Robinson, Sarah (2000) Pastoralism and land degradation in Kazakhstan. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis looks at the major factors, both environmental and institutional, which
haye affected pastoralism in Kazakhstan throughout this century, concentrating in
particular on the changes which have occurred since the end of the socialist period.
The recent reforms were found to be highly negative for the livestock sector, leading
to a crash in livestock numbers, high levels of poverty and the abandonment of many
pasture areas. Winter fodder as a limit to livestock production has gained importance
as it is no longer provided free by the state.
There have been many reports of overstocking and land degradation in Kazakhstan.
The literature on this was reviewed, and stocking rates in the Soviet periods compared
with forage availability in different vegetation zones. From this, the regions of the
study area which were probably most seriously affected by grazing regimes were
identified. It was found that land degradation did not have negative effects on meat
production at regional scales in the Soviet period.
Since 1994 Kazakhstan's rangelands have undergone a transition from being highly
stocked to being virtually empty of livestock. The potential for monitoring vegetation
recovery using both biomass data and NDVI from the AVHRR satellite was
investigated. Relationships with rainfall were explored for both datasets in order to
determine the relative importance of climatic and human influences on forage
availability. The NDVI data was found to have poor relationships with rainfall due
both to its low sensitivity to the biomass changes involved, and the low rainfall
variability. Better relationships between net primary production and rainfall were
found using the biomass data. A severe drought occurring just after the stock crash
was detected by the NDVI, but confounded any detection of vegetation recovery.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DK Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Pastoral system -- Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan -- Economic conditions -- 20th century, Livestock -- Kazakhstan -- History -- 20th century, Land degradation -- Kazakhstan
Official Date:	May 2000
Dates:	Date Event May 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Biological Sciences
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Milner-Gulland, E. J.
Sponsors:	International Association for the Promotion of Co-operation with Scientists from the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union ; United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Extent:	[xiv], 327 p.
Language:	eng

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