To paraphrase E.O. Wilson, without insects the world would collapse into chaos. In this study, we found that increasing grazing pressure altered invertebrate assemblages of a grassy woodland of the northern Australian rangelands, with fewer invertebrates where grazing was highest. Encouragingly, we found that the decomposer food cycle adjusted to match the changed resource availability, but the downside was that, in terms of absolute invertebrate abundance, the resource base for birds and other insect-eaters was diminished as grazing pressure increased.

Herbivory has degraded rangelands throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Native biodiversity in arid rangeland near Dubai was found to be higher in areas closer to the city, likely due to lower browsing pressure. Semi-wild herbivores were repelled by the human presence, and communal regulation of camel browsing was more effective in the urban periphery.

Research on livestock often targets commercial benefits of livestock while neglecting household-oriented benefits. The main objectives of raising cattle were studied by using the analytical hierarchy procedure. The findings showed that 98% of households raise livestock to derive non-market benefits such as draft power, saving and financing and insurance, which highlights the importance of taking into account the objectives of livestock keepers when formulating policies.

Understanding longstanding relationships between livestock and plant species is critical for heterogeneous rangelands where site-specific properties might interact with grazing effects to ultimately structure plant communities. We investigated how grazing reintroduction affected grassland plants across topographic sites and found native cover to be higher, and invasive cover and native richness to be lower in grazed plots. Although we generally did not find expected relationships between site and plant response to grazing, this work demonstrates how managers can use livestock to quickly modify plant communities in areas with a long history of grazing absence.

An investigation into the germination requirements for a toxic agricultural weed; Heliotropium europaeum was conducted. Key germination factors observed included that higher temperature regimes promoted germination, as did higher water availability. Seedling emergence was inhibited by planting seeds below 0.5 cm, as well as exposing them to radiant heats of 100°C or more. Our study showed that seedling emergence could be reduced by implementing tillage and/or fire as recommended.

Fencing to exclude predators of livestock in rangelands grazing enterprises can have both private and public benefits and Australian governments have shown some willingness to contribute to the construction of such fences on those grounds. This study shows how contingent loans might be used to manage a public–private cost sharing arrangement that allows for the recovery of some or even all public investment over time and yet limits the financial risks to landholders.

Sustainable rangeland management (SRM) aims to create a balance between humans, livestock and rangelands, which can be translated into various livelihood alternatives and multiple criteria. To approach SRM, we applied multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques and determined the most appropriate livelihood alternatives for the Bazoft region located in south-west Iran. Our findings suggested that the application of MCDM techniques to identifying users’ livelihood alternatives and to structuring the main selection criteria can usefully inform decision-making in the context of SRM.