An interaction model for livestock farming and steppe ecosystem

This work builds a macro model for livestock farming based on aggregation of initial micro description for rational control of total number of vintage livestock (age cohorts). Solution of an optimal problem on cohort total number of livestock gives the age limit for the operation of animals, the volume of the credits for the farm, the speed of slaughter, and the conditions of the farm purchase of young animals. The integral equation for the equilibrium price of young animals is obtained. A steppe ecosystem model based on a carbon cycle is constructed. The model takes into account some external influences. It is taken into account that the maintenance of animals damages the nature. Numerical experiments on the obtained ecological- economic model with the rational expectations is solved with the help of the highly productive calculations on the supercomputer MVS 1000M. On the basis of base scenario the developments of processes in several alternatives are built and calculated. One of scenarios demonstrates a regime in which the area of natural pastures is reduced by the virtue of external human activity. }livestock farming, vintage livestock, age cohorts, credits, farm, equilibrium price, steppe ecosystem model, carbon cycle, ecological economic model

Climate change impact, adaptation, and mitigation in temperate grazing systems: a review

Managed temperate grasslands occupy 25% of the world, which is 70% of global agricultural land. These lands are an important source of food for the global population. This review paper examines the impacts of climate change on managed temperate grasslands and grassland-based livestock and effectiveness of adaptation and mitigation options and their interactions. The paper clarifies that moderately elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2) enhances photosynthesis, however it may be restiricted by variations in rainfall and temperature, shifts in plant’s growing seasons, and nutrient availability. Different responses of plant functional types and their photosynthetic pathways to the combined effects of climatic change may result in compositional changes in plant communities, while more research is required to clarify the specific responses. We have also considered how other interacting factors, such as a progressive nitrogen limitation (PNL) of soils under eCO2, may affect interactions of the animal and the environment and the associated production. In addition to observed and modelled declines in grasslands productivity, changes in forage quality are expected. The health and productivity of grassland-based livestock are expected to decline through direct and indirect effects from climate change. Livestock enterprises are also significant cause of increased global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (about 14.5%), so climate risk-management is partly to develop and apply effective mitigation measures. Overall, our finding indicates complex impact that will vary by region, with more negative than positive impacts. This means that both wins and losses for grassland managers can be expected in different circumstances, thus the analysis of climate change impact required with potential adaptations and mitigation strategies to be developed at local and regional levels

Intensification in pastoralist cereal use coincides with the expansion of trans-regional networks in the Eurasian Steppe

The pace of transmission of domesticated cereals, including millet from China as well as wheat and barley from southwest Asia, throughout the vast pastoralist landscapes of the Eurasian Steppe (ES) is unclear. The rich monumental record of the ES preserves abundant human remains that provide a temporally deep and spatially broad record of pastoralist dietary intake. Calibration of human δ13C and δ15N values against isotope ratios derived from co-occurring livestock distinguish pastoralist consumption of millet from the products of livestock and, in some regions, identify a considerable reliance by pastoralists on C3 crops. We suggest that the adoption of millet was initially sporadic and consumed at low intensities during the Bronze Age, with the low-level consumption of millet possibly taking place in the Minusinsk Basin perhaps as early as the late third millennium cal BC. Starting in the mid-second millennium cal BC, millet consumption intensified dramatically throughout the ES with the exception of both the Mongolian steppe where millet uptake was strongly delayed until the end of first millennium cal BC and the Trans-Urals where instead barley or wheat gained dietary prominence. The emergence of complex, trans-regional political networks likely facilitated the rapid transfer of cultivars across the steppe during the transition to the Iron Age

Strategic Management of Grazing Grassland Systems to Maintain and Increase Organic Carbon in Soils

Understanding management-induced C sequestration potential in soils under agriculture, forestry, and other land use systems and their quantification to offset increasing greenhouse gases are of global concern. This chapter reviews management-induced changes in C storage in soils of grazing grassland systems, their impacts on ecosystem functions, and their adaptability and needs of protection across socio-economic and cultural settings. In general, improved management of grassland/pasture such as manuring/slurry application, liming and rotational grazing, and low to medium livestock units could sequester C more than under high intensity grazing conditions. Converting cultivated land to pasture, restoration of degraded land, and maximizing pasture phases in mixed-cropping, pasture with mixed-livestock, integrated forestry-pasturage of livestock (silvopastoral) and crop-forestry-pasturage of livestock (agro-silvopastoral) systems could also maintain and enhance soil organic C density (SOCρ). In areas receiving low precipitation and having high erodibility, grazing exclusion might restore degraded grasslands and increase SOCρ. Yet, optimizing C sequestration rates, sowing of more productive grass varieties, judicial inorganic and organic fertilization, rotational grazing, and other climate-resilient approaches could improve overall farm productivity and profitability and attain sustainability in livestock farming systems

Effects of land-use change on grassland ecosystem services in Inner Mongolia and their implications for livelihoods and sustainable management

Grassland degradation has become a major challenge in many parts of the world, especially in arid or semi-arid areas, such as the Chinese Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (IMAR). Previous studies of the grassland ecosystems in IMAR focused on climate change and its environmental consequences or on the land-use conflicts between agrarian communities and nomads. For better planning and management, a more integrated analysis of the consequences of land-use change for the livelihood dependence and other benefits (services) of the grasslands in IMAR is needed. Studies on ecosystem services of IMAR’s grasslands are usually based on remote sensing data (TM images) to assess the total value of the grassland ecosystem services using benefit transfer. Thus far, to my knowledge no study collected original data on the detailed use of ecosystem services by pastoralists on the Mongolian Plateau or on their livelihood dependence on these services at the household level. Also, no data is available on the changes over time in contrasting situations for different grassland types (like meadow, steppe and desert steppe). I therefore aim to analyse the interactions between the people and the ecosystems in IMAR in an integrated manner, and especially focus on analysing the different utilization patterns of ecosystem services and the livelihood dependence of local herders and other stakeholders in selected study sites. The ultimate goal of my study is to contribute to sustainable management of the IMAR’s ecosystems. To achieve the goal of my PhD study, the changes in land use, household consumption patterns and their impacts have been addressed and investigated for four selected study sites: Hulun Buir, Xilin Gol, Ordos and Alxa Right. These sites are in a ‘transect’ from southwest to northeast to capture the gradient in use of ecosystem services in IMAR. The methodological framework of this research combines quantitative and qualitative tools to analyse ecosystem services. It specifies an integrative approach in specific spatial and temporal contexts to evaluate trade-offs between human activities, use of ecosystem services and human well-being. This framework enables to analyse the effects of multiple factors (e.g. policies or climate and geographic conditions) on utilization patterns of ecosystem services and the influence on society. The data used to apply the framework stems from a bottom-up approach by using household surveys and other local field data. The results show that the householders’ intake comprised a low amount of crops, including staple foods, vegetables and fruit with a high amount of meat. However, more crops and less meat are increasingly preferred now. From 1995 to 2010, fuel consumption patterns changed from bio-fuels (especially dung) to mainly electricity and gas. Beside the influences of different environmental conditions and economic development, the grassland restoration policy measures changed grazing activities and basic household consumption patterns. Grazing activities were less affected by seasonal grazing and rotational grazing measures than other policy measures. However, when grazing was prohibited, immigration and livestock rearing control policy measures (e.g. in Xilin Gol and Ordos) fundamentally changed the basic household consumption patterns (especially for food and fuel). Livelihood’s food-consumption highly links to potential water consumption. The results show that compared to the direct water consumption, the indirect water consumption through food production was a major share of total water consumption. From 1995 to 2010, indirect water consumption decreased in Xilin Gol and Ordos because meat consumption decreased and fruit and vegetable consumption increased. The grassland ecosystem degradation in IMAR leads to a shortage of meat production and this causes people to purchase food from outside, but the ability to purchase food also depends on income levels. The implementation of the grassland conservation policies significantly affected household livelihoods and this in turn, affected household use of natural assets (primarily the land), their agricultural assets (farming and grazing activities) and their financial assets (income and consumption). The households developed adaptation measures to account for the dependence of their livelihoods on local ecosystems by initializing strategies (e.g. seeking off-farm work, leasing pasture land, increasing purchases of fodder for stall-fed animals and altering their diet and fuel consumption) to compensate for their changing livelihoods. In general, the household dependence on local grasslands decreased. This indicates a transition from traditional pastoral grazing to control grazing, rising of modern dairy cattle (intensive animal husbandry), diversification of income sources and decreases in land-based employment and in the household food and fuel consumption. These changes increased the diversity of livelihoods, household resilience and environmental sustainability. Five grassland utilization patterns were identified, including no use (natural grasslands), light use, moderate use, intensive use and recovery sites (degraded sites protected from further use). The results show that light use generally provided higher levels of ecosystem services than intensive use and no use. Only supporting ecosystem services differed. Surprisingly, I found no consistently positive effects of the strict conservation activities across the sites, since the results varied spatially and with respect to differences in the land-use patterns. My results suggest that appropriate grassland-utilization patterns likely enhance the supply of ecosystem services and reduce negative effects on both household livelihoods and the environment. For example, in the Hulun Buir grasslands, the precipitation is 50% higher than in the other areas. Therefore the area tolerates a higher grazing intensity before degradation occurs and its grasslands provide more provisioning services but at the cost of decreased regulating and supporting services. After implementing grassland conservation policies, income from cultivation and animal grazing decreased, whereas income from compensation and off-farm activities increased. The herders preferred an annual payment of 99.2 US$ha-1 for participating in conservation activities, but the government prefers to provide only 83.8 US$ ha-1, resulting in an annual gap of 15.4 US$ ha-1. These currently too low payments probably lead some herders to expand their grazing into restricted grasslands or increase their number of animals, particularly if such payment program ends. To create an improved and sustainable payment scheme, solutions are needed that enable the herders to sustain their livelihood, while conserving the grasslands. My findings can help to establish appropriate grassland-utilization patterns and more effective payment schemes for the grasslands of IMAR and similar regions.</p

Desertification

IPCC SPECIAL REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND (SRCCL) Chapter 3: Climate Change and Land: An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystem

Drivers of Change for Grassland and Forage Systems: A Case Study of China

Grassland and forage systems have changed dramatically across the world. This paper describes some of the key drivers of change of grassland and forage systems using examples from China as a case study. The key drivers of change for grassland and forage systems include political, economic, social, technical and environmental factors and their impact on changes in grasslands ecosystems in China is discussed. There are interactions among the drivers and their impact is similar in many developing countries