Salt-tolerant plants occur all over the world in a number of different ecosystems, ranging from pristine alkaline semi-deserts and mangrove forests; through semi-natural meadows and pastures; to man-made habitats such as the environs of graduation towers; over irrigated arable lands with poor...

An initial assessment was undertaken of the productivity, nutrient value and botanical composition of eight representative native pastures on a range of clay soils, including three vertisols, in central Belize and the Belize River Valley under wet tropical conditions. Regular harvests indicated...

This chapter explores why meadows and similar 'meadow-like' landscapes are gaining popularity within an urban context. Further, the chapter discusses the role of grass-based plant communities in urban spaces; and provides details on changing the mowing regime to create a spring meadow, changing the ...

This chapter reviews the impact of climate change on, and the adaptation potential of, ecologically intensive systems such as those known in different parts of the world as organic farming, or agroecology. To fit into the rationale of this book, this chapter focuses on Latin America, and on the...

This paper reviews the relationship between the occurrence of four toxic Senecio species (S. brasiliensis, S. oxyphyllus, S. heterotrichius, and S. selloi) and the levels of vegetation cover in native grasslands in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was found that the vegetative...

This book contains 28 chapters with emphasis on the interactive nature of the relationships between the soil, plant, animal and environmental components of grassland systems, both natural and managed. It analyses the present knowledge and the future trends of research for combining the classical...

This chapter deals with the analysis of the role and importance of genetic diversity for a better adaptation of plant populations and communities, either in natural or in sown grasslands, with a discussion of the role and impact of inter- versus intra-specific diversity and their implications for...

The project "Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches for the Management of Ecosystems" (GEF-CATIE) promotes the establishment of silvopastoral systems. This is done by paying incentives for environmental services, mainly carbon storage and conservation of biodiversity. The hypothesis of the project is...

This book consists of edited and revised versions of the 20 invited papers presented at an International Symposium on Grassland Ecophysiology and Grazing Ecology held at Curitiba, Parana, Brazil on 24-26 August 1999. The papers are on the sustainability of grazing systems (1); environmental...

The main grazing ecosystems in the subtropical region of Brazil are discussed. Natural grasslands represent 66% of all land used for livestock production in the region and the major natural and cultivated grazing ecosystems and integrated arable crop/animal production systems are described. There...