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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Changing Climate and Overgrazing Are Decimating Mongolian Steppes
PLoS ONE, Volume 8, No. 2, Article e57599, Year 2013
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Description
Satellite observations identify the Mongolian steppes as a hotspot of global biomass reduction, the extent of which is comparable with tropical rainforest deforestation. To conserve or restore these grasslands, the relative contributions of climate and human activities to degradation need to be understood. Here we use a recently developed 21-year (1988-2008) record of satellite based vegetation optical depth (VOD, a proxy for vegetation water content and aboveground biomass), to show that nearly all steppe grasslands in Mongolia experienced significant decreases in VOD. Approximately 60% of the VOD declines can be directly explained by variations in rainfall and surface temperature. After removing these climate induced influences, a significant decreasing trend still persists in the VOD residuals across regions of Mongolia. Correlations in spatial patterns and temporal trends suggest that a marked increase in goat density with associated grazing pressures and wild fires are the most likely non-climatic factors behind grassland degradation. © 2013 Liu et al.
Authors & Co-Authors
Liu, Yi Y.
Unknown Affiliation
Evans, Jason P.
Unknown Affiliation
McCabe, M. F.
Unknown Affiliation
de Jeu, Richard A.M.
Unknown Affiliation
van Dijk, Albert I.J.M.
Unknown Affiliation
Dolman, A. Johannes
Unknown Affiliation
Saizen, Izuru
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 185
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 7
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0057599
e-ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Environmental