Methods and Costs for Pond-Catchment Rehabilitation on the Borana Plateau

The Borana Plateau is an important rangeland for Ethiopia. One key limitation for people and livestock is lack of drinking water. Hundreds of ponds are important water sources for most of the year. Pond catchments are poorly managed because livestock access is uncontrolled. Catchments are stripped bare of vegetation due to trampling and heavy grazing, and unprotected soil is prone to erosion. When the rains come the ponds quickly fill with sediment. Sedimentation reduces pond holding capacity and much labor is required to clean them out. As part of a pilot research project we rehabilitated four ponds and their immediate catchment using a combination of: (1) Perimeter bush-fencing to confine livestock access to a few narrow corridors leading to the water\u27s edge; (2) erosion control using dams and trenches to capture sediment prior to it entering the ponds; and (3) pond de-sedimentation using human labor. In tandem these methods have completely renovated the four sites in less than two years and could be adopted by the pastoralists. Here we report how we implemented each method as well as estimate the total cost of rehabilitation. Overall, the average cost to rehabilitate one seven-hectare pond catchment was 283, 045 Ethiopian Birr (or USD $14,152) including cash and in-kind sources. Costs were almost entirely labor. The largest outlay was for de-sedimentation at 87 percent of total costs on average, followed by erosion control (9 percent) and bush fencing (4 percent). If all 162 ponds in our study area were rehabilitated the cost would exceed 46 million Birr; this might be defrayed if communities can donate some of the labor. The high cost of rehabilitation illustrates that poor catchment management has major economic consequences that undermine system sustainability. Cost data also reveal that a small investment in preventing sedimentation via bush-fencing, grazing management, and erosion control would yield high returns in terms of reducing the need for regular, and expensive de-sedimentation via manual labor

Quantification of the Ecological Resilience of Drylands Using Digital Remote Sensing

Drylands cover 41% of the terrestrial surface and support > 36% of the world's population. However, the magnitude of dryland degradation is unknown at regional and global spatial scales and at 15-30-yr temporal scales. Historical archives of > 30 yr of Landsat satellite imagery exist and allow local to global monitoring and assessment of a landscape's natural resources in response to climatic events and human activities. Vegetation indices (VIs), i.e., proxies of vegetation characteristics such as phytomass, can be derived from the spectral properties of Landsat imagery. A dynamical systems analysis method called mean-variance analysis can be used to describe and quantify dynamic regimes of VI response to disturbance using characteristics of ecological resilience, particularly amplitude and malleability, from a change detection perspective. Amplitude is the magnitude of response of a VI to a disturbance; malleability is the degree of recovery of a resource after a disturbance. Spatially aggregate and spatially explicit (image) differencing are methods whereby a VI image or statistic from one time period is subtracted from a VI image or statistic from another time period. To illustrate this method, we used a time series of Landsat imagery from 1972 to 1987 to measure the response of vegetation communities that are managed by subsistence agropastoral communities to the severe 1982-1984 El Niño-induced drought on the Bolivian Altiplano. We found that the entire landscape had decreased vegetation cover, increased variance (diagnostic of a regime shift), and thus, increased susceptibility to soil erosion during the drought. The wet meadow vegetation cover class had the lowest amplitude and thus the most resilience relative to other vegetation cover classes. This response identified the wet meadow as a key resource, as well as a harbinger of climate change for agropastoral communities in areas where drought is an endemic stressor

Agribusiness Sheep Updates - 2004 part 2

Precision Pastures Using Species Diversity to Improve Pasture Performance Anyou Liu and Clinton Revell, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia New Annual Pasture Legumes for Sheep Graziers Phil Nichols, Angelo Loi, Brad Nutt and Darryl McClements Department of Agriculture Western Australia Pastures from Space – Can Satellite Estimates of Pasture Growth Rate be used to Increase Farm Profit? Lucy Anderton, Stephen Gherardi and Chris Oldham Department of Agriculture Western Australia Summer-active Perennial Grasses for Profitable Sheep Production Paul Sanford and John Gladman, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia Pastures From Space – Validation Of Predictions Of Pasture Growth Rates DONALD, G.E.A, EDIRISINGHE, A.A, HENRY, D.A.A, MATA, G.A, GHERARDI, S.G.B, OLDHAM, C.M.B, GITTINS, S.P.B AND SMITH, R. C. G.C ACSIRO, Livestock Industries, PMB 5, Wembley, WA, 6913. BDepartment of Agriculture Western Australia, Bentley, WA, 6983. C Department of Land Information Western Australia, Floreat, WA, 6214. Production and Management of Biserrula Pasture - Managing the Risk of Photosensitivity Dr Clinton Revell and Roy Butler, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Meat Quality of Sheep Grazed on a Saltbush-based Pasture Kelly Pearce1,2, David Masters1, David Pethick2, 1 CSIRO LIVESTOCK INDUSTRIES, WEMBLEY, WA 2 SCHOOL OF VETERINARY AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE, MURDOCH UNIVERSITY, MURDOCH, WA Precision Sheep Lifetime Wool – Carryover Effects on Subsequent Reproduction of the Ewe Flock Chris Oldham, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Andrew Thompson, Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic), Dept of Primary Industries, Hamilton, Vic Ewe Productivity Trials - a Linked Analysis Ken Hart, Johan Greeff, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Beth Paganoni, School of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Australia. Grain Finishing Systems For Prime Lambs Rachel Kirby, Matt Ryan, Kira Buttler, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia The Effects of Nutrition and Genotype on the Growth and Development, Muscle Biochemistry and Consumer Response to Lamb Meat David Pethick, Department of Veterinary Science, Murdoch University, WA, Roger Heggarty and David Hopkins, New South Wales Agriculture ‘Lifetime Wool’ - Effects of Nutrition During Pregnancy and Lactation on Mortality of Progeny to Hogget Shearing Samantha Giles, Beth Paganoni and Tom Plaisted, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Mark Ferguson and Darren Gordon, Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic), Dept of Primary Industries, Hamilton, Vic Lifetime Wool - Target Liveweights for the Ewe Flock J. Young, Farming Systems Analysis Service, Kojonup, C. Oldham, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, A. Thompson, Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic), Hamilton, VIC Lifetime Wool - Effects of Nutrition During Pregnancy and Lactation on the Growth and Wool Production of their Progeny at Hogget Shearing B. Paganoni, University of Western Australia, Nedlands WA, C. Oldham, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, M. Ferguson, A. Thompson, Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic), Hamilton, VIC RFID Technology – Esperance Experiences Sandra Brown, Department of Agriculture Western Australia The Role of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology in Prime Lamb Production - a Case Study. Ian McFarland, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia. John Archer, Producer, Narrogin, Western Australia Win with Twins from Merinos John Milton, Rob Davidson, Graeme Martin and David Lindsay The University of Western Australia Precision Sheep Need Precision Wool Harvesters Jonathan England, Castle Carrock Merinos, Kingston SE, South Australia Business EBVs and Indexes – Genetic Tools for your Toolbox Sandra Brown, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Green Feed Budget Paddock Calculator Mandy Curnow, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Minimising the Impact of Drought - Evaluating Flock Recovery Options using the ImPack Model Karina P. Wood, Ashley K. White, B. Lloyd Davies, Paul M. Carberry, NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI), Lifetime Wool - Modifying GrazFeed® for WA Mike Hyder, Department of Agriculture Western Australia , Mike Freer, CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra, A.C.T. , Andrew van Burgel, and Kazue Tanaka, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Profile Calculator – A Way to Manage Fibre Diameter Throughout the Year to Maximise Returns Andrew Peterson, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia Pasture Watch - a Farmer Friendly Tool for Downloading and Analysing Pastures from Space Data Roger Wiese,Fairport Technologies International, South Perth, WA, Stephen Gherardi, BDepartment of Agriculture Western Australia, Gonzalo Mata, CCSIRO, Livestock Industries, Wembley, Western Australia, and Chris Oldham, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Sy Sheep Cropping Systems An Analysis of a Cropping System Containing Sheep in a Low Rainfall Livestock System. Evan Burt, Amanda Miller, Anne Bennett, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia Lucerne-based Pasture for the Central Wheatbelt – is it Good Economics? Felicity FluggeA, Amir AbadiA,B and Perry DollingA,B,A CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity: BDept. of Agriculture, WA Sheep and Biserrula can Control Annual Ryegrass Dean Thomas, John Milton, Mike Ewing and David Lindsay, The University of WA, Clinton Revell, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia Sustainable Management Pasture Utilisation, Fleece Weight and Weaning Rate are Integral to the Profitability of Dohnes and SAMMs. Emma Kopke,Department of Agriculture Western Australia, John Young, Farming Systems Analysis Service Environmental Impact of Sheep Confinement Feeding Systems E A Dowling and E K Crossley, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia Smart Grazing Management for Production and Environmental Outcomes Dr Brien E (Ben) Norton, Centre for the Management of Arid Environments, Curtin University of Technology, WA Common Causes of Plant Poisoning in the Eastern Wheatbelt of Western Australia. Roy Butler, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia Selecting Sheep for Resistance to Worms and Production Trait Responses John Karlsson, Johan Greeff, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Geoff Pollott, Imperial College, London UK Production and Water Use of Lucerne and French Serradella in Four Soil Types, Diana Fedorenko1,4, Darryl McClements2,4 and Robert Beard3,4, 12Department of Agriculture, Western Australia; 3Farmer, Meckering; 4CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity. Worm Burdens in Sheep at Slaughter Brown Besier, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Una Ryan, Caroline Bath, Murdoch Universit

Grazing Management Can Improve Livestock Distribution: Increasing accessible forage and effective grazing capacity

On the Ground • By managing for more even animal distribution, ranch managers can increase the amount of forage accessible to livestock and raise their effective grazing capacity. • Smaller paddocks and higher stocking density improve the distribution of grazing in each paddock. • A landscape of many, smaller paddocks will spread grazing pressure more evenly than one of fewer, larger paddocks.The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202

Paddock Size and Stocking Density Affect Spatial Heterogeneity of Grazing

The claim that intensive rotational grazing (IRG) can sustain higher stocking rates can be partially explained by more even spatial distribution of grazing such that livestock consume forage from a greater proportion of a pasture. To test the hypothesis that utilization is more even at the higher stocking densities of smaller paddocks, mean absolute deviation (heterogeneity) of utilization estimates by plot was compared in paddocks of sizes and stocking densities representing increasing subdivision from two-paddock deferred rotation grazing (DRG) to 16-, 32-, and 64-paddock, two-cycle IRG. These 70-, 4-, 2-, and 1-ha paddocks were grazed for 7 wk, 4 d, 2 d, and 1 d, respectively, at 32 animal unit days (AUD) ha-1 during 2000 and 34 AUD ha-1 during 2001. Within IRG there was no response to the treatment gradient. After one cycle in the IRG paddocks, heterogeneity of use was generally lower than in the DRG paddocks, in both 2000 (3-11% [outlier 18%] vs. 14-19%) and 2001 (9-17% vs. 24-28%). After a second cycle in 2001, heterogeneity in half of the IRG paddocks (17-21%) was nearly as high as the early-grazed (24%), but not the late-grazed (28%), of the DRG paddocks. This lack of a stronger difference between systems was probably due to the fixed two-cycle IRG schedule and lack of plant growth during the nongrazing interval. Across both systems heterogeneity of utilization was strongly positively correlated with paddock size. Because utilization was not severely patchy in the largest treatment, the difference between systems would likely be greater in commercial-scale paddocks. Thus grazing distribution can be more even under intensive than extensive management, but this depends on how adaptively the system, particularly the aspects of timing and frequency, is managed. The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202

Chapter 03: Ecology and Natural Resources of San Jose Llanga

Development and change in traditional societies is strongly affected by interactions between humans and their natural environments. Management practices used by most low-input, rural societies represent an amalgamation of technologies, social rules and organisational structures that have been tested over time and found suitable for sustainable exploitation of resources. In many cases, however, changes in population, social values, market opportunities, government policies or technology alter a delicate balance between humans and sustainable resource use. Given these critical relationships, a thorough knowledge of the biophysical environment is essential to comprehend and attempt to improve low-input production systems such as SJL. Our overall purpose in this chapter is to characterise the environment and natural resources of the Cantón of SJL. This is accomplished in two steps. First the climate, surficial geology, hydrology, soils and vegetation are described. Descriptions include brief accounts of land use (i.e., cultivation, grazing, fuel wood collection, etc.) for broadly defined geomorphic units. Second, an analysis is presented concerning selected aspects of ecosystem dynamics at various spatial and temporal scales.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/sustaining_agropastoralism/1002/thumbnail.jp

Sieve Structures to Control Gully Erosion on the Borana Plateau

Gully erosion is a widespread problem in the Borana plateau. Gullies are the main pathway for sediment accumulation in community ponds, especially during heavy rains, which reduces pond capacity. Sediment movement in gullies can be substantially reduced by installation of sieve structures that slow down water flows and allow sediment to settle out of suspension. Sieves can be easily constructed from trees by community labour at low cost. The community should develop a landscape-level plan and follow a suitable sieve design. Project Kalo collaborators have demonstrated that a series of sieve structures down a secondary gully in the Dikale pond enclosure can effectively trap sediment. The main gullies feeding ponds have large catchments generating rushing flood-waters that destroy sieve structures downstream. The appropriate, comprehensive treatment is to begin at the gully head with brush barriers to steer overland flows away from the gully, and branch layers to protect the head cut itself. When gully head treatments are accompanied by a series of sieves in the main channel, gully erosion can be arrested, gully floor and walls revegetated and sediement captured. This approach has been validated by OARI colleagues at the Kobo Watershed gully and on a degraded portion of the Beke pond catchment. It has also proven successful in small channels at Dikale and other enclosures

Enclosures for Rehabilitating Pond Catchments and Implications for Grazing Management on the Borana Plateau

Boran pastoralists say they have one over-riding problem: Limited drinking water for both people and livestock. Ponds are therefore a critical resource. However, lack of livestock control in pond catchments subjects them to heavy grazing and trampling that creates landscapes vulnerable to erosion. Ponds collect sediment after rainfall events and water holding capacity is reduced We wanted to test a system to improve the managements of pond catchments. In March 2014 we erected bush fences to enclose catchments surrounding on demonstration pond in each of four Pastoral Associations. The purpose was to prevent unregulated livestock access and allow recovery of vegetation to trap sediment before it could reach the ponds. In June 2014 a sampling program was introduced to quantify ecological improvements evident after the first rainy season. Permanent 1-m2 plots were established inside and outside the enclosures. They were sampled for plant cover (%) and species presence in June 2014, November 2014, and June 2015. Protection from livestock grazing for only one year led to a 400% increase in plant cover overall. Increases in cover tended to be greater on sites that had less cover to begin with. The pastoralists report that the increased cover has reduced pond sedimentation and improved water quality. In addition, protection from grazing improved plant biodiversity. Altogether, 64 plant species were recorded, half of which appeared for the first time in November, 2014. Perennial grasses responded dramatically to protection, which is important given that the Boran highly value their cattle, and cattle prefer to eat grass forage. The implications of these results go far beyond a program of pond rehabilitation. Short-term protection from livestock should be incorporated into a grazing management strategy planned and implemented by the pastoral community at the landscape level