Climate change has intensified extreme weather events worldwide, such as droughts, which have severely affected South Africa’s rangelands by reducing productivity and increasing livestock mortality. This study aimed to investigate variability in grazing capacities and stocking rates with respect to land tenure, long-term grazing capacity norms, field surveys, and farmer perceptions during and post-drought conditions in the three biomes in South Africa. In-person interviews and field surveys were conducted with 85 farmers from the Grassland (n = 25), Savanna (n = 35), and Nama-Karoo (n = 30) biomes and vegetation condition was surveyed during or after the drought. Grazing capacity did not differ significantly across land tenure systems in the Savanna biomes (p > 0.05), but significant differences were found in the Grassland and Nama-Karoo biomes (p< 0.05). Over > 60% of farmers in the Nama-Karoo biome rated their rangeland condition as poor because of the drought, and field surveys showed that grazing capacities were four times lower than the national recommended grazing capacity norm. Considering the high inter-annual variability in vegetation productivity and differences in farmers’ perceptions based on local knowledge, it is recommended that the Department of Agriculture adopt flexible grazing capacity ranges in the regulations of the Conservation of Agricultural Resource Act 43 of 1983.

This study assessed rangeland management practices and perceptions of livestock farmers towards rangeland degradation in the Moretele communal areas of North West Province, South Africa. Understanding these issues is crucial for developing interventions to improve rangeland productivity and sustainability. A semi-structured questionnaire surveyed 106 randomly selected communal farmers across four villages (Lebalangwa, Mmakgabetlwane, Noroki, & Swartdam). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software. The majority of participants were males. Most farmers had less than years of farming experience, and most were farming with mixed livestock (cattle, sheep, and goats). Based on the farmers' perceptions, over 70% of the farmers agreed that rangelands are overgrazed and considered the condition of the rangelands to have declined dramatically over time. The most important traditional rangeland management strategy adopted by the farmers was mobility. Better pastures and water access were common reasons for mobility across all areas. The study suggests that, in future, development agencies and government must work closely with local communities to train and empower them in rangeland management skills.

Seed dispersal has become an important component in understanding plant–animal interaction. Recently, there have been concerns about the role of ruminants, particularly browsers, in the dispersal of woody plant seeds. This study aimed to determine whether including Vachellia nilotica seeds in livestock, diets could reduce the spread of viable seeds in the rangelands and control bush encroachment. The shoots and seed pods of Vachellia nilotica were harvested and analyzed for fiber, protein, and mineral nutrients at different seed pods inclusion rates, with or without a feed additive. Six diets were selected for feeding 24 goats and quantifying seed recovery and germination after ingestion. Results indicated that including seed pods and feed additives to Vachellia nilotica shoots significantly improved the quality of the fodder. Chipping the seed pods prior to including them in the diet resulted in 13% intact seed recovery, and approximately 2% of these seeds were recovered after ingestion. These recovered seeds were mostly still viable but were still dormant as seed coats were not sufficiently damaged after ingestion. Therefore, viable seeds may still be dispersed in the rangeland, leading to further bush encroachment.

Coal mining is known to have negative impacts on the environment, necessitating land rehabilitation after mining activities. Amongst the problems associated with coal mining is the accumulation of acid mine drainage characterized by large amounts of heavy metals and high acidity. The impact of these environmental problems on the ecosystem around mining areas underscores a need to devise strategies that will ensure sustainable restoration of the ecosystem integrity to ensure environmental protection. Of these, treatment of acid mine drainage using calcium sulfate dihydrate, which is subsequently used for irrigation during phytoremediation, holds great promise for restoration of open-cast mines. However, although grasses are used for rehabilitation of coal mined areas, the impacts of treated mine water on the germination, seedling emergence, and plant growth of grasses are not well known. The aim of the study was to evaluate the germination and early seedling growth responses of different forage grasses to treated mine water. Seven forage grass species were selected, with four species represented by two varieties while others were represented by one variety, totaling 11 forage grasses. For each plant entry, 100 seeds were placed in J.R. Petri’s dishes lined with Whatman No. 2 filter paper and watered with distilled and mine water to assess germination. For the seedling establishment experiment, only five species were studied, in which twenty seeds per species were sown in pots containing mine soil and irrigated using distilled and treated mine water. The final germination percentage (FGP), germination rate index (GRI), corrected germination rate index (CGRI), and T₅₀ were determined for the germination trail and total biomass was assessed for the seedling growth trail. The highest FGP for all grasses was attained under controlled conditions, using distilled water, ranging from 38–94%. All grasses germinated when watered using treated mine water and had a FGP ranging from 20–91%. Relative to distilled water, GRI and CGRI were highest only for L. multiflorum cv AgriBoost when seeds were watered using the treated mine water. All grasses watered with treated mine water produced high biomass for the first two weeks, after which biomass production started to decline. Two grasses, Eragrostis curvula cv Ermelo and Lolium multiflorum cv Archie, showed tolerance to treated mine water irrespective of its high electrical conductivity (557 mS∙m⁻¹). Therefore, these grasses could be used in the rehabilitation of coal-mined areas irrigated with treated mine water.

Approximately 590,000 km2 of rangelands were severely affected by drought, leading to a significant decline in rangeland productivity and an increase in livestock mortality across South Africa. This study aimed to understand variability in grazing capacities and stocking rates regarding land tenure, long-term grazing capacity norms, field surveys, and farmer perceptions under and post-drought conditions in the three biomes in South Africa. In-person interviews and field surveys were conducted with 85 farmers; Grassland (n=25), Savanna (n=35), and Nama Karoo (n=30) biomes during a drought period were interviewed, and vegetation condition was surveyed after a drought period. Grazing capacity did not differ significantly across land tenure systems in the Savanna biomes (p>0.05), but significant differences were found in the Grassland and Nama-Karoo biomes (p< 0.05). Over >60% of farmers in the Nama-Karoo biome rated their rangeland condition as poor due to the drought, and field surveys showed that grazing capacities were four times lower than the national recommended grazing capacity norm. The study concluded that the Department of Agriculture should adopt flexible, climate-responsive grazing capacity guidelines since the current and fixed grazing capacity norms do not account for the sharp decline in grazing capacity during drought.