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.

Burrows serve many functions for animals by providing a place for rearing young, sleeping, hibernation, food storage, protection from predators and extreme environment, and the function of burrows varies with the degree of burrow complexity. We studied the burrow architecture (length, internal dimensions, fractal dimension of tunnel systems, number of nesting chambers and surface holes) by excavating the tunnels of 24 burrow systems of the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae). Pikas have two types of burrow systems, namely temporary and permanent burrows. The number of surface holes and length of tunnels were significantly different between the temporary and permanent burrows. Tunnel width and tunnel height were not significantly different between the temporary and permanent burrows. The permanent burrow had a nesting chamber but temporary did not have any. No hoarding chamber was found in either the permanent or the temporary burrow. The temporary burrow was used to avoid predators in emergency situations, and probably was the initial stage of construction of more complex burrows of some dispersing pikas. Permanent burrows were used for avoiding predators, resting and rearing offsprings.

Aims: Both extreme drought and insect herbivores can suppress plant growth in grassland communities. However, most studies have examined extreme drought and insects in isolation, and there is reason to believe that insects might alter the ability of grasslands to withstand drought. Unfortunately, few studies have tested the interactive effects of extreme drought and insect herbivores in grassland communities. Methods: Here, we tested the drought–herbivore interactions using a manipulative experiment that factorially crossed extreme drought with the exclusion of insect herbivores in a temperate semiarid grassland in Inner Mongolia. Important Findings: Our results demonstrated that both extreme drought and insect herbivores separately decreased total plant cover. When combined, insect herbivores reduced the impact of drought on total cover by increasing the relative abundance of drought-resistant dominant species. Our results highlight that the negative effect of extreme drought on total plant cover could be alleviated by maintaining robust insect herbivore communities.