State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Regional Eco-process and Function Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China.
Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA.
Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 11;11(1):3635. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83207-y.
Wild ungulates are an important part of terrestrial ecosystems and play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem health and integrity. In many grassland ecosystems that are habituated by wild ungulates, the coexistence of domestic ungulates has created a conflict over grazing resources. Solving this conflict requires a balanced and sustainable policy that satisfies both the needs of wildlife protection and food production. Here, we assess the optimal grassland livestock carrying capacity of an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, given the coexistence of wild populations of kiangs (Equus kiang) and Tibetan gazelles (Procapra picticaudata), two key species grazing in this region. We use kriging and the MaxEnt method to estimate the population sizes of kiangs and Tibetan gazelles in Maduo County, Qinghai Province. We then convert the estimated population size of the two species into sheep units and calculate the residual carrying capacity for livestock grazing. We show that after accounting for the grazing need for kiangs and Tibetan gazelles, grassland in Maduo is capable of supporting 420,641 sheep units, which is slightly more than the current livestock population. However, the residual carrying capacity is highly uneven across the region, and overgrazing is found in many areas of Maduo, especially in northern Maduo. This research provides a useful framework for planning sustainable livestock farming for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other regions facing wildlife-livestock conflict.
野生有蹄类动物是陆地生态系统的重要组成部分，对维持生态系统健康和完整起着至关重要的作用。在许多有野生有蹄类动物栖息的草原生态系统中，家养有蹄类动物的共存导致了放牧资源的冲突。解决这一冲突需要制定一个平衡和可持续的政策，既要满足野生动物保护的需求，又要满足粮食生产的需求。在这里，我们评估了青藏高原高寒草原的最佳草地牲畜承载能力，考虑到了野牦牛（Equus kiang）和藏羚羊（Procapra picticaudata）这两个在该地区放牧的关键物种的野生种群共存。我们使用克里金插值法和最大熵模型来估计青海省玛多县野牦牛和藏羚羊的种群数量。然后，我们将这两个物种的估计种群数量转化为绵羊单位，并计算牲畜放牧的剩余承载能力。结果表明，在考虑了野牦牛和藏羚羊的放牧需求后，玛多县的草地能够承载 420641 只绵羊单位，略高于目前的牲畜数量。然而，剩余承载能力在整个地区分布不均，玛多县的许多地区，尤其是玛多县北部地区存在过度放牧的现象。这项研究为规划青藏高原和其他面临野生动物-牲畜冲突的地区的可持续畜牧业提供了一个有用的框架。
