An accessible reference to the grasses and grazers of this region, Veronica Roodt’s book details the fascinating ways in which these plants and animals have evolved together. The book covers: some 100 grass species (includes sketches and photographs of each species) that are preferred livestock and wild game fodder and that serve as indicators of veld condition; the role of grasses in the food chain; grass anatomy and growth; how grazers have evolved to survive on grasses, both physically and in terms of their behaviour; significant grazers that occur in the region and that play a vital role in shaping the savanna biome, and effective grassland management practices. Nature lovers, farmers, students and tourists who seek an in-depth look at the interactions between grasses and the grazers that depend on them for life need look no further than this invaluable guide.

Tucked away between the perennial waterways of the Okavango Delta and the arid Kalahari to the south are the legendary Makgadikgadi Pans. Some 12,000 square kilometres in extent, these salt flats, consisting of two large salt pans, Sowa and Ntwetwe, and a myriad smaller ones, are Botswana’s best-kept secret and one of its fastest-growing tourist attractions. In this first guidebook on the pans and their environs, Makgadikgadi Pans – A Traveller’s Guide to Botswana’s Salt Flats explores this fascinating region, bringing to life its geology, wildlife, vegetation, climate, local economy and key destinations: Nata Bird Sanctuary, Lekhubu Island, the Boteti River, Mosu Escarpment, Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Park, and the towns and villages that fringe the pans. Full-colour maps and lively photographs support the text. Additional features include advice on where to stay; sights to see and how to get there; activities on offer throughout the year; contact details; and a travel advisory. Informative, practical and user-friendly, Makgadikgadi Pans is an inspiring guide for all visitors to Botswana and the alluring salt sea of the Makgadikgadi.Sales points: The only guidebook on Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pans, an increasingly popular tourist region; features the region’s myriad attractions, both well known and off the beaten track; practical and handy guide to things to do, sites to see, facilities and accommodation; full-colour maps show main places of interest and how to get there.

During the nineteenth century, ivory hunting caused a substantial decrease of elephant numbers in southern Africa. Soon after that, populations of many other large and medium-sized herbivores went into steep decline due to the rinderpest pandemic in the 1890s. These two events provided an opportunity for woodland establishment in areas previously intensively utilized by elephants and other herbivores. The return of elephants to currently protected areas of their former range has greatly influenced vegetation locally and the resulting potential negative effects on biodiversity are causing concern among stakeholders, managers, and scientists. This book focuses on the ecological effects of the increasing elephant population in northern Botswana, presenting the importance of the elephants for the heterogeneity of the system, and showing that elephant ecology involves much wider spatiotemporal scales than was previously thought. Drawing on the results of their research, the authors discuss elephant-caused effects on vegetation in nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor savannas, and the potential competition between elephants on the one hand and browsers and mixed feeders on the other. Ultimately this text provides a comprehensive review of ecological processes in African savannas, covering long-term ecosystem changes and human-wildlife conflicts. It summarises new knowledge on the ecology of the sub-humid African savanna ecosystems to advance the general functional understanding of savanna ecosystems across moisture and nutrient gradients.

Demonstrates how Africa's physical features, savannas and abundant grazers enabled frugivorous apes to become savanna-living hunters.

An interdisciplinary text on the world's savannas, covering the geography, ecology, economics and politics of savanna regions. Savannas are a distinct vegetation type, covering a third of the world's land surface area and supporting a fifth of the world's population. There has been a wide range of literature on the subject, but the majority of work has focused on the ecology or development of savanna areas, ignoring the wider interdisciplinary issues affecting contemporary savannas. World Savannas aims to buck this trend, providing students with an up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to the global importance of savannas.

Issues for Nov. 1957- include section: Accessions. Aanwinste, Sept. 1957-

"Ultimately, we can all trace our origins back to the savannas of Africa. Robin Reid's book provides an eloquent introduction into the biology of the savannas that shaped us as humans; simultaneously, she provides an insightful and comprehensive overview of current and future threats to East African savannas and the steps that need to be taken to conserve the world we first lived in. Don't go to East Africa without first reading this book; it will enhance your safari and empower your research."–Andrew P. Dobson, author of Conservation and Biodiversity "Savannas of Our Birth provides a balanced, scientific, and accessible examination of the current state of East African savannas and the relationships among the wildlife and people who live there. Reid examines how savannas came to be and what alternative futures may be possible by trying to chart a middle ground in contentious debates about conservation and local rights."–J. Terrence McCabe, author of Cattle Bring Us to Our Enemies: Turkana Ecology, History, and Raiding in a Disequilibrium System "Reid's research focusing on pastoralists has reminded me that wildlife and domestic livestock co-existed to their mutual benefit for the last 2000 years. With reopened eyes, I've even seen it for myself in the case of the Masai and the savanna wildlife I study. There is an extraordinary wealth of information in this book."–Richard D. Estes, author of The Behavior Guide to African Mammals

This book is the most up to date and thorough account of the natural history of the plants that comprise the most important food crop on Earth, the grasses and grasslands.

Desertification has re-emerged as a topic of global significance as a consequence of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. When first addressed over a generation ago, attention was drawn to the compelling, spectacular images of sand dunes engulfing farmlands and parched cattle dying around wells. Research tended to focus on these events as unusual phenomena that involved the unfortunate collision of climate and `irrational' land use. Since then, the work of many researchers has shown us that desertification is a multifaceted problem that involves climatic, biogeochemical, political, and socio-economic processes that operate more or less continuously but at rates that vary in time and space. No attempts to arrest or reverse desertification that ignore this complexity are likely to succeed. In a single volume, `Desertification in Developed Countries' describes the multiple dimensions of desertification as well as the novel approaches that have been used to address it within the economies of developed countries. This is done from the perspectives and experiences of the numerous authors who have contributed to this book.

Fascinating and diverse, savanna ecosystems support a combination of pastoral and agropastoral communities alongside wild and domestic herbivores that can be found nowhere else. This diversity has made the study of these areas problematic. Ecosystem Function in Savannas: Measurement and Modeling at Landscape to Global Scales addresses some of the d