Professor Vetter’s research spotlights a looming ecological crisis the world refuses to see

By Lance Myburgh

 

They stretch from the Gobi Desert to the Australian Outback, from the North American prairies to the African savannas. They feed more than a billion people, store a third of the world’s terrestrial carbon, and shelter a quarter of all human languages and cultures. And yet, rangelands – the sweeping grasslands, shrublands and savannas of the world – remain largely invisible in political discourse.

“Rangelands are hugely important for global ecosystems,” said Professor Susanne Vetter, Head of Botany at Rhodes University, during her inaugural lecture on 5 August 2025. “They are one of the few land uses that are both highly productive and economically important, but do so in coexistence with most of the natural biodiversity and natural processes.”

Prof Vetter has spent her career studying these vast, living systems – and warning about the threats they face. Population growth, urban expansion, land conversion for crops, overgrazing, invasive species and climate change are all tightening their grip. In some cases, even well-intentioned interventions have made matters worse.

One example is the push to plant trees in rangelands to offset carbon emissions; often driven by countries far removed from the land in question. “These projects usually come from other parts of the world that the rangeland users have had nothing to do with,” Prof Vetter noted. “They can compromise the ecosystem services rangelands provide, and the people who depend on them.”

Her research weaves together ecology, anthropology and sustainability science, recognising rangelands as both ecological powerhouses and cultural heartlands. A billion people – mostly pastoralists and livestock farmers – rely on them not just for food, but for identity and survival. These landscapes have evolved to withstand extremes: grasses and shrubs, inedible to humans, are transformed by grazing animals into milk, meat and livelihoods.

But resilience is not invincibility. Climate change is pushing droughts to new extremes, altering fire regimes, and shifting vegetation in ways that can erode both biodiversity and food security. Prof Vetter’s work has often centred on one deceptively simple question: under what conditions do rangelands thrive, and when do they begin to break down?

One of her key contributions has been unpacking the “key resource hypothesis” – the idea that dry-season resources (such as perennial rivers or high-altitude grazing areas) regulate the size and health of livestock populations far more than the lush but fleeting wet-season pastures.

Her fieldwork in the Richtersveld, on South Africa’s north-western border, put this to the test. There, the Orange River provides a rare, year-round source of green forage. By tracking over 500 tagged goats, her team found that “the denser the goat population, the poorer the body condition — especially in the driest of the three study years.” Mortality rose, pregnancies dropped, and kid survival fell, all linked to the pressure on those key dry-season foraging areas.

The findings carry a stark policy message: protecting and ensuring access to key resources during drought can make the difference between survival and collapse for pastoralist livelihoods. Yet these very areas are often the first to be taken for agriculture, development or conservation projects that exclude traditional users.

Prof Vetter’s research has also challenged the long-standing management orthodoxy that maintaining lower livestock numbers is always better for both the land and the animals. In highly variable climates, she has shown, rangeland systems can swing between equilibrium and non-equilibrium states – and managing them requires knowing which applies when. Misreading the system can be as damaging as outright neglect.

Her approach has never been purely about data. She has spent time in the field with pastoralists in Ethiopia and different provinces of South Africa, listening to how they navigate the land’s rhythms and stresses. “It’s about going in with open eyes and finding the interesting question,” she said. “Then letting the methods be informed by what needs to be done – even if that takes you outside your comfort zone.”

For Prof Vetter, the stakes extend far beyond science. The loss of rangelands is not just an environmental crisis; it is a dismantling of cultures, languages and ways of life honed over centuries. Protecting them is protecting biodiversity and carbon stores, yes – but also the social fabric of communities that have adapted to live in balance with them.

Rhodes University’s support for this kind of research underscores its role in serving the common good. By backing interdisciplinary work that bridges environmental science and human wellbeing, the institution is positioning itself at the forefront of global sustainability efforts.

The challenges are urgent, but the solutions are within reach – if policies and investments recognise rangelands for what they are: an irreplaceable foundation of planetary health. As Prof Vetter’s work makes clear, securing their future will mean shifting the conversation from marginal lands to central priorities, from overlooked to indispensable.

Because in the quiet, windswept expanses where grass meets sky, the fate of over a billion people, countless species and a vast store of the planet’s carbon is being decided. And if we fail to notice, we risk losing a lifeline we didn’t even realise we depended on.