Perception of Rangeland Degradation in Mongolia: The Role of Herder Groups and Local Ecological Knowledge
Abstract
Local ecological knowledge is increasingly recognized for its potential contribution to the understanding of environmental changes, in complement to instrumental data. However, some studies point out that people can be exposed to external sources of knowledge, which may affect their perceptions. Here, we contribute to the debate by analyzing how local communities, namely Mongolian pastoralists, perceive changes in environmental conditions, how it relates to changes assessed through other means, and by identifying drivers that shape this perception. Through comprehensive surveys in two districts of Mongolia, one with pasture user groups (PUGs), and another without, we analyze the role played by those institutions on local perceptions. We find that herders’ observations of rangeland degradation from the PUG district do not differ from the other one, but that herders who are active in PUGs are more prone to perceiving rangeland degradation. In other words, we find that PUGs are associated with higher awareness,of environmental change but that they do not alter the nature of local indicators of change. In addition, a comparison of herders’ reports with other existing instrumental data shows that normalized difference vegetation index alone does not seem to be a relevant tool to assess early-stage rangeland degradation in this area.
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BibTeX
@article{mardesic2026perception,
title = {{Perception of Rangeland Degradation in Mongolia: The Role of Herder Groups and Local Ecological Knowledge}},
author = {Ivana Mardesic and Matthieu Salpeteur and Jean-Daniel Cesaro},
journal = {Rangeland Ecology and Management},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.rama.2026.01.002},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05775290v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Perception of Rangeland Degradation in Mongolia: The Role of Herder Groups and Local Ecological Knowledge
AU - Ivana Mardesic
AU - Matthieu Salpeteur
AU - Jean-Daniel Cesaro
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Rangeland Ecology and Management
DO - 10.1016/j.rama.2026.01.002
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05775290v1
AB - Local ecological knowledge is increasingly recognized for its potential contribution to the understanding of environmental changes, in complement to instrumental data. However, some studies point out that people can be exposed to external sources of knowledge, which may affect their perceptions. Here, we contribute to the debate by analyzing how local communities, namely Mongolian pastoralists, perceive changes in environmental conditions, how it relates to changes assessed through other means, and by identifying drivers that shape this perception. Through comprehensive surveys in two districts of Mongolia, one with pasture user groups (PUGs), and another without, we analyze the role played by those institutions on local perceptions. We find that herders’ observations of rangeland degradation from the PUG district do not differ from the other one, but that herders who are active in PUGs are more prone to perceiving rangeland degradation. In other words, we find that PUGs are associated with higher awareness,of environmental change but that they do not alter the nature of local indicators of change. In addition, a comparison of herders’ reports with other existing instrumental data shows that normalized difference vegetation index alone does not seem to be a relevant tool to assess early-stage rangeland degradation in this area.
SN - 1550-7424
SN - 1551-5028
ER -