Climate impact on vegetation and animal husbandry on the Mongolian plateau: a comparative analysis

Miao, Lijuan; Fraser, Richard; Sun, Zhanli; Sneath, David; He, Bin; Cui, Xuefeng

doi:10.1007/s11069-015-1992-3

Cited by 37 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Coping strategies include adequate grain and fodder storage, livestock offtake in autumn, otor (long distance movements) and reduced pregnancy rates to improve animal survival in harsh winters. International relief Extremely harsh winters characterised by heavy snow and low temperature Miao et al (2016) Meteorological phenomenon Mayer (2016) Complex social and ecological phenomenon Murphy (2011) Incidences of mass livestock mortality Rao et al (2015) Unique weather phenomenon World Bank (2011) Sternberg et al (2011) and Nandintsetseg and Shinoda (2013) examined multifaceted drought impacts on environment on society. Little work has explicitly addressed drought/dzud interaction, although Sternberg et al (2009) disaggregated drought and dzud in Omnogovi Province from 1999 to 2002.…”

Section: Disaster In Mongoliamentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the presumed causal links between drought and dzud in Mongolia

Sternberg

2017

Nat Hazards

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Extreme weather events present environmental and social challenges across the Eurasian steppe. In Mongolia much attention is given to drought and dzud (severe winter conditions) impact on rural livelihoods, landscapes and governance. A link between the two events, fostered by international and state agencies, speculates that drought leads to dzud; this has become the widely accepted doctrine. However, the relationship between the two events is assumed rather than analysed. Whilst there may be natural links between climate events, causality is more difficult to establish yet often claimed post-event. This paper stresses Mongolia's destructive dzuds of 1999-2001 and 2009-2010 in examining drought frequency before dzud events. Findings question the hazard connection as just 3 of 32 examined dzud events were preceded by drought. Investigation did not document a relationship between the disasters; linkages between extreme events were implied rather than established. The human role in disaster also needs to be assessed as preparation, and response are key factors for mitigation. Study results identified a lack of causality between the disasters, suggesting more assiduous investigation of hazards is needed in Mongolia. This can clarify causal factors, identify risk and improve disaster mitigation strategies in Mongolia.

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Section: Disaster In Mongoliamentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the presumed causal links between drought and dzud in Mongolia

Sternberg

2017

Nat Hazards

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“…Extreme weather events, such as drought and dzuds, are known to further increase movement as herders seek grazing and water for livestock (Miao et al 2016). More than 90% of the households in this study moved at least once during the year.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the same period, there were 34 human cases of rabies demonstrating a zoonotic exposure risk (Odontsetseg et al 2009). The health of Mongolian herders is also influenced by their mobility, including seasonal migration, (Mocellin and Foggin 2008) often driven by livestock as herders seek better pastures or water (Miao et al 2016). Associations have been recorded between livestock deaths and human deaths during dzuds, which are severe, winter weather events (Otani et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential risk factors for zoonotic disease transmission among Mongolian herder households caring for horses and camels

Sack

Daramragchaa²,

Chuluunbaatar³

et al. 2018

Pastoralism

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Mongolia has more than ten times as many livestock as people. Herders are dependent on their livestock for their livelihood, and seasonal movement is driven by the livestock's grazing needs. The daily, seasonal interactions between Mongolian herders and their livestock put herders at risk for several zoonotic diseases. The goals of this pilot study were to describe potential risk factors for zoonotic disease transmission and note how they differed for herder families between provinces (aimags). As part of a larger study, a household survey was administered to 131 households in Arkhangai, Uvurkhangai, and Umnugobi provinces aimags during 2016 and 2017. The study was limited due to its self-reported survey data and its convenience sample design. We did not capture specific disease data. All households cared for either or both horses (Equus ferus caballus) and Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus). All households had a cell phone and access to a power source, primarily solar panels (93.1%). Families reported spending on average 3.9 h a day with their horses or camels. As all five of the most prevalent zoonotic pathogens in Mongolia have horses as reservoirs, and three of the five may also reservoir in Bactrian camels, herder families with horses or camels potentially experience daily risks from zoonotic diseases. Our pilot study data demonstrated that zoonotic disease transmission could occur through a number of ways, such as directly from contact with livestock or manure or from contaminated food, milk, or water. Sixty-four percent of herder households reported using dried manure for fuel. Unprocessed river water was often the primary source (52.7%) of drinking water, which is potentially contaminated with manure-borne pathogens. Fuel and water sources varied by herder household location. A unifying finding was the ubiquity of cellphones in all surveyed herder households, providing a potentially efficient method for public health communication.

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Section: Regional and Country Levelmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The NDVI in Mongolia is well-correlated with climatic factors [34,42,59,62]. Annual precipitation, summer precipitation and NDVI exhibit a strong positive correlation in all vegetation types, whereas annual mean temperature and NDVI do not correlate, except in the case of forest-steppe vegetation [34,42,59,62]. Across most vegetation types (meadow, steppe, desert steppe) there is a positive correlation between summer/annual precipitation and NDVI [34,42]; only in the forest-steppe, which is mainly distributed in the northern region, has a negative correlation between summer precipitation and NDVI has been observed [34].…”

Section: Regional and Country Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-ecological Interactions in a Changing Climate: A Review of the Mongolian Pastoral System

et al. 2019

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Coping with climate change in socio-ecological systems is one of the most urgent issues facing the world. This is particularly true in socio-ecological systems, where climate not only influences social and ecosystem dynamics, but also modulates their interaction. In this paper, we presented a conceptual framework through a literature review and a trend analysis for assessing the impact of climate change that incorporates socio-ecological interactions. In particular, we focused on the Mongolian pastoral system, which has tightly coupled socio-ecological interactions, as a model for describing the framework. Our framework suggests that the flexibility in mobility of herders is the principal factor in determining the vulnerability of the socio-ecological system to climate change. The flexibility varies along a climatic gradient and socio-ecological interactions in each region have evolved to be suited to its local climate regime. Herders in northern and central regions of Mongolia move shorter distances, and less flexible, than those in southern (Gobi) region. Climatic hazards, on the other hand have been increasing across Mongolia with a trend toward warmer and drier conditions since the 1960s. We suggest that further warming and drying would have the greatest impact on northern and central regions due to lower flexibility in mobility among herders there coupled with the much higher livestock density in the regions. The findings support that maintaining flexibility of mobile herding will likely be crucial to reducing the vulnerability of the Mongolian pastoral system to climate change.

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Climate impact on vegetation and animal husbandry on the Mongolian plateau: a comparative analysis

Cited by 37 publications

References 42 publications

Investigating the presumed causal links between drought and dzud in Mongolia

Investigating the presumed causal links between drought and dzud in Mongolia

Potential risk factors for zoonotic disease transmission among Mongolian herder households caring for horses and camels

Socio-ecological Interactions in a Changing Climate: A Review of the Mongolian Pastoral System

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