Potential Impacts of Climate Change and Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment for Grassland Ecosystem and Livestock Sector in Mongolia (Punsalmaa Batima, Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, Mongolia)

In Mongolia the risk of climate change and/or extreme climatic events could have dramatic impacts on the economy and natural systems. Particularly vulnerable is the rangeland and livestock sector, which occupies about 80% of Mongolia’s territory. As land use intensity and the frequency and magnitude of climate variability rise, the resilience and adaptive capacity of traditional networks and land use systems to cope with climate variability/extremes weaken. This project aims to comprehensively assess the impacts, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity of the rangeland and livestock sector in Mongolia to climate change. Impacts will be evaluated through the quantitative and qualitative estimation of potential productivity of under different climate change scenarios. A combination of ecosystem modeling, remote sensing data, analysis of existing long-term plant dynamics and climate databases, and field surveys will be used to investigate climate and land use changes effects on grassland ecosystem structure and function. Particular priority will be placed on the study of interactions between climate, grassland and pastoral systems, and social institutions in order to assess vulnerability and adaptive capacity of the integrated system and ultimately support environmental planning and decision-making.

Countries and sectors: Mongolia. Natural resources, grassland ecosystem, livestock, pastoral society, socio-economic system.