Xilin River Basin Grassland Utilization Status And Protection Countermeasures

Xilinguole grassland, located in the middle part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, plays an important role for sustaining the livestock industry and improving the environmental quality of northern China. The Xilin River Basin, which is the representative of Xilinguole grassland, was chosen as a case in this study. The main objectives of the study were: (1) to investigate the advantage and disadvantage of traditional nomadic grazing practices in the land-use history of Xilinguole grassland; (2) to examine the effects of land-use changes, dramatic increase of agricultural population, and the dynamic pulse of stocking rate on the spatiotemporal pattern of grassland degradation; (3) to explore the major social economic factors driving grassland degradation over 20 years; (4) to put forward practical approaches improving the current practices of grassland management based on the theoretical framework of adaptive ecosystem management and sustainability science.Traditional nomadic grazing has been gradually replaced by half sedentary and sedentary grazing systems. Since the inception of sedentary grazing systems, the indigenous nomadic cultural has declined. In addition, thematic mapping simulations accompanied with ground studies have revealed that 70% of the Xilin River Basin has been degraded with obvious spatial distribution. We analyzed the possible socioeconomic and environmental factors driving the grassland degradation in the Xilin River Basin. Based on our analysis, land use change, overgrazing and a dramatic increase in human population were found to be the main reasons for the rapidly increasing degradation in the Xilin River Basin region.Based on the above analysis, the application of adaptive ecosystem management approaches should be used for the sustainable development of the Xilin River Basin grassland husbandry.