Functional systems integration: a framework for reconciling livestock production and wild herbivore conservation in nature-positive rangelands

Reconciling livestock production, wild herbivore conservation and human well-being remains a persistent challenge in rangeland management. Conventional approaches have largely pursued these objectives through separate production and conservation strategies, reinforcing a production–conservation trade-off while overlooking the ecological and institutional processes linking them. This narrative review synthesises literature identified through Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect across diverse rangeland systems globally. It examines the roles of institutional and governance arrangements, landscape management, and ecosystem functioning in livestock–wild herbivore coexistence. The synthesis identifies a recurring management disconnect between livestock production and wild herbivore conservation in rangeland systems experiencing conflict and degradation. The review therefore proposes Functional Systems Integration (FSI) as a conceptual framework for managing livestock production and wild herbivore conservation within a shared social–ecological system. FSI brings together institutions, spatial planning, and ecosystem processes to support coordinated governance and landscape connectivity while pursuing production, conservation, and livelihood goals. It shifts the focus of rangeland management towards sustaining the processes that underpin multifunctional landscapes. FSI remains a conceptual framework rather than a validated management model, and its applicability requires empirical testing across contrasting rangeland contexts. Two priorities are identified for advancing FSI from concept to practice: testing mechanisms for FSI governance, assessment, and monitoring in integrated livestock–wild herbivore systems, and developing measurable indicators across its institutional, spatial, and ecological dimensions.