Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland

Anping Chen,Yueheng Ren,Mengdi Fu,Junsheng Li,Yanpeng Zhu,Bin Wang,Davide Baldan

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83207-y

Abstract

Wild ungulates are an important part of terrestrial ecosystems and play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem health and integrity. In many grassland ecosystems that are habituated by wild ungulates, the coexistence of domestic ungulates has created a conflict over grazing resources. Solving this conflict requires a balanced and sustainable policy that satisfies both the needs of wildlife protection and food production. Here, we assess the optimal grassland livestock carrying capacity of an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, given the coexistence of wild populations of kiangs (Equus kiang) and Tibetan gazelles (Procapra picticaudata), two key species grazing in this region. We use kriging and the MaxEnt method to estimate the population sizes of kiangs and Tibetan gazelles in Maduo County, Qinghai Province. We then convert the estimated population size of the two species into sheep units and calculate the residual carrying capacity for livestock grazing. We show that after accounting for the grazing need for kiangs and Tibetan gazelles, grassland in Maduo is capable of supporting 420,641 sheep units, which is slightly more than the current livestock population. However, the residual carrying capacity is highly uneven across the region, and overgrazing is found in many areas of Maduo, especially in northern Maduo. This research provides a useful framework for planning sustainable livestock farming for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other regions facing wildlife-livestock conflict.

Highlights

Grassland ecosystems cover approximately 26% of the global land area and sustain most of the world’s livestock[1,2]
Based on field surveys and Maxent model simulations, we estimate that the suitable area for kiangs (Equus kiang) is 12,650 km[2] in Maduo County, and that of Tibetan gazelles (Procapra picticaudata) is 9897 km[2]
We estimate the presence of 11,397 kiangs and 1545 Tibetan gazelles in Maduo, equal to 68,834 sheep units

Summary

Introduction

Grassland ecosystems cover approximately 26% of the global land area and sustain most of the world’s livestock[1,2]. Achieving a balanced resolution between these conflicting goals requires an improved quantification of the wildlife populations and their foraging demands With this information, we can estimate the carrying capacity for livestock. We choose Maduo County, one of the 17 counties in the Three-River-Source area, as the target region to conduct population research on wild ungulates to determine the region’s livestock carrying capacity (Fig. 1). This is to ensure a sustainable coexistence of both wild ungulates and livestock. While the study uses Maduo County as a specific example, the framework we develop here will provide important insights for the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other regions facing similar competing demands for wildlife protection and livestock production

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion