Rangeland responses to pastoralists' grazing management on a Tibetan steppe grassland, Qinghai Province, China

摘要: Livestock grazing is the principal land use in arid central Asia, and range degradation considered a serious problem within much of high-elevation region western China termed Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). Rangeland on QTP variously attributed to poor livestock management, historical-cultural factors, changing tenure arrangements or socioeconomic systems, climate change, damage from small mammals. Few studies have examined currently managed pastures using detailed data capable isolating fine-scale livestock–vegetation interactions. The aim study was understand how differences among (primarily sheep) management strategies pastoralists during winter affected subsequent rangeland condition productivity. Plant species composition, annual herbage mass, indicators erosion were quantified four summers (2009–2012) by 11 different steppe Qinghai Province, China. Data came repeated-measurements 317 systematically located permanent plots, as well pastoralist interviews GPS-equipped livestock. Relationships between weather variation mass modelled an independent set vegetation measurements obtained exclosures. Account taken inherent site pastures. Annual found be best fitted model containing negative function winter-season temperature positive spring-season temperature. Accounting for effects, significant most response variables, suggesting that individual heterogeneity approaches had consequences, even neighbouring pastoralists. preferred plant positively associated, whereas unpreferred negatively with mean sheep density intensity use. However, proportion bare soil, index erosion, forbs relationships pressure preceding winter, live cover grasses related. Thus, spatial scale, responded adaptively while not responding total mass. Pastoralists stocked more heavily, used regions intensively, where higher cover. high, downward temporal trends exacerbated. Pastures at lower did experience seen those density.