Overview

For decades, scientists in China have been researching alpine grassland degradation on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, a 2.5 square kilometer area that spans China’s most western provinces, including Tibet, Qinghai, parts of Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, and stretches into India, Nepal and Bhutan. With an average elevation of 4,500 meters, the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau has been home to yak and sheep herders for thousands of years. These herders depend on the health of the grasslands for their food production and livelihood. In recent years, a combination of overgrazing, increasing temperatures and droughts have led to escalating grassland degradation.