D. Kemp, Han Guodong, Li Ping, Wang ZhongWu, Zhao Mengli, Udval Gombosuren, Gantuya Jargalsaihan, Zhang Ying-jun, Hou Xiangyang, J. Addison
{"title":"Grassland livestock systems","authors":"D. Kemp, Han Guodong, Li Ping, Wang ZhongWu, Zhao Mengli, Udval Gombosuren, Gantuya Jargalsaihan, Zhang Ying-jun, Hou Xiangyang, J. Addison","doi":"10.4337/9781788974059.00010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788974059.00010","url":null,"abstract":"[Extract] The Eurasian grasslands collectively comprise one of the world's largest ecosystems, extending 8000 km from eastern China to eastern Europe. Grasslands are defined commonly as grazing lands used by domestic and wild herbivores and include shrubs and open forests. The Eurasian grasslands, often referred to by the Russian word 'steppes', are characterised by cold, dry climates especially in the east. Of the 957 million ha of land in China over 40 per cent, or about 400 million ha, are grasslands most of which are of low to moderate productivity in the north and west of China.1 In Mongolia there are 125 million ha of grasslands that dominate the landscape within a total area of 155 million ha. The Mongolian Plateau of 320 million ha contains much of the grassland considered in this chapter and extends across Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China, and into southern Russia, with many aspects in common between the countries. Much of the Mongolian Plateau is at an altitude of 1000 m. Grasslands in montane areas extend to 4500 m in altitude but are mainly at lower latitudes.","PeriodicalId":136634,"journal":{"name":"Common Grasslands in Asia","volume":"72 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121384206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Addison, E. Lkhagvadorj, Lkhagvadorj Dorjburegdaa, Zhang Bao, Li Ping
{"title":"Herders as agents of change","authors":"J. Addison, E. Lkhagvadorj, Lkhagvadorj Dorjburegdaa, Zhang Bao, Li Ping","doi":"10.4337/9781788974059.00013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788974059.00013","url":null,"abstract":"[Extract] In both Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, the decisions and behaviours that a herder household makes drive grassland and livelihood change. Thus herders are significant agents of socio-ecological change on the steppe. A variety of interacting social, economic and environmental pressures at a number of different levels and scales influence the decisions and behaviours of individual herders. For example, decisions and behaviours are influenced by mental models affected by factors such as social norms, perceived behavioural constraints and attitudes. In turn structural factors such as institutions and financial capital affect perceived behavioural constraints. Herders navigate these complex and sometimes conflicting influences in pursuit of a meaningful livelihood which can vary through time, space and between individuals. Understanding these influences allows policy makers to better incentivise or influence herders as agents of change.","PeriodicalId":136634,"journal":{"name":"Common Grasslands in Asia","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127644957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Addison, Colin Brown, E. Lkhagvadorj, Zhang Jing, S. Waldron, Zhang Bao, Duinkherjav Bukhbat
{"title":"Institutions and macrodevelopments","authors":"J. Addison, Colin Brown, E. Lkhagvadorj, Zhang Jing, S. Waldron, Zhang Bao, Duinkherjav Bukhbat","doi":"10.4337/9781788974059.00009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788974059.00009","url":null,"abstract":"[Extract] Natural resource use is influenced by many factors, but institutions, the rules or norms developed by shared perceptions of a group about appropriate behaviour, are a critical driver of pastoral land use. In turn, resource use impacts upon both environmental conditions and resource user livelihoods, meaning that institutions are a critical mediator of both. To set the context, broad differences and similarities in resource characteristics of Inner Mongolia and Mongolia are described. The ways in which these characteristics drive the formation of institutions that govern grassland use follows, leaving detailed spatial and temporal aspects of these characteristics to later chapters. An overview of important informal and formal institutions related to natural resource use on grasslands is provided, including an examination of potential transaction costs associated with institutions. The chapter concludes by emphasising important recent macrodevelopments impacting upon grasslands. Analysing the ways in which formal and informal institutions and macrodevelopments interact provides useful insights on their impact on natural resource use and herder livelihoods.","PeriodicalId":136634,"journal":{"name":"Common Grasslands in Asia","volume":"71 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124625154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Colin Brown, E. Lkhagvadorj, Zhang Jing, Lkhagvadorj Dorjburegdaa, Qiao Guang-hua, Zhang Bao
{"title":"Efficiency of marketing systems","authors":"Colin Brown, E. Lkhagvadorj, Zhang Jing, Lkhagvadorj Dorjburegdaa, Qiao Guang-hua, Zhang Bao","doi":"10.4337/9781788974059.00012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788974059.00012","url":null,"abstract":"Markets are crucial in determining the livelihoods of herders and other grassland actors, and as a platform for influencing incentives of grassland actors. The chapter examines market integration and price transmission in key ruminant livestock and livestock product markets, including sheep and goat meat, beef, cashmere and wool, in China and Mongolia to indicate the extent to which prices convey accurate incentives to herders about consumer preferences and the efficiency of markets in space, time and form dimensions. Ruminant livestock and livestock product industry policies in Mongolia and China are also discussed for the extent to which they distort or influence these markets, and the extent to which they align with societal preferences. Improvements in the ruminant livestock marketing systems that may increase value per unit grazing pressure, critical to grassland management, are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":136634,"journal":{"name":"Common Grasslands in Asia","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114682476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}