Changing Climate and Overgrazing Are Decimating Mongolian Steppes
dc.contributor.author | Liu, Yi Y. | |
dc.contributor.author | Evans, Jason P. | |
dc.contributor.author | McCabe, Matthew | |
dc.contributor.author | de Jeu, Richard A. M. | |
dc.contributor.author | van Dijk, Albert I. J. M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Dolman, Albertus J. | |
dc.contributor.author | Saizen, Izuru | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2014-08-27T09:46:22Z | |
dc.date.available | 2014-08-27T09:46:22Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2013-02-25 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Liu YY, Evans JP, McCabe MF, de Jeu RAM, van Dijk AIJM, et al. (2013) Changing Climate and Overgrazing Are Decimating Mongolian Steppes. PLoS ONE 8: e57599. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057599. | |
dc.identifier.issn | 19326203 | |
dc.identifier.pmid | 23451249 | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0057599 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10754/325311 | |
dc.description.abstract | Satellite observations identify the Mongolian steppes as a hotspot of global biomass reduction, the extent of which is comparable with tropical rainforest deforestation. To conserve or restore these grasslands, the relative contributions of climate and human activities to degradation need to be understood. Here we use a recently developed 21-year (1988-2008) record of satellite based vegetation optical depth (VOD, a proxy for vegetation water content and aboveground biomass), to show that nearly all steppe grasslands in Mongolia experienced significant decreases in VOD. Approximately 60% of the VOD declines can be directly explained by variations in rainfall and surface temperature. After removing these climate induced influences, a significant decreasing trend still persists in the VOD residuals across regions of Mongolia. Correlations in spatial patterns and temporal trends suggest that a marked increase in goat density with associated grazing pressures and wild fires are the most likely non-climatic factors behind grassland degradation. © 2013 Liu et al. | |
dc.language.iso | en | |
dc.publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) | |
dc.rights | This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
dc.rights | Archived with thanks to PLoS ONE | |
dc.subject | rain | |
dc.subject | water | |
dc.subject | biomass | |
dc.subject | climate change | |
dc.subject | correlation analysis | |
dc.subject | environmental parameters | |
dc.subject | environmental temperature | |
dc.subject | fire | |
dc.subject | goat | |
dc.subject | grazing | |
dc.subject | land use | |
dc.subject | Mongolia | |
dc.subject | overgrazing | |
dc.subject | population density | |
dc.subject | remote sensing | |
dc.subject | steppe | |
dc.subject | vegetation optical depth | |
dc.subject | water content | |
dc.subject | Biomass | |
dc.subject | Climate | |
dc.subject | Climate Change | |
dc.subject | Ecosystem | |
dc.subject | Human Activities | |
dc.subject | Mongolia | |
dc.subject | Temperature | |
dc.subject | Water | |
dc.title | Changing Climate and Overgrazing Are Decimating Mongolian Steppes | |
dc.type | Article | |
dc.contributor.department | Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division | |
dc.contributor.department | Earth System Observation and Modelling | |
dc.contributor.department | Environmental Science and Engineering Program | |
dc.contributor.department | Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC) | |
dc.identifier.journal | PLoS ONE | |
dc.identifier.pmcid | PMC3581472 | |
dc.eprint.version | Publisher's Version/PDF | |
dc.contributor.institution | Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia | |
dc.contributor.institution | Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia | |
dc.contributor.institution | Earth and Climate Cluster, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
dc.contributor.institution | CSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain Laboratories, Canberra, Australia | |
dc.contributor.institution | Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia | |
dc.contributor.institution | Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan | |
dc.contributor.affiliation | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) | |
kaust.person | McCabe, Matthew | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2018-06-13T14:55:14Z |
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