Browsing by Subject "Pastoralism"

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Nomadic by nature – adaptation strategies to ecological and socio-economic change among mongolian herders in the Dzungarian Gobi
(2025) Michler, Lena Maria; Treydte, Anna C.
Worldwide, pastoralism is the most common land use form practiced on extensive rangelands unsuitable for high-yielding agricultural production. For nomadic pastoralists, mobility is a key strategy since centuries to minimize grazing pressure on rangelands while providing nutritious forage resources to their livestock on pastures with high spatial-temporal resource variability. Herder mobility drastically declined in recent years due to changing socio-economic conditions, growing livestock numbers and climate change threating both ecological and socio-economic resilience of pastures and herding communities. In Mongolia, nomadic pastoralism is still practiced by one-third of the population. The country is sparsely populated and around 80% of the land is used for extensive livestock husbandry. While nomadic pastoralism was practiced on a subsistence level for centuries Mongolian herd-ers are nowadays living to the rules of a market economy with cashmere as most important cash crop. As a former satellite state of the Soviet Union, Mongolia initiated a transition to a market economy leading to a privatization of the market following the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Coupled with the international growing demand for cashmere, livestock numbers peaked at 70 million livestock heads in 2019. In combination with climate change, this may have lead to as much as 77% of Mongolia’s land now being considered degraded to a certain extent. My study focused on the Dzungarian Gobi and the rangelands within and around the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (SPA) in south-western Mongolia. This key biodiversity area is home to several threatened and endangered wildlife and plant species such as the Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus), and the Gobi desert plant Saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron). The habitat is shared by nomadic herders and their livestock (goats, sheep, cows, horses and camels) who seasonally use the pastures within the limited use zone and buffer zone of the Great Gobi B SPA. Rangelands are considered being important social-ecological systems (SES). Therefore, I applied an integrative data analysis framework in my study, combining quantitative environmen-tal data with both quantitative and qualitative socio-economic information. Achieving a deeper understanding of the mobility patterns of nomadic herders and the effects of grazing on Gobi pastures, I collected Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking data of 19 small livestock herds over 20 months. Mobility and flexibility emerged as important adaptive strategies for herder households in the Dzungarian Gobi. Herders in the Dzungarian Gobi adjust their mobility patterns, camp selection, and livestock grazing strategies in response to the spatio-temporal availability of plant biomass, reflecting their adaptation to fluctuating resource availability. Herders changed their camp locations on average 9 times per year, covering a max-imum distance between winter camps in the Gobi plains and summer camps in the Altai moun-tains of 70-123 km. Small livestock spent more than half of the day within a radius of 100 m from camp and livestock use intensity decreased steeply with distance from camp. Available plant biomass and season best explained camp use duration. Daily walking distance and maximum distance from camp increased with camp use duration. Pasture time increased with in-creasing plant biomass and rising temperatures. I combined the GPS data with remotely-sensed environmental and climate data, and ground-based vegetation characteristics. Further, I determined herder preferences for camp selection in different plant communities based on focus group discussion data, and assessed the use and nutrient contents of the most important plant communities. In addition, I analysed plant species richness, vegetation cover, and plant biomass within different grazing radii around herder camps. Herders mainly selected their camp locations in Stipa spp. plant communities with high-est nutritional value. I found little evidence for a corresponding grazing gradient in plant species richness, plant biomass, and cover on the Gobi plains. Understanding the importance of altitudinal migration, I compared climatic conditions along the elevation gradient and determined seasonal body weight changes of goats and sheep. Lower summer temperatures and higher precipitation in the Altai mountains, resulted in higher productivity on summer pastures. Body weight of sheep and goats was slightly higher than the Mongolian average and body mass loss in winter was lower than in other parts of Mongolia. Further, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 125 herder households, three focus group discussions, and two expert interviews with PA rangers, to better understand the socio-economic challenges of herder households, and the interaction of protected area (PA) management and herder households in the Great Gobi B SPA. I combined interview data with secondary data on regional and national herder households to determine the importance of social networks, willingness to continue a herding lifestyle, and degree of involvement in PA management. My descriptive data confirmed that herding is no longer centred on a subsistence lifestyle but rather around cashmere production. Contrary to sustainability goals, especially in protected areas, herder households continue to increase livestock numbers in response to high expenditures in the economic reality of a market economy. I conclude that herders in the Great Gobi B SPA are reaching neither socio-economically nor ecologically sustainable livestock numbers which challenge herders’ livelihoods and PA management alike. Fostering cooperation and communication between herder households in the PA management, I tested paper diaries and small digital cameras as a tool to involve livestock herders as community-based rangers in the Great Gobi B SPA. I report the results of one herder who collected wildlife data over seven months as an example to show that his frequent wildlife sightings provide complementary information to data collected by rangers or scientists. Rising livestock numbers, changing socio-economics, and climate change threaten pasture resources and the resilience of ecosystems and livelihoods dependent on these resources. This thesis provides an overview of Mongolian herders' adaption strategies to ecological and socio-economic change in the Dzungarian Gobi. Although there is only limited evidence of pasture degradation yet, high mobility and flexible pasture use combined with altitudinal migration is still a crucial practice in this system and should be fostered by policy-makers. Considering the effects of climate change and the socio-economic demands on herder households to raise live-stock numbers, efficient pasture management is essential. Long-term environmental evaluations are required both inside and outside the Great Gobi B SPA, to identify changes in pasture eco-systems. Frequent livestock population monitoring and control measures are necessary to avoid overusing pasture resources and competition with wildlife, endangering the conservation of biodiversity and the livelihoods of herders. Through participatory activities, the Great Gobi B SPA management can involve local herder communities in conservation to enhance their understanding and improve communication. While herders in the Dzungarian Gobi have adapted to current ecological and socio-economic changes, it is a national responsibility to supporting herding communities by ensuring mobility, access to markets and social services, and create opportunities for economic diversification.
What will the future bring? – Socio-economic challenges to herder households in the Great Gobi B strictly protected area in Mongolia
(2024) Michler, Lena M.; Kaczensky, Petra; Batsukh, Daginnas; Treydte, Anna C.
Nomadic pastoralism is still practiced by around one-third of the Mongolian population. Recent socio-economic constraints have challenged pastoral livelihoods and rising livestock numbers threaten overall rangeland health and biodiversity conservation. In the Mongolian Gobi, herder households fully depend on livestock production but little is known about their livelihood trends and potential compatibility with protected area goals. We combined interview data in the Great Gobi B strictly protected area (SPA) with secondary data on regional and national herder households to determine the importance of social networks, willingness to continue a herding lifestyle, and degree of involvement in protected area (PA) management. Our descriptive data confirm that herding is no longer centred on a subsistence lifestyle but rather around cashmere production. Contrary to sustainability goals, especially in protected areas, herder households continue to increase livestock numbers in response to high expenditures in the economic reality of a market economy. We conclude that herders in the Great Gobi B SPA are reaching neither socio-economically nor ecologically sustainable livestock numbers which challenge herders’ livelihoods and PA management alike. We recommend enhancing communication between the PA management and the herding community and increasing participatory conservation activities. National strategies are needed to resolve the current dilemma of increasing livestock numbers to meet livelihood demands and the growing threat to rangeland health.