Herders’ livelihood strategies are functions of the capitals at their disposal. Although this thesis has been proved, it has not been applied to livelihood research in the context of conservation initiatives. The Chinese government implemented the Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy (GECP) in 2011. However, the impact of the policy on herders’ livelihoods is still unclear. This study measured the variation in herders’ livelihood strategies in the desert grassland of Inner Mongolia, China, after the implementation of the GECP. This study also analyzed the impacts of livelihood capitals on the livelihood strategies, revealing the shortages of different livelihood strategies. The results showed the following: After the GECP, (1) herders’ livelihood strategies could be grouped into five types based on livelihood capitals. The livelihood capitals of herders varied greatly, resulting in large economical gaps among households with different livelihood strategies. (2) The herders’ livelihood strategies were affected by factors including the education, age, social communication, amount of livestock, income, and subsidy of the herders. (3) The main income sources of different livelihood strategies were both subsidy and livestock husbandry. In general, the GECP drives the differentiation of herders’ livelihoods remarkably. Future conservation initiatives should take the shortages of different livelihood strategies into account.

Background: Meat quality is a complex trait affected by genotypic and environmental factors. In a previous study, it was found that feedstuffs have various effects on the growth rate and meat quality of lambs. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not entirely clear.Results: In this study, to investigate the mechanisms that impact meat quality in twin sheep fed either with high fiber low protein (HFLP) forage (Ceratoides) or low fiber high protein (LFHP) forage (alfalfa) diets, multi omics techniques were utilized for integration analysis based on the feed nutritional value and the sheep microbiome, transcriptome, metabolome, and fatty acid profile. Results showed that the production performance and the muscle components of lambs were significantly affected by feeds. The essential fatty acid (linoleic acid and arachidonic acid) content of the muscle, based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, was increased when lambs were fed with HFLP. The microbes in the lambs’ rumen fed a HFLP diet were more diverse than those of the LFHP fed group. Besides, the ratio of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes in the rumen of the sheep fed a LFHP diet was 2.6 times higher than that of the HFLP fed group. Transcriptome analysis of the muscle revealed that the genes related to glucose metabolic processes and fatty acid biosynthesis were significantly differentially expressed between the two groups. Potential cross talk was found between the sfour omics data layers, which helps to understand the mechanism by which feedstuffs affect meat quality of lambs.Conclusion: Feed systems may affect the epigenetic regulation of genes involved in the glucose metabolic pathway. HFLP feeds could induce gluconeogenesis to maintain glucose levels in blood, resulting in decreased fat content in muscle. The multiple omics analysis showed that the microbiota structure is significantly correlated with the metabolome and gene expression in muscle. This study laid a theoretical foundation for controlling the nutrient intake of sheep; it suggested that its fatty acid spectrum modifications and the removal of meat quality detrimental material could guide sheep feeding for functional mutton.

With rapid urbanization in China, the dramatic land-use changes are one of the most prominent features that have substantially affected the land ecosystems, thus seriously threatening sustainable development. However, current studies have focused more on evaluating the economic efficiency of land-use, while the loss and degradation of ecosystem services are barely considered. To address these issues, this study first proposed a land use-based input–output index system, incorporating the impact on ecosystem services value (ESV), and then by taking 30 provinces in China as a case study. We further employed the super-efficiency slacks-based model (Super-SBM) and the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model to explore the spatial–temporal changes and driving factors of the evaluated land-use eco-efficiency. We found that the evaluated ESV was 28.09 trillion yuan (at the price of 2000) in 2015, and that the total ESV experienced an inverted U-shaped trend during 2000–2015.The average land-use eco-efficiency exhibited a downward trend from 0.87 in 2000 to 0.68 in 2015 with distinct regional differences by taking into account the ESV. Our results revealed that northeastern region had the highest efficiency, followed by the eastern, western, and central region of China. Finally, we identified a U-shaped relationship between the eco-efficiency and land urbanization, and found that technological innovation made great contributions to the improvement of the eco-efficiency. These findings highlight the importance of the ESV in the evaluation of land-use eco-efficiency. Future land development and management should pay additional attention to the land ecosystems, especially the continuous supply of human well-being related ecosystem services.

This study investigated the effects of moisture content (80% vs. 70%) and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum inoculation on the fermentation quality, microbial community structure, and metabolite profiles of amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) silage using integrated microbiomics (full-length 16S rRNA sequencing) and untargeted metabolomics (UPLC-MS/MS). The results showed that high-moisture silage without inoculation (AhGCK) exhibited poor fermentation quality, characterized by high pH (5.09) and low lactic acid content (1.42% FM). Inoculation with L. plantarum significantly reduced pH (to 4.16) and increased lactic acid accumulation (to 3.65% FM) under high-moisture conditions. Wilting to 70% moisture combined with L. plantarum inoculation (AhSLP) achieved the best fermentation quality, with the lowest pH (4.20) and highest lactic acid (4.46% FM). Microbial community analysis revealed that Enterobacter cloacae dominated in AhGCK, whereas L. plantarum, Lentilactobacillus buchneri, and Levilactobacillus brevis became dominant after inoculation and wilting. Metabolomics identified 497 compounds across all treatments, with differential metabolites primarily enriched in pathways related to amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as diterpenoids and isoquinoline alkaloids. Highly significant correlations (p < 0.01) were observed between Enterobacter and cyclohexylammonium, between dTDP-3-O-methyl-β-L-rhamnose and 2-hydroxy-2H-benzo[h]chromene-2-carboxylate, between Lentilactobacillus and 3-ketosucrose (positive), and between Limosilactobacillus and 8-methylthiooctyl glucosinolate (positive), whereas Lactiplantibacillus and Escherichia Shigella showed no correlations with differential metabolites. These findings indicate that inoculating Lactobacillus plantarum at specific moisture levels (80% and 70%) promotes directed microbial community succession (as exemplified by positive correlations of Lentilactobacillus and Limosilactobacillus with beneficial metabolites) and optimized metabolite accumulation, which significantly lowers dry matter loss during fermentation and enhances the output of usable silage. This mechanism offers a practical theoretical foundation for improving amaranth silage production and boosting feed yield.