Research Data
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing Research Data by Subject "biomass"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access 20-year vegetation change data in three ecological zones in Mongolia(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Jamiyansharav, Khishigbayar; Fernandez-Gimenez, MariaMongolian rangelands have experienced warming temperatures and increasing livestock densities over the past 20 years. Remote sensing studies report widespread degradation, but there are no long-term field studies of vegetation responses to shifts in climate and stocking densities. In 2013, we resampled plots originally sampled in 1994-1995 in the desert-steppe, steppe and mountain-steppe, and analyzed changes in vegetation in relation to changes in climate, stocking densities and forage use. Summer temperatures significantly increased and stocking densities fluctuated in response to droughts followed by harsh winters. Total herbaceous biomass in 2013 was similar to (desert-steppe and steppe) or greater than (mountain-steppe) in 1995, and total foliar and herbaceous cover were unchanged since 1995 in all zones. In the mountain-steppe, functional type and species cover shifts were consistent with warming temperatures and increasing grazing pressure. All species richness and diversity indicators declined significantly in the mountain-steppe since 1995 as did richness in the steppe. Some Mongolian rangelands may be losing resilience due to interacting climate and grazing pressures, but our data suggest degradation observed at our study sites is reversible. Mountain-steppe systems appear more vulnerable to grazing- and climate-induced vegetation change than steppe and desert-steppe.