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Geospatial Assessment of Grazing Regime Shifts and Sociopolitical Changes in a Mongolian Rangeland
Author
Sankey, Temuulen Tsagaan
Sankey, Joel B.
Weber, Keith T
Montagne, Cliff
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2009-11-01
Body

Drastic changes have occurred in Mongolia’s grazing land management over the last two decades, but their effects on rangelands are ambiguous. Temporal trends in Mongolia’s rangeland condition have not been well documented relative to the effects of long-term management changes. This study examined changes in grazing land use and rangeland biomass associated with the transition from the socialist collective to the current management systems in the Tsahiriin tal area of northern Mongolia. Grazing lands in Tsahiriin tal that were formerly managed by the socialist collective are now used by numerous nomadic households with their privately owned herds, although the lands remain publicly owned. Grazing pressure has more than tripled and herd distribution has changed from a few spatially clustered large herds of sheep to numerous smaller herds of multiple species. Landsat image- derived normalized-difference vegetation index estimates suggest that rangeland biomass significantly decreased (P < 0.001) from the collective to the postcollective periods. The observed decrease was significantly correlated with changes in the grazing management system and increased stocking density (P < 0.001), even when potential climate-induced changes were considered. Furthermore, field- and Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre imagery-based rangeland assessments in 2007 and 2008 indicate that current rangeland biomass is low. Spatial pattern analyses show that the low biomass is uniform throughout the study site. The observed decrease in rangeland biomass might be further accelerated if current grazing land use continues with no formal rangeland management institution or organized, well-structured efforts by the local herding households.  The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2111/.1/REM-D-09-00014.1
Additional Information
Sankey, T. T., Sankey, J. B., Weber, K. T., & Montagne, C. (2009). Geospatial assessment of grazing regime shifts and sociopolitical changes in a Mongolian rangeland. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 62(6), 522-530.
ISSN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/643058
Journal Volume
62
Journal Number
6
Journal Pages
522-530
Collection
Rangeland Ecology & Management (REM)
Journal Name
Rangeland Ecology & Management
Keywords
GIS
GPS
grassland biomass
remote sensing