Rangeland Ecology & Management

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An intrinsic mechanism for the co-existence of different survival strategies within mobile pastoralist communities
Author
Okayasu, Tomoo
Okuro, Toshiya
Jamsran, Undarmaa
Takeuchi, Kazuhiko
Publisher
Agricultural Systems
Publication Year
2010
Body

In mobile pastoralism, strategies of mobility are highly heterogeneous within communities; some herders are frequently mobile and others are not. Moreover, pastoral mobility changes over time, especially after external intervention. Although changes in the strategies of herders affect and are affected by other herders, the interactions between herders with different strategies and the effect of changes in the external environment on their strategies have not been explicitly studied. We examined such interactions with a multi-agent model, simulating the herders basic decision-making process, simplified rangeland ecosystem, and animal survival. The results showed clear co-existence of wealthy and poor herders at an intermediate cost of moving. The movement pattern revealed that an indirect interaction between wealthy and poor herders was the key to their co-existence, suggesting that very simple rules of pastoral mobility inherently contain a mechanism for the co-existence of wealthy and poor herders. At an intermediate cost of moving, the two groups have access to different pastures, thus reducing direct competition for poor herders and enabling their survival in drought years. Such interaction between herders suggests that any interventions in mobile pastoralist societies should take into account that impacts on the mobility of any one group can influence the entire social structure.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Journal Volume
103
Journal Number
4
Journal Pages
180-186
Journal Name
Agricultural Systems
Keywords
Mobile pastoralism
Mobility
Herders strategy
Multi-agent model
Co-existence mechanism
rangelands
pastoralism
decision support systems
subsistence agriculture
drought
socio-economic aspects
Mongolia
China