干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Drylands occupy more than 50% of the Earth’s land surface, and Inner Mongolia grassland is highly representative of a classical arid and semiarid ecotype. In this study, we reviewed the history of grassland degradation in Inner Mongolia of China, the current measures for recovering degraded grassland and the existing shortages in current measures. Our suggestions have important implications for restoration the degraded grassland. First, the large population and growing standards of living that have placed great demand on the grasslands, some constant inputs can be easily negated. Thus, to enhance the grassland productivity, farmer must improve the mode of the grassland management and increase inputs. Second, government investment and national programs for restoring the degraded grassland focused too many attentions on the common pasture, whereas the pasture of household farm was neglected. Therefore, a landscape-level framework, based on sustainability science, must be developed to integrate ecological, economic, and social dimensions in both research and management policies.