Reconsidering the efficiency of grazing exclusion using fences on the Tibetan Plateau

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.04.035
• Publication Date: 2020-04-25T01:19:30Z
• Authors: Jian Sun; Miao Liu; Bojie Fu; David Kemp; Wenwu Zhao; Guohua Liu; Guodong Han; Andreas Wilkes; Xuyang Lu; Youchao Chen; Genwei Cheng; Tiancai Zhou; Ge Hou; Tianyu Zhan; Fei Peng; Hua Shang; Ming Xu; Peili Shi; Yongtao He; Meng Li; Jinniu Wang; Atsushi Tsunekawa; Huakun Zhou; Yu Liu; Yurui Li; Shiliang Liu
• Keywords: Fencing; Steppe

Grazing exclusion using fences is a key policy being applied by the Chinese government to rehabilitate degraded grasslands on Tibetan Plateau (TP) and elsewhere. However, there limited understanding of effects grazing alpine ecosystem functions services its impacts herders' livelihoods. Our meta-analyses questionnaire-based surveys revealed that with was effective in promoting aboveground vegetation growth for up four years meadows eight steppes TP. Longer-term fencing did not bring any ecological economic benefits. We also found hindered wildlife movement, increased pressure unfenced areas, lowered satisfaction herders, rendered substantial financial costs both regional national governments. recommend traditional free should be encouraged if applicable, short-term (for 4-8 years) adopted severely grasslands, avoided habitat especially protected large mammal species.