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Section 1: Rangeland Ecology and Management

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https://hdl.handle.net/10217/181742
This digital collection includes presentations, in English and Mongolian, given at the Building Resilience of Mongolian Rangelands conference held in 2015 for the topic: Rangeland Ecology and Management.

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Browsing Section 1: Rangeland Ecology and Management by Author "Battur, Ankhtsetseg, author"

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    Defining the ecological site descriptions and its use as a rangeland management tool in Mongolia
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015-06) Densambuu, Bulgamaa, author; Ulambayar, Budbaatar, author; Battur, Ankhtsetseg, author; Sainnemekh, Sunjidmaa, author; Nyam-Ochir, Gankhuyag, author; Bestelmeier, Brandon, author; Nutag Action and Research Institute, publisher
    The concept of classifying any area into ecological sites, according to that area's productivity, based on varying soil, climatic and hydrological conditions, and its capacity to endure different intensities of use and to recover from degradation, and of using this classification as a basis of rational use of natural resources is more and more recognized internationally. Since 2009, the Green Gold Project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has been exploring opportunities to develop the ecological site description (ESD) concept for Mongolian rangelands and use it as an essential tool of rangeland management. Based on soil, vegetation and geomorphological data collected from approximately 500 points representing nationwide environmental zones, we developed the ESD concept for the Mongolian context. According to this concept Mongolian rangelands are divided into some 20 zones, representing distinct ecological potentials. Based on these plot data and state and transition models a preliminary conclusion is made that over 65 percent of Mongolian rangeland has, with varying degrees, altered from its reference state, and 80 percent of this area has potential to recover through changes in rangeland management. The main objective of this research was to identify, for each environmental zone, the main factors that determine rangeland ecological potential, to develop the ESD concept and to test the possibility of using it in rangeland management. The novelty of this study, as well as its scientific and practical significance, lie in development and testing of a more detailed classification based on ecological potential within Mongolian ecological zones and geo botanical regions. This approach is significant because the classification may be used as an essential tool for rangeland use planning, implementation and monitoring, as well as for regulating rangeland use agreements.