The potential of grazing lands to sequester carbon must be understood to develop effective soil conservation measures and sustain livestock production.

Methane (CH4) uptake by steppe soils is affected by a range of specific factors and is a complex process. Increased stocking rate promotes steppe degradation, with unclear consequences for gas exchanges. To assess the effects of grazing management on CH4 uptake in desert steppes, we investigated soil-atmosphere CH4 exchange during the winter-spring transition period.

Environmental exposure to arsenic has been linked to hypertension in persons living in arsenic-endemic areas. The researchers summarized published epidemiologic studies concerning arsenic exposure and hypertension or blood pressure (BP) measurements to evaluate the potential relationship.

In 1996, the National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) began using NOAA-AVHRR data for fire monitoring in Mongolia. It expanded its detection technology with the addition of TERRA and AQUA MODIS data, giving it a spatial resolution of 250 m as of 2008, and developed a related methodology and technology for detection and monitoring of active fires and mapping of burned areas over Mongolia.

Current paradigms generally assume that increased plant nitrogen (N) should enhance herbivore performance by relieving protein limitation, increasing herbivorous insect populations. We show, in contrast to this scenario, that host plant N enrichment and high-protein artificial diets decreased the size and viability of Oedaleus asiaticus, a dominant locust of north Asian grasslands. This locust preferred plants with low N content and artificial diets with low protein and high carbohydrate content.

We assessed a donor-funded grassland management project designed to create both conservation and livelihood benefits in the rangelands of Mongolia's Gobi desert. The project ran from 1995 to 2006, and we used remote sensing Normalized Differential Vegetation Index data from 1982 to 2009 to compare project grazing sites to matched control sites before and after the project's implementation.