Two strategies are assessed to increase wheat production in the water-scarce Karkheh River Basin (KRB) in Iran to meet targets by the year 2025. The strategies proposed are (a) to increase yields in the current irrigated and rainfed wheat areas and (b) to increase the area under rainfed wheat through land conversion. Crop water consumption, based on satellite remote sensing and crop yield data, was used to estimate crop water productivity (CWP) in irrigated and rainfed wheat areas in five sub-basins.

We explored the ecological effects of grassland restoration programs using satellite imagery and field plots sampling data and analyzing the patterns and mechanisms of land cover change and vegetation activities in arid and semiarid China during the period from 1982 to 2008. The grassland cover in the 1980s, 2000 and 2005 was compared before and after the restoration programs. The variability of net primary production (NPP) and rain use efficiency (RUE) were analyzed as indicators of vegetation productivity.

Investigating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) by the scientific approach is a useful way to develop sustainable rangeland management. Numerous trials have been done on plant species compositions and biomass, but little testing has been done on the TEK of plant productivity and nutrient values, which are important for proper rangeland management. In this study, we tested the TEK of pastoralists living in Bulgan, northern Mongolia, regarding plant productivity and nutrient values. We examined biomass, growth form, plant productivity, and crude protein amounts along grazing gradients.

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.

Beef cattle grazing is the dominant land use in the extensive tropical and sub-tropical rangelands of northern Australia. Despite the considerable knowledge on land and herd management gained from both research and practical experience, the adoption of improved management is limited by an inability to predict how changes in practices and combinations of practices will affect cattle production, economic returns and resource condition.

Human-induced soil degradation is a serious and complex environmental challenge in Iran. For a long time, human activities, namely the overuse of land, have been influencing the natural processes on and in soils; therefore, various types of soil degradation can be observed in many parts of the country. The understanding and the consideration of direct and indirect effects of human activities on soils are indispensable for the prediction of the human impact on soil degradation processes.

Historically monitoring of grazing impacts in rangelands has been seriously compromised by the small area, infrequency and variability of field-based sampling plots. Remote sensing of vegetation cover, which can be a surrogate for overall ecosystem condition, permits adequate spatial and temporal monitoring of land condition but can still be compromised by considerable inter and intra-paddock (field) variability. Cross-fence sample pairs control for local clines and patchiness in spatial and temporal variables such as vegetation, landform, soil type, surface-flows, and rainfall.

Ventenata dubia is an exotic annual grass that has become increasingly invasive in various perennial grass systems throughout the Intermountain Pacific Northwest. Currently, little information is available to landowners about herbicide control options. In our first field study, we evaluated V. dubia control efficacy and perennial grass tolerance of herbicides applied pre-emergence (PRE) at two locations and as an early postemergence (EPOST) application at four different conservation reserve grasslands, with each grassland dominated by different perennial grass species.

Rangelands and savannas occupy 70% of the Australian continent and are mainly used for commercial grazing of sheep and cattle. In the center and north, where there are extensive areas of indigenous land ownership and pastoral production is less intensive, savanna burning is frequent. Greenhouse gas emissions from rangelands have been overwhelmingly from land clearing and methane production by livestock.

Over half of the United States is privately owned. Improving environmental sustainability requires that the scientific and management communities provide effective outreach to the many landowners making decisions about land use and management practices on these lands. We surveyed California forest and rangeland owners in ten counties throughout the state to assess the impact of existing outreach and identify gaps in information distribution and content.

Rehabilitating degraded rangelands using enclosures offers various benefits to agro‐pastoral households. However, enclosure benefits cannot be generalized as there are variations across dryland ecosystems and societies. This study assessed the qualitative and quantitative benefits derived from rehabilitating degraded rangelands using private enclosures in Chepareria, West Pokot County, Kenya.