Quantifying the Spatial Extent of Roads and Their Effects on the Vegetation in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert

Sainchuluu Amarsanaa, Ariuntsetseg Lkhagva, Bolorchuluun Chogsom, Batbileg Bayaraa, Byambasuren Damdin, Bolormaa Tsooj, Javkhlan Nyamjav, Batkhishig Baival and Chantsallkham Jamsranjav
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Sainchuluu Amarsanaa: Department of Ecology, School of Agroecology, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 17026, Mongolia
Ariuntsetseg Lkhagva: Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14201, Mongolia
Bolorchuluun Chogsom: Department of Geography, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14201, Mongolia
Batbileg Bayaraa: Department of Land Management, School of Agroecology, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 17026, Mongolia
Byambasuren Damdin: Department of Land Management, School of Agroecology, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 17026, Mongolia
Bolormaa Tsooj: The Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 15170, Mongolia
Javkhlan Nyamjav: Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Batkhishig Baival: Sustainable Fiber Alliance Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 16010, Mongolia
Chantsallkham Jamsranjav: Wildlife Conservation Society Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14200, Mongolia

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Thirty years ago, Mongolia’s Gobi Desert was intact, roadless and had low traffic, and it was a refuge for many endangered and rare species. A large mining boom and significant livestock grazing are currently putting pressure on the desert. Mining products were transported by trucks on dirt (gravel) roads between 2000 and 2012. Emphasizing its importance in the Mongolian economy, a paved road was constructed in 2012 along the dirt road. Unfortunately, vegetation along the paved road was removed without restoration. In the desert, locals continue to use, create and extend dirt roads. The impact of these roads on the vegetation has yet to be studied. We estimated the spatial extent of the dirt-road corridors in three time intervals (the years 2010, 2015 and 2020) and evaluated the vegetation along both paved and dirt roads at three distances (100, 500, and 900 m) from the road. Within ten years, the length of paved roads and soil dirt roads nearly doubled, although the majority of them were developed and created between 2015 and 2020. A single track makes up around 42 percent of the soil road, whereas the remaining 58 percent are roads consisting of three to four tracks with an average width of 26.5 m. The vegetation along the paved road was lower in terms of species richness, canopy cover, and the basal gap between perennial plants and biomass, compared to the soil road. Although the effects of soil roads on the vegetation along the roads is less negative than the effects of the paved road, the corridors formed along the soil roads span a non-negligible area of pastureland in the region. The vegetation along the already-constructed paved road in the desert should be artificially reclaimed with the aim of expediting natural revegetation. Moreover, a “new legislation” is required to prevent continued degradation due to the ongoing creation and extension of soil road corridors by local populations in the desert.

Keywords: road effects; roadside vegetation; vegetation parameters (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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