In order to estimate the leaf area index (LAI) of grassland over large areas, a model was constructed with NDVI as the independent variable by using the improved Beer–Lambert Law. The model provided the theoretical basis for the effective management of the grassland resources in southern China and the effective estimation of grassland carbon sink.

Participatory scenario-planning was applieded to envision futures for transhumance, a practice of nomadic pastoralism associated with cultural landscapes, in Spain. Trade-offs in the delivery of ecosystem services emerged between scenarios. Payments for ecosystem services, the enhancement of institutional coordination and cooperation among transhumants were proposed for the maintenance of transhumance.

Livestock can convert the sub-tropical mountain rangelands of central Argentina into a rocky desert. Two-hundred plots were monitored under different stocking rates of livestock for 5 years and soil erosion rates were measured. Moderate to heavy stocking rates produced large soil losses, leaving behind bare rock surfaces. Exclusion of livestock partially reversed the erosion processes. This means that commercial livestock production, as it is carried out at present, is not a sustainable activity in these mountains.

Vegetation ‘thickening’ has become controversial. Landholders consider that woody vegetation thickening has occurred because of climate, fire, particularly the absence of fire; and total grazing pressure. The value of local knowledge in land management has received relatively little formal attention in vegetation management. In summary, the landholders view the dense woody component of the vegetation as an unnatural and undesirable ‘artificial wilderness’, which those from outside the region may consider natural and therefore worthy of preservation in its current state.

China’s grassland has been undergoing rapid changes in the recent past owing to increased climate variability and a shift of grassland management strategy driven by the ecological restoration projects. In this work, we investigated the grassland dynamics during 1985 to 2009 in Inner Mongolia, and found that the grassland in the ecological fragile regions showed a recovery trend under the ecological restoration projects. Looking forward, these projects should be further adjusted to balance environmental conservation and economic development.

The Global Production Efficiency Model was adopted to simulate NPP in southern China’s grasslands and to analyse the temporal and spatial dynamics from 1981 to 2000. The results suggest that grassland ecosystems in southern China have a large C sink.

Popular proposals to restore Australian rivers and creeks to their pre-European settlement state are controversial. In the past, Australian rivers were interconnected ‘chains of ponds’. Loss of riparian zone vegetation led to incised streambeds and lower floodplain water tables. Rehabilitation through construction of leaky weirs to ‘bank’ water and promote year-round stream flow – sometimes referred to as ‘natural sequence farming’ – is possible, and intuitively attractive. But more evidence about the social costs and benefits is required to justify government action.

The clonal propagation characteristics of the multifunctional subshrub Alhagi sparsifolia growing on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert was studied at three sites with different groundwater depths. These characteristics responded to deeper groundwater by adjustment of the lateral root architecture (suckering depth, biomass, etc.) below ground and growth traits (number of ramets, etc.) above ground. Increases in groundwater depth caused by increased water usage could lead to reduced populations of this important species in the oasis–desert ecotone.