Characteristics of Changes in Livestock Numbers and Densities in the Selinco Region of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2020
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Data Acquisition and Pre-Processing
2.3. Methods of Analyzing Grazing Activities
3. Results
3.1. Change in Year-End Stock of Livestock
3.1.1. Various Types of Livestock Changes at the Regional Level
3.1.2. Changes in Year-End Stock of Various Types of Livestock at the County Level
3.2. Changes in Livestock Density
3.2.1. Overall Change Trends and Influencing Factors
3.2.2. Spatial Distribution of Livestock Density for Various Types of Livestock
3.2.3. Characterizing Spatial and Temporal Variations and Trends in Livestock Density at the County Level
3.2.4. Analysis of Influencing Factors on Livestock Density
4. Discussion
4.1. Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Variations in Grazing Activities
4.2. Shortcomings and Prospects
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Næss, M.W.; Bårdsen, B.-J. Why do Tibetan pastoralists hunt? Land Use Policy 2016, 54, 116–128. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wang, X.; Fu, X. Sustainable management of alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau: Problems overlooked and suggestions for change. Ambio 2004, 33, 169–171. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Huang, X.-Z.; Liu, S.-S.; Dong, G.-H.; Qiang, M.-R.; Bai, Z.-J.; Zhao, Y.; Chen, F.-H. Early human impacts on vegetation on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the middle to late Holocene. Prog. Phys. Geogr. Earth Environ. 2017, 41, 286–301. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hua, X.-B.; Yan, J.-Z.; Liu, X.; Wu, Y.-Y.; Liu, L.-S.; Zhang, Y.-L. Factors influencing the grazing management styles of settled herders: A case study of Nagqu County, Tibetan Plateau, China. J. Mt. Sci. 2013, 10, 1074–1084. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yan, J.; Zhang, Y.; Liu, L.; Bai, W.; Zhu, H.; Shi, Y.; Zheng, D. Residents’ perspectives and responses to environmental degradation in the upper Dadu River, eastern Tibetan Plateau. J. Geogr. Sci. 2006, 16, 293–305. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, J.; Cui, X.; Wang, Y.; Gongbuzeren; Zhuang, M.; Ji, B. Ecological consequence of nomad settlement policy in the pasture area of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: From plant and soil perspectives. J. Environ. Manag. 2020, 260, 110114. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Miehe, G.; Schleuss, P.-M.; Seeber, E.; Babel, W.; Biermann, T.; Braendle, M.; Chen, F.; Coners, H.; Foken, T.; Gerken, T.; et al. The Kobresia pygmaea ecosystem of the Tibetan highlands—Origin, functioning and degradation of the world’s largest pastoral alpine ecosystem: Kobresia pastures of Tibet. Sci. Total Environ. 2019, 648, 754–771. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Hu, Z.; Zhao, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Jing, H.; Gao, S.; Fang, J. Does ‘Forage-Livestock Balance’ policy impact ecological efficiency of grasslands in China? J. Clean. Prod. 2019, 207, 343–349. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bao, T.; Xi, G. Impact of grassland storage balance management policies on ecological vulnerability: Evidence from ecological vulnerability assessments in the Selinco region of China. J. Clean. Prod. 2023, 426, 139178. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bhattarai, H.; Wu, G.; Zheng, X.; Zhu, H.; Gao, S.; Zhang, Y.-L.; Widory, D.; Ram, K.; Chen, X.; Wan, X.; et al. Wildfire-Derived Nitrogen Aerosols Threaten the Fragile Ecosystem in Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2023, 57, 9243–9251. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Huang, H.; Xi, G.; Ji, F.; Liu, Y.; Wang, H.; Xie, Y. Spatial and Temporal Variation in Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Topography in the Selinco Region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Remote Sens. 2023, 15, 4101. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ma, C.; Xie, Y.; Duan, H.; Wang, X.; Bie, Q.; Guo, Z.; He, L.; Qin, W. Spatial quantification method of grassland utilization intensity on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A case study on the Selinco basin. J. Environ. Manag. 2022, 302, 114073. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Sun, Y.; Liu, S.; Liu, Y.; Dong, Y.; Li, M.; An, Y.; Shi, F. Grazing intensity and human activity intensity data sets on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during 1990–2015. Geosci. Data J. 2022, 9, 140–153. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Piipponen, J.; Jalava, M.; de Leeuw, J.; Rizayeva, A.; Godde, C.; Cramer, G.; Herrero, M.; Kummu, M. Global trends in grassland carrying capacity and relative stocking density of livestock. Glob. Chang. Biol. 2022, 28, 3902–3919. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gao, L.; Kinnucan, H.W.; Zhang, Y.; Qiao, G. The effects of a subsidy for grassland protection on livestock numbers, grazing intensity, and herders’ income in inner Mongolia. Land Use Policy 2016, 54, 302–312. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wright, J.; Stephens, T.; Wilson, R.; Smith, J. The effect of local livestock population changes on auction market viability—A spatial analysis. J. Rural. Stud. 2002, 18, 477–483. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Biglari, T.; Maleksaeidi, H.; Eskandari, F.; Jalali, M. Livestock insurance as a mechanism for household resilience of livestock herders to climate change: Evidence from Iran. Land Use Policy 2019, 87, 104043. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Faas, R.C.; Holland, D.; Young, D. Variations in Farm Size, Irrigation Technology and After-Tax Income: Implications for Local Economic Development. Land Econ. 1981, 57, 213–220. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCulloch, B. Economic development of the livestock industry in the subsistence agricultural environments of southern and eastern Africa: Drought, livestock numbers, human population growth and animal diseases. J. South Afr. Vet. Assoc. 1991, 62, 3. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Duisebayeva, A.; Campbell, I.W. Changes in the flock: Sheep-keeping as a symbol of the transformation of the Kazakh traditional economy. Cent. Asian Surv. 2023, 42, 127–148. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tessema, W.K.; Ingenbleek, P.T.M.; van Trijp, H.C.M. Pastoralism, sustainability, and marketing. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2014, 34, 75–92. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lombardi, G.V.; Atzori, R.; Acciaioli, A.; Giannetti, B.; Parrini, S.; Liu, G. Agricultural landscape modification and land food footprint from 1970 to 2010: A case study of Sardinia, Italy. J. Clean. Prod. 2019, 239, 118097. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhao, Z.; Wang, G.; Chen, J.; Wang, J.; Zhang, Y. Assessment of climate change adaptation measures on the income of herders in a pastoral region. J. Clean. Prod. 2019, 208, 728–735. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Galán, E.; Garmendia, E.; García, O. The contribution of the commons to the persistence of mountain grazing systems under the Common Agricultural Policy. Land Use Policy 2022, 117, 106089. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wang, Q.; Okadera, T.; Nakayama, T.; Batkhishig, O.; Bayarsaikhan, U. Estimation of the Carrying Capacity and Relative Stocking Density of Mongolian grasslands under various adaptation scenarios. Sci. Total Environ. 2024, 913, 169772. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Chi, D.; Wang, H.; Li, X.; Liu, H.; Li, X. Assessing the effects of grazing on variations of vegetation NPP in the Xilingol Grassland, China, using a grazing pressure index. Ecol. Indic. 2018, 88, 372–383. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tobin, C.T.; Bailey, D.W.; Stephenson, M.B.; Trotter, M.G. Temporal Changes in Association Patterns of Cattle Grazing at Two Stocking Densities in a Central Arizona Rangeland. Animals 2021, 11, 2635. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Kosmas, C.; Karamesouti, M.; Kounalaki, K.; Detsis, V.; Vassiliou, P.; Salvati, L. Land degradation and long-term changes in agro-pastoral systems: An empirical analysis of ecological resilience in Asteroussia—Crete (Greece). Catena 2016, 147, 196–204. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cai, Z.; Song, P.; Wang, J.; Jiang, F.; Liang, C.; Zhang, J.; Gao, H.; Zhang, T. Grazing pressure index considering both wildlife and livestock in Three-River Headwaters, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Ecol. Indic. 2022, 143, 109338. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Blanco Sepúlveda, R.; Nieuwenhuyse, A. Influence of topographic and edaphic factors on vulnerability to soil degradation due to cattle grazing in humid tropical mountains in northern Honduras. Catena 2011, 86, 130–137. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lin, N.; Shen, W.; Zhang, H.; Li, H. Correlation Degree Analysis of Meteorological Elements and Dynamic Remote Sensing of Alpine Lakes in Naqu Region of Tibet in the Past 35 Years. J. Ecol. Rural. Environ. 2012, 28, 231–237. [Google Scholar]
- Huang, K.; Zhang, Y.; Zhu, J.; Liu, Y.; Zu, J.; Zhang, J. The Influences of Climate Change and Human Activities on Vegetation Dynamics in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Remote Sens. 2016, 8, 876. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Xi, G.; Ma, C.; Xie, Y.; Guo, Z.; Bao, T.; Zhang, X.; Liu, Y.; Wang, H. Spatialization method of monitoring grazing intensity: A case-study of the Tibet Selinco basin, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Land Degrad. Dev. 2023, 34, 1311–1322. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Didan, K. MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V006 [Data Set]; NASA EOSDIS Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center: Sioux Falls, SD, USA, 2015. [CrossRef]
- Wang, Y.; Fu, B.; Liu, Y.; Li, Y.; Feng, X.; Wang, S. Response of vegetation to drought in the Tibetan Plateau: Elevation differentiation and the dominant factors. Agric. For. Meteorol. 2021, 306, 108468. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- di Virgilio, A.; Lambertucci, S.A.; Morales, J.M. Sustainable grazing management in rangelands: Over a century searching for a silver bullet. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 2019, 283, 106561. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ding, M.; Zhang, Y.; Shen, Z.; Liu, L.; Zhang, W.; Wang, Z.; Bai, W.; Zheng, D. Land cover change along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway and Railway from 1981 to 2001. J. Geogr. Sci. 2006, 16, 387–395. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Felton, A.J.; Slette, I.J.; Smith, M.D.; Knapp, A.K. Precipitation amount and event size interact to reduce ecosystem functioning during dry years in a mesic grassland. Glob. Chang. Biol. 2020, 26, 658–668. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Zhan, T.; Zhao, W.; Feng, S.; Hua, T. Plant Community Traits Respond to Grazing Exclusion Duration in Alpine Meadow and Alpine Steppe on the Tibetan Plateau. Front. Plant Sci. 2022, 13, 863246. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Li, Y.; Ye, T. The design of livestock drought index insurance based on remote sensing vegetation index in Naqu Prefecture, Tibet. Res. Agric. Mod. 2018, 39, 680–688. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Variable | Elevation | Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) | Annual Total Precipitation | Annual Average Temperature | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Livestock density | Correlation coefficient | −0.5713 * | 0.85159 * | 0.61491 * | 0.16335 |
p-value | 1.01 × 10−5 < 0.001 | 9 × 10−18 < 0.001 | 8 × 10−7 < 0.001 | 0.20084 > 0.05 |
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Xi, G.; Ma, C.; Ji, F.; Huang, H.; Xie, Y. Characteristics of Changes in Livestock Numbers and Densities in the Selinco Region of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2020. Land 2024, 13, 1186. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081186
Xi G, Ma C, Ji F, Huang H, Xie Y. Characteristics of Changes in Livestock Numbers and Densities in the Selinco Region of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2020. Land. 2024; 13(8):1186. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081186
Chicago/Turabian StyleXi, Guilin, Changhui Ma, Fangkun Ji, Hongxin Huang, and Yaowen Xie. 2024. "Characteristics of Changes in Livestock Numbers and Densities in the Selinco Region of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2020" Land 13, no. 8: 1186. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081186
APA StyleXi, G., Ma, C., Ji, F., Huang, H., & Xie, Y. (2024). Characteristics of Changes in Livestock Numbers and Densities in the Selinco Region of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2020. Land, 13(8), 1186. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081186