Management applicability of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis across Mongolian rangeland ecosystems.
نویسندگان
چکیده
The current growing body of evidence for diversity-disturbance relationships suggests that the peaked pattern predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) may not be the rule. Even if ecologists could quantify the diversity-disturbance relationship consistent with the IDH, the applicability of the IDH to land management has rarely been addressed. We examined two hypotheses related to the generality and management applicability of the IDH to Mongolian rangeland ecosystems: that the diversity-disturbance relationship varies as a function of landscape condition and that some intermediate scales of grazing can play an important role in terms of sustainable rangeland management through a grazing gradient approach. We quantified the landscape condition of each ecological site using an ordination technique and determined two types of landscape conditions: relatively benign and harsh environmental conditions. At the ecological sites characterized by relatively benign environmental conditions, diversity-disturbance relationships were generally consistent with the IDH, and maximum diversity was observed at some intermediate distance from the source of the grazing gradient. In contrast, the IDH was not supported at most (but not all) sites characterized by relatively harsh environmental conditions. The intermediate levels of grazing were generally located below the ecological threshold representing the points or zones at which disturbance should be limited to prevent drastic changes in ecological conditions, suggesting that there is little "conundrum" with regard to intermediate disturbance in the studied systems in terms of land management. We suggest that the landscape condition is one of the primary factors that cause inconsistencies in diversity-disturbance relationships. The ecological threshold can extend its utility in rangeland management because it also has the compatibility with the maintenance of species diversity. This study thus suggests that some intermediate scales of grazing and ecological thresholds are mutually supportive tools for sustainable management of Mongolian rangelands.
منابع مشابه
Application of Ecological Theory to Management of Arid Drylands: An Example from China
Rangeland ecosystems shift across dynamic thresholds between differentecological states in response to natural or human-induced factors. These differentecological states are the result of interactions among climate, soils, grazing history,and management practices. The notion of a single ‘‘pristine’’ final state is onlyconceptual in nature, and because of this, dynamic thresholds and the effects...
متن کاملTwo-phase functional redundancy in plant communities along a grazing gradient in Mongolian rangelands.
The concept of functional redundancy is at the core of theory relating changes in ecosystem functioning to species loss. However, few empirical studies have investigated the strength and form of the relationship between species and functional diversity (i.e., the presence of functional redundancy in ecological communities) in this context. In particular, we know little about how local extinctio...
متن کاملComparing patterns of ecosystem service consumption and perceptions of range management between ethnic herders in Inner Mongolia and Mongolia
Ecosystems in the Central Asian Plateau, which includes the Mongolian Plateau, are becoming increasingly sensitive to human interventions, leading to deterioration of already fragile ecosystems. The goal of this paper is to illustrate human dependence on an ecosystem by identifying patterns of resource consumption in this region and investigating the knowledge and perceptions of herders living ...
متن کاملRelationships between Species Diversity and Biomass in Mountainous Habitats in Zagros Rangeland (Case Study: Baneh, Kurdistan, Iran)
Species diversity, richness and biomasses (aboveground biomass) and their relationships are the key variables of ecosystems. This study was conducted to determine the relationship of Species Diversity (SD) and Species Richness (SR) with Above-Ground Biomass (AGB) at a local scale at 5 different habitats (shrubland, forbland, grassland, shrub-forbland and forb-shrubland) in Zagros mountains in w...
متن کاملEcological Drivers of Ecosystem Diversity in Sahelian Rangeland of Niger
Description of vegetation patterns associated with environmental factors such as grazing, climate, landforms, substrate variables etc. are helpful for land management planning. This study used new synecological tools to investigate plants composition and to provide ecological descriptions of plants communities of communal pastures in Sahelian Ecological Zone of Niger. Vegetation and several env...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America
دوره 19 2 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2009