Comparative Characteristics of the Home Ranges of Domestic and Wild Animals in Arid and Semi-Arid Afro-Eurasian Watering Places as Hot Spots for Pasture Degradation

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In this study, we investigated home range of wildlife and livestock that graze on pastures in Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and Tibet) and Sudan. In order to clarify the animal home range, the daily movement of domestic and wild animals was tracked using GPS (Global Positioning System) collars and ARGOS satellite transmitters. The home range of sheep, goats and horses was investigated in Mongolia and China; those of camels, donkeys and goats in Sudan; migration of Tibetan antelope (Chiru, Pantholops hodgsoni) in Tibet; and home range of the Brandt vole (Microtus brandti) in Mongolia. The home ranges of sheep and goats in nomadic Mongolian family are simple, elongated in shape and possess almost no track intersections. The daily routes possess the same pattern, but pass in different places and do not overlay the previous. Those of sheep and goats in settled nomad families in Inner Mongolia differ in shape, have multiple overlays and tend to cross previous paths. Grazing inside fenced pasture causes this pattern; grazing velocity and total distances are higher than that of Mongolian livestock. In Mongolia, surroundings of livestock watering sites are heavily degenerated in a range of 1 km radius. Pasture degradation attracts rodent species, Microtus brandti, to those sites. Analysis of the habitat selection by this rodent on Maximum Entropy Model showed that habitat most preferred by voles are degraded grasslands along roads, ger (tent-type movable house) and watering sites with percent contribution varying from 5.5 to 47.9, and permutation importance of 25.1; 48.7 and 20.9, respectively. We suggest that in conditions of arid and sub-arid land, the livestock and wild animal’s concentration around water sources may cause progressing degradation of pasture and desertification.

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