Journal of Environmental Management 152 (2015) 177e182 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman Review Strategies to alleviate poverty and grassland degradation in Inner Mongolia: Intensification vs production efficiency of livestock systems * David D. Briske a, Mengli Zhao b, , Guodong Han b, Changbai Xiu b, David R. Kemp c, Walter Willms d, Kris Havstad e, Le Kang f, Zhongwu Wang a, Jianguo Wu g, h, Xingguo Han i, Yongfei Bai i a Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA b Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Inner Mongolian Agricultural University, Hohhot, China c Charles Sturt University/University of Sydney, Orange, NSW, Australia d Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada e USDA-ARS, Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM, USA f Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China g School of Life Sciences and Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA h Sino-US Center for Conservation, Energy, and Sustainability Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China i Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China article info abstract Article history: Semi-nomadic pastoralism was replaced by sedentary pastoralism in Inner Mongolia during the 1960's in Received 30 October 2012 response to changes in land use policy and increasing human population. Large increases in numbers of Received in revised form livestock and pastoralist households (11- and 9-fold, respectively) during the past 60 yrs have variously 22 July 2014 degraded the majority of grasslands in Inner Mongolia (78 M ha) and jeopardize the livelihoods of 24 M Accepted 27 July 2014 human inhabitants. A prevailing strategy for alleviating poverty and grassland degradation emphasizes intensification of livestock production systems to maintain both pastoral livelihoods and large livestock numbers. We consider this strategy unsustainable because maximization of livestock revenue incurs high Keywords: fl Pastoralism supplemental feed costs, marginalizes net household income, and promotes larger ock sizes to create a Pastoral livelihoods positive feedback loop driving grassland degradation. We offer an alternative strategy that increases both Poverty trap livestock production efficiency and net pastoral income by marketing high quality animal products to an Social-ecological systems increasing affluent Chinese economy while simultaneously reducing livestock impacts on grasslands. We Sustainability further caution that this strategy be designed and assessed within a social-ecological framework capable of coordinating market expansion for livestock products, sustainable livestock carrying capacities, modified pastoral perceptions of success, and incentives for ecosystem services to interrupt the positive feedback loop that exists between subsistence pastoralism and grassland degradation in Inner Mongolia. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction additional 2% of the grassland area each year (Tong et al., 2004; Brown et al., 2008 p. 42; Xue and Zhang, 2009). Specific aspects Grasslands occupy 78 M ha (67%) in the Inner Mongolia of grassland degradation include modified plant species composi- Autonomous Region (IMAR) in the People's Republic of China. This tion (Ho, 2001), declining biodiversity (Bai et al., 2007), and extensive grassland provides multiple ecosystem services for 24 M accelerated soil erosion (Shi et al., 2004). The environmental human inhabitants, 60% of whom live in rural areas and derive their consequence of these land use patterns are evidenced by desert livelihoods primarily as pastoralists (Li et al., 2007b)(Fig 1). Current expansion, regional and continental dust storms, and environ- livestock production systems are unsustainable as 55e80% of total mentally induced human migration in extreme cases (Shi et al., grassland area is categorized in varying stages of degradation, plant 2004; Liu and Diamond, 2005). production has declined 30e70%, and degradation claims an The occurrence of grassland degradation closely parallels rapid increases in numbers of livestock and pastoralist households that intensifies grassland exploitation by reducing land area per * Corresponding author. household and restricting livestock mobility (Tong et al., 2004; Yu E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Zhao). et al., 2004). The number of sheep units (SU; forage demand of a http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.07.036 0301-4797/© 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 178 D.D. Briske et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 152 (2015) 177e182 3 20 2. Drivers and measures of degradation Total population Rural population Pastoral households (10 Livestock number (10 Statistics maintained by the Chinese Agricultural Ministry are Pastoral households 15 indicative of current grassland over-exploitation in IMAR. The ) Livestock number 7 2 number of SUs is currently estimated at 140 M while the livestock carrying capacity is estimated to be 44 and 31 M SU's in a normal 10 rainfall and drought (30% below long-term mean) year, respec- tively. This stocking rate exceeds the estimated carrying capacity by 1 3.2 and 4.5 times, respectively. We have estimated that approxi- Population (10 5 7 mately 95 MT of dry aboveground plant mass are produced per year ) 5 À ) in IMAR assuming a mean productivity of 1200 kg ha 1 over the entire 78.8 M ha region. This assumption seems reasonable for 0 0 IMAR considering the very large variability in grassland production À 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 that exists in it (Ni, 2004). Two kg of dry plant mass day 1 are À Year required to support a SU, which translates to 730 kg SU yr 1 and À 202 MT yr 1 for all 140 M SUs. Assuming that livestock harvest Fig. 1. Trends in rural and total human populations, pastoralist households, and live- d stock numbers in IMAR 1947e2009. approximately 50% of the total aboveground plant mass an opti- mistic harvest efficiency with the remainder lost to weathering, senescence and insectsdgrasslands provide only 24% of the plant À 50 kg ewe with lamb; 2 kg day 1; allows aggregation of demand by mass required to maintain livestock body weight on an annual various livestock species) increased 18-fold from 8.4 M in 1947 to basis. The potential to realize net livestock production from this 152 M in 2009, pastoralist households increased 9-fold from 52,000 plant mass is further reduced by energy requirements associated to 510,000, and total human population increased 4.4 fold from with low temperature stress, animals foraging large distances, and 5.5 M to 24 M over this period (Fig. 1). Current livestock numbers, nutritional requirements for gestation and lactation. This assess- supported by supplemental feeding during the winter, have been ment of grassland over-exploitation is corroborated by large losses estimated to exceed the ecological carrying capacity of these in animal live weight (up to 30%) during the winter and reliance grasslands by 70e100% (Brown et al., 2008 p. 47), but evidence- upon supplemental fed for livestock survival (Kemp et al., 2011). based assessments of sustainable livestock carrying capacities are Policy governing land tenure was modified from a collective- lacking (Harris, 2010) as are cause-effect mechanisms of degrada- state property regime (1955e1979) to the Household Production tion (Tong et al., 2004). Rapid increases in livestock numbers are a Responsibility System (HPRS) by the central government during the direct consequence of major policy modifications. The first economic reform period in the 1980's (Li et al., 2007a). HPRS con- occurred with collectivization in the 1950's and 60's when the fers pastoralists an inheritable right of use of both land and live- Government encouraged development of large-scale communes stock for 30e50 years with the intent of increasing agricultural patterned on Russian agricultural models and the second conveyed production. Land remains property of the state and cannot be sold land and animal-use rights to individual households during the or used as an asset for acquiring loans, but it is permissible to rent 1990's (Jiang, 2005; Li et al., 2007b). land to other pastoralists, primarily on an annual basis, which Conversely, policy implementation to confront grassland precludes appropriate incentives and often encourages grassland degradation by reducing livestock numbers is widely perceived as exploitation. This policy has generated considerable debate because being incompatible with livelihoods of 14.4 M pastoralists in IMAR household land areas may be of insufficient size (1000e10,000 mu; (Yu et al., 2004; Li et al., 2007b; Harris, 2010). Government officials 67e670 ha) to sustainably maintain pastoral incomes (2989 RMB and some academics respond to this solution by indicating that ‘we per capita; Brown et al., 2008 p. 21) above the poverty line ($US 2 À À must feed the people’ (Dong et al., 2012)da perception likely person 1 day 1). Households with larger land areas often have founded upon agrarian land-use values that are expressed as lower mean stocking rates, greater flexibility in grazing manage- ecological construction. The central theme of ecological construc- ment and increased opportunities to produce supplemental feed to tion is improvement of the rural environment through imple- maintain animals during the winter. The relative contribution of mentation of intensive land use practices that are often HPRS to grassland