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41-781: Confusion exists about where the Ordos Desert begins and where the Mu Us Desert ends. The Ordos comprises two sub-deserts: the Kubuqi Desert in the north east; and the Mu Us Desert in the south. The northern portion goes by another name—for example, a map in Julia Lovell 's book The Great Wall: China Against the World 1000 BC–2000 AD shows the Ordos Desert only in the portion of Inner Mongolia which lies south of

82-559: A 70-year period, identifying overgrazing, global changes, and the ecological effects of megafauna extinction as key factors. Their findings shed light on the multifaceted drivers behind changes in savannah ecosystems. Echoing this theme of alternative strategies to combat overgrazing, Kriegisch et al. (2019) demonstrated how drift- kelp availability could reduce the foraging movement of overgrazing sea urchins, suggesting that alternative food sources may significantly influence grazing behaviors and aid in managing marine ecosystem pressures. In

123-464: A better understanding of how climatic change affects the natural environment. Those writers suggested that the human activities must be carefully managed to meet both human and environmental needs. After 1949, the Chinese government carried out a variety of ecological restoration projects including sand stabilization, irrigation development, afforestation , soil improvement, and transformation of

164-822: A great rectangular bend of the middle Yellow River known as the Ordos Loop . Mountain ranges separate the Ordos from the Gobi Desert north and east of the Yellow River. The northern border serves as the southern border of the Mu Us Desert . The mountain chains separating the Ordos from the central Gobi in the north of the great bend of the Yellow River are: the Kara-naryn-ula, the Sheitenula, and

205-470: A similar vein, the research by Cai et al. (2020) presents a stark example of the terrestrial impact of overgrazing, showing how the fertile island effect collapses under extreme conditions in shrub-encroached grasslands . This case study emphasizes the critical need for sustainable grazing practices to protect soil health and maintain ecosystem functionality, further illustrating the wide-reaching consequences of overgrazing across diverse habitats. Overgrazing

246-524: A succession of dunes , 12–15 m high. In some places these sand dunes approach close to the Yellow River; in others they are parted from it by a belt of sand, intermingled with clay, which terminates in a steep escarpment , 15 m and in some localities 30 m above the river. Eventually the sand dunes cross over to the left bank of the Yellow River where they are threaded by the beds of dry watercourses. The Yin Mountains, which stretch from 108 ° to 112° E in

287-462: A variety of sand types which are easily moved by the wind. In the south of the Great Wall (see below), sand dunes become more frequent due to damaged vegetation caused mostly by moving sand. Groundwater is present at relatively shallow depth of between 1 and 3 meter below ground level in area between dunes. The annual mean temperature is between 6.0 and 8.5 °C. The mean annual precipitation

328-458: Is a massive threat to the native species of flora and fauna, especially the native bushes which are often overlooked by invasive species looking for homes. Mustalids, rabbits, hares and possums often eat the plants that hold soil together. This makes the ground very unstable and crumbly. If soil is unstable, it is prone to collapse in extreme weather events such as floods and heavy rain. This is detrimental to farmers of crops and animals alike. 40% of

369-649: Is between 250 and 400 mm, of which the majority falls in summer. Research in the Salawusu River Area in 1978 delineated the strata of the Salawusu River in the area of the Mu Us Desert. This suggests that the prehistoric climate was mild and wet with numerous rivers and lakes, yet limited plant life and wildlife in the early stage of the Late Pleistocene age. The climate became dry and cold while eolian sand began to accumulate in

410-507: Is considered the main cause of woody plant encroachment at the expenses of grasses on a land area of up to 45 million hectares. In many arid zones in Australia , overgrazing by sheep and cattle during the 19th century, as pastoralism was introduced by European settlers, caused many long-lived species of trees and shrubs to give way to short-lived annual plants and weed species. Introduced feral rabbits , cats and foxes exacerbated

451-804: Is in the form of summer thunderstorms . The region has many salt lakes and intermittent streams . Winters are bitter cold, with cold winds blowing into the region from the north and west, and January temperatures ranging from −13 to −10 °C (9 to 14 °F). The vegetation of the Ordos region is made up of montane grasslands and shrublands . Among the sand dunes in the north, shrubs including Hedysarum scoparium and Calligonum arborescens grow in scattered patches. Native grasses and herbs include Bromus inermis , Agropyron mongolicum , A. cristatum , Festuca arundinacea , Elymus dahuricus , Melilotus albus , M. officinalis , Lotus corniculatus , Pugionium cornutum , Astragalus adsurgens , and Filifolium sibiricum . The belt of sand and clay which separates

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492-645: Is used as an example in the economic concept now known as the Tragedy of the Commons devised in a 1968 paper by Garrett Hardin . This cited the work of a Victorian economist who used as an example the over-grazing of common land. Hardin's example could only apply to unregulated use of land regarded as a common resource. Normally, rights of use of common land in England and Wales were, and still are, closely regulated, and available only to "commoners". If excessive use

533-591: The American bison of the Great Plains , or migratory wildebeest of the African savannas , or by holistic planned grazing. Overgrazing typically increases soil erosion . With continued overutilization of land for grazing, there is an increase in degradation. This leads to poor soil conditions that only xeric and early successional species can tolerate. A meta-analysis of 148 studies found that

574-651: The Cultural Revolution , during which the thin line of fragile vegetation separating the Kubuqi and Maowusu deserts was destroyed. Subsequent pressure of population and the increase in sheep/goats/cattle further damaged the already weakened local environment to the point of no return, and as a result, the two deserts finally linked up in the 1990s, forming the larger current-day Ordos. The alkaline soil allows for some nomadic Mongol herders to raise sheep and goats . Heavy grazing by goats has done damage to

615-464: The Kubuqi Desert , in the north; and China's 8th-largest desert, the Mu Us Desert , in the south. Wedged between the arable Hetao region to the north and the Loess Plateau to the south, the soil of the Ordos Desert is mostly a mixture of dry clay and sand , and as a result is poorly suited for agriculture . The Ordos Desert is almost completely encircled in the west, north and east by

656-598: The Yellow River . Several research papers cited below claim that the Mu Us Desert includes part of Shaanxi and Gansu . A clear delineation of the area is still needed here, based on multiple sources. The Mu Us Desert of north central China lies at 37°30'–39°20'N,107°20'–111°30'E and covers 48,288 km. As part of the Ordos Plateau , the elevation ranges from 1,000m to 1,300m (as low as 950m in some south-eastern valleys, and reaching between 1,400m to 1,600m in

697-689: The Yin Mountains , which link on to the south end of the Greater Khingan Mountains . In the south and east, the Great Wall of China separates the Ordos from fertile loess lands. The Ordos covers the southern section of Inner Mongolia , an Autonomous Region of China ; Ningxia , an Autonomous Entity of China ; and the Chinese Provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu . The Ordos Desert forms an intermediate step in

738-479: The monsoonal rains that reached the Loess Plateau in the modern era pushed the desert back to the Yellow River. Since then, overgrazing at various periods and in the modern period, the lack of rainfall, has resulted in a return to desert conditions. However, the most disastrous damage to the environment was caused by the political movements launched by Mao Zedong , namely the Great Leap Forward and

779-575: The Mongolian steppes, Liu et al. (2013) found that approximately 60% of vegetation decline could be attributed to climate factors, with the rest significantly influenced by increased goat density due to overgrazing. This points to a complex interplay between climate change and grazing practices in ecosystem degradation. Further expanding our understanding, Stevens et al. (2016) investigated woody encroachment in South African savannahs over

820-678: The Ordos region were He-tau and – later – He-nan ("the country south of the river"). It was occupied by horse nomads for many centuries, and these were very often at war with China. In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, it was occupied by the Xiongnu . It was almost depopulated during and after the Dungan revolt of 1869. This region was a desert during the Late Glacial Maximum . During the Holocene Climatic Optimum

861-646: The Qin were especially threatening, although the Qin dynasty also are reported to have done wall building in the area. Later in history, the Qin dominated all of this area and built walls. In 129 BC, the Han dynasty gained control of the area and strengthened the walls although they were still fighting to maintain control in AD 45. Much later, the Ming dynasty portion of the Great Wall crossed

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902-709: The area. Ordos Desert The Ordos Desert ( simplified Chinese : 鄂 尔 多 斯 沙 漠 ; traditional Chinese : 鄂爾多斯沙漠 ; pinyin : È'ěrduōsī Shāmò ) is a desert / steppe region in Northwest China , administered under the prefecture of Ordos City in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (centered ca. 39°N 109°E  /  39°N 109°E  / 39; 109 ). It extends over an area of approximately 90,650 km (35,000 sq mi), and comprises two sub-deserts: China's 7th-largest desert,

943-405: The biodiversity. Turning to the aquatic environment, Ling et al. (2015) have documented the phenomenon of catastrophic sea urchin overgrazing and its role in marine ecosystem regime shifts. Their study underscores the urgent need for effective management and conservation strategies to mitigate the profound ecological impacts of overgrazing, highlighting the issue's global scope. Similarly, on

984-424: The current high levels of grazing pressure . During a 35-year period from the 1950s to the 1990s, its landscapes changed significantly. In most of the desert, desertification developed rapidly, swallowing grassland, while marginal areas in the east and south were restored to some extent. By the late 1990s, shifting and semi-fixed deserts covered 45% and 21% of the Mu Us Desert, while fixed desert decreased by 7.2% of

1025-593: The descent from the Himalayas to the lowlands of eastern China . Towards the south it rises to an altitude of over 1,500 m, and in the west, along the right bank of the Yellow River , the Arbus or Arbiso Mountains, which overlie the steppe by some 900 m, serve to link the Helan Mountains with the Yin Mountains . The northern part of the great bend of the Yellow River is filled with the sands of Kuzupchi River,

1066-467: The desert with remarkable results. A 2017 study marked that desertification was controlled, but that the area was still at risk for new desertification in the future, as a result of grassland reclamation and groundwater consumption. As early as 453 BC, the Yiju people built a double wall in the southern region of the Mu Us Desert to protect themselves against the northernmost Chinese states. Of these states,

1107-659: The entire desert. Desertification was much more severe in the middle and north-west pasture land areas than in the eastern and southern areas of farmland and pasture. Overuse, overgrazing , and overcutting have been the main causes of desertification. Meanwhile, woodland area increased between 1965 and 2010. As a result of the Grain for Green policy, after 2000, the area of cultivated land was decreased. To rehabilitate desertified land, Dong, et al. recommended abandoning unsustainable land management practices in 1982, referring to them as "the current irrational human activities" and gaining

1148-734: The formation of shifting sands as well as the fixation and reduction of dunes. As early as 218 BC, grazing was the main way of life for local people. The Mu Us Desert lies in a transition zone where areas of both pastoral land and farmland co-exist. Based on remote sensing data, rangeland has experienced an increase in both total biomass and number of grazing animals. Active measures which have been taken to limit desertification have resulted in increased vegetation cover and lowered potential for wind erosion. The increase in biomass resulted in an increase in both grazing and farmland production. The area under cultivation increased fivefold from 1978 to 1996. The grasslands seem to be thriving under

1189-727: The grasslands in the region and led to desertification . The oasis in the region support small-scale farming . The area contains large soda deposits which are heavily mined . Attribution: 39°35′17″N 109°43′37″E  /  39.588°N 109.727°E  / 39.588; 109.727 Overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves , or nature reserves . It can also be caused by immobile, travel restricted populations of native or non-native wild animals . Overgrazing reduces

1230-622: The later stage of the Late Pleistocene age. The climate changed again to mild and wet early in the Holocene Epoch as lakes with marsh sediments formed. Later, the climate changed back to dry and cold, allowing a semi-arid steppe landscape to form. These climatic fluctuations were caused by the glacial and interglacial periods of the Northern Hemisphere . The Mu Us Desert underwent a series of changes, including

1271-556: The north of the great bend of the Yellow River, have a wild alpine character and are distinguished from other mountains in the southeast of Mongolia by an abundance of both water and vegetation. In one of their constituent ranges, the bold Muni-uul, 113 km (70 mi) long and nearly 32 km (20 mi) wide, they attain elevations of 2,200 to 2,600 m (7,200 to 8,500 ft), and have steep flanks, slashed with rugged gorges and narrow glens . The desert receives less than 250 mm of precipitation annually, and most of this

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1312-474: The north-western area). It is the only one of China's twelve sandy zones that is in the transition between a typical steppe and desert climate. The semi-arid continental climate subjects the soil to wind erosion . As noted above, the Mu Us Desert forms part of Ordos Plateau and includes part of the Loess Plateau alluvial plain with a concave floor. Exposed sands in the area come from Cretaceous red and grey sandstone . Quaternary sediments include

1353-411: The saline lakes of the Ordos, among them relict gulls ( Larus relictus ) breeding at Lake Hongjiannao ; for this species the Ordos is home to the world's largest breeding colony. The present status of large mammals in the region is largely unclear. In the past, it was inhabited by wild two-humped Bactrian camels , snow leopards , Przewalski's gazelles , and Przewalski's horses . Chinese names of

1394-630: The sand dunes from the Huang He in places is studded with little mounds (up to 1.2 m high), mostly overgrown with wormwood ( Artemisia campestris ) and the Siberian pea-tree ( Caragana spp.) ; and here too grows one of the most characteristic plants of Ordos, the liquorice root ( Glycyrrhiza uralensis ) . On the left bank of the Huang He, level spaces amongst the dry river beds are studded with little mounds (9 cm to 1.8 m high), on which grow stunted Nitraria schoberi and Zygophyllum . Towards

1435-477: The south, sparse scrub vegetation is found. Forest thickets thrive along the river margins. In the Yin Mountains, forests begin at altitudes of 1,600 m and wild flowers grow in great profusion and variety in summer, though with a striking lack of color. In this same border range there is also a much greater abundance and variety of animal life, especially among the birds . Rare bird species also breed in

1476-872: The surrounding land in Australia. In the Caribbean region, overgrazing is a threat to vegetation areas where there is livestock farming, which is an important source of livelihood and food security for many people. a combination of small scale livestock farming with small ruminants, and mixed farming is practised. However, livestock consume vegetation faster than it can be renewed and this leads to land degradation, loss of vegetative areas, and soil erosion resulting in poor quality feed and reduced livestock yields and income. Also, these grazing lands are critical in controlling carbon dioxide and mitigating risks against severe weather such as floods and droughts. Overgrazing weakens ecological conservation. In New Zealand , overgrazing

1517-611: The threat to both flora and fauna . Many bird species have become extinct or endangered, and many of the medium-sized desert mammals are now completely extinct or only exist on a few islands of Australia . Overgrazing can also occur with native species. In the Australian Capital Territory , the local government in 2013 authorised a cull of 1455 kangaroos due to overgrazing. Maisie Carr (1912-1988), Ecologist and Botanist, undertook significant research and studies in overgrazing and established consequences on

1558-693: The use of common land in England and Wales was a triumph of conserving a scarce resource using agreed custom and practice. There have been overgrazing consequences in the region Sahel region. The violent herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria , Mali , Sudan and other countries in the Sahel region have been exacerbated by land degradation and overgrazing. See 2010 Sahel famine . Various countries in Sub-Sahara Africa are affected by overgrazing and resulting ecological effects. In Namibia , overgrazing

1599-442: The usefulness, productivity and biodiversity of the land and is one cause of desertification and erosion . Overgrazing is also seen as a cause of the spread of invasive species of non-native plants and of weeds . Degrading land, emissions from animal agriculture and reducing the biomass in a ecosystem contribute directly to climate change between grazing events. Successful planned grazing strategies have been in support of

1640-483: The value of most ecosystem functions declines with increasing grazing intensity and that increasing aridity weakens positive impacts of light grazing. Native plant grass species, both individual bunch grasses and in grasslands , are especially vulnerable. For example, excessive browsing by white-tailed deer can lead to the growth of less preferred species of grasses and ferns or non-native plant species that can potentially displace native, woody plants, decreasing

1681-433: Was made of common land, for example in overgrazing, a common would be "stinted", that is, a limit would be put on the number of animals each commoner was allowed to graze. These regulations were responsive to demographic and economic pressure; thus rather than let a common become degraded, access was restricted even further. This important part of actual historic practice was absent from the economic model of Hardin. In reality

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