Ecological consequence of nomad settlement policy in the pasture area of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: From plant and soil perspectives

Unlocking the tapestry of conservation: Navigating ecological resettlement policies in Nepal

Conservation initiatives involve a complex interplay of various ecological, socio-political, and economic factors. Ecological resettlement (ER), implemented within the context of nature conservation policies, stands as one of the most contested issues worldwide. This study aims to navigate the domain of ER policy in conservation through discursive institutionalism and a policy arrangement approach. Focusing on Nepal's conservation policy pathways over the last seven decades, we critically analyze policy ideas and narratives, trends, patterns of policy development, institutional arrangements, driving factors, and responses to contemporary ER policies. Methods involved a systematic literature review (n = 271), a comprehensive review of policy documents and project reports (n > 150), and expert interviews (n = 20). Over the past 50 years, >7600 households in Nepal have been displaced in the name of ER and are still persisting despite the rhetoric of participatory conservation. With changes in political regimes, conservation policy has shifted from a hunting-focused approach to landscape-level and transboundary conservation. Initially influenced by internal factors such as economic and political governance, conservation policies were later shaped by international conservation discourse. Also, the operational sphere of such policy ideas and narratives - including actors, resources, discourses, and rules - along with trends, priorities, institutional arrangements, and driving factors of ER policies, has changed over time. Further, the exclusion of deprived communities and the capture of conservation benefits by elites have undermined conservation values. This research stresses the importance of a judicious balance between people's welfare and nature's integrity, emphasizing community-based natural resource management models accredited to a conservation standard. We further urge the revision of displacement-oriented conservation policies to secure the rights of Indigenous people and traditional landholders, thereby ensuring conservation and sustainable development at both national and global levels.

Beyond grassland degradation: Pathways to resilience for pastoralist households in alpine grassland ecosystems

Sustaining the development of rural and pastoral communities' hinges on livelihood resilience. Pastoralist household resilience relies on resource availability and decision-making abilities. Despite extensive studies on pastoralist livelihoods, a significant knowledge gap remains in understanding the nuanced adaptive capacities of diverse households, particularly amid grassland degradation. Thus, this study investigates the household-based livelihood resilience of pastoralists in China's Three-River Headwater Region, offering policy recommendations for resilient livelihoods. Using stratified random sampling, 758 pastoralist household heads underwent semi-structured interviews to collect data. Five household characteristics, encompassing age, gender, energy use, well-being perception, and multi-household grazing participation, were evaluated. Looking ot the nature of data, descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were performed in this study to draw the valid inferences. The results revealed a positive correlation (p < 0.05) between household head age and livelihood resilience, with divergent resilience across age groups. Varied energy usage yielded distinct impacts; households employing solar or mixed energy sources exhibited heightened resilience (p < 0.05). Household well-being emerged as an invariant variable concerning resilience. Furthermore, engagement in multi-household grazing (an informal institution) significantly (p < 0.05) influenced pastoralist livelihood resilience. These insights advocate targeted support for young household heads and the adoption of clean energy. Exploring the deeper strategies and mechanisms of multi-household grazing can enhance understanding and policy integration, guiding eco-friendly progress within rustic landscapes for pastoral communities.

Can Grassland Rental Lead to Herders' Rotational Grazing Under the Grassland Household Responsibility System? Evidence from Pastoral Areas in Northern China

Grassland property rights privatization has alleviated the problem of 'the tragedy of the commons' but led to an unintended ecological consequence-traditional nomadic modes declination. However, with the grassland rental market formation in countries with property rights privatization, grassland rental has reshaped the pattern of grassland allocation and provided opportunities for herders to optimize their grazing modes. Based on the survey data of herders in northern China, we theoretically analyze and empirically test grassland rental's impact on herders' rotational grazing behavior under the household responsibility system. The results show that grassland rental promotes herders' rotational grazing, and the probability of individual rotational grazing is increased by 58.27%. By increasing the operated grazing grassland area and the number of grassland plots fenced, grassland rental promotes herders' grassland endowment match with the large-scale livestock activity space and the number of grazing blocks required for rotational grazing, reduces the input cost and operation difficulty required for rotational grazing, and increase herders rotational grazing probability. Grassland rental's impact on herder's rotational grazing is heterogeneous, showing the dependence of the number of plots fenced and the scale of grazing grassland. It has a higher promotion effect on herders with more plots fenced; It cannot promote the generation of herders' rotational grazing behavior when the rented grassland area fails to make the grassland operation scale reach the minimum threshold of rotational grazing. The study emphasizes the importance of developing a grassland rental market to promote the optimization of grazing modes in grassland privatization countries.

Navigating the landscape of global sustainable livelihood research: past insights and future trajectory

Sustainable livelihoods (SL) have emerged as a crucial area of focus in global environmental change research, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This field is rapidly gaining prominence in sustainability science and has become one of the primary research paradigms. In our study, we conducted scientometrics analysis using the ISI Web of Science core collection database to examine research patterns and frontier areas in SL research. We selected 6441 papers and 265,759 references related to SL published from 1991 to 2020. To achieve this, we employed advanced quantitative analysis tools such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer to quantitatively analyze and visualize the evolution of literature in the SL research field. Our overarching objectives were to understand historical research characteristics, identify the knowledge base, and determine future research trends. The results revealed an exponential increase in SL research documentation since 1991, with the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Center (CGIAR) contributing the highest volume of research documents and citations. Key journals in this field included World Development, Global Environmental Change, Ecological Economics, and Ecology and Society. Notably, Singh RK and Shackleton CM emerged as prolific authors in SL research. Through our analysis, we identified six primary clusters of research areas: livelihoods, conservation, food security, management, climate change, and ecosystem services. Additionally, we found that tags such as rural household, agricultural intensification, cultural intensification, and livelihoods vulnerability remained relevant and represented active research hotspots. By analyzing keyword score relevance, we identified frontier areas in SL research, including mass tourism, solar home systems, artisanal and small-scale mining, forest quality, marine-protected areas, agricultural sustainability, sustainable rangeland management, and indigenous knowledge. These findings provide valuable insights to stakeholders regarding the historical, current, and future trends in SL research, offering strategic opportunities to enhance the sustainability of livelihoods for farmers and rural communities in alignment with the SDGs.

A methodological framework for assessing pastoral socio-ecological system vulnerability: A case study of Altay Prefecture in Central Asia

Vulnerability analysis is important for enhancing sustainability, especially for highly interlinked pastoral socio-ecological systems. This study presents a modified methodological framework for assessing the vulnerability of pastoral socio-ecological systems based on the interactions between social and ecological subsystems and their vulnerabilities. Altay Prefecture (Northwest China), a typical pastoral area located in Central Asia, was chosen for the case study. The ecological vulnerability index (EVI) and socio-ecological vulnerability index (SEVI) of Altay Prefecture from 2001 to 2018 were assessed and classified into five levels. The results showed that the distribution pattern of EVI was spatially heterogeneous, with EVI increasing from north to south and from west to east. The EVI was high in low-altitude deserts, decreased with altitude rising from 1300 m to 2200 m, and increased when the altitude exceeded 2200 m. The average EVI increased from 2001 to 2010 and decreased from 2010 to 2018, with the highest EVI in 2010 and the lowest in 2018. The SEVI of western counties was lower than that of eastern counties; the SEVI of all counties continuously decreased from 2001 to 2018, with a higher rate from 2010 to 2018. Social adaptive capacity, increased by the policies that aim at protecting grasslands and improving livelihoods, was the main influencing factor of the SEVI dynamic. These results will help to identify key areas with high EVI for grassland ecosystem management and strengthen the adaptive capacity for addressing vulnerability. Furthermore, the presented methodological framework can be adopted in vulnerability assessments of similar pastoral areas or natural resource-based socio-ecological systems.

Plant-Soil Mediated Effects of Long-Term Warming on Soil Nematodes of Alpine Meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Global warming is one of the most pressing environmental issues today. Our study aimed to investigate how warming affected plant and soil nematode communities in alpine meadows on the Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau over the past seven years. An artificial warming experiment with different gradients was conducted from 2011 to 2018, including temperature increases of 0 °C (CK), 0.53 °C (A), 1.15 °C (B), 2.07 °C (C), and 2.17 °C (D), respectively. Cyperaceae plants were shown to be eliminated by increasing temperature, and plant community composition tended to cluster differently under different warming gradients. The number of nematodes decreased with the increase in soil depth, and the majority of them were observed in the topsoil layer. The individual densities of soil nematodes were 197 ind.·100 g−1 dry soil at 10−20 cm and 188 ind.·100 g−1 dry soil at 20−30 cm in the A treatment, which was significantly higher than the CK (53 and 67 ind.·100 g−1 dry soil) (p < 0.05). The lowest relative abundance of bacterivore nematodes (Ba) was 31.31% in treatment A and reached the highest of 47.14% under the warming gradient of D (p < 0.05). The abundance of plant parasitic nematodes (Pp) was significantly reduced to 26.03% by excessive warming (2.17 °C increase) in comparison to CK (41.65%). The soil nematode community had the highest diversity with a 0.53 °C increase in soil temperature; 1.15 °C warming gradients were lower, and nematode communities tended to be simplified (p < 0.05). All nematode channel ratio (NCR) values were above 0.5, indicating that warming did not change the decomposition pathway of soil organic matter dominated by the bacterial channels. The Wasilewska Index (WI) in the D treatment increased significantly compared to other treatments (p < 0.05), indicating that the mineralized pathway of the food web was primarily involved with Ba and fungivores nematodes (Fu), which is conducive to the growth of micro-biophagous nematodes. The plant parasite index (PPI) decreased significantly in the D treatment compared with other treatments (p < 0.05), indicating that a high warming gradient caused a reduction in the maturity of Pp nematodes. The maturity index (MI) increased in the D treatment compared with A, B, and C treatments, indicating that overheating affected the nematode community in the later stage of succession and caused the soil to be less disturbed. A partial least squares path model (PLSPM) showed that warming indirectly affects Fu and Pp diversity by directly impacting the plant community as well as indirectly affecting Ba by directly affecting soil properties. In conclusion, plant diversity and community composition profoundly affect the soil nematode communities, thus reflecting the dynamic processes and evolution of soil ecosystems.

Livelihood resilience in pastoral communities: Methodological and field insights from Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Livelihood resilience is crucial for both people and the environment, especially in remote and harsh ecosystems, such as the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau (QTP). This research aimed to fill the gap of assessing herders' livelihood resilience using more inclusive method. Using survey data from 758 pastoralists, complemented with focus group discussions and transect walks in the Three River Headwater Region (TRHR) on the QTP, we first developed a livelihood resilience evaluation index comprising dimensions of buffer capacity, self-organization and learning capacity. The method of entropy-TOPSIS was then applied to assess the livelihood resilience of local herders, and the spatial patterns were analyzed by spatial autocorrelation method. The results showed the overall level of pastoral livelihood resilience resulted weak, with an east to west spatial gradient toward lower livelihood resilience. Self-organization was the most important dimensions of livelihood resilience, with social cohesion being a dominant factor. Buffer capacity resulted the less important, but the natural capital was significantly higher than the other four livelihood capitals. Furthermore, the northeastern region was a hotspot, while the northwestern region was a cold spot of livelihood resilience. While pastoral populations in the TRHR had high self-organization abilities and potentially high learning capacities, the overall low buffer capacity and livelihood capital limited the improvement of their livelihood resilience. The key findings provide support for enabling policies and integrated strategies to enhance social-ecological resilience. Study may help as paradigm shift reference for the livelihood resilience of pastoral communities in high-altitude areas globally.

Spatio-temporal evolution and driving factors of carbon storage in the Western Sichuan Plateau

The carbon sequestration function of the ecosystem is one of the most important functions of ecosystem service, and it of great significance to study the spatio-temporal differentiation of carbon storage for promoting regional sustainable development. Ecosystems on the Western Sichuan Plateau are highly variable, but its spatio-temporal differentiation and driving factors are not yet clear. In this study, on the basis of land use monitoring data, meteorological and demographic data interpreted from Landsat remote sensing image, and through GIS analysis tools, the carbon storage module of InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) model was used to estimate carbon storage and geodetector was used to detect the driving factors of carbon storage spatial differentiation. The results show that: (1) The carbon storage increased to 1.2455 × 10¹⁰ t from 1.2438 × 10¹⁰ t in the past 20 years, the ecosystem developed in a healthy way overall. (2) Carbon storage show High-High and Low-Low aggregation characteristics, but the area decreased by 1481.81 km² and 311.11 km² respectively, and the spatial cluster effect gradually weakened. (3) HAI is the leading factor causing the spatio-temporal differentiation of regional carbon storage, followed by temperature and NDVI; the interaction between factors significantly enhances the spatial differentiation of carbon storage, indicating that the change of carbon storage is the result of the joint action of natural and socioeconomic factors. The results of the study provide some theoretical basis for the development of differentiated ecological regulation models and strategies, and help to promote high-quality regional development.

Analysis of the Expansion Characteristics of Rural Settlements Based on Scale Growth Function in Himalayan Region

Road infrastructure is reshaping the rural settlement landscape in the Himalayan area of China through the construction of the rural road and strategic highway network. However, most methods based on multiple factors described in spatial analysis of rural settlement are limited by poor spatial response mechanisms of key factors. This study provides insight into the temporal and spatial process involving 15 rural settlements of Zhada County, west of the Himalayas. The growth of rural settlement follows a “short-head S-shape” function and the general expansion rule. It indicates the mode of evolution and the characteristics of construction. The results show that 70% of rural settlements continue to report the inertia of growth, while the reconstruction of the original site leads to historical spatial displacement under spatio-temporal compression. In addition, rural settlements display a spatial organization of interface area, hinterland, and fringe area and reveal two spatial paradigms of near-road expansion and peripheral extrusion. Further, the hinterland space, which is the core of rural settlement, is compact and intensive; a quarter of the hinterland space encompasses 45% of the settlement scale. These conclusions provide guidance for delineating village boundaries and improving the human settlement environment in the Himalayan-alpine plateau.