The Changes in Grassland Animal Husbandry and Herdsmen’s Life in the Qinghai Pastoral Area of China Based on the Perspective of Changes in the Grassland Property Rights System
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript is a valuable summary of the changes in traditional land use in a large province of China (Qinghai). As it is not written in Chinese, it is assumed that it was intended for a wider, international readership.
1) Unfortunately, the English text is difficult to understand in several places, which may be one reason why the characteristics of the different areas or periods are not clear for me.
2) Although the manuscript claims to cover a Quinghai (China), it lacks an international perspective. How is extensive grazing changing in other countries with similar ecological conditions, such as Mongolia or Kazakhstan, or other countries in the region?
3) The description of the sample area is difficult to follow for non-Chinese readers. A concise description of each prefecture and (if it is needed) county is not given (even in a table), although this would be of great help to the reader later on.
4) Methods are not clear. I recommend to authors to include a comprehensive and structured methodology presented e.g. by methodological scheme, which ensure clarity and rigor, allowing readers to better understand the study's approach. there are many later results that are not included in the methodology (e.g. NDVI data, Engel coefficient etc).
5) Figures and captures are are all wrong-placed.
6) Subchapters 3.1.2., 3.1.3., 3.1.4. are key to understanding what follows.
6.1) On the one hand, a more detailed explanation for non-Chinese readers would be necessary here for some key phrase. In fact, each of the terms in quotation marks requires an explanation (e.g., ’mutual assistance cooperative system’, ’prudent and steady progress’, ’no fight, no distinction, no class division’ ’herders and masters benefit both sides’ etc.)
6.2) Of particular interest may be the criteria for ’ecological animal husbandry’? The term 'ecological' may be interpreted differently from country to country.
6.3) On the other hand, it would be desirable to use the periods defined here consistently in later explanations. The periods in Table 1 should be clearly presented in these subsections. Or other periods can be chosen, the point is to use them consistently. Tables 1 and 4 are consistent, but this is not always the case in the text.
7) In 3.2.2. subchapter Tibetian sheep and Tibetian goats are not devided, althoug they belong to difeferent species, with different impact on the landscape and pasture quality.
8) In line 346 the authors write about cattle. They did not mention cattle before.
9) Figure with ’Number of Livestock in Significant Years (Sheep Units) (between lines 272 and 273): I do not understand the legend (Number of Coloumns, Number of Entries, Can mulitply the Number of Female Animals)
10) The periods in Table 2 are cannot be followed, there is no information on the acronyms.
11) Line 630: …’strong driving force for win-win ecology, production and life.’ It is a very promising idea, but how can it be achieved?
Comments on the Quality of English Language
Unfortunately, the English text is difficult to understand in several places, which may be one reason why the characteristics of the different areas or periods are not clear for me.
Author Response
Please see the attachment，Thank you very much！
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe article deals with changes in grassland animal husbandry and herdsmen's conditions in Qinghai pastoral area of China and changes in property rights system during the 20th century and up to the present day. The topic is relevant at present and particularly in the country chosen for analysis.
Context and problem are clearly defined in the introduction but the presentation does not follow an academic plan, as proposed below and it is difficult to understand the authors' reasoning.
1- Material and methods
Presentation of the 2 different methods used : literature review for changes in property rights and impacts on grassland management and descriptive statistics for sustainability indicators of husbandry management.
2- Results
1- Observations
presentation of evolution of sustainability indicators in livestock farming over the period 1940-2020,
analysis of these indicators to highlight different periods of evolution
2- Explanatory elements
presentation of variations in property rights over these periods
possible impacts of property right systems on livestock management.
3- Discussion
Mains factors of property rights systems influencing productive use of grasslands
4-Conclusion
Importance of the historical analysis to propose new rights for a more sustainable use of grasslands.
Formal remarks
Part 2 Materials and methods
2.1 the choice of the study area does not mention any data sources and no references on current livestock issues to justify the area.
2.2 the description of data analyses is very light. The reader understands that the article is only a literature review. But results show there are apparently two methods : a literature review on the grassland ownership system, and descriptive statistics on quantitative data on livestock, population and agricultural economics. On the latter point, there is no precision on data sources which may have varied from 1950 to 2020, and no explanation on different periods taken into account in the figures on indicators.
Part 3 Results
Parts 3.1 and 3.2 are very detailed, with sometimes explanations on impacts on livestock farming, but without references to the period analysed. So, this part must be further analysed to provide scientific arguements.
Part 4 and 5 conclusions
These 2 parts must be gathered and reviewed according to the previous suggestions to better explain the evolutions of livestock farming with the changes of grassland property rights.
Tables and figures
Reading was hampered by the tables and figures placed in the middle of the text and far from their titles. However, most of them require clarification as precised in the attached file.
Bibliography
The bibliographic references are well provided and perfectly in line with the topic.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Please see the attachment, thank you very much, I hope you are satisfied.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReview of the article: The changes of grassland animal husbandry and herdsmen's life in Qinghai pastoral area of China based on the perspective of changes of grassland property rights system,
The aim of the research includes sorting out the historical evolution process of grassland property rights changes in Qinghai pastoral areas, conducting historical restoration of the evolution of the grassland property rights system, qualitatively analyzing the development trend of grassland animal husbandry under different property rights systems and the changes of various factors affecting the development of grassland animal husbandry, and performing horizontal and vertical comparative analysis of the obtained data.
The analysis is extensive and multi-threaded. The authors examine historical changes in animal husbandry on grasslands and grazing lands. While conducting the research, the authors analyzed a total of 95 bibliographic entries and carried out the study based on historical data, local chronicles, the statistical yearbook, and other materials, including reports. The research is interesting. The article is written in an understandable language, and the included tables and figures complement the presented content.
However, to make the article more readable, several points need to be refined.
1. Please refine the Abstract, and provide a better and more attractive description of the research results."
As for the sentence correction, here's a suggestion
Np “Based on the historical background of the changes in the grassland property rights system, this paper traces the changes in the property rights system in six major autonomous counties of grassland animal husbandry production in the Qinghai region. It also qualitatively analyzes the changes in grassland animal husbandry operations and the lives of herdsmen resulting from the changes in property rights”.
2. The research objective should be placed after the Introduction, not in Data Analyses. Please move the research objective.
3. Please describe what is innovative in this research.
4. Refine the chapter: Materials and Methods
You did not describe the research methodology. We only know the source materials you used. Please refine the outline of the research process, specifying what you examined at each stage and the indicators used. This could also be presented in table form.
5. The entire text is understandable, but at times, it is quite convoluted and could be more precise and readable.
etc. The vast herdsmen, as members of the tribe, possessed few lower quality pastures and livestock[33].
It would be better to replace the phrase "inferior pastures" with "lower quality land".
Look at the sentence: "As the embryonic stage of socialist collective ownership, the mutual assistance and cooperation system adopts the method of different transformation of the two different ownership systems of herdsmen and herdsmen."
What does “herdsmen and herdsmen” mean?
Please clarify the concepts "double public ownership" or "double contracting of grass and livestock"
6. Please rewrite this section of the text, include a figure illustrating the trend of changes, and avoid describing the trend in such detail.
“Since 1949, the number of livestock on the whole has initially increased and then decreased, and then maintained a steady development within a certain number. In 1958 and 1962, the number decreased due to the influence of social and political factors at that time[37], and then rebounded rapidly in the following years. In 1995, the number of livestock reached a peak of 46.73 million sheep units. This has a lot to do with the reform of property rights after the implementation of the "household contract responsibility system" [69]. The gradual clarity of property rights stimulated the development of productive forces, and herdsmen gradually gained rich experience in herding and enhanced their ability to deal with natural disasters. Driven by their interests as economic men, the number of herding animals gradually increased, and the grasslands began to deteriorate[70]. Attracted the attention of the government, began to gradually approve the unit area of livestock carrying capacity, control the number of storages, the number of livestock gradually slowly declined, by 2020 the number of livestock will be 3105.2 sheep units. There is a positive correlation between the number of livestock for sale and the number of livestock kept, and the gap between the two is gradually narrowing……..”
Also, you have presented these results in the form of a chart. Please shorten the description of the research.
“From 1978 to 1986, the two output values were relatively low, and the
output value of animal husbandry accounted for 75.97% of the total output value. After
that, the output value of animal husbandry in 1990 was more than three times that of 1978, and the total output value was 2.88 times that of 1978. From 1990 to 2008, the two kinds of output value as a whole showed a gentle growth trend, the growth rate was not large but the proportion of animal husbandry output value in the total output value gradually
decreased. After 2010, the two kinds of output value increased greatly. In 2010, the two kinds of output value was nearly twice that of 2006, and the proportion of animal husbandry output value in the total output value gradually drew a distance, which was consistent with the overall development of society. The diversification of industrial develop
ment made the proportion of animal husbandry output value gradually decline. In the statistical process, it was found that the proportion of animal husbandry output value in Guoluo Prefecture accounted for more than 75% of the total local output value on average, showing a strong industrial advantage, while Haixi Prefecture was lower, at about 40%. The output value of animal husbandry accounted for an average of more than 60% of the total output value in the six states.”
7. Please avoid long sentences as they make understanding difficult. There are several of them, for example:
a) Herdsmen establish and join primary production cooperatives in accordance with the principle of mutual assistance and mutual benefit, adopt the purchase policy for herdsmen, mobilize them to join the state-owned or public-private joint farms, and emphasize that herdsmen and herdsmen voluntarily join the community and free to withdraw from the community[44].
b) In 2008, Qinghai Province put forward the strategy of "ecological province" and the new requirements of building "ecological civilization pilot zone", and decided to take the lead in establishing "National grassland ecological Animal Husbandry Pilot Zone" in Qinghai[56], which provided a rare opportunity for the development of livestock husbandry in Qinghai and injected vigorous vitality into the development of grassland animal husbandry.
c) In the spring of 1982, Gande County, Guoluo Prefecture, according to the will of herdsmen, took the lead in implementing a county-wide system of responsibility for animal husbandry contracted to the household, implementing the production responsibility system of "livestock at the price to the household, private and private raising, independent management, and long-term unchanged" as the main form, and a few poor areas implemented the free return of livestock to the household.
d) Kolejne super dlugie zdanie : In the same year, Qinghai Province took the lead in the implementation of "the establishment of herdsmen cooperative economic organizations as the carrier, to protect the ecological environment, scientific use of grassland resources, change the mode of production and management and optimize the allocation of production factors as the key content, through specialized production, intensive and large-scale management, market operation, social services, The pilot work of grassland ecological animal husbandry construction with the connotation of "Realizing sustainable development of grassland animal husbandry"[57,58].
Author Response
Please see the attachment, thank you very much.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI thank the authors for their work, and I thank them for taking my suggestions into account. I had several requests which have been answered and sorted out, but there are still some confusing details in the manuscript which need to be corrected. A linguistic revision is also needed. Below are the points of my first review:
1) Unfortunately, the English text is still difficult to understand, tehre are many very long sentences.
2) Thanks to the efforts of the authors, an international perspective has been added to the manuscript.
3) Unfortunately, the description of the sample area is still difficult for non-Chinese readers to follow. The added description is not helpful to the reader, a better map would be more useful, or a few lines describing the prefectures.
4) Methods are still not clear. but have become much better. There are still many later results that are not included in the methodology (e.g. NDVI data, Engel coefficient etc).
5) Figures and captures are in good places.
6) Subchapters 3.1.2., 3.1.3., 3.1.4. have been significantly improved.
7) Have been properly corrected
8) Have been properly corrected
9) Acceptably corrected
10) The periods in Table 2 are cannot be followed, there is no information on the acronyms. Explanations of the abbreviations in the table (GIMMS, SPOT, MODIS) are still missing. Their explanation should be given after the title or below the table
11) Line 630: …’strong driving force for win-win ecology, production and life.’ It is a very promising idea, but how can it be achieved? please explain your answer to this question in the manuscript
Comments on the Quality of English Language
Further linguistic improvements would be important.
Author Response
Please see the attachment，Thank you very much
Author Response File: 
Author Response.doc
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsIn this version, the authors provide additional information that sheds light on the choice of the study area and the methodologies used. Figures, tables and titles are well positioned in the text. The presentation of results is more explicit. The links between changes presented in parts 3.2 and 3.3 and periods characterized in part 3.1 are clearer. The presentation of conclusions and suggestions now comes with more logic in relation to the previous arguments.
I would like to thank the authors for all the additions made to their article which can now be published as is.
Author Response
I am very glad that you are satisfied with my revised draft, and I am really very happy. Could you please revise the comments on the top comment again and tick it, otherwise the editor will keep sending me emails, thank you very much!
