Marked fence-line contrasts are visible outcomes of the effects of different natural resource managements in the dryland rangeland of southern Namibia. Within the framework of the interdisciplinary BIOTA Southern Africa project, comparative investigations were carried out on a pair of permanently marked Biodiversity Observatories (i.e. standardised research sites) at the Gellap Ost Research Station and the neighbouring Nuwefontein and Nabaos Communal Land. Results show that on the historically more intensively used communal farms, there is an overall decline in perennial vegetation, especially within low-growing life-forms.