Herders’ living strategy is a function of the capitals at their disposal which also serve as a buffering mechanism when shocks arise. An insight into the connection between livelihood strategies and capitals owned by herders provides guidance to recognize their living situation. This study evaluated the different livelihood capitals of herders across the five ecological types (meadow, typical, desert, sandy, and desert steppe) in Inner Mongolia region of China, using the sustainable livelihood framework approach. An evaluation index was developed and used to investigate how the livelihood capitals of herders affects preferential selection of livelihood strategies using multinomial logit model. Results indicate that: (1) The stocks of human and social capitals were higher while those for natural, physical, and financial capitals were lower. (2) There were significant regional differences in the livelihood capital stock of herders’ families with zonal horizontal decrease from east to west. (3) Natural capitals affects the preferential selection of livelihood strategies by herders positively implying that possession of more natural capitals by herders leads to selection of livelihood strategies that are devoid of pastoral production; the preferred livelihood strategy of herders was significantly negatively affected by physical and financial capitals, an indication that, when herders possess more physical and financial capitals, they tend to choose livelihood strategies that involve pastoral production. The living strategy of herders was not affected by human and social capitals. (4) Production of rented pasture capital index affected the preferential selection of livelihood strategies by herders positively while cash income capital index had negative influence on how pastoralists select their livelihood strategies. In conclusion, the total livelihood capital of herders in Inner Mongolia is low, and there is perceived benefit in the differentiation of herders families into petty-herders and non-grazing families from the perception of natural resource management and sustainability. This requires income diversification programs such as capacity building and business education that will aid the smooth transition of households to these less resource exploiting livelihood strategies.

Grazing is a main land use of natural grasslands in the world, which has both positive and negative impact on plant community structure and ecosystem functioning. However, the effects of long-term grazing management on the plant–soil system, in particular above- and belowground community characteristics, are still not well understood in alpine meadow community. In this study, we investigated the vegetation, roots, and soil properties under three management types (16 years of fencing since 2004-2020, moderate grazing and heavy grazing managements) in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that, compared with moderate grazing meadows, long-term fencing increased plant community cover, above- and belowground biomass, proportion of grass and litter but reduced forbs and soil bulk density, which caused the increases in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and water content and the decreases in soil pH. However, heavy grazing led to opposite changes in proportion of grass, community biomass and soil physicochemical properties. The maximum of species richness and plant density appeared in moderate grazing meadows, supporting the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, and it can maintain above- and belowground biomass and soil physicochemical properties at medium level. Grazing increased the root: shoot ratio and caused root system shallow, which is consistent with the optimal partitioning hypothesis. Overall, our study suggested that moderate grazing is a more reasonable grazing management for sustainable development in alpine meadows of Tibetan Plateau, fencing could be an effective management strategy for vegetation restoration as well as for nutrient sequestration in degraded grasslands, but long-term fencing dose not benefit for biodiversity maintenance.

The income of farmers and herdsmen is directly related to the prosperity and harmony of the entire society. Improving the income of farmers and herdsmen not only affects the living standards of individuals and families but also impacts the sustainability of society and the economic development of the country. To gain a global understanding of the research hotspots associated with the income of farmers and herdsmen, the study used the CiteSpace software to analyze the research publications and references on the income of farmers and herdsmen published between 1994 and 2023 and available in the Web of Science. The data collected included countries, institutions, journals, authors, keywords, co-citations, research focus and frontiers. The data showed a total of 14,726 literature, with the number of publications increasing significantly in 2013, and continuously from 2015 to 2022. The research hotspots focused on management and agriculture policy, land use and food systems, rural development, conservation and biodiversity. Most of the researches was involved the countries or district of developing countries in Africa and Asia. While the research levels include agricultural technology, climate change, sustainable development and policy at different scales. However, the research frontiers and trends focused on sustainable development, climate change, food security, agricultural techniques and policies. The present study provides knowledge and comments for further research on the global income of farmers and herdsmen.

Since the reform and opening up, the massive transfer of rural labor from agriculture to non-agricultural sectors and from rural to urban areas has been one of the most prominent features of China's economic and social transformation. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the total number of migrant workers in China reached 297.53 million in 2023, of which 176.58 million were out-migrants. However, with the inland transfer of coastal industries, the deepening of the rural revitalization strategy, and the aging of the migrant workforce, an increasing number of migrants are returning to their hometowns. This "return wave" has become an undeniable social phenomenon.Returning migrants bring back not only funds and technology but also human capital and modern ideas accumulated in cities, profoundly shaping their post-return employment choices and production methods (Zhou et al., 2025;Todaro, 1969).The new economics of labor migration (NELM) views migration as an optimal decision by rural laborers and their families under given opportunities and resource constraints, and as an active choice to enhance human capital (Stark and Bloom, 1985). Human capital theory posits that human capital investment is a decisive factor in increasing individual income, alleviating household economic constraints, and driving economic development (Schultz, 1961). Heterogeneity in human capital is a major cause of income disparities among laborers (Dustmann and Kirchkamp, 2002). Migration experience serves as an important form of human capital investment for agricultural and pastoral laborers, operating through two mechanisms: first, higher human capital endowments enhance competitiveness in non-agricultural job markets and increase non-agricultural income, thereby facilitating the economic transition of individuals and households away from farming and herding (Zhao, 2002); second, human capital forms the basis for risk mitigation and future capability development-richer human capital accumulation leads to higher expected non-agricultural income and a stronger psychological foundation for non-agricultural transition (Hare, 2013).In recent years, academic research on the relationship between migration experience and the employment behavior of returning migrant workers has yielded rich, multi-dimensional evidence. Some studies have found that migration experience significantly reduces the willingness to continue engaging in agricultural production after returning (Murphy , 2002; Wang and Fan, 2006), as non-agricultural skills and urban life experiences accumulated during migration reshape workers' occupational identity (Démurger and Xu, 2011). Regarding human capital effects, migration experience significantly enhances non-agricultural skills through "learning by doing" and skills training, and this human capital appreciation is a key mechanism promoting non-agricultural employment and entrepreneurship upon return (Démurger and Xu, 2015;Zhao, 2002). In terms of regional differences, returning migrants in eastern coastal areas are more inclined toward non-agricultural employment and entrepreneurship, while those in central and western regions face more limited non-agricultural employment opportunities due to weaker industrial bases (Yu et al., 2017).Despite considerable progress, existing research has three main limitations. First, most studies focus on agricultural areas, with little attention paid to returning laborers in agro-pastoral and pastoral areas, and comparative studies across these three regional types are especially lacking. Second, the potential pathways through which human capital may account for the association between migration experience and employment intentions have yet to be systematically examined in comparative perspective. Third, many studies rely on single econometric methods and inadequately address endogeneity issues or the sensitivity of findings to potential confounding factors.Northern China can be divided into agricultural, agro-pastoral, and pastoral areas based on natural geographic conditions and production methods (Li et al., 2022). These regions differ significantly in resource endowments, industrial bases, and labor market development, so the pathways and intensity of migration experience's association with employment intentions are likely to vary. To address this gap, this study uses household survey data collected in 2023 from Pengyang County (agricultural area), Yanchi County (agro-pastoral area), and Otog Banner (pastoral area) to systematically examine the relationship between migration experience and non-agricultural and non-pastoral employment intentions and the potential mediating role of human capital.The contributions of this study are threefold. (1) Theoretical contribution: By constructing an analytical framework of "migration experience, human capital, employment intentions," this study systematically examines the differentiated associations of skill capital, knowledge capital, and health capital, revealing the structural characteristics of multi-dimensional human capital's potential mediating role. (2) Empirical contribution: This study extends the research scope from agricultural areas to agro-pastoral and pastoral areas, providing comparative empirical evidence for understanding the employment choices of returning laborers across different regional types in China. (3) Methodological contribution: By employing multiple complementary estimation strategies, including ordered Probit models, the Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method for nonlinear mediation analysis, instrumental variable sensitivity analyses, and Oster's (2019) test for omitted variable bias, this study addresses potential endogeneity concerns to the extent feasible with the available data and provides a more credible empirical foundation than studies relying on single-method approaches.The remainder of the article is structured as follows: Section 2 develops a theoretical model based...