Grassland Animal Husbandry Research Articles

Assessment of grassland carrying capacity drivers and evaluation of pasture-livestock balance: A case study of Xinjiang, China

Evaluating the spatiotemporal variations and driving mechanisms of carrying capacity (CC) is critical for optimizing grassland resource utilization and promoting sustainable development in grassland animal husbandry. This study focuses on Xinjiang, an arid and semi-arid region significantly impacted by environmental changes and human activities. To capture the dynamics of grassland CC, we employed Theil-Sen trend analysis and the Mann-Kendall test to assess spatiotemporal trends. The innovative use of the Geodetector method allowed for a detailed quantification of the influence of various environmental and human-related factors on grassland CC. Additionally, we incorporated livestock data to evaluate the overgrazing conditions of the grassland ecosystem. Our findings demonstrate that: (1) Grassland CC has shown a pronounced overall upward trajectory over the last twenty years, with notable inter-annual fluctuations and significant spatial variations, particularly between the northern and southern regions. (2) The spatial distribution of grassland CC is primarily influenced by precipitation patterns and population density, with key determining factors varying across different types of grasslands. Except for alpine steppe and alpine desert, the spatial distribution of grassland CC was primarily influenced by two-factor interactions, surpassing the impacts of single-factor effects. (3) The overgrazing rate has generally declined, peaking in 2014 and showing the mildest condition in 2017. In comparison, the overgrazing situation in Northern Xinjiang is relatively more favorable, whereas the southern and eastern regions necessitates more immediate and comprehensive ecological restoration and management measures. In summary, this study provides important scientific evidence for prioritizing grassland protection and planning for the sustainable animal husbandry development in arid and semi-arid regions.

Impact of Operating Scale on Factor Inputs in Grassland Animal Husbandry—Intermediary Effects Based on Market Risk

Impact of Operating Scale on Factor Inputs in Grassland Animal Husbandry—Intermediary Effects Based on Market Risk

Herders' risk preference and grassland transfer strategy: Evidence from a field experiment in pastoral areas of China

AbstractEncouraging and guiding herders to participate in grassland transfer promotes the high‐quality development of grassland animal husbandry. We conducted a survey among 356 herders from Qinghai and Gansu provinces in China, to explore the impact of herders' risk preference and perceptions on their grassland transfer strategies. We used experimental economics methods to measure the risk preferences of herders. Our results indicate that the majority of herders exhibit risk‐averse attitudes. A theoretical model was used to establish hypotheses on the relationship between risk preference and grassland transfer decision‐making. The double‐hurdle model and moderating effect model were used to test these hypotheses. Our analysis shows that herders' risk preferences have a significant negative effect on their decisions to engage in grassland transfer. Both risk preferences and risk perception have a significant impact on grassland transfer‐in decisions, but no significant impact on grassland transfer‐out. A heterogeneity analysis revealed that the impact of risk preferences on grassland transfer participation is more pronounced among herders in Qinghai compared to those in Gansu. Moreover, we found that risk perception plays a moderating role on the influence of risk preferences on decisions regarding grassland transfer. These findings are crucial to formulate strategies for the sustainable management of the grassland transfer market.

The Impact of Herders’ Risk Attitudes on Livestock Insurance: Evidence from the Pastoral Areas of Tibetan Plateau

In the context of advancing the transformation and upgrading of grassland animal husbandry, encouraging and guiding the widespread adoption of livestock insurance plays an important role in promoting the sustainable development of the livestock industry. This paper explores the impact of herders’ attitudes and perceptions towards climate change risks on their livestock insurance strategies. Firstly, experimental economics methods are employed to measure the risk preferences of herders on the Tibetan Plateau. Secondly, a theoretical model incorporating risk preferences and insurance adoption behavior is constructed. Finally, the effects of herders’ risk preferences on insurance adoption behavior are empirically examined through double-hurdle models, instrumental variable models, and moderating effect models. The results reveal that (1) most herders on the Tibetan Plateau exhibit risk-averse characteristics. (2) The degree of risk preference has a significant negative impact on herders’ insurance adoption behavior, while the risk perception significantly positively influences insurance adoption. The results remain valid even after addressing issues of endogeneity and conducting robustness checks. (3) Livestock income plays a crucial moderating role in the mechanism through which risk attitudes affect insurance adoption behavior. (4) The impact of risk preference on insurance adoption behavior shows regional and income heterogeneity.

Effects of Organic Fertilizer Addition to Vegetation and Soil Bacterial Communities in Saline-Alkali-Degraded Grassland with Photovoltaic Panels.

The Songnen grassland is an important resource for livestock production in China. Due to the intensification of anthropogenic activities in recent years, vegetation degradation has worsened, and the salinization of grassland has become increasingly serious, which severely affects the sustainable development of grassland animal husbandry. In this study, organic fertilizer addition was carried out at saline-and-alkaline-degraded Songnen grassland sites with photovoltaic panels, and we investigated the effects of organic fertilizer treatments on the vegetation and soil bacteria in these areas. The results showed that both organic fertilizer treatments increased the community composition and diversity indices of plants (p < 0.05); they also had significant effects on soil electrical conductivity and rapidly available potassium (p < 0.05). In the dominant phylum of bacteria, the relative abundance of Firmicutes increased without adding organic fertilizer under the photovoltaic panel; the addition of organic fertilizer had a significant effect on the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Desulfobacterota (p < 0.05), reducing their relative abundance, respectively. There were differences in the number of bacteria at the genus level under different treatments compared to the control, with the highest enrichment of bacteria occurring at the OFE position, and a significant difference (p < 0.05) being found between the control and the other four groups at the genus level of g_norank_f_norank_o_Actinomarinales. Organic fertilizer had a significant effect on the bacterial Simpson diversity index, with the most significant increasing trend found in OFE (the front eaves of the photovoltaic panel in fertilization area). The results of a correlation analysis showed that pH, electrical conductivity, and total nitrogen were the main factors affecting the soil bacterial community.

Impacts of Livestock Production on Grassland Grasshopper Disasters

Grasshopper disasters threaten grassland animal husbandry, and overgrazing is widely recognized as one of the main causes of locust infestation in grassland regions. However, the impact of overgrazing on grasshopper disasters remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, this study interviewed 541 households living in locust-prone areas in Inner Mongolia, China. The generalized Poisson model and OLS regression examined the relationship between herders’ production behavior and locust disasters. The results showed that 42% of the herders had suffered from locusts more than three times over the past 15 years, with an average of 49 ha of grassland damaged per household. In addition, with the increase in grazing rates, the scale of locust disasters decreased before it increased. The results also showed that operating grassland areas and feeding forage reduced locust disasters significantly, while renting grassland areas and grazing rates worked oppositely. These results suggest that grazing intensity can make a significant difference in the occurrence of locust disasters.

A Research Paradigm of Weather Index Insurance for Grassland Animal Husbandry: A Pathway to Increased Income for Herders in China’s Inner Mongolia

This paper aims to theoretically and empirically test whether the Weather Index Insurance for Mutton Sheep (WIMS) which protects the herders from increased feeding costs resulting from drought and snow disasters promotes the income of herders in China’s Inner Mongolia or not. We have applied the OLS, PSM, and quantile regression models using field survey data from 261 herders in Xilin Gol, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for our objective. The findings demonstrate that the WIMS significantly increases the overall and high-income herders’ income, but has no significant effect on herders’ income at other income levels.. According to the results, we recommend that as the subsidized agricultural insurance product, the government should expand the pilot region of WIMS to furtherly test its income effect and consider reducing or exempting insurance premiums for low-income herders to reduce their financial pressure.

The first two whole mitochondrial genomes for the genus Dactylis species: assembly and comparative genomics analysis

BackgroundOrchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), a perennial forage, has the advantages of rich leaves, high yield, and good quality and is one of the most significant forage for grassland animal husbandry and ecological management in southwest China. Mitochondrial (mt) genome is one of the major genetic systems in plants. Studying the mt genome of the genus Dactylis could provide more genetic information in addition to the nuclear genome project of the genus.ResultsIn this study, we sequenced and assembled two mitochondrial genomes of Dactylis species of D. glomerata (597, 281 bp) and D. aschersoniana (613, 769 bp), based on a combination of PacBio and Illumina. The gene content in the mitochondrial genome of D. aschersoniana is almost identical to the mitochondrial genome of D. glomerata, which contains 22–23 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 8 ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and 30 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), while D. glomerata lacks the gene encoding the Ribosomal protein (rps1) and D. aschersoniana contains one pseudo gene (atp8). Twenty-three introns were found among eight of the 30 protein-coding genes, and introns of three genes (nad 1, nad2, and nad5) were trans-spliced in Dactylis aschersoniana. Further, our mitochondrial genome characteristics investigation of the genus Dactylis included codon usage, sequences repeats, RNA editing and selective pressure. The results showed that a large number of short repetitive sequences existed in the mitochondrial genome of D. aschersoniana, the size variation of two mitochondrial genomes is due largely to the presence of a large number of short repetitive sequences. We also identified 52–53 large fragments that were transferred from the chloroplast genome to the mitochondrial genome, and found that the similarity was more than 70%. ML and BI methods used in phylogenetic analysis revealed that the evolutionary status of the genus Dactylis.ConclusionsThus, this study reveals the significant rearrangements in the mt genomes of Pooideae species. The sequenced Dactylis mt genome can provide more genetic information and improve our evolutionary understanding of the mt genomes of gramineous plants.

Study on Diversity of Poisonous Weeds in Grassland of the Ili Region in Xinjiang

The frequent occurrence of poisonous grassland weed disasters has weakened the stability of the grassland ecosystem in the Ili region of Xinjiang, and its spread has seriously affected the development of grassland animal husbandry. However, there is no relevant literature to report the species and distribution of poisonous grassland weeds in the Ili region. In this study, investigation was carried out using methods such as personal inspection and sampling methods, and importance-value and diversity analyses were conducted. The results showed that there were 126 species of poisonous weeds in the Ili region, belonging to 91 genera and 28 families. The poisonous weeds of Compositae and Leguminosae accounted for 33.3%. The Shannon–Wiener diversity index of the poisonous weed population was 3.99, the richness of the poisonous weed population was high, and the distribution range was uniform. The Simpson diversity index of poisonous weeds population was 0.97, and the highest importance value of poisonous weeds was Urtica cannabina L., with an importance value of 11.50. The evenness index of the poisonous weed population was 0.83; the spatial distribution pattern of the poisonous weed population tended to aggregate distribution. This study lays a foundation for the control of poisonous weeds and the sustainable development of grasslands in the Ili region of Xinjiang.

Analysis of the differences in green farming behavior of operating agents in grassland pastoral areas

Green farming is the inevitable path to solving the problem of pasture ecological protection and a fundamental guarantee to realize the high-quality development of grassland animal husbandry. This study explores the differences in green farming behaviors of different operating agents in grassland pastoral areas. The mechanism of the formation of the differences is based on 274 working agents’ survey data from Xilin Gol league pastoral areas in Inner Mongolia, China, by constructing the Logit model and Fairlie decomposition method. The results show that family ranch is the primary operating agent of green farming in China’s grassland pastoral areas. The green farming behavior is 2.115 times more extreme than that of traditional pastoralists. Differences in the intensity of green farming behavior of the operating agents were significantly and positively correlated with differences in their ecological consciousness and differences in resource endowment. Differences in ecological consciousness and participation in training were the key factors contributing to the differences in the intensity of green farming behavior among the operators, with ecological consciousness contributing 51.34% and participation in training contributing 46.65% to the differences in the intensity of green farming behaviors. Therefore, to enhance the effective transformation of traditional pastoralists’ green farming behavior, we should guide them to raise ecological consciousness, focus on the role of resource endowment, and gradually form a new grassland animal husbandry development where green farming behavior fully landed.

Modernization Measures for Sustainable Development of Alpine Grassland Husbandry on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: An Example of Countermeasures to Pasture Degradation

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, also known as the "third pole of the world", consists of widespread alpine grasslands, and the local community has taken advantage of this natural condition to develop alpine grassland livestock farming. In recent years, climate change and irrational human activities have led to serious degradation of the alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has constrained the development of traditional grassland husbandry. In order to promote the ecological protection of the plateau and improve the livelihood of the people in this region, the traditional grassland livestock industry needs to be transformed and upgraded. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau should study and reasonably learn from efficient modern pastoralism and development measures such as grass farming and migrant urbanization in the USA, Australia, and Northern Europe. Due to the special peculiarities of the natural environment and the limitations of the local socio-economic conditions, this essay combines the local natural and humanistic environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region and proposes modern measures such as grass-based storage, grazing in specific areas, and ecological migration to realize the sustainable development of alpine grassland animal husbandry, which is conducive to promote regional high quality development.

An empirical study of the key factors affecting herders' purchasing decision on weather index insurance—A case study from inner Mongolia autonomous region, China

The weather index insurance for mutton sheep (WIMS) is the first weather index insurance product that addresses the increased feeding cost-related risk of grassland animal husbandry herders in China. In 2019, the WIMS was implemented as a pilot project in 11 county regions of Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia, China. Since the implementation of this product, the purchasing rate has varied from region to region, as the highest purchasing rate was 84.3%, while the lowest was only 1.8%. This research uses the double hurdle model to identify the factors affecting herders' purchasing behavior. This paper reports a survey study of 535 participants herders in the Xilin Gol League. The result indicates that herders' age, disaster risk evaluation, insurance awareness, pasture area, and neighborhood purchasing decision significantly impact herders' purchasing propensity. Disaster evaluation, insurance awareness, pasture area and location significantly impact the purchasing degree of herders. The study suggests that young herders and herders with large pasture areas should be motivated to purchase insurance. In addition, new methods should be applied for the publicity of this insurance product; Investments should be focused on the automatic weather monitoring station projects in pastoral areas to reduce the basis risk of the insurance.

Multi-Cutting Improves Forage Yield and Nutritional Value and Maintains the Soil Nutrient Balance in a Rainfed Agroecosystem.

Increasing forage yield and nutritional quality under the premise of maintaining relatively stable land area and soil nutrient content is a necessary condition for the sustainable development of grassland animal husbandry. Different cutting models [simulated grazing (SG), hay harvesting (H)] of oat (Avena sativa), common vetch (Vicia sativa) and their mixture (Avena sativa + Vicia sativa) were studied on the Loess Plateau. The results show that (1) SG could increase forage yield, crude protein, and crude fat content and decrease crude ash content. In 2014, the yield of Avena sativa per hectare was 3,578.11 kg higher than that of H; (2) the model analysis for predicting nutritional components showed that the Crude protein (CP) and EE contents of forages in each variety (combination) showed a linear downward trend with increasing forage yield. Redundancy analysis showed that precipitation, especially in the growing season, was positively correlated with grass yield and CP content; and (3) there were significant differences in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, NO3−-N, and NH4+-N contents for the different forage varieties (combinations) under different use modes; the values first decreased, then increased, and finally decreased. According to the comprehensive evaluation value calculated by Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution, mixed sowing was better than monoculture, and SG obtained better results than H. Overall, mixed sowing under SG can improve forage yield and nutritional quality. At the same time, precipitation regulation is the key factor affecting the production performance of rainfed cultivated grassland on the Loess Plateau.

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES OF POLISH FARMS

The main objective of the study is to identify and evaluate development opportunities among agricultural holdings in Poland according to agricultural types and economic size classes. Thestudy refers to the period between 2015 and 2019 and concerns data regarding farms run by natural persons conducting agricultural accounting within the Polish FADN. The aim of the studywas achieved by assessing the level of income from a family farm as well as accumulation and reproduction in the agricultural holdings under consideration. The research shows that there wasa differentiation in the development potential of farms run by natural persons depending on the agricultural type and economic size class. The highest average accumulation in relation to familyfarm income, as well as the highest reproduction rate, was observed in farms producing poultry.Farms with field crops, horticulture, dairy cows and pigs also had more accumulation than depreciation and these farms provided an extended reproduction of fixed assets. On the otherhand, in holdings with mixed crop and animal production, with permanent crops and specialised in grassland animal husbandry, there was a narrower reproduction of fixed assets.The analysis of agricultural holdings run by natural persons showed that the accumulation rate and the reproduction rate increased along with the economic size of agricultural holdings.Farms with an economic size of up to EUR 25 thousand SO in the studied period recorded a negative accumulation rate and reproduction rate. In the group of farms with an economic sizeof EUR 25 to 50 thousand, the reproduction rate was 1. On the other hand, in the economic size classes above EUR 50 thousand SO there was an extended reproduction.

Does the Mutton Sheep Weather Index Insurance Promote the Mutton Sheep Industry?A Study based on the Endogenous Switching Regression Model

In 2018, as the first livestock weather index-based insurance product for grassland animal husbandry, the mutton sheep weather index insurance was officially listed as a subsidy agricultural insurance by the Government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which was later in 2019 implemented throughout the XilinGol League of the autonomous region. Employing the endogenous switching regression model, this study investigates the factors influencing herdsmen's purchasing decisions, as well as the impact of mutton sheep weather index insurance on the mutton sheep industry scale, which are accomplished based on 308 survey data from herdsmen in the XilinGol League. The empirical results reveal that the age, age squared, pasture area and neighbors' purchasing intention constitute the significant influencing factors of the herdsmen's purchasing decisions, while the pasture area and net pastoral income affect the scale of mutton sheep farming prominently. Furthermore, according to the ATT results, the mutton sheep weather index insurance produces an insignificant impact on the sheep farming scale of herdsmen. The conclusions of this study suggest that the mutton sheep weather index insurance is not contrary to the cattle-increasing, sheep-reducing policy in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which also provide a solid theoretical basis for the promotion of the insurance throughout the autonomous region.

Does the grassland ecological compensation policy improve the herders' breeding technical efficiency in China?-Based on the parallel mediation effect model.

The Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy (abbreviated as GECP), which aims to realize the ecological protection by reducing the stock-carrying capacity of pastures and promote the transformation of pasture animal husbandry by improving the herders' breeding methods, has been a major project in China's grassland pastoral areas and grassland ecological construction. This study, thus, sought to measure the breeding efficiency of herders before and after the implementation of GECP. Moreover, the study also thought to analyze the effect and the effecting path of the implementation of GECP on the efficiency of herders' livestock breeding. GECP enables herders to obtain financial subsidies while minimizing the utilization of grassland, which brings challenges and opportunities to herders' traditional livestock production. This study used the two-stage data obtained from a randomly selected sample of 449 herders in the Inner Mongolia grassland area of China in 2018. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and parallel mediating effect (PME) models were used to analyze the data. The results show that the general effect of GECP on the breeding efficiency of herders in the Inner Mongolia is positive (P < 0.01), and the change of breeding methods (direct effect) is the main influence path. Specifically, the grassland circulation behavior (P < 0.01) and the scale of breeding (P < 0.01) are part of the mediating effect. While the mediating effect of the breeding structure is not significant (P > 0.1). This study also shows that the non-agricultural and animal husbandry income of herders has a negative impact on the breeding efficiency (P < 0.01), and herders' age and breeding scale have a positive effect on the breeding efficiency (P<0.01). This study has not only answered the question whether the GECP can improve the efficiency of husbandry, but also focused on the analysis of the impacting mechanism of policies on efficiency. It is of great significance to further improve GECP and the related supporting policies and promote the transformation of China's grassland animal husbandry.

The conservation patterns of grassland ecosystem in response to the forage-livestock balance in North China

Being a key ecological security barrier and production base for grassland animal husbandry in China, the balance between grassland forage supply and livestock-carrying pressure in North China directly affects grassland degradation and restoration, thereby impacting grassland ecosystem services. This paper analyzes the spatiotemporal variation in grassland vegetation coverage, forage supply, and the balance between grassland forage supply and livestock-carrying pressure from 2000 to 2015 in North China. We then discuss the spatial pattern of grassland ecological conservation under the impacts of grassland degradation and restoration, and livestock-carrying pressure. Over the last 16 years, the total grassland area in North China decreased by about 16,000 km2, with vegetation coverage degraded by 6.7% of the grasslands but significantly restored by another 5.4% of grasslands. The provisioning of forage by natural grassland mainly increased over time, with an annual growth rate of approximately 0.3 kg/ha, but livestock-carrying pressure also increased continuously. The livestock-carrying pressure index without any supplementary feeding reached as high as 3.8. Apart from the potential livestock-carrying capacity in northeastern Inner Mongolia and the central Tibetan Plateau, most regions in North China are currently overloaded. Considering the actual supplementary feeding during the cold season, the livestock-carrying pressure index is about 3.1, with the livestock-carrying pressure mitigated in central and eastern Inner Mongolia. Assuming full supplementary feeding in the cold season, livestock-carrying pressure index will fall to 1.9, with the livestock-carrying pressure alleviated significantly in Inner Mongolia and on the Tibetan Plateau. Finally, we propose different conservation and development strategies to balance grassland ecological conservation and animal husbandry production in different regions of protected areas, pastoral areas, farming-pastoral ecotone, and farming areas, according to the grassland ecological protection patterns.

Remote Sensing Monitoring and Ecological Risk Assessment of Landscape Patterning in the Agro-Pastoral Ecotone of Northeast China

The agro-pastoral ecotone, an ecological transition zone connecting adjacent areas of agricultural planting area and grassland animal husbandry, has three features: a complex natural condition, relatively pronounced population pressure, and a fragile ecological environment. In this study, we conducted an ecosystem risk assessment in the western part of Jilin Province, China, based on multiscale and multitemporal remote sensing images and land-use data. Furthermore, we focused on land-use change from 1995 to 2015 by applying the dynamic change information survey method and carrying out a transfer track analysis. The results revealed three main findings. (1) The ecological risk index at the scale of 3 km × 3 km harbors significant spatial correlation. (2) The ecological risk index of unutilized land, forest land, and grassland is relatively high for each, and their anti-interference ability is weak, while the ecological risk index of construction land and water area is the lowest. (3) Human interference, e.g., construction activities and cultivated land occupation, is the leading factor driving the exacerbation of ecological risk and frequent land-use type conversions. At the study period’s end, a trend of slight contraction in the high-risk areas was found, indicating that land-use regulation and land protection policies have had significantly positive impact upon the lands’ ecological value. The overall study identified a reasonable research scale for eco-environmental risk assessment and discerned relationships between regional land-use changes through geospatial analysis. Moreover, our findings can help provide practical case study information applicable to similar regions with agro-pastoral ecotones.

草原畜牧业温室气体排放现状、问题及展望

草原畜牧业生产系统是一个涉及环境、经济、社会多层面、且系统内部气候-土壤-草地-家畜-管理之间相互作用的复杂的社会生态系统。草原不仅为人类提供所需要的肉奶，也提供了多种生态系统服务。然而，草原畜牧业也是主要的温室气体排放源之一。减缓畜牧业温室气体排放的研究已成为当前气候变化科学研究关注的焦点。综述了国内外草原畜牧业温室气体排放研究现状，指出现有研究的不足主要集中在以下3个方面：（1）虽然生命周期评价方法广泛应用于草原畜牧业温室气体排放研究，但是存在诸多问题，导致目前的研究框架体系尚不完善，特别体现在以下几方面：是否考虑外部输入、是否考虑土壤有机碳、畜牧业温室气体排放强度指标的选择等；（2）缺乏单一环节减缓措施对草原畜牧业整体温室气体减排效果的研究；（3）目前对影响草原畜牧业温室气体排放强度的因素主要集中在生态系统层面的分析，忽略了社会系统的作用，无法反映社会系统与生态系统的相互反馈机制，导致机制阐释不完善。综上所述，未来仍需从以下三方面开展研究：（1）完善草原畜牧业研究框架体系及提升研究方法；（2）加强对单一环节减缓措施对草原畜牧业温室气体整体减排效果的综合评价；（3）基于社会生态系统的角度深入研究影响草原畜牧业温室气体排放强度差异的机制。一方面，这有助于深入理解草原畜牧业温室气体排放强度情况，也为低碳型草原畜牧业发展政策的制定提供思路借鉴；另一方面对于科学合理的可持续利用草场和恢复草地生态环境均具有重要意义。;Grassland animal husbandry is a coupled social, environmental and economic system which is interrelated through complex interaction between climate, soil, grassland, livestock and management institutions. Grassland animal husbandry not only provides meat and dairy products to people, but also generates variety of significant ecological system services. However, grassland animal husbandry is also a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and how to mitigate GHG from animal husbandry has become a focus of current climate change study. In this article, we reviewed the published studies on grassland animal husbandry GHG emissions, and pointed out three shortages of current studies. First, although life-cycle evaluation method has been widely used to measure GHG emissions from livestock production, there still existed shortages and debates, particularly in terms of whether the external variables and soil organic carbon should be considered? How to select indicators to measure the level of GHG emission from livestock production? Second, few studies have focused on the impacts of mitigation measure at single stage on the overall GHG emission reduction of grassland animal husbandry; Third, current studies mainly focused on the impact analysis from ecosystem, while ignored the impacts from social system, which led to poorly describe the feedback mechanism between social and ecological system. Based on the review, we recommend the following topics for the future studies:1) Improving the life-cycle analytical framework and methods for measuring GHG emission from grassland animal husbandry; 2) Enhancing the comprehensive evaluation of single GHG mitigation measures on whole reduction effectiveness of grassland animal husbandry; and 3) Analyzing the mechanisms influencing GHG emission intensity from the coupled social-ecological system perspective. We believe that this review would help more in-depth understandings GHG emissions from grassland animal husbandry, and have more effective policy implications for low-carbon livestock production system. In addition, it also provides new insights on how to manage grassland ecosystems sustainably and restore grassland ecosystems.

青海省都兰县草原畜牧业演变及其影响——以巴隆乡为例

青海省都兰县草原畜牧业演变及其影响——以巴隆乡为例