Grassland Degradation, Restoration, and Sustainable Management of Global Alpine Areas

Zhanhuan Shang · A Allan Degen · Shikui Dong · Huakun Zhou · Yushou Ma

Nov 2024 · Elsevier

Ebook

800

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Eligible

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About this ebook

The grassland ecosystem on the global alpine area has been degraded seriously over the past half century. It can be compared to the Dust-Bowlification, that is, the degradation of American grasslands over the last century. This book was compiled by outstanding researchers who have been engaged in field research on the global alpine area for over 20 years, with the aim of describing the degradation and restoration of grassland on the global alpine area. The long-term field studies and personal experience of the authors describe the process of grassland degradation and the difficulties in the restoration efforts. Grassland degradation and restoration on the global alpine area involves the stripping and regeneration of the grassland's mattic epipedon. The stripping of the mattic epipedon is a unique phenomenon on the global alpine area, which has left many unanswered questions. Is stripping degradation an inherent, inevitable feature of the alpine grassland ecosystem? Is it an avoidable occurrence? Why is ecological restoration of stripped degraded grassland extremely difficult? Does restoration rely on reconstructing the grassland's mattic epipedon? Or can it be done in another way? How can sustainable ecological restoration be achieved? Frontline researchers in global alpine area have used observational evidence from field studies to respond to these questions and to present a comprehensive picture of the problems and drivers of grassland degradation. The climate-environment interaction mechanism of grassland degradation is revealed by the holistic approach in this book. Ecological restoration is discussed through social and economic participation, and past and present restoration actions are analyzed from the perspective of traditional culture and ecological ethics. The future sustainable management of grassland under climate change and social and economic development trend is discussed. This book will alert people to the dangers of degradation and to the difficulties encountered in ecological restoration. - Thoroughly presents the processes of grassland degradation from the novel viewpoint of the stripping of mattic epipedon - Features the most recent studies to provide new research evidence for long-term grassland restoration efforts on the global alpine area - Contains in-depth analysis of the processes, mechanisms, and drivers of grassland degradation. - Discusses the restoration of degraded grasslands using restoration theory and technologies

About the author

Zhanhuan Shang is a full Professor in the College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, China. He has studied grassland ecosystem of alpine area for more than 15 years and has published more 200 papers and books. His detailed CV is available at the end of the document

A. Allan Degen is an emeritus professor at Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel from 2014. He does research on livestock production under harsh conditions and has co-operated in projects in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Kenya, South Africa and China. He has authored or co-authored 16 books or chapters and over 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Shikui Dong is a full Professor in the School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forest University. He has more than 20 years of experience in studying grassland science and ecology of the alpine area, and has published more than 300 papers and books.

Huakun Zhou is a full Professor in the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, CAS. He has more than 20 years of experience in studying the ecology of alpine grassland on the alpine area, and has published more than 200 papers and books.

Yushou Ma is a full Professor in Qinghai University. He has more than 30 years of experience in studying grassland science in the alpine area and has published more 200 papers and books.

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