Overgrazing Turning Parts of Mongolian Steppe Into Desert

Sep. 5, 2013 — Overgrazing by millions of sheep and goats is the primary cause of degraded land in the Mongolian Steppe, one of the largest remaining grassland ecosystems in the world, Oregon State University researchers say in a new report.

Using a new satellite-based vegetation monitoring system, researchers found that about 12 percent of the biomass has disappeared in this country that's more than twice the size of Texas, and 70 percent of the grassland ecosystem is now considered degraded. The findings were published in Global Change Biology.

Overgrazing accounts for about 80 percent of the vegetation loss in recent years, researchers concluded, and reduced precipitation as a result of climatic change accounted for most of the rest. These combined forces have led to desertification as once-productive grasslands are overtaken by the Gobi Desert, expanding rapidly from the south.

Since 1990 livestock numbers have almost doubled to 45 million animals, caused in part by the socioeconomic changes linked to the breakup of the former Soviet Union, the report said. High unemployment led many people back to domestic herding.

The problem poses serious threats to this ecosystem, researchers say, including soil and water loss, but it may contribute to global climate change as well. Grasslands, depending on their status, can act as either a significant sink or source for atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Continued

Mystery of Desert 'Fairy Circles' Solved, Creators Found

Tanya Lewis, LiveScience Staff Writer

Date: 28 March 2013 Time: 02:00 PM ET

The "artists" behind bizarre, barren, grassless rings dotting the desert of Southwest Africa have been found lurking right at scientists' feet: termites.

Known as fairy circles, these patches crop up in regular patterns along a narrow strip of the Namib Desert between mid-Angola and northwestern South Africa, and can persist for decades. The cause of these desert pockmarks has been widely debated, but a species of sand termite, Psammotermes allocerus, could be behind the mysterious dirt rings, suggests a study published today (March 28) in the journal Science.

Scientists have offered many ideas about the circles' origin, ranging from "self-organizing vegetation dynamics" to carnivorous ants. Termites have been proposed before, but there wasn't much evidence to support that theory.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/28268-fairy-circle-mystery-solved.html

Mysterious, purple spheres found in the desert - via Terry Colvin

TUCSON (KGUN-9) - It was a normal Sunday in Vail for Geradine Vargas. Normal, until she and her husband stumbled upon something kind of weird. 

"We were taking photos around the area and we just.... I mean, how could you miss this?" Geradine said. "It was just like glittering in the sun."

Thousands of tiny, purple-hued spheres piled in the middle of nowhere.

"It's just one of those things that you've never seen before."

They were watery, some where translucent, and the pile was completely isolated. Gerardine was amazed, and she wanted answers.

"We did email a friend of ours who's a zoologist, but she didn't know. I mean, she didn't seem to recognize what it was."

So, she sent KGUN-9 pictures of the spheres, hoping we could find some answers.

We checked out the mysterious spheres for ourselves, and learned they were still there. They're like gooey marbles that ooze out a water substance when squished. They roll, they shine, and they're out of this world.

Geradine was dying to know what they were, and so were we.

We spoke to Darlene Buhrow, director of marketing at Tucson Botanical Gardens, who's husband is a botanist. He said if these are something naturally occurring, they could be a slime mold or jelly fungus.

We've received tons of calls into the newsroom tonight from viewers who think they are a product like Deco Beads, which are tiny, colored, water-filled spheres that keep plants hydrated. 

But thousands of them? In the middle of the desert?

No one is positive what these spheres are, and for now, all we can say for certain is that they're definitely out of the ordinary.

http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/189113371.html

Elephants Near Timbuktu Make Astonishing Migration Treks

A group of elephants near Timbuktu makes an epic journey each year in their quest for food and water. Researchers found that they travel across an area of 12,355 square miles (32,000 square kilometers) in the deserts of Mali, marking the largest known elephant range in the world.

The animals' extreme journey is a product of life in harsh conditions.

"It's incredible these elephants have survived. They have a truly stressful life with the lack of water and food, and their giant range reflects that," said lead researcher Jake Wall of the conservation organization Save The Elephants, Kenya, and the University of British Columbia.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/25495-record-breaking-elephant-range-found.html