Does nature-based solution sustain grassland quality? Evidence from rotational grazing practice in China

Rotational grazing is considered as one of the nature-based solutions(NbS)to grassland protection by natural scientists.However,its effects on improving grassland quality are still unclear when it is adopted by herders.Using a householdlevel panel data from field survey in two main pastoral provinces of China,empirical results from fixed-effect model and instrumental approach show that rotational grazing practices have insignificant short-term effects on grassland quality,but have positive long-term effects.In addition,rotational grazing practices can improve grassland quality when villages invest public infrastructure or herders have private supporting measures for more efficiency livestock production.Further analysis shows that herders adopting rotational grazing have higher grazing intensity,higher supplementary intensity and more livestock-house-feeding days,which indicate herders can utilize more efficient livestock management without increasing pressure on natural grassland.We also find that herders with pastoral income are more likely to adopt rotational grazing practice.These insightful findings offer policy implications on promoting grassroot NbS for ecosystem protection and resource utilization in developing pastoral countries.

Influences of various grazing systems on community biomass of a desert grassland in Inner Mongolia,China

This study investigated the effects of various grazing systems, including continuous grazing, rotational grazing, and no-grazing systems, on the community biomass in the Stipa breviflora Griseb desert grassland during the grazing seasons in 2005, 2006, and 2007, based on study sites established in 1999. We found that the seasonal dynamics of the aboveground biomass were quite similar among the three treatments, which reached peak values in period from August to September during each study year. The continuous grazing system reduced the aboveground biomass from 2005 to 2007 under drought conditions, and the rotational grazing and no-grazing systems maintained more aboveground biomass than the continuous grazing system did. The belowground biomass declined with the increase of soil depth among the three treatments, and in the surface 20-cm soil layer it accounted for more than 60% of the total biomass. The belowground biomass was found to be highly correlated with soil depth under rotational grazing. The total belowground biomass within the 0--100-cm soil layer for rotational grazing was sig- nificantly higher than for continuous grazing and no-grazing, and had 15,775 kg/ha more biomass. Our results demonstrate that conservative rotational grazing can alleviate grassland deterioration by reserving more aboveground and belowground biomass than the continuous grazing system does.