Track 2-03: Ecological Succession, Management and Restoration of Grasslands
Description
Grassland pastures are important livelihood resources for local people in agro-pastoral production in high mountainous areas of Nepal. The character of these pastures, as part of cultural landscape, result from historical interaction of human activities and local ecological processes. Fire and grazing are two important landscape drivers that have a direct impact on the structure, diversity and composition of pastures. Recently, grasslands in many semi-arid regions of world are undergoing rapid transformation as consequence of changes in fire and grazing regimes. One conspicuous change is an abrupt proliferation of native shrub species. Migration of herders away from marginal mountain areas has many local environmental consequences associated with land use change (Aide and Grau 2004). In this context, the present study explores the main ecological consequences of shrub invasion in selected grasslands of Nepalese mountain areas and discusses the management challenges associated with these ecological changes. In these mountain pastures, shrub invasions are either over-looked or underexplored.
Included in
Local Consequence of Global Process: Challenges of Maintaining Pastoral Production in High Mountain Pastures of Nepal
Grassland pastures are important livelihood resources for local people in agro-pastoral production in high mountainous areas of Nepal. The character of these pastures, as part of cultural landscape, result from historical interaction of human activities and local ecological processes. Fire and grazing are two important landscape drivers that have a direct impact on the structure, diversity and composition of pastures. Recently, grasslands in many semi-arid regions of world are undergoing rapid transformation as consequence of changes in fire and grazing regimes. One conspicuous change is an abrupt proliferation of native shrub species. Migration of herders away from marginal mountain areas has many local environmental consequences associated with land use change (Aide and Grau 2004). In this context, the present study explores the main ecological consequences of shrub invasion in selected grasslands of Nepalese mountain areas and discusses the management challenges associated with these ecological changes. In these mountain pastures, shrub invasions are either over-looked or underexplored.
