The Study On The Sustainable Use Of Rangelands Of The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Ranglands of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has been degraded in recent years for various factors. Degradation of ranglands has affected not only on ecologic safety of China but also on the world and has caused great attention of the world. Many studies on the causes of degradation have been presented. In all researches, the view of climate changes and overgrazing is representive.However, analyzed by climate and the number of livestock of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it is found that climate changes have uncertains and the increase of livestock number is not over the capacity of its grassland ecosystem. Therefore, climate change and overgrazing is not the key factor that caused grassland degradation. The real reason that caused ranglands of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is unreasonable arrangement of the system, such as reclamation and grassland contract, especially for grassland contract.Two grassland management patterns, namely multi-household and single-household patterns, have developed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China since grasslands became contracted to households. In the multi-household management pattern (MMP), grassland is jointly managed by two or more households without fences between household pastures. The single-household management pattern (SMP) refers to a system in which grassland is separately managed by one household with fences separating pastures of other households. This paper represents a comparative study of the overall benefits of the two management patterns via a field investigation and social survey.We found that the MMP has superior economic benefits compared with the SMP because multi-household cooperation was more likely to reduce production costs and accordingly reduce resource expenditures. It is about 20 million RMB was saved per year for MMP in Maqu. However, many economic benefits of the MMP system are hard to quantify.The MMP system is important in preserving and developing knowledge of indigenous heritage. Much culture has been created by local herders with a long history of nomadic grazing, such as ecological ethics and grassland and livestock management. Such knowledge greatly improves wise use of natural resources and could provide invaluable insights for redirecting the behavior of the industrial world towards a path of synergy with the environment.MMP supports the construction of infrastructure. Generally, the residential sites of MMP are concentrated, which has aided the construction of public facilities for education, medical care, communications, and transportation.The MMP system helps maintain good relations between neighbors. In general, with increasing numbers of fences, conflicts increase between neighborhoods. But inside the MMP where there are no fences, water resources are shared resulting in less conflict between herdsmen and more harmonious relationships within neighborhoods.The MMP system promotes wise use of resources and strengthens the capacity to reduce risk. Only the community with strong force can hold back unreasonable exploration and use of resources. Joint-production household group act as an organization, and has a strong voice and bargaining power; therefore they can effectively prevent the occurrence of adverse events on the organization. Adversely, single household is weak in terms of their little bargaining position. In Maqu, natural disasters (e.g. snow storms. freezes, hail) occur frequently. In serious disasters, some households may lose all their livestock and capital for later development. If this happens in MMP system, those who have lost their livestock are helped by others.In the pasture investigated, sedge plants included Kobresia capillifolia, Scirpus distigmaticus, Carex spp., and Kobresia humilis, and grasses included Poa pratensis, Elymus nutans, Festuca sinensis, and Stipa aliena. The data indicated that the biomass of the Cyperaceae group was significantly higher in MMP than in SMP (P<0.05). In addition, in sedge plants, the height of Scirpus distigmaticus, and, Kobresia humilis, was significantly (P<0.001) different between MMP and SMP. While in grass plants, the height of Festuca sinnensis was significantly higher in MMP than in SMP (P< 0.001). Although there were no significant differences in average biomass, average vegetation cover, average vegetation height, and average plant biodiversity index of each quadrat between the MMP and SMP, sedge biomass and the height of some important grass were significantly different between the two management patterns. Since sedge and grass are the main edible forage and dominant graminoids in grassland of Maqu. some indicators from our analysis inferred that the SMP pasture was likely more degraded than was the MMP pastureIn conclusion, comprehensive benefits created from MMP were predominant as a result of social learning in this coupled human and natural ecosystem. The MMP has important policy implications for conservation and development initiatives in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other similar areas.