Grazing impacts on natural steppe community of eastern Mongolia

摘要

Grasslands are estimated to cover 125 million hectares (ca 80% ) of the total land area of Mongolia, and make up 2.6% of the global grassland vegetation (World Resources Institute,2003).Currently about 122 million hectares of Mongolia is devoted to nomadic pastoralism, with 28% of which lying in the steppe zone.A primary cause of low and declining productivity is land degradation.Mongolian grasslands are partly overstocked, particularly in semiarid region of Mongolia.In order to prevent further degradation and rehabilitate degraded areas, it is necessary to study the impact of grazing on this grassland.