What determine herder households' sustainable grassland management behaviors in western China?

Grassland is most important in China due to its multi-functions. However, about 90% of total usable grassland in China has been degraded and the degradation expands at a rate of 2 million ha per year. Western China covers 6.12 million square kilometers and 63.8% of the total national area with a distribution of 50 minority nationalities and 75% of the minority national population. Ecological environment there is very vulnerable with more than 90% areas of the annually increased degradation taking place. Under the current tenure arrangement, the individual herder households become the main and direct users of grassland, their decision-making on grassland management may have crucial impact on ecological environment as well as their livelihoods. Thus, it is necessary to examine the determinants of their grassland management behaviors. This study applies 231 household field data from 6 provinces of western China and uses econometric models to explore the major constraints for restricting the herd households' grassland management behaviors. Main results show that under the current tenure and other governance measures, institutional factors, market price and herder's farm and household's characteristics affect the grassland management behaviors.

Response of Biomass Spatial Pattern of Alpine Vegetation to Climate Change in Permafrost Region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Alpine ecosystems in permafrost region are extremely sensitive to climate changes.To determine spatial pattern variations in alpine meadow and alpine steppe biomass dynamics in the permafrost region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China,calibrated with historical datasets of above-ground biomass production within the permafrost region's two main ecosystems,an ecosystem-biomass model was developed by employing empirical spatialdistribution models of the study region's precipitation,air temperature and soil temperature.This model was then successfully used to simulate the spatio-temporal variations in annual alpine ecosystem biomass production under climate change.For a 0.44°C decade-1 rise in air temperature,the model predicted that the biomasses of alpine meadow and alpine steppe remained roughly the same if annual precipitation increased by 8 mm per decade-1,but the biomasses were decreased by 2.7% and 2.4%,respectively if precipitation was constant.For a 2.2°C decade-1 rise in air temperature coupled with a 12 mm decade-1 rise in precipitation,the model predicted that the biomass of alpine meadow was unchanged or slightly increased,while that of alpine steppe was increased by 5.2%.However,in the absence of any rise in precipitation,the model predicted 6.8% and 4.6% declines in alpine meadow and alpine steppe biomasses,respectively.The response of alpine steppe biomass to the rising air temperatures and precipitation was significantly lesser and greater,respectively than that of alpine meadow biomass.A better understanding of the difference in alpine ecosystem biomass production under climate change is greatly significant with respect to the influence of climate change on the carbon and water cycles in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Endocrine response of early-hatching Asian Short-toed Lark nestlings exposed to cold temperature in a high-latitude grassland habitat

Background:In high latitude grassland habitats,altricial nestlings hatching in open-cup nests early in the breeding season must cope with cold temperature challenges.Thyroid hormones(triiodothyronine,T_(3)and thyroxine,T_(4))and corticosterone play a crucial role in avian thermoregulation response to cold.Investigating the endocrine response of altricial nestlings to temperature variation is important for understanding the adaptive mechanisms of individual variation in the timing of breeding in birds.Methods:We compared nest temperature,ambient temperature,body temperature,plasma T_(3),T_(4)and corticosterone levels in Asian Short-toed Lark(Alaudala cheleensis)nestlings hatching in the early-,middle-,and late-stages of the breeding season in Hulunbuir grassland,northeast China.Results:Mean nest temperature in the early-,middle-and late-stage groups was-1.85,3.81 and 10.23℃,respectively,for the 3-day-old nestlings,and 6.83,10.41 and 11.81℃,respectively,for the 6-day-old nestlings.The nest temperature significantly correlated with body temperature,plasma T_(3),T_(4)and corticosterone concentrations of nestlings.Body temperature of 3-day-old nestlings in the early and middle groups was significantly lower than that of the late group,but there was no significant difference between the nestlings in the early and middle groups.The T_(4)and T_(3)concentrations and the ratio of T_(3)/T_(4)of both 3-and 6-day-old nestlings in the early-stage group were significantly higher compared to the middle and late groups.The corticosterone levels of 3-day-old nestlings were significantly higher in the early-stage group compared to the middle-and late-stage groups.Conclusion:Nestlings hatching early responded to cold temperature by increasing thyroid hormones and corticosterone levels even in the early days of post hatching development when the endothermy has not been established.These hormones may play a physiological role in neonatal nestlings coping with cold temperature challenges.

Reform of Rural Planting Structure in China since the Reform and Opening-up and Its Main Problems

Based on the oral interview of six different types of rural families in Houdian Village,Longkou City,Shandong Province,combined with the adjustment of rural reform policies,this paper analyzed reasons for the reform of rural planting structure in China since the reform and opening-up and elaborated the general outline of the reform of the planting structure.From the changes in farmers' attitudes,it explored the achievements and shortcomings of rural reform in the past 40 years.It discussed problems such as shortage of labor resources and vacancy of family education of teenagers in the current sustainable development of rural areas.Finally,it came up with some recommendations for the development of rural areas.

Living in a Bottomless Pit: Households’ Responses to Land Subsidence, an Example from Indonesia

Land subsidence has severe physical and economic implications for both areas and people. Numerous scholars have shown that land subsidence has had massive impacts at global, national and regional levels, and that the impacts were usually responded to by the government. However, little attention has been paid to what land subsidence means to people’s daily lives and how much it costs them. To fill that gap, this article draws on empirical research carried out in three areas in Indonesia to provide a better understanding of what land subsidence means to households, and how they respond to the consequences and how much it costs them to do so. An analysis of a survey of 330 households shows that they have been suffering from various severities of impacts of land subsidence for an extended period. Whereas some of the households respond to the impacts by making small preparations or adapting to the damages, others can do nothing due to a lack of money and their continuously declining earning capacity. Thus, the affected households are effectively throwing money into a bottomless pit. We argue that these households must escape the vicious circle caused by land subsidence by increasing their income capacity or even abandoning the affected areas.

The "Two Leaps" and Chinese Agricultural Modernization

The "Two Leaps" put forward by Deng xiao-ping on agriculture are expounded in the paper. The first leap is from the people's commune to family land contract operation system. The weaknesses of people's commune and innovation of family land contract operation system are analyzed. It is pointed out that the family contact operation system is the expansion and development of collective economy. The second leap is to develop appropriate scale operation and collective economy. The shortages of family contract system are analyzed. It is put forward that realizing scale operation of agriculture is the necessary demand for production development and collective economy road is the inevitable way for realizing Chinese agricultural appropriate scale operation. "Two leaps" gives clears way of agricultural modernization:consolidating the thoughts of starting from the reality, insisting the guidance of the fundamental position of agriculture and further promoting agricultural development; persistently stabilizing and perfecting rural basic operation system and timely promote rural system innovation; stimulating the thought that science and technology is the prior productiveness and developing agricultural modernization in a better and faster way.

Development Model and Characteristics of Rural Land Joint Stock-cooperative System

We introduce and analyze operating mechanism of three major rural land joint-stock cooperative systems in China,including community type(Nanhai model),collective leasing type(Ningxia Pingluo model) and joint operating type(Zhejiang Jiande model).Current rural land joint-stock cooperative system has following characteristics.Firstly,adhere to the collective ownership and household contract responsibility system in rural areas.Secondly,safeguard farmers' land contractual rights and interests.Thirdly,implement large-scale agricultural production and operation.Fourthly,carry out normative operation of farmers' cooperatives.On the basis of these,we point out such problems as backward technology and short of funds in development of rural land joint-stock cooperative system.Finally,we conclude that the development of rural land joint-stock cooperative system should fully draw lessons from foreign advanced experience,actively try new model like securitization of rural land,to explore a road suitable for current national conditions.

Heterogeneous responsibilities of three grassland resource governance modes in Inner Mongolia, China

Grassland resource governance is an important part of ecological civilization construction,and it directly af‐fects grassland governance performance.This study deploys principal-agent theory and uses social network analysis to compare grassland resource governance modes in China in terms of institutional settings and insti‐tutional network characteristics.This study found three types of grassland resource governance modes:self-designed,docked,and integrated.The self-designed mode forms a network structure with dual centers and multiple members,and has the second-best structural mode of the three types.The docked mode forms a net‐work structure with a single center in which the institution is the absolute core and is relatively divergent.It has the weakest structural advantage of the three types.The integrated mode forms a network structure with a single institution at the core and other institutions distributed evenly throughout the structure.This mode has the strongest structural advantage among the three types.This study offers the practical application of improv‐ing the practice of grassland governance in China and is theoretically significant because it can contribute to improving grassland governance modes and enriching the public goods resources governance.

Evaluation of the Effects of Implementing Degraded Grassland Ecosystem Restoration Technology: A Case Study on Technology for Returning Grazing Land to Grassland

Restoring degraded grassland ecosystems is of great significance for the sustainable development of grassland ecological service functions and the sustainable and healthy development of regional economies and societies. Returning grazing land to grassland technology（RGLGT） is an important strategic technology for restoring degraded grassland ecosystems and achieving the sustainable development of the society and economy of pastoral areas in China. Researching the comprehensive evaluation system of the effects of RGLGT has an important significance for evaluating and adjusting national ecological policy. Based on collecting sample surveys from 221 farmers in 16 villages of 4 towns of Yanchi County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in 2017, a model for evaluating the effects of implementing RGLGT was developed. The model included the characteristics of the technology, the ecological and social benefits of the technology, and the sustainability and economic benefits of the technology, it was used to complete a comprehensive effects evaluation of implementing RGLGT in Yanchi County that was based on use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process（AHP） method. The results showed that the comprehensive effect of implementing RGLGT is good overall and had a score of 0.5946. In terms of specific effects ranked from high to low, these were the ecological and social benefits of the technology, the economic benefits, the sustainability and the characteristics themselves. The implementation of RGLGT has resulted in good ecological and social benefits and economic benefits, but sustainability and characteristics of the technology are weak.

On the Contract System of Responsibility Linked to Production——A New Form of Cooperative Economy in China’s Socialist Agriculture

surveys the evolution of the contract system of 'responsibility linked to production' in the cooperative economy of China’s socialist agricultural sector and makes a critical analysis of the old model in which labor was deployed in a concentrated way and remuneration paid according to workpoints. He thereby brings to light two specific characteristics of China’s agriculture—the scattered and independent nature of the labor and the unified control and coordination over the process of production by the combination of households—and the two requirements resulting from these. The author holds that the key to the economic nature of the 'contract system of responsibility linked to production' lies in two unique, often puzzling, economic phenomena in the cooperative economy under the system of collective ownership: 1. labor is carried out independently and in a decentralized manner; and 2. remuneration is not based on workpoints but is directly obtained by individuals according to the product. In the process of analyzing these two phenomena, the author differentiates the modes of labor and the relations of production, and clarifies the process of production of the rural contract system’s combination of centralization and decentralization, and the essence of the two-tiered policy. He also formulates the category of 'standard output' to describe a characteristic of the mode of distribution in the rural contract system, that is, the calculation of remuneration according to a standard output. The paper also discusses the rural economy and its development after the institution of the contract system of 'responsibility linked to production' but due to limited space this will be published in a later article.

北方农牧交错带牧户饲草地建设对草原植被覆盖的影响

饲草地建设对牧业可持续发展和草原生态保护意义重大。但基于牧户层面探讨饲草地建设对草原生态保护作用的研究尚不充分,不利于现行经营制度下的草地生态治理。基于内蒙古乌拉特中旗实地调查的牧户问卷数据,以草原植被覆盖度为指标,采用多元有序Logistic模型,探究饲草地建设对草原生态保护的作用;并基于典型嘎查归一化植被指数(NDVI)的空间数据,通过ArcGIS分析,对牧户问卷结果进行佐证。结果显示:(1)研究区61.2%的牧户建有饲草地,其中户主年龄大的和草地经营面积较小的牧户更倾向于饲草地建设;(2)建有饲草地的牧户占比越高,相应嘎查的草地植被覆盖越好,NDVI值也越高;(3)饲草地建设对草原生态保护存在经营规模的异质性影响,当牧户饲草建设地面积占其草地总经营面积比的0.6%即面积为1—1.67 hm2时,草原植被覆盖最好,表明其最利于草原生态保护。因地制宜确定饲草地的建设规模是通过饲草地建设促进草原生态保护的关键。

多元理性:家户制传统下的农户一家两制实践

怎样在实践中把握农户在食物生产上的一家两制?本文在家户制传统下提出多元理性框架,和单一理性的农业经济理论假定展开对话。本文认为,农户理性包含多元向度且相互联系:既依循差序责任,区分“自家人”和“外部人”,进行内外有别的食物生产,“让自家人吃自家饭”,带来“个体自保”,也能进行推己及人的价值权衡,在场域约束与道义反思的互构中,将“外部人”视同为“自家人”,从而“让有条件的自家人吃上自家饭”,促进“社会共保”。基于东亚家户制传统的多元理性,与基于西方农业经济理论的单一经济理性假定的对话,有助于更新农民学研究的认识基础,构建基于中国实践的理论,发现能够促进食物体系可持续发展的小农路径。

公众气候关注可以促进家庭能源消费结构低碳化转型吗

随着城镇化的推进和收入水平的提升,家庭能源消费在中国能源消费体系中占比不断增加,推进家庭能源消费低碳化转型成为中国如期实现“双碳”目标的重要途径之一。注意力资源的配置是影响经济主体行为决策的重要因素,近年来公众气候关注的显著上升可能成为推动家庭能源消费低碳化转型的重要力量。基于中国家庭能源消费调查数据和百度搜索指数,实证考察了公众气候关注对家庭能源消费结构的影响。研究发现,公众气候关注显著提高了优质能源在家庭能源消费中的比重,促进了家庭能源消费结构低碳化转型。这种转型主要源于家庭的“主动式参与”,而非“引导式参与”。机制检验发现,公众气候关注主要是通过改变个体气候变化态度、增强个体气候问题认知及其低碳责任意识,从而驱动家庭主动改善能源消费结构。异质性分析发现,公众气候关注对家庭能源消费结构的影响在受教育程度较高的家庭、公职人员家庭中更为显著。从社会环境来看,积极的社会参照规范可以正向调节公众气候关注与家庭能源消费结构之间的关系。本文为从家庭视角加快建立健全绿色低碳循环发展的经济体系提供重要参考。

中国温带草地物候对气候变化的响应及其对总初级生产力的贡献

气候变暖引起的植物物候变化影响了陆地生态系统功能和碳循环。目前研究着重关注温带和热带森林物候变化趋势、驱动因素,关于干旱半干旱地区草地物候变化及其对生态系统总初级生产力(gross primary productivity, GPP)影响仍知之甚少。因此,开展草地植物物候与生产力之间的关系研究对预测草地生态系统响应未来气候变化和区域碳循环至关重要。基于1982—2015年气象资料和GIMMS NDVI3g数据,分析了中国温带草原植被返青期(start of the growing season, SGS)和枯黄期(end of the growing season, EGS)变化及其对气候的响应,并借助一阶差分法量化物候对GPP动态变化的贡献。结果表明:(1)季前1—2个月的夜间温度增温会显著提前SGS,而当月至季前2个月的白天温度对SGS有着微弱的促进作用;季前3个月的累积降水对SGS提前作用最为强烈,累积太阳辐射在各个时期对SGS影响相对较弱。(2)不同季前时间尺度昼夜温度对草地EGS均表现出相反的作用,短期累积降水对EGS起到显著延迟的区域范围最大,太阳辐射随着季前时间的增加对草地枯黄期的延迟作用逐渐转变为提前作用。(3)EGS对草地GPP年际变化趋势的相对贡献率强于返青期。研究结果有助于深化陆地生态系统与气候变化、碳循环之间相互作用的认识,为草地适应未来气候变化和生态建设提供科学依据。

草业科学专业课程思政教学的探索与实践——以“草地资源与管理”课程为例

基于草业科学专业的特点、“草地资源与管理”课程的内容和教学要求,挖掘课程思政元素,将草业相关的国家政策、科学研究精神、从业者的专业使命、社会责任与担当及其他一些优良的品格作为课程思政教学的切入点。教学实践证明,相关的草地生态治理工程、草原法等政策,草业科学家在艰苦条件下的坚持与钻研精神,从业者的敬业爱业精神等思政教学元素,从调查问卷和学生的作业中得到了认可,在教学中取得了良好的效果。

Deciphering impacts of climate extremes on Tibetan grasslands in the last fifteen years

Climate extremes have emerged as a crucial driver of changes in terrestrial ecosystems. The Tibetan Plateau, facing a rapid climate change, tends to favor climate extremes. But we lack a clear understanding of the impacts of such extremes on alpine grasslands. Here we show that extreme events(drought,extreme wet, extreme cold and extreme hot) occurred at a frequency of 0.67–4 months decade^(-1) during2001–2015, with extreme precipitation predominantly occurring in June-to-August and extreme temperatures in May. Drought and extreme wet cause opposite and asymmetric effects on grassland growth,with drought-induced reductions greater than increases due to extreme wet. Grassland responses to extreme temperatures, which predominantly occur in May, show a dipole-like spatial pattern, with extreme hot(cold) events enhanced(reduced) growth in the eastern plateau but slightly reduced(enhanced) growth in the western plateau. These opposite responses to extreme temperatures over the eastern plateau are explained by the possibility that the occurrence of extreme cold slows the preseason temperature accumulation, delaying the triggering of spring phenology, while extreme hot hastens the accumulation. In the western plateau, in contrast, positive responses to extreme cold are induced by accompanying high precipitation. Furthermore, high extremeness of climate events generally led to a much lower extremeness in growth response, implying that the Tibetan grasslands have a relatively high resistance to climate extremes. The ecosystem models tested could not accurately simulate grassland responses to drought and extreme temperatures, and require re-parameterization before trust can be placed in their output for this region.

Comparison of ecosystem services provided by grasslands with different utilization patterns in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Although several previous studies in Inner Mongolia examined the effects of ecological conservation on the delivery of ecosystem services, they were often limited in scope（few ecosystem services were assessed） and often suffered from confounding by spatial variation. In this study, we examined the impact of conservation measures（changes in grassland utilization patterns） on the provision of selected ecosystem services in three types of grasslands（meadow steppe in Hulun Buir, typical steppe in Xilin Gol, and semi-desert steppe in Ordos） in Inner Mongolia. We examined five utilization patterns： no use（natural grasslands）, light use, moderate use, intensive use, and recovery sites（degraded sites protected from further use）. Through household surveys and vegetation and soil surveys, we measured the differences in ecosystem services among the different grassland utilization patterns. We also identified spatial factors that confounded the quantification of ecosystem services in different types of grasslands. We found that light use generally provided high levels of ecosystem services in meadow steppe and typical steppe, with the main differences in the supporting ecosystem services. Surprisingly, we found no consistently positive impacts of strict conservation activities across the sites, since the results varied spatially and with respect to differences in the land-use patterns. Our study suggests that appropriate grassland utilization patterns can enhance the supply of ecosystem services and reduce negative effects on both household livelihoods and the environment.

全球草地生态系统净初级生产力的空间格局及降水非对称响应

草地生态系统对全球气候变化的反馈具有重要的生物指示作用,然而,不同水分条件下草地对气候和土壤因子的响应机制尚不明确。基于全球实测草地NPP数据,补充了气候和土壤因子,经过整合分析形成数据集。采用回归分析和随机森林算法探究了不同气候区草地NPP对环境因子的响应,以及利用非对称指数分析了对降水的响应模式。结果表明,干旱区草地的NPP主要受水分可利用性的限制,气候和土壤因子影响较微弱;而湿润区草地的NPP更容易受气候因子影响(太阳辐射、温度等),且土壤因子(土壤含水量、土壤容重等)也在其中起到了关键作用。此外,研究还发现NPP对降水非对称性的响应在不同气候区的草地系统中存在显著差异,在干旱区,NPP在太阳辐射高、VPD低和土壤砂含量高的环境下对降水呈现正响应,而在湿润区,NPP在降水适中、温度适中、土壤黏粒含量低的条件下对降水的正响应更为显著。NPP对环境条件具有一定的阈值效应,超过阈值范围则会导致非对称响应的正响应减弱,甚至为负响应。研究结果为未来草地管理和气候适应策略的制定提供了理论依据,同时也为提升全球碳循环模型的精确性,进一步探索复杂气候变化背景下草地生态系统的响应机制奠定了基础。

内蒙古草原内陆河流域水文循环要素时空演变及驱动因素

[目的]开展内蒙古草原内陆河流域水文循环要素对植被动态和气候变化的响应研究,对于内蒙古草原内陆河流域的生态保护及区域水资源开发利用具有重要的理论意义。[方法]以内蒙古草原内陆河流域为研究区,基于多源遥感、气候气象、水文等数据,采用趋势检验、显著性检验和相关性分析等方法,对流域水文循环要素的时空演变及驱动因素进行相关分析。[结果](1)流域蒸散发呈显著上升趋势(0.994 mm/a),降水量呈显著下降趋势(2.69 mm/a),土壤水分呈增加趋势,其中子流域锡林河径流呈下降趋势,巴拉格尔河径流呈上升趋势;(2)生长季植被总体呈增加趋势,植被归一化指数(NDVI)、总初级生产力(GPP)和叶面积指数(LAI)整体呈东高西低的阶梯状空间分布格局,气温整体呈现上升趋势;(3)植被变化与蒸散发(ET)、土壤水分(SSM)呈正相关,气温和蒸散发整体上呈现显著正相关(R=0.699,p=0.01),空间相关性由西向东递增;气温和径流呈负相关,和土壤水分在流域东、西部呈显著负相关性。[结论]流域水文循环变量(降水、蒸散发、土壤水分、径流量)随着植被增加而增加;降水、土壤水分和径流量随气温上升而减少,蒸散发随气温上升而增加。

Human-climate induced drivers of mountain grassland over the last 40 years in Sidama, Ethiopia: perceptions versus empirical evidence

Background:Mountain grasslands are globally important ecosystems.They are considered as heritage sites with“outstanding values”to ecological communities by adding a further“layer and support to the existing protection measures.”However,mountain grasslands are increasingly under threat from human activities and impacts of climate change.Methods:Using satellite imagery,we studied land use/land cover(LULC)patterns between 1973 and 2015.Individual interviews consisting of 240 households for comparison and field data collection were conducted for accuracy assessment.Results:Five categories of LULC types were identified from the image classification that included forestland,grassland,shrubland,bushland,and agricultural land.Between 1973 and 2015,the forestland,grassland,and shrubland covers were declined by 15.9%,53.6%,and 41.0%,respectively.In contrast,bushland and agricultural land were increased by 169%and 647%,respectively.The overall LULC classification accuracies for the four reference years ranged from 77.6 to 86.5%with Kappa statistic of 0.69 to 0.80.The majority of respondents(92.5%)mentioned that the cover of forestland outsized the other land use land cover types followed by grassland in the past.Conclusions:The stated indicators of land use/land cover changes linked to the impact of climate change were decline in milk yield and crop production,spread of livestock diseases,degradation of grazing lands,and change in the timing of rain.The results of the study suggest that human-climate related components were major drivers of land use/land cover dynamics that demand for proper management and conservation of mountain grassland ecosystem in Sidama South Ethiopia.