Rangelands as dynamic systems — role of wildlife in rangelands

Abstract

Rangelands in southern Africa are increasingly being used for conservation, ecotourism, game farming and hunting. This impacts people's livelihoods and the state of natural resources. Complimentarity and competition between wildlife and domestic livestock can be explored Theme: This session focuses on ecosystem process in savanna with an aim to understanding the different roles of wildlife and domestic stock in the ecosystem. The objective is to understand how we can better manage such systems through either multi-use or single use (i.e. only wildlife or only stock) while sustaining the system into the future. We address the following emerging issues through the symposium and associated posters: (1) complexity (and/or heterogeneity) and (2) scale as factors affecting: (i) productivity, (ii) resistance, (iii) stability, and (iv) sustainability of the ecosystem. We focus on African savanna as the major case studies, but draw on case studies (particularly in the posters) from other systems.