This article is an attempt to review and synthesize the present state of knowledge on the Sahel rangelands in a concise way. Ecological conditions, land use practices, livestock numbers, and livestock production systems are briefly analysed. Range types, dynamics, production, development strategy, and outlook are also reviewed. The conclusion that emerges is that the Sahel should be kept as breeding ground and included in a livestock production stratification strategy which should also involve the higher potential zones further south in the Sudanian and Guinean ecological zones. Such a development stategy implies the improvement of the conditions of range utilization in the Sahel, in particular a better definition of basic resources ownership (range and water) as well as of the marketing and prices policies.

Conservation, use, and development of adequate habitat are probably the most important factors in wild ungulate management. As the various demands on the habitat heighten, pressure on this dwindling resource will increase. To maintain viable wild ungulate populations with high sustainable yields for the future enjoyment and use, habitat management will have to be intensified. This review discusses rehabilitation of wild ungulate habitat, modification of range and forest practices, better use of existing habitat, and manipulation of numbers and distributions of wild ungulates. The amounts and kinds of habitat needed to maintain wild ungulate populations require more long-term research and better application of existing knowledge. Determination of the requirements for a given species will demand a much better understanding of how animals select and use habitat.

Stepwise regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between annual production of seven cold desert forage species and climate variables at different periods of the year. No significant regressions were found for production of Artemisia arbuscula var. nova, Oryzopsis hymenoides, or Sitanion hystrix with precipitation and temperature. For Artemisia tridentata, Atriplex confertifolia, Ceratoides lanata, and Atriples gardeneri, significant (p<.05) regressions were found between annual production and precipitation during the spring months. For Artemisia tridentata and Atriplex confertifolia, mean monthly temperature in March and April also appeared in the equations. Multiple regression was used to test the null hypothesis that the amount of variation in annual production explained by winter (November-February) or spring (March-June) precipitation was equal to zero. No significant (p<.05) linear relationship was found between winter precipitation and production, whereas such a relationship appeared more likely for spring precipitation and production of Artemixia tridentata, Ceratoides lanata, and Atriplex gardeneri.

Forage makes up a major portion of the rations of cattle and rate of animal gains varies widely within and among forage species grown. Forage production research has been highly productive, but research on increasing forage intake and digestibility by cattle has not been as successful. The literature suggests that resistance to change in specific gravity increases with the age of the plant, particularly with stems, and may increase time required for passage through the rumen and gut, reducing rate of intake. Leaves and leaf sheaths of grasses live for only part of a season and when they die soluble contents are translocated out to young tissue, leached by rainfall and metabolized by bacteria or by the plant leaf itself. Digestibility of dead leaves ranges from 40 to 60% of that of green leaves and when leaves die 15 to 40% of total production may be lost. Plant parts, leaf, leaf sheath, and stem, differ significantly in digestibility and rate of consumption. Variations in quality among forage cultivars may represent a basic difference in the amount of each component that is produced or is present when being grazed. Cultivars high in leaf content will be higher in quality than cultivars which produce more stem. Pasture or range management which maintains green leaves should produce more total forage and more total digestible nutrients than management which allow stems and dead leaves to accumulate. It is hypothesized that by understanding shoot growth in grasses and managing to prevent stem production and leaf death, forage quality over a season can be stabilized at a digestibility of 65% or higher. When processing forage samples, data on green leaves, leaf sheaths and stems, forage quality and digestibility, need to be collected to be descriptive of the species. On pastures or ranges, species with reproductive tillers tend to become stemmy in the summer, requiring defoliation to remove the stems and N application to activate new shoot growth. This is different from those species producing vegetative tillers where, over a season, dead leaves tend to accumulate. On perennial grass species with vegetative tillers, rate, and time of N application should be adjusted to stimulate tillering and green leaf growth. Under range conditions spring N application stimulates the growth of annuals which compete with the perennials. Thus, effective pasture management is expected to reflect manipulation of green leaf producton and utilization in the predominant tiller type present, usually the perennial.

Soil surface temperatures averaged 186, 398 and 393 degrees C for grass, shrub and forest communities, respectively. Higher temperatures were associated with head fires, more fuel and with woody fuels. Temperatures in headfires were higher but more variable than in backfires for the three types of vegetation. The aspen forest was found to be the most difficult to obtain complete burn coverage. Headfires and backfires went out more readily in this type than in shrubland or grassland.

A study was made on the forage selection of mule deer and cattle on summer range in the Douglasfir zone. Both ungulates showed a high preference for clover, willow, and fireweed. When the availability of these forages was not limiting, the percent of diet overlap was high. As their availability declined, diet overlap decreased as both deer and cattle were forced into their individual food niche. For cattle the niche was grass, while for deer it was shrubs. The effect of declining availability of preferred forages on the dietary composition was less for deer than for cattle. Presumably the greater ability of deer to be selective permitted them to utilize those forages despite reduced availability.

The Universal Soil Loss Equation was evaluated in rangeland conditions on a per-storm basis utilizing rainfall simulator data collected on 2,805 plots representing a variety of conditions in the western United States and Australia. The popular agriculturally oriented equation explained sediment yield with a low degree of accuracy for most rangeland conditions. The equation gave its most accurate predictions on mining spoils. Optimizing the equation with suitable exponents resulted in only a slight improvement in accounting for the variability in sediment yields.