Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Values for Plants and Mammals in a Semi-Desert Region of Mongolia

doi:10.22353/mjbs.2014.12.04

Mong. J. Biol. Sci.

2014

DOI: 10.22353/mjbs.2014.12.04

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Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Values for Plants and Mammals in a Semi-Desert Region of Mongolia

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Cited by 4 publications

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“…Such a pattern has also been documented for mammals from modern ecosystems (e.g. Davie et al, 2014). The reasons for such a pattern are a combination of dietary preference of these herbivores for plants with high δ 15 N values (such as graminoids and forbs) and the prey choice of the predator focused on herbivorous prey with rather low δ 15 N values, caused by the consumption of plants such as shrubs and tree leaves or legumes (e.g.…”

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confidence: 69%

Reply to “Comment on “Isotopic insight on paleodiet of …” by Bocherens et al. (Gondwana Research, 48(1), 7–14)”

et al. 2018

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confidence: 69%

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et al. 2018

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Economic Diversification Supported the Growth of Mongolia’s Nomadic Empires

Wilkin

Miller

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Populations in Mongolia from the late second millennium B.C.E. through the Mongol Empire are traditionally assumed, by archaeologists and historians, to have maintained a highly specialized horsefacilitated form of mobile pastoralism. Until recently, a dearth of direct evidence for prehistoric human diet and subsistence economies in Mongolia has rendered systematic testing of this view impossible. Here, we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements of human bone collagen, and stable carbon isotope analysis of human enamel bioapatite, from 137 well-dated ancient Mongolian individuals spanning the period c. 4400 B.C.E. to 1300 C.E. Our results demonstrate an increase in consumption of C 4 plants beginning at c. 800 B.C.E., almost certainly indicative of millet consumption, an interpretation supported by archaeological evidence. The escalating scale of millet consumption on the eastern Eurasian steppe over time, and an expansion of isotopic niche widths, indicate that historic Mongolian empires were supported by a diversification of economic strategies rather than uniform, specialized pastoralism. Mongolian empires, such as the Xiongnu and Mongols, are some of the most renowned imperial entities in public and academic thought. This is, in part, due to their historical portrayal as highly mobile, predatory horseback polities with a specialized dairy and meat-based economy 1-4 , an image that is perpetuated in cinema, novels, and documentaries alike. While such stereotypes likely arose from the hyperbolized accounts of neighboring adversaries, starting with the Han, who fought against the Xiongnu 5 , they have persisted and now pervade academic evaluations of the economic basis of these ancient peoples. The modern economic focus on pastoralism in rural areas of Mongolia today is frequently viewed as a relic of the past and has been drawn upon to interpret the often-fragmentary archaeological record of this region 6,7 , although ethnoarchaeological approaches often ignore the role of urban markets and motorized transport in modern mobile pastoralism. The view of uniformly specialized pastoral economies has also furthered the scholarly fascination with historical Mongolian populations, resurrecting the long-standing question of whether an empire can meet the costs and challenges of long-term political and economic organization in the absence of grain surpluses 6,7. Empires are, however, inherently complex and, by definition, extend their control over multiple societies, cultures, and economies, as well as heterogeneous landscapes 8-10. Crop surplus has traditionally been viewed as an essential component of stable political entities and complex imperial food production and procurement systems are often oversimplified by historians and archaeologists, leading to their characterization as single-resource systems (such as maize for the pre-Columbian empires of South America). Refined analyses generally reveal diverse and dynamic economies supporting imperial expansions, which draw together a variety of food sou...

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Desert pastoralists’ negative and positive effects on rare wildlife in the Gobi

Ekernas

Sarmento

Davie

et al. 2017

Conservation Biology

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In arid regions of the developing world, pastoralists and livestock commonly inhabit protected areas, resulting in human-wildlife conflict. Conflict is inextricably linked to the ecological processes shaping relationships between pastoralists and native herbivores and carnivores. To elucidate relationships underpinning human-wildlife conflict, we synthesized 15 years of ecological and ethnographic data from Ikh Nart Nature Reserve in Mongolia's Gobi steppe. The density of argali (Ovis ammon), the world's largest wild sheep, at Ikh Nart was among the highest in Mongolia, yet livestock were >90% of ungulate biomass and dogs >90% of large-carnivore biomass. For argali, pastoral activities decreased food availability, increased mortality from dog predation, and potentially increased disease risk. Isotope analyses indicated that livestock accounted for >50% of the diet of the majority of gray wolves (Canis lupus) and up to 90% of diet in 25% of sampled wolves (n = 8). Livestock composed at least 96% of ungulate prey in the single wolf pack for which we collected species-specific prey data. Interviews with pastoralists indicated that wolves annually killed 1-4% of Ikh Nart's livestock, and pastoralists killed wolves in retribution. Pastoralists reduced wolf survival by killing them, but their livestock were an abundant food source for wolves. Consequently, wolf density appeared to be largely decoupled from argali density, and pastoralists had indirect effects on argali that could be negative if pastoralists increased wolf density (apparent competition) or positive if pastoralists decreased wolf predation (apparent facilitation). Ikh Nart's argali population was stable despite these threats, but livestock are increasingly dominant numerically and functionally relative to argali. To support both native wildlife and pastoral livelihoods, we suggest training dogs to not kill argali, community insurance against livestock losses to wolves, reintroducing key native prey species to hotspots of human-wolf conflict, and developing incentives for pastoralists to reduce livestock density.

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Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Values for Plants and Mammals in a Semi-Desert Region of Mongolia

Abstract: ABSTRACT

Cited by 4 publications

References 37 publications

Reply to “Comment on “Isotopic insight on paleodiet of …” by Bocherens et al. (Gondwana Research, 48(1), 7–14)”

Reply to “Comment on “Isotopic insight on paleodiet of …” by Bocherens et al. (Gondwana Research, 48(1), 7–14)”

Economic Diversification Supported the Growth of Mongolia’s Nomadic Empires

Desert pastoralists’ negative and positive effects on rare wildlife in the Gobi

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