A case of benign neglect

Time frame for the analysis

The time frame for the analysis was set to information published between 2000 and August 2018. Stakeholders at the Arendal working meeting debated on the best time frame for sampling, using an analysis of the chronology of information available through a Google Scholar search (see Figure 6). It is acknowledged that older publications may not yet be fully digitized and entered into Google Scholar. Itwas recognized that, inor around theyear 2000, there was a relative increase in research and documentation on pastoralists and rangelands, including a shift in paradigms and theoretical innovations. Participants also noted that the situation of pastoralists and

rangelands has evolved considerably in the past two decades, especially as evidenced from research showing various changes to areas, including major land-use change, desertification, drought and greening. For example, researchers have shown that the Sahel has gone through at least two cycles of drying and greening since 1972 and the so-called “desert boundary” line has shifted considerably (Mueller 2011). Thus, participants felt that any data produced before 2000 would not be immediately relevant for this study, though it was acknowledged that older data would be needed for future assessments in order to analyse trends and patterns where comparable data are available.

Dukha woman milking reindeer, East Taiga, Mongolia. Lawrence Hislop/GRID-Arendal

Number of hits

Rangelands

10,000

8,000

6,000

Pastoralism

4,000

Pastoralism and rangelands

2,000

0

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Figure 6: Accumulated hits in Google Scholar for three searches – ‘rangelands’, ‘pastoralism’ and ‘pastoralism and rangelands’ – over 55 years Source: Google Scholar, 11 September 2017.

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