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Given the growing research on traditional ecological knowledge and its use in resource management, there is a need to understand the relationship between indicators used by researchers and those used by local people. Here we develop consolidated indicators that both local people and researchers can use. To better understand indicators used by pastoralists, we conducted in-depth field interviews with 26 herders in three ecological zones of Mongolia. We asked each herder to assess the condition of three different sites located along a livestock use gradient from their winter camp, and to describe the indicators they used in their assessment. We collected plant foliar cover, species richness, and soil surface characteristics, and compared these scientific measures of condition with the ratings and indicators used by herders. Across all ecological zones, herders used similar indicators to assess condition, including plant height, vegetation density, plant types, and the extent of bare ground. Herders described heavily used pastures as less densely vegetated (siireg). Statistical correlation between herder ratings and total foliar cover were positive and significant in all zones. Herders in the desert steppe indicated heavily used pastures have few plant types compared to lightly used pastures, whereas herders in the mountain and forest steppe indicated heavily used pastures have more bare ground and less litter compared to lightly used pastures. Correspondingly, we found that desert steppe herders� ratings were significantly correlated with field measurements of species richness, and mountain and forest steppe herders� ratings were significantly negatively correlated with bare ground and positively correlated with litter cover. Overall, our study shows a strong and positive relationship between the herders� ratings of rangeland conditions and the measured ecological variables. These results show promise for developing integrated indicators and monitoring protocols that are meaningful, credible and useful to herders, managers and scientists.