The rangelands of Northern Tanzania are typical of many African savannas. They are home to signifcant populations of pastoralists, and hold globally important wildlife populations, yet there is widespread concern about their loss and degradation. Wildlife numbers are falling and poverty is high: degradation has been identifed as a key contributor to this problem but is not ubiquitous.

Across Northern Tanzanian rangelands there is considerable variation in the degree of degradation and in anthropogenic and environmental drivers of degradation. For example, in our study area, rainfall varies from 400 to 900 mm, human population from 5 to 35 people per km2 and livestock densities up to 250 head of cattle per km2. These landscape conditions are also moderated by a variety of conservation-related land use restrictions. The combination of all of these interacting components makes Northern Tanzania an ideal location to study the processes that shape recovery and resistance in rangeland dynamics.