Implications of behavioral change for the resilience of pastoral systems—Lessons from an agent-based model

In many dryland regions, traditional pastoral land use strategies are exposed to various drivers such as demographic or socio-economic change. This may lead to an adjustment of livelihood strategies and behavior of pastoral households, involving a change in attitudes toward livestock, pasture condition and social norms. We use an agent-based model to examine long-term social-ecological consequences and implications for system resilience of such behavioral changes (e.g., giving up a social norm). The model captures feedback between pastures, livestock and household livelihood in a common property grazing system. We systematically compare three stylized household behavioral types (traditional, maximizer and satisficer) that differ in their preferences for livestock, their compliance with social norms on pasture resting and how they are influenced by the behavior of others. Simulation results show that the traditional, norm-abiding household type maintains the pasture condition, provided that overall household numbers do not exceed a critical threshold. In contrast, a switch to a maximizer type that ignores norms may lead to long-term pasture degradation and livestock loss, pushing the system to an undesirable state. A change toward a new satisficing household type that constrains its herd size while diversifying its income sources can lead to improved pasture conditions and higher total livestock numbers, even with increased household numbers. We conclude that changes in household behavior have strong implications for long-term social-ecological system dynamics and have to be considered to assess the resilience of pastoral common property systems.     

佛山市顺德中心城区城市绿地生态网络规划

以佛山市顺德区中心城区为研究样区,基于景观连通性定量评价方法确定绿地系统核心斑块,并采用最小费用路径法构建了绿地系统潜在的生态廊道,同时还对绿地生态网络各组分的景观格局特征进行了分析。结果表明:斑块连通性指数距离阈值设定为500m时能够合理反映各绿地斑块重要性程度,并以连通性指数重要值排序结果确定了20个绿地斑块作为绿地生态网络的核心斑块;通过最小费用路径法构建的研究区31条潜在生态廊道,符合绿地系统分布特征并能够较好地连通各绿地核心斑块;生态网络景观格局分析表明,生态廊道缓冲区内斑块类型较复杂,景观格局破碎化程度较高。     

Transhumance with cows as a rational land use option in the Gredos Mountains (Central Spain)

Existing transhumance practices in the Gredos Mountains are studied and the origin, destination, number of livestock, livestock raiser characteristics, and environmental variables of winter and summer pasture areas and drovers roads are analyzed. The important ecological, economic, and cultural role of transhumance is emphasized and attention is drawn to the need for its support and conservation.     

The role of cross-border transhumance in influencing resident herders’ cattle husbandry practices and use of genetic resources

For centuries, the humid West African coastal country of Benin attracts cattle herders from neighboring Sahelian countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Each year, several thousands of cattle are trekked over hundreds of kilometers to Benin following established and non-established transhumance corridors. This cross-border mobility has been shown to play an important role in ensuring the productivity of the transhumant herds through adequate late dry season access to pastoral resources. Yet, its effects on the traditional agro-pastoral production systems that are encountered along the routes in Benin have never been explicitly investigated. Therefore, we collected socio-economic household data, herd characteristics and management data from 104 resident herders and 38 transhumant herders in 2 vegetation zones of Benin. To determine whether or not the proximity to transhumance corridors affects sedentary production systems, characteristics of cattle herds and farmers’ management practices were compared between villages close to (within a 25 km buffer) and far from (outside a 25 km buffer) transhumance corridors within and between vegetation zones using non-parametric statistical tests. Existing relationships between resident and transhumant herders were also identified and characterized. Subsequently, herd characteristics and management practices were compared between resident herders having relationships with transhumant herders and those without. Herd sizes of resident herders living close to transhumance corridors were larger (P < 0.01) than those of their counterparts living far away. Also, proximity to transhumance corridors had positive effects on herd management practices. The relationships between resident and transhumant herders were governed by a variety of interests including encampment/manuring contracts, exploitation of grazing lands and watering points, trading and bartering of cattle. This exchange of cattle is an important driver of change in the breed composition of local herds and represents an opportunity for resident herders to enhance their herds’ productivity through crossbreeding. However, the mere replacement or indiscriminate crossbreeding of local cattle breeds with those kept by transhumant herders threatens the sustainability of the traditional resident herding systems by increasing the risk of genetic erosion and loss of valuable adaptive traits in indigenous animal genetic resources.     

基于电路理论的南京城市绿色基础设施格局优化

城市绿色基础设施的连通性与格局优化能显著提升城市的生物多样性和可持续发展能力,对维持城市生态系统的健康与稳定具有重要意义。基于电路理论构建了南京市主城区绿色基础设施景观格局,根据电流密度分析斑块、廊道重要性,并借助移动窗口搜索法识别障碍点,提出南京市景观格局优化策略。研究结果表明:(1)南京主城区景观破碎化程度较高,40%的生境斑块(约为28.18 km2)对连通性的贡献较低,南部重要廊道的数量最多,局部簇团成网,网络结构较为复杂,其次为中部,且河流廊道(秦淮河)是其主要廊道类型,北部廊道数量最少,斑块多呈孤岛分布;(2)研究区共有155处障碍点,其中84.5%面积小于5hm2,可见主城区景观连通性仍有较大的提升空间。研究丰富了城市绿色基础设施景观格局的构建方法,对南京主城区绿色基础设施的连通性与格局优化具有一定的实践指导意义与参考价值。     

高寒牧区村域生态足迹——以甘南州合作市为例

高寒牧区是一类特殊的地域,其生态环境本底和压力明显区别于其它地域类型。从自然本底上讲,"高寒"特征造成生态系统结构单一、节律缓慢、功能稳定性差,因此,脆弱性强,而修复难度大;从压力上讲,"高寒"又一定程度上屏蔽了外界要素的过分介入,导致人口分布的高度离散性和稀疏性,人地矛盾转化为更直观的草畜矛盾。论文结合高寒牧区的特质,对生态足迹模型和生态承载力模型进行了修正,强调了高寒牧区生态承载力的主控因素———牲畜特征、人口特征、生境特征和地域特征,以甘南州合作市为案例,具体测算和分析了41个行政单元的生态足迹和生态承载力。结果表明:(1)人口生态足迹和牲畜生态足迹分布格局大致呈反向态势,说明在高寒牧区,人口与牲畜对环境造成的压力存在着显著的空间差异。(2)从人口生态足迹和牲畜生态足迹对总生态足迹的贡献度上看,总生态足迹的高低主要取决于牲畜生态足迹,说明牲畜是主控因素。(3)从地均生态承载力分布态势看,低承载区主要分布于北部海拔较高的广大牧区,这里生态结构非常单一,主要以高寒草甸草原和沼泽草原生态类型为主,寒冻风化作用异常强烈,生物有效生长期非常短。而高承载区分布在市区周围和南部洮河谷地沿岸,生态系统除草地生态系统外,还有森林生态系统。从而说明人为条件的改善、自然生态系统结构的复杂程度和自然环境的严酷程度是决定高寒牧区承载力高低的主要因素。(4)从生态盈余与赤字的空间分布态势看,赤字区域主要集中分布在广大的纯牧区,超载过牧是生态状况的关键性致因。因此提高生态承载力、减少生态赤字的关键集结于草畜关系上。有鉴于此,需要采取以下措施:一是根据天然草场的承载能力,建立适宜的草畜平衡关系,将超载的牲畜转移出去;二是科学合理的提高草场的生产能力和承载能力,这就需要加强草原生态保护建设;三是调整经济结构,减少社会经济发展对天然放牧业的高度依赖性,推进传统草地畜牧业向现代畜牧业转型。     

基于CL-PIOP方法的青岛市生态网络结构要素评价

景观生态学中的生态网络概念,已被国内外越来越多机构与学者所接受。生态网络结构要素的量化评价成为生态网络能否真正发挥在空间上调和自然生态保护与社会发展作用的关键。图形理论中相关评价指数为量化评价提供了方法。探讨如何基于图形理论中相关评价结果数据,发现对一个地区生态网络连通性有重要影响的斑块与廊道等生态网络结构要素。以青岛作为研究案例区域,使用最小成本路径模型构建了湿地和林地两种生态网络,并以一定阈值为标准对生态网络做等级划分,采用图形理论中的CL-PIOP评价方法作为基础方法,提出两种生态网络结构要素评价标准对结果数据作深入分析。分析结果表明:基于不同等级生态网络斑块的CL-PIOP重要性频次统计可以有效的识别对网络连通性有重要作用的斑块,既涵盖了几乎所有大面积的斑块,同时也包括一定数量的小面积斑块;CL-PIOP评价方法可在众多廊道中快速识别具有不可替代作用的廊道,且根据CL-PIOP值大小以及在各等级网络中非零CL-PIOP值的频率统计进一步确定廊道的重要程度。此外,不同等级网络中CL-PIOP值存在异常增大的斑块及其相关廊道对于网络构建与连通性增强有关键作用,这些斑块通常与面积等自身的属性无关,而与其在网络所处的位置相关。生态网络模型与图形理论相关方法结合可以快速有效的识别区域重要的生态用地,为相关规划中生态用地的保护、恢复提供量化依据。     

Effect of cattle grazing a species-rich mountain pasture under different stocking rates on the dynamics of diet selection and sward structure

Although stocking rate is a key management variable influencing the structure and composition of pastures, only few studies have simultaneously analysed the seasonal patterns of pasture use by cattle, and the adjustments the animals make to maintain intake of a high-quality diet over the grazing season. Therefore, over a 3-year study, we recorded diet selection, plot use and impact of heifers on sward structure and quality under three different stocking rates (0.6, 1.0 and 1.4 livestock units (LU) per ha) in a species-rich mountain pasture of central France. Measurements were made on three occasions between early June and the end of September each year. Overall, heifers selected for bites dominated by legumes or forbs, and against reproductive grass, whatever the stocking rate or season. Selection for tall mixed (P < 0.05), short mixed (P < 0.05) and short pure grass bites (P < 0.01) was more pronounced in plots grazed at the lowest stocking rate. Although heifers' selection for short patches decreased at the end of the season (P < 0.001), they continued to graze previously grazed areas, thus exhibiting a typical 'patch grazing' pattern, with the animals that grazed at the lowest stocking rate tending to better maintain their selection for short patches in September (treatment × period: P = 0.078). Neither diet quality nor individual animal performance were affected by the different stocking rate treatments despite high variability in the quantity and quality of herbage offered and differences in diet selection. However, at the 1.4 LU per ha stocking rate, the quantity of forage available per animal at the end of the season, 0.79 t dry matter (DM) per ha of green leaves with the median of sward height at 4.6 cm, approached levels limiting cattle's ability to compensate for the effects of increasing stocking rate. In plots grazed at 0.6 LU per ha, the total herbage biomass remained higher than 3 t DM per ha with more than 30% of plot area still covered by reproductive grass patches at the end of the grazing season, which in the medium term should affect the botanical composition of these pastures. Sward heterogeneity was high in plots grazed at 1.0 LU per ha, with sufficient herbage availability (1.1 t DM per ha of green leaves) to maintain animal performance, and more than 15% of plot area was kept at a reproductive stage at the end of the grazing season. Hence, it could represent the optimal balance to satisfy both livestock production and conservation management objectives.     

Integrating diverse forage sources reduces feed gaps on mixed crop-livestock farms

Highly variable climates induce large variability in the supply of forage for livestock and so farmers must manage their livestock systems to reduce the risk of feed gaps (i.e. periods when livestock feed demand exceeds forage supply). However, mixed crop-livestock farmers can utilise a range of feed sources on their farms to help mitigate these risks. This paper reports on the development and application of a simple whole-farm feed-energy balance calculator which is used to evaluate the frequency and magnitude of feed gaps. The calculator matches long-term simulations of variation in forage and metabolisable energy supply from diverse sources against energy demand for different livestock enterprises. Scenarios of increasing the diversity of forage sources in livestock systems is investigated for six locations selected to span Australia’s crop-livestock zone. We found that systems relying on only one feed source were prone to higher risk of feed gaps, and hence, would often have to reduce stocking rates to mitigate these risks or use supplementary feed. At all sites, by adding more feed sources to the farm feedbase the continuity of supply of both fresh and carry-over forage was improved, reducing the frequency and magnitude of feed deficits. However, there were diminishing returns from making the feedbase more complex, with combinations of two to three feed sources typically achieving the maximum benefits in terms of reducing the risk of feed gaps. Higher stocking rates could be maintained while limiting risk when combinations of other feed sources were introduced into the feedbase. For the same level of risk, a feedbase relying on a diversity of forage sources could support stocking rates 1.4 to 3 times higher than if they were using a single pasture source. This suggests that there is significant capacity to mitigate both risk of feed gaps at the same time as increasing ‘safe’ stocking rates through better integration of feed sources on mixed crop-livestock farms across diverse regions and climates.     

Both spatiotemporal connectivity and habitat quality limit the immigration of forest plants into wooded corridors

Extensive afforestation of agricultural areas has increased the importance of green corridors as a dispersal network. We tested the effect of spatiotemporal connectivity, edge effect and habitat structural quality of wooded corridors on the long-term immigration success of forest specialist plants relative to the performance of forest generalists. In agricultural landscapes of central and southern Estonia, we sampled 28 historically connected and 52 isolated tree lines and alleys with a minimum age of 50 years, and 93 edges of ancient forests. The regional pool of common forest plants was compiled using species’ frequency data in 91 ancient forests. Both landscape connectivity and habitat quality affected the richness of response groups, but specialists and generalists responded to different drivers. Forest specialists required long-term neighbourhoods of ancient forest and benefited from a direct connection between forest and corridor. Habitat generalists reacted positively to the recently modified structure of the landscape. When a corridor was connected to forest, the dual edge in the corridor did not result in an increased negative edge effect on forest specialist arrival. Even if both specialists and generalists required wide corridors with optimum shade, forest specialists also benefited from mature overstorey and outward overhanging branches, whereas forest generalists used disturbance-created microhabitats. We conclude that only wooded corridors with long-term connectivity to seed source forests and widely branched tree canopies will function as a green infrastructure supporting forest-specific biodiversity.     

Designed and naturalised sward response to management: I. Patterns of herbage production

Pastures in the Appalachian region of the United States comprise a mix of grasses, legumes and forbs that tend to differ in productivity within and among years. A high degree of spatial variability in hill‐land pasture creates microsite conditions that influence botanical composition of pasture. The variation in sward composition presents logistical challenges to livestock producers who rely on a dependable supply of herbage mass and nutritive value to meet production goals. Our objective was to determine if forage communities sown for specific functions, for example, superior dry matter productivity, resource patch exploitation or targeted seasonal production, adapted to changing growing conditions within and among years. Productivity of communities differed among years reflecting the cumulative influences of time, ontogenetic and environmental variations. Maximum productivity was influenced by the specific forage community and less so by simple clipping and fertiliser management. Naturalised swards clipped to emulate hay management tended to have sustained herbage productivity but lower nutritive value when compared to sown communities. Rankings of dry matter productivity of communities were similar for each year where bioactive composition, high productivity and warm season tended to produce the most, and stoloniferous‐rhizomatous and naturalised pasture the least. Regardless of initial sward composition, effective number of species as an index of diversity increased when frequently clipped swards were not fertilised, and when infrequently clipped swards were fertilised. Dry matter production patterns were not influenced by the effective number of species in any forage community suggesting that key species sustained productivity with volunteer species making lesser contribution to total productivity. The species composition of forage plant communities appears to be more important than clipping or fertiliser management practices as a means to sustain forage productivity.     

Effects of grazing on plant species diversity and pasture quality in subalpine grasslands in the eastern Pyrenees (Andorra): Implications for conservation

Mountain areas boast high levels of biodiversity due to the wide variety in topography, climates and traditional land-use practices they embrace. Recent changes in the mountain agro-ecosystems of Europe have led to a decline in these traditional practices (above all grazing) and have had negative effects on biodiversity. In this study we evaluated the effects of grazing pressure on plant species diversity and also focused on the common and rare species diversity, forage quality and forage production in the Festuca airoides, Festuca eskia, Festuca gautieri, Festuca paniculata and Nardus stricta grassland communities. These analyses could be of great importance in identifying the pastoral management practices that are most consistent with the conservation of plant diversity in the Andorran subalpine and alpine grasslands. Data were collected at 113 sampling sites exposed to either high or low grazing pressures. In all, 222 vegetation line-transects were established from which samples were collected and analysed using the NIRS method. In addition the lignin, protein and fibre fractions were obtained in order to evaluate the quality of the forage. In the Andorran summer pastures, the Festuca gautieri calcareous grasslands had the greatest plant species diversity, while the Festuca eskia, Festuca airoides and Nardus stricta grasslands had the lowest plant species diversity and a lack of common species due to their less homogeneous spatial structure. The highest quality forage corresponds to the Festuca gautieri and Nardus stricta grasslands, while the Festuca eskia grasslands have the lowest quality forage. Although high grazing pressure can lead to greater species diversity, it also tends to diminish forage quality and/or energy content by increasing the lignin content. Thus, domestic livestock is a fundamental element in these grasslands and an increase in the grazing pressure of the different types of livestock (cattle, sheep and horses) is necessary since a more balanced distribution of grazers between the grassland types – rather than an increase in grazers – will not be sufficient to maintain plant biodiversity. Likewise, there is a need to re-establish the practice of transhumance, a traditional pastoral practice based on the movement of livestock between winter lowland pastures and upland summer pastures.     

Applying the social–ecological systems framework to the evaluation and design of payment for ecosystem service schemes in the Eurasian steppe

The application of payment for ecosystem services schemes to dryland areas has been limited, particularly for schemes that seek to improve the grassland upon which resource users in these landscapes depend. The high levels of climatic and resource variability, strength of informal institutions governing resource use and contested nature of resource decline are examples of defining characteristics that may challenge the application of more conventional payment for ecosystem services schemes in dryland contexts. We used a social–ecological systems framework to (i) help identify design criteria for effective and efficient payment for ecosystem services schemes in drylands under a pastoral land-use, and (ii) explore the applicability of the framework to dryland areas. Using eco-compensation schemes in the Chinese governed areas of the Eurasian steppe as a case study, we found that the framework adequately identified the need for non-equilibrium dynamics to be incorporated into scheme design. However, the framework was less able to explicitly enunciate the importance of micro-economics and cultural values for scheme viability. In contexts like the Eurasian steppe where some level of grazing may maximise the species richness of grasslands, acknowledging history of use in the resource unit subsystem component of the framework, not just the user subsystem component, would improve the framework. The explicit incorporation of contested issues into the framework is also needed, as dryland areas have a history of being misunderstood by non-dryland cultures, researchers and policymakers. We conclude that tailoring a general diagnostic tool towards the specific social–ecological attributes of the drylands under a pastoral land-use will improve the ability of payment for ecosystem services schemes to reach their conservation aims.     

新疆塔什库尔干野生动物自然保护区马可波罗盘羊潜在生态廊道识别

识别野生动物的适宜生境并在适宜生境之间构建生态廊道能够提高生境连通性, 有利于加强种群间基因交流并缓解生境破碎化带来的不利影响。本研究基于生境适宜性评价结果确定了塔什库尔干野生动物自然保护区内马可波罗盘羊(Ovis polii)的核心生境斑块, 运用廊道设计模型Linkage Mapper识别最低成本廊道并确定其优先级。结果表明, 马可波罗盘羊适宜生境主要分布在保护区西北部, 核心生境斑块少且破碎化明显, 夏冬两季核心生境斑块均为28个, 潜在生态廊道分别为45和47条。采用成本加权距离与欧几里得距离之比(CWD : EucD)以及成本加权距离与最低成本路径长度之比(CWD : LCP)两种度量方法评估了生态廊道的质量与重要性。以CWD : EucD来衡量, 夏季质量最高的4条廊道分别是皮斯岭至帕日帕克、同库至马尔洋、科克吐鲁克至帕日帕克, 以及哈尔努孜至同库; 冬季质量最高的3条廊道分别是其克尔克尔至亚希洛夫、萨提曼至依西代尔、其克尔克尔至科克吐鲁克。CWD : LCP分析表明, 夏季质量最高的廊道分别是哈尔努孜至阔克加尔和阔克加尔至马尔洋; 冬季质量最高的廊道分别是爱勒米希至塔萨拉、沙尔比列西南至依西代尔。利用流中心性评估各核心生境斑块和廊道的重要性表明, 帕日帕克、塔萨拉和马尔洋这三个斑块在促进马可波罗盘羊迁移扩散方面的贡献值最高。夏季皮斯岭至帕日帕克、同库至马尔洋和马拉特至其克尔克尔这3条廊道的贡献值最高; 冬季爱勒米希至塔萨拉、沙尔比列至沙尔比列西南和铁尔布尔列至沙尔比列这3条廊道的贡献值最高, 上述核心生境斑块和生态廊道在维持保护区马可波罗盘羊种群迁徙扩散中发挥着关键作用。此外, 赞坎、沙尔比列等斑块虽然面积小、贡献值低, 但起到了维持景观中重要斑块连通的踏脚石作用, 其重要性也不可忽略。研究结果可为塔什库尔干野生动物保护区马可波罗盘羊有效保护、保护区功能区划优化以及当地基础建设项目的规划选址提供科学指导。     

Sustainable,efficient livestock production with high biodiversity and good welfare for animals

What is the future for livestock agriculture in the world? Consumers have concerns about sustainability but many widely used livestock production methods do not satisfy consumers'' requirements for a sustainable system. However, production can be sustainable, occurring in environments that: supply the needs of the animals resulting in good welfare, allow coexistence with a wide diversity of organisms native to the area, minimize carbon footprint and provide a fair lifestyle for the people working there. Conservation need not just involve tiny islands of natural vegetation in a barren world of agriculture, as there can be great increases in biodiversity in farmed areas. Herbivores, especially ruminants that consume materials inedible by humans, are important for human food in the future. However, their diet should not be just ground-level plants. Silvopastoral systems, pastures with shrubs and trees as well as herbage, are described which are normally more productive than pasture alone. When compared with widely used livestock production systems, silvopastoral systems can provide efficient feed conversion, higher biodiversity, enhanced connectivity between habitat patches and better animal welfare, so they can replace existing systems in many parts of the world and should be further developed.     

Stability aware spatial cut of metapopulations ecological networks

Ecological complex networks are common in the study of patched ecological systems where evolving populations interact within and among the patches. The loss of the dispersal connections between patches due to reasons such as erosion of migration corridors and road construction can cause an undesirable partitioning of such networks resulting in instability or negative impact on the metapopulations. A partitioning or spatial cut that is aware of the stability of the dynamics in the resulting daughter sub-networks can be an effective tool in dealing with the situation like proposing road alignment through a metapopulations network. This paper provides some mathematical conditions along with an heuristic graph partitioning algorithm that can help in finding ecologically suitable partitions of the metapopulations networks. Our study noted the crucial role of network connectivity (measured by Fiedler value) in stabilizing the metapopulations. That is, a sufficiently connected metapopulations network along with constrained internal patch dynamics has stable dynamics around its homogeneous co-existential equilibrium solution. With the considered mathematical model in this paper, network partitioning does not alter the internal patch dynamics around its homogeneous equilibrium point, but it can change the connectivity levels in the partitioned subnetworks. Thus, the proposed partitioning problem for an already stable metapopulations network is reduced to finding its subnetworks with desirable connectivity levels.     

基于有效距离模型的连云港围垦新区水体景观连通性

景观连通性是衡量景观生态服务效力的重要指标.基于GIS技术,利用有效距离模型对连云港围垦新区连云新城水体进行景观连通性分析.结果表明: 连云新城水体景观整体连通性较差;水体景观连通性与生态过程特性、生态服务价值和空间位置密切相关.斑块生态服务价值越高,其对水体景观整体连通性贡献越大.一些具有长条状结构的斑块对提高景观连通性起着关键作用.斑块连通重要值分级及功能类群分类的结果表明,连云新城水体规划符合Forman的不可替代格局理论,新城规划和建设时应优先考虑和保护相应功能类群的水体景观斑块.在景观生态规划时,连通性应作为一个重要指标加以考量;构建生态廊道要考虑生态景观数量上的配置,更要重视景观的空间位置布局,以提高景观的整体连通性.
     

Importance assessment and conservation strategy for rural landscape patches in Huang-Huai plain based on network robustness analysis

With increasing landscape fragmentation, forest-dominated landscape patches between villages play a highly important role in connecting important urban habitats. Unlike urban environments, these rural landscape patches lack targeted protection strategies and face a significant risk of destruction. This study investigates the philosophy of green infrastructure while considering the rural ecological landscape. Specifically, the connectivity of the rural landscape patches was chosen as the research focus. Taking Xuzhou as a case study, potential ecological corridors and stepping stones were identified through the circuit theoretical model and a multi-level green infrastructure network was constructed. Two important stepping-stone networks were selected from the multi-level green infrastructure network and robustness analysis was performed under three scenarios (centrality destruction, risk destruction, random destruction). By comparing the changes in network indices (connectivity robustness, global efficiency, articulation vertices, assortativity), the more important landscape patches in villages were screened out and corresponding protection strategies were developed. The results revealed that forest landscape patches near rivers had high centrality and were at risk of destruction; accordingly, in the process of village construction and development, the protection of these patches should be prioritised. The results also reflect the importance of forest patches in some villages. This result provides support for rural planning and site selection in concentrated residential areas.     

Pyrenean Pastoralists’ Ecological Knowledge: Documentation and Application to Natural Resource Management and Adaptation

Pastoral production systems in the Spanish Pyrenees have changed dramatically in recent decades, leading to the loss of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). We documented TEK of pastoralists from two valleys in the western Central Pyrenees of Aragón and explored its potential applications to resource management and adaptation. Pyrenean pastoralists possess extensive knowledge of relationships between terrain, climate, vegetation and animal nutrition and behavior. TEK could contribute to sustainable stewardship and facilitate adaptation by informing pasture monitoring; providing traditional practices to manage mountain vegetation; and preserving knowledge of extensive livestock production strategies, such as transhumance. Institutional barriers to applying TEK include weak economic cooperation among stockmen, their dependence on EU subsidies, and lack of voice in regional government decisions about local resources. A more collaborative, place-based stewardship of the Central Pyrenees might begin with direct involvement of pastoralists in designing monitoring of pasture conditions and vegetation type changes.     

Studies on the Transfer of Copper from Soil to Pastures at Different Sampling Periods: A Case Study of a Semiarid Region (Sargodha) in Pakistan

The present investigation was carried out to assess the transfer of copper element from the soil to forage plants consumed by the ruminants in two different pastures at the Livestock Experimental Station at Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Soil and forage samples were collected periodically from two different pastures and analyzed after wet digestion. The survey of copper flow from forage from both pastures in the grazing period exhibited a consistent pattern of decrease from sampling periods 1 to 4 across all the sampling periods. In the legumes and grass pastures, it was decreased regularly and reduced up to 50% to that at the beginning across all the samplings. The copper concentration was higher in the legume pasture than that of grass pasture and sufficient to fulfill the requirement of grazing animals, while in grass pasture, it was higher at the first two sampling periods but dropped to a marginal deficient level at sampling period 3 and reached at the severe deficient level at the fourth sampling period during this investigation. The soil–plant transfer factor for Cu was higher in legume pasture compared to its counterpart. It was found that with the increase of forage maturity, a significant reduction in the forage Cu concentration was observed reaching its minimum level at the last sampling period in the grass pasture. These concentrations were within the marginal and severe deficient levels and provide for only 76% of the ruminant requirements. The naturally upset balance of Cu offers a potential hazard not only to both pastures, but also to the Cu status of grazing ruminants therein. This necessitates the provision of additional amount of Cu mixture in the nutrition of livestock for health and reproduction potential enhancement of the animals being reared at that farm. Supplementing the deficient mineral with locally available Cu feed sources like green fodders, cakes, and brans or providing region-specific mineral supplements would alleviate the deficiency of copper during the late season at the livestock farm.