Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland

Abstract 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. Sol...

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Autores principales:	Yueheng Ren, Yanpeng Zhu, Davide Baldan, Mengdi Fu, Bin Wang, Junsheng Li, Anping Chen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a05b10d17bbd4361afb39c6f5397fdd2
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a05b10d17bbd4361afb39c6f5397fdd22021-12-02T14:26:55ZOptimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland10.1038/s41598-021-83207-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/a05b10d17bbd4361afb39c6f5397fdd22021-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83207-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract 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.Yueheng RenYanpeng ZhuDavide BaldanMengdi FuBin WangJunsheng LiAnping ChenNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Yueheng Ren Yanpeng Zhu Davide Baldan Mengdi Fu Bin Wang Junsheng Li Anping Chen Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland
description	Abstract 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.
format	article
author	Yueheng Ren Yanpeng Zhu Davide Baldan Mengdi Fu Bin Wang Junsheng Li Anping Chen
author_facet	Yueheng Ren Yanpeng Zhu Davide Baldan Mengdi Fu Bin Wang Junsheng Li Anping Chen
author_sort	Yueheng Ren
title	Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland
title_short	Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland
title_full	Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland
title_fullStr	Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland
title_full_unstemmed	Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland
title_sort	optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a qinghai-tibet plateau grassland
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a05b10d17bbd4361afb39c6f5397fdd2
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Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland

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