Fragmentation in Semi-Arid and Arid Landscapes : Consequences for Human and Natural Systems

Exploring the concept of fragmentation, the ecological processes interrupted by fragmentation, and the social consequences of fragmented landscapes, this book presents a timely synthesis on the effects of fragmentation on arid and semi-arid pastoral systems throughout the world. The global significance of the world’s rangelands is large, with these arid and semi-arid systems making up almost 25% of the earth’s landscapes – and supporting the livelihoods of more than 20 million people. These ecosystems are also home to several of the planet’s remaining megafauna, as well as other important species. Yet fragmentation across these rangelands has significantly impaired the ability of both people and animals to compensate for temporal heterogeneity in vegetation and water by exploiting its spatial heterogeneity, resulting in limited resource availability. The case is developed that while fragmentation arises from different natural, social and economic conditions worldwide it creates similar outcomes for human and natural systems. With information from nine sites around the world the authors examine how fragmentation occurs, the patterns that result, and the consequences of fragmentation for ecosystems and the people who depend on them. The book will provide a valuable reference for students and researchers in rangeland ecology, park and natural resource management, environmental and ecological anthropology, economics and agriculture. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Global Significance of Extensive Grazing Lands and Pastoral Societies: An Introduction....Pages 1-24 Fragmentation of Arid and Semi-Arid Ecosystems: Implications for People and Animals....Pages 25-44 Causes and Consequences of Herbivore Movement in Landscape Ecosystems....Pages 45-91 Changing Patterns of Land Use and Tenure in the Dalrymple Shire, Australia....Pages 93-112 From Fragmentation to Reaggregation of Rangelands in the Northern Great Plains, USA....Pages 113-134 Land Use, Fragmentation, and Impacts on Wildlife in Jackson Valley, Wyoming, USA....Pages 135-150 Ideology, Land Tenure and Livestock Mobility in Kazakhstan....Pages 151-178 Policy Changes in Mongolia: Implications for Land Use and Landscapes....Pages 179-193 Fragmentation of a Peri-Urban Savanna, Athi-Kaputiei Plains, Kenya....Pages 195-224 Processes of Fragmentation in the Amboseli Ecosystem, Southern Kajiado District, Kenya....Pages 225-253 Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania: Fragmentation of a Unique Region of the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem....Pages 255-279 North-West Province, South Africa: Communal and Commercial Livestock Systems in Transition....Pages 281-304 The Drivers of Fragmentation in Arid and Semi-Arid Landscapes....Pages 305-340 Comparing Landscape and Infrastructural Heterogeneity within and between Ecosystems....Pages 341-367 Responses of Pastoralists to Land Fragmentation: Social Capital, Connectivity and Resilience....Pages 369-389 Back Matter....Pages 391-411 Casual readers of the title of this book might be forgiven for thinking that it is a little esoteric, far-removed from the pressing day-to-day concerns of humans and wildlife in the drylands of the world. But they could not be more wrong. It addresses an issue of the utmost practical importance in the world today, yet does so on the basis of exciting new theory about how the world operates. Of the billion or so human beings who now live in the world's arid and semi-arid lands, a majority depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. These natural resources include livestock and their forage, as well as the wild biota that creates opportunities for tourism or subsistence harvesting. Arid and semi-arid lands are spread over a third of the world's land surface, from Colorado to the Kalahari, the Sahel to the Simpson, the Altai Steppe to Amboseli. Notwithstanding their diversity, these lands are broadly cha- cterised by low productivity, management at large scales, and great climate variability – in short, by high spatial and temporal heterogeneity. This book is about the implications of that high spatial and temporal heterogeneity for life, management and policy in arid and semi-arid lands. With detailed data from nine sites around the world, the authors examine how the so-called ‘fragmentation’ of these fragile landscapes occurs and the consequences of this break-up for ecosystems and the people who depend on them. ‘Rangelands’ make up a quarter of the world’s landscape, and here, the case is developed that while fragmentation arises from different natural, social and economic conditions worldwide, it creates similar outcomes for human and natural systems.