Rangeland
Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras.
Rangelands do not include forests lacking grazable understory vegetation, barren desert, farmland, or land covered by solid rock, concrete, or glaciers.
The suppression or reduction of periodic wildfires from desert shrublands, savannas, or woodlands frequently invites the dominance of trees and shrubs to the near exclusion of grasses and forbs.
These areas sustain about 1 billion animals, managed by pastoralists across over 100 countries, illustrating their crucial role in both ecological conservation and agricultural productivity.
[2] The United Nations (UN) has declared 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, with the Food and Agriculture Organization leading the initiative.
"[4] The EPA classifies natural grassland and savannas as rangeland, and in some cases includes wetlands, deserts, tundra, and "certain forb and shrub communities.
[7] It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire.
Higher densities and areas of trees, with largely closed canopy, provide extensive and nearly continuous shade are referred to as forest.
The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.
Rangelands produce a wide variety of goods and services desired by society, including livestock forage (Grazing), wildlife habitat, water, mineral resources, wood products, wildland recreation, open space and natural beauty.
These vast areas not only support direct agricultural outputs but also bolster related industries, enhancing employment and promoting economic growth.
[19] The degradation of Earth's extensive rangelands due to overuse, inappropriate cultivation, misuse, climate change, and biodiversity loss represents a significant threat to humanity's food supply and the well-being or survival of billions of people.
This degradation is primarily driven by the conversion of pastures to cropland, urban expansion, increasing demands for food, fiber, and fuel, excessive grazing, abandonment by pastoralists, and policies that incentivize overexploitation.
The UNCCD observes that the loss of rangeland attracts little public attention and rarely features in international policy discussions.
As in many other Commonwealth countries, public tenures on crown land for the purpose of range activities are common in geographically compatible areas.
Ranchers may lease portions of this public rangeland and pay a fee based on the number and type of livestock and the period for which they are on the land.
In modern times open-range laws can conflict with urban development as occasional stray cows, bulls, or even herds wander into subdivisions or onto highways.
They are areas which have not been intensively developed for agriculture but extensive livestock production is a major land use, accounting for 55 per cent of the rangelands.
Examples of the South American rangelands include the Patagonian Steppe, the Monte, the Pampas, the "Llanos" or "Cerrado," the "Chaco" and the "Caatinga."
The change in the intensity and location of tropical thunderstorms and other weather patterns is the driving force in the climates of southern South America.
This movement often brings along an incursion of different diseases with the common one being the rinderpest virus in the Kenyan wildlife population from the Somali ecosystem.
