992). This has increased demand for cultivation lands, forcing pastoralists and agro-pastoralists to more marginal areas and triggering off in some cases environmental degradation process. These processes are paralleled by overall climatic changes with concomitant increasing droughts. The combined effect of these processes has culminated into a general decline of pastoral and agro-pastoral communityis welfare and increased livelihood insecurity. This study explored the impacts of these changes in agro-pastoral land use on the physical environment as well as livelihood and welfare of the community in Missungwi District.
The rapidly changing nature of animal production systems, especially increasing intensification and globalization, is playing out in complex ways around the world. Over the last century, livestock keeping evolved from a means of harnessing marginal resources to produce items for local consumption to a key component of global food chains. Livestock in a Changing Landscape offers a comprehensive examination of these important and far-reaching trends. The books are an outgrowth of a collaborative effort involving international nongovernmental organizations including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), and the Scientific Committee for Problems of the Environment (SCOPE). Volume 1 examines the forces shaping change in livestock production and management; the resulting impacts on landscapes, land use, and social systems; and potential policy and management responses. Volume 2 explores needs and draws experience from region-specific contexts and detailed case studies. The case studies describe how drivers and consequences of change play out in specific geographical areas, and how public and private responses are shaped and implemented. Together, the volumes present new, sustainable approaches to the challenges created by fundamental shifts in livestock management and production, and represent an essential resource for policy makers, industry managers, and academics involved with this issue.
The focus of this book is future global climate change and its implications for agricultural systems which are the main sources of agricultural goods and services provided to society. These systems are either based on crop or livestock production, or on combinations of the two, with characteristics that differ between regions and between levels of management intensity. In turn, they also differ in their sensitivity to projected future changes in climate, and improvements to increase climate-resilience need to be tailored to the specific needs of each system. The book will bring together a series of chapters that provide scientific insights to possible implications of projected climate changes for different important types of crop and livestock systems, and a discussion of options for adaptive and mitigative management.
Once again, the Horn of Africa has been in the headlines. And once again the news has been bad: drought, famine, conflict, hunger, suffering and death. The finger of blame has been pointed in numerous directions: to the changing climate, to environmental degradation, to overpopulation, to geopolitics and conflict, to aid agency failures, and more. But it is not all disaster and catastrophe. Many successful development efforts at ‘the margins’ often remain hidden, informal, sometimes illegal; and rarely in line with standard development prescriptions. If we shift our gaze from the capital cities to the regional centres and their hinterlands, then a very different perspective emerges. These are the places where pastoralists live. They have for centuries struggled with drought, conflict and famine. They are resourceful, entrepreneurial and innovative peoples. Yet they have been ignored and marginalised by the states that control their territory and the development agencies who are supposed to help them. This book argues that, while we should not ignore the profound difficulties of creating secure livelihoods in the Greater Horn of Africa, there is much to be learned from development successes, large and small. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars with an interest in development studies and human geography, with a particular emphasis on Africa. It will also appeal to development policy-makers and practitioners.