1. RANGELANDS12(3), June 1990 159
Grasslands ofthe Tibetan Plateau
DanielJ. Miller
Nomads' tentswerescatteredacross thevalleyfloor.
Made outofbeltsofwovenyakhair, supportedwithpoles,
andstakedoutwithyakhair ropes,theyresembled giant
blackspiders.Thincolumnsofsmokerosefromthetents
asthesuncameoverthetopofthemountains.Flocksof
sheep moved slowly acrossthe valley floor like thick,
low-lyingfog. Large herds ofyakswerebeingherdedby
youngboys,skillfully employingslingshotsthat snapped
like rifle shots.Men in sheepskin clothingandwith long
braidedhairtrottedpastonstoutponies. Sittingonelabo-
ratelywoven saddlecarpets, with rifles slung overtheir
shoulders,and long swordsdanglingfrom theirwaists,
these horsemen had an air of confidenceabout them.
Theylookedliketheyownedtheplace,theseproudnom-
adson horsebackriding across some ofthelast of the
open range: thegrasslands oftheTibetanPlateau.
Thesegrasslands have, forcenturies, supportedapas-
toral culture. Though remote, thesegrassland ecosys-
increased demand for livestockproducts generated by
economicgrowthinthePeople'sRepublicofChina. The
"personalresponsibilitysystem", which hasreplaced the
communesystem, hasalso contributedtoanincrease in
livestocknumbers.
The recent increases in livestocknumberson these
grasslands donotrecognize thecarryingcapacitynorthe
need toimproverangemanagement techniques. Modern
techniquesof range management are not well under-
stoodinTibet. Ifwell managed, thegrasslands havethe
potentialto supportproductivelivestockpopulations.
In thesummerof 1988, I was fortunateto beableto
travelacrosssome ofthegrasslands oftheTibetanPla-
teau. Accompanied byawildlifebiologistfromtheNorth-
west Plateau Institute of Biology located in Xining,
Qinghai Province,and twootherresearchers from the
UniversityofMontanawewerelookingforstudyareasto
begincollaborativeresearch on wildlife and rangelands
ontheTibetanPlateau.FromXining,wedroveacrossthe
Gloknomads'summerencampmentinnortheasternQinghaiProvince.
tems are coming under pressurefrom factors such as

2. 160 RANGELANDS12(3),June 1990
northeastpartofthePlateau, known inTibetanasAmdo,
south to the town of Nangchen on the banks of the
MekongRiver andfurthersouthintotheTibetanregionof
Kham on the border between Qinghai Province and the
TibetanAutonomousRegion. Wecoveredapproximately
1,500miles, almostall ofiton gravel roads.
TheTibetanPlateau is themostextensivehigh eleva-
tionregiononearth.Knownasthe"RoofoftheWorld",it
encompassesalmostonemillionsquaremiles ofthePeo-
ple'sRepublicofChina, equivalenttothecombined area
ofthestatesofMontana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah,Nevada,
Colorado,Arizona,andNewMexico.TheTibetanPlateau
stretchesforabout800miles fromnorthtosouthandover
1,000 miles from west to east. The Plateau is found
between 28 and 38 degrees North Latitude, about the
same latitudeasNewMexico.The Qinghai-XizangPla-
teau, as itistermed by theChinese, includes all ofthe
TibetAutonomousRegion, mostofQinghaiProvince,the
northwestern partofSichuanProvince,thesouthwestern
part ofGansu Province, and the southern borderareaof
XinjiangUygur AutonomousRegion—approximately 20
percent ofthetotal landarea ofChina.
TheTibetanPlateau isliterallytheheartofAsia, where
someofthemajorriversofAsia suchastheYellowRiver,
Yangtze, Mekong, and Brahmaputra originate.The Pla-
teauisbounded on thenorth bytheKunlun Mountains
and by the Himalaya Range on the south. Numerous
mountainranges with peaks over 20,000feet crisscross
themiddleofthePlateau.Itisbig,wide-opencountrywith
extensive grasslands.Approximately70%ofthetotalland
areaoftheTibetanPlateau isgrazing land.
Vegetationon the Plateau variesremarkably, depend-
ingonaltitude,temperature,and precipitation.Almostall
oftheTibetanPlateauisatelevations over10,000feetand
extensiveareasarelocated above14,000feet. Littlevege-
tationisfoundabove 16,000feet. Temperatures through-
out the year are cold and growing seasons are short.
Snowcanfallevery monthoftheyear. Precipitationvaries
from about30 inches on thesoutheastern edge of the
Grasslandsofnortheast TibetanPlateauatabout14,000 feetwithyaks.

3. RANGELANDS12(3), June 1990 161
Plateau to lessthan4inches ayearin thenorthwest. The
decrease in precipitation from southeast to northwest
providesamoisturegradientfrom humidto arid with a
corresponding vegetational gradient from forest and
meadow tosteppeand desert. Precipitation ontheTibet
Plateau isinfluencedbytheSouthwestMonsooncoming
fromtheIndianOcean inthesummerandtheWesterlies
inthewinter. Mostprecipitationoccursduringthesummer
and wintersare generallycoldand dry. Heavy snowfalls
canoccurduringthe winter.
TheTibetan Plateau has been dividedinto five main
vegetationzones. These are: (a) the moist high-cold
meadow and lowscrub in theeast; (b)thearid and high-
coldsteppein thenorthand centralregion;(C) thehigh-
cold desertof the northwest;(d) thetemperatedesert
zoneinthewest; and(e)thearidsteppeandshrublandsin
thesouth aroundtheTsangpo(Brahmaputra) River Val-
ley.Thefirsttwotypesofvegetationarethemostpredom-
inantontheTibetanPlateau.
Thegrasslands ofthenortheastern partoftheTibetan
Plateau have long been regarded as some of the best
grazinglandsinall ofAsia. NumerousexplorerstoTibet
inthe 19th centurywrote at length aboutthe lush pas-
tures,largeherds of livestock, and incrediblewildlife of
this region.The rangelandsof northeastTibet are the
kind of country cowboys dream about. It's Marlboro
Country. It is a land of numerous snow peaks, large
mountainvalleyswith clear runningstreamsand good
grass, andcold, wind-sweptsteppes where you canride
for hundredsand hundredsof miles and never see a
fence. Itisstill "openrange".
From Xining,which is situated on theedgeof the old
SilkRoute, wecrossed theQinghaiNan Shan mountains
ontothenortheastern edgeofthePlateau.Thefirstvalley
to the south of Koko NorLakeis a large bess plain at
about10,000feet.Common grasses hereweresplendid
grass (Achnatherumsplendens), alkalinegrass(Leymus
secalinus), and Orinus kokonorica. The two-humped
Bactrian camels could beseen grazing with cattle,yaks,
andsheep amonglarge sanddunes.Ascendingoutofthis
bess plainwecrossedthesecondaryrangesnorthwestof
themainAmnye MachinMountainRange.(Fora periodin
thelate1940'sAmnyeMachinwas thoughtto be higher
thanMountEverest.)Shrublandsofwillowsandshrubby
cinquefoilwerecommononthemountainsides. Numer-
ousspecies ofwildflowerswoveatapestryofcolors into
thegreen meadows.
Traveling across theTibetan Plateau remindsone of
thecold deserts ofNevada ortheplainsofeastern Mon-
tana. The country rolls on and on, with endless ridges
merging into a purple haze onthe horizon. Numerous
lakes are foundon the Plateau andnowherein theworld
areskiessoblue. You canseeclearlyformilesand miles.
Distances are deceiving.
High elevation meadows dominatedby sedges of the
genus Kobresia comprisealarge percentage ofthetotal
grassland areaof the Tibetan Plateau. Thesecold, wet
meadows providean importantgrazing resource forlive-
stockduringthesummer. Purplefeathergrass(Stipapur-
purea) is one of themostcommongrasses of the high-
coldsteppesofTibet.OthercommongrassesareLittedalia
racemoa, Roegneria kokonorica, Ptilagrostisdichotoma
and Koeleria cristata. Near many settlements, grazing
lands have been fenced to provide emergency winter
grazingareasorto be used ashaymeadows. Oneofthe
dominantgrasses inthesegrasslands is awildryegrass,
Elymus flutans.
The northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau is the
territory of thelegendaryGoloktribesmen.Considered
amongthebesthorsemen ofAsia, theyare also renowned
for having thebesthorses ofall theTibetantribes. The
Goloks descended from ancestral nomads who consi-
dered it bad manners to walk even when exchanging
greetingsbetween one tent and another. Forcenturies
thesewild, nomadicTibetantribesraidedand plundered
caravans crossingTibet and stole horsesand livestock
from othertribes inthe northeastern regions of the Pla-
teau. The Goboks were alwaysknown as some of the
toughest mounted warriors in Asia and successfully
thwartedmanyattemptsbyearlyexplorersontheTibetan
Plateau to reach Lhasa throughGobokcountry.
Golokwomanandchild.Sheepskinrobeistrimmed inotterfur
andwithembroideredsilk. Amber andcoralbeads areinthe hair.

4. 162 RANGELANDS12(3), June1990
A largeencampment of Goloks is an impressive site.
During the summer, these nomadswill gather in one
placeforaweek ormoretoholdfestivalsandtradeorsell
theirwool.Atthesesummer festivalsmostofthetentsare
large, richlydecorated canvastents,adeparturefromthe
traditional tents made of woven yak hair. The nomads
dressintheirfinest clothes,theirsheepskin robes deco-
rated with embroideredsilkand trimmedwith otter fur.
Women wear largenecklaces of amber, coral and tur-
quoise,gold and silver jewelry, and plait large amber
beads intotheirhair.Manyofthemen and women wear
Stetson-likefelt hatsand leatherboots. Most men still
weartheir hair long with bright red tassels braidedinto
their hair andwrappedaroundtheir heads. Hundreds of
horsesgraze aroundthesecamps, wherehorseraces and
other horseback contestsare held.
Horsemanship is a highly regarded skillinthispart of
CentralAsia.Numerouslegends attestto the Tibetans'
prowess with horses. Inonewell-knownTibetantale, the
kingsofIndia,Persia,Turkestan, andTibetsentenvoysto
theChinese court,each seekingtheemperor'sdaughter
asabridefortheirking.Theseenvoysweresubjected toa
numberoftests.In oneofthetestssettotheenvoys, 100
mares werekept inone place,100foals in another,and
the envoyshad to identify the offspring of each mare.
When theTibetanenvoysucceeded inthis, theChinese
emperorwaved thematteraside,saying,"Thetestisnota
fairone, forTibet is known asthelandofhorses."
Everyone thinksoftheMongolsasthegreathorsemen
of CentralAsia, which indeed they were. However, the
Tibetans came galloping over the steppes 500 years
beforetheMongolsdid.Tibetancivilizationwasahorse-
orientedsocietyandthere isevidence thatTibetankings
assumed thethrone assoonastheycould ride a horse,
whichwassupposedlyattheageofthirteen. Theheightof
Tibetanexpansionin CentralAsiawasin the7th and 8th
centuries. Thereis historicalproof that bythelate700's
the Tibetanswerethegreatest military power inCentral
Asia. In 763 A.D., Tibetan cavalryseized the Chinese
Tang DynastyImperialcapital inXian, and in790 A.D.,
TibetantroopsrodetotheOxusRiverin nothernPersia.
Thesedaring exploits could have only been accomp-
lishedwith well-trainedmounted warriors.TheTibetans
evendevelopeda"ponyexpress" forcarryingdispatches
acrosstheirvast territoriesalmost1,000yearsbeforethe
Spanish broughtthefirsthorses to NorthAmerica.
Itisestimated that there are about 12 million yaksin
China, the majority of which are found on theTibetan
Plateau.Over30millionsheep andgoatsutilizethegrass-
landson thePlateau. Herdsofthousandsofanimalsare
notuncommon.Yaks providemilkproducts,meat, hair,
wool and hides.The wool from Tibetansheep has long
been regardedas a fine carpet wool and about three
thousandtonsofwoolisexportedeveryyeartoNepal for
its thriving carpet industry. The fine, inner wool from
Tibetangoats(cashmere) is used for makingexpensive
pashmina shawls. In the 1880's theBritish Raj inTibet
made numerous unsuccessful attemptstoobtaincontrol
ofthe wooland cashmere trade in Tibet.
Nomadicpastoralism on theTibetanPlateau hasbeen
inexistenceforthousandsofyears. Pastoralism became
theprevalent landuseonthePlateau,by at leastthe7th
century,whichmarkedthebeginningoftheexpansionof
theTibetancivilization.
ThesurvivalofpastoralgroupsontheTibetanPlateau
indicates that thestrategies of rangeland utilizationand
animal selections developed centuries ago are well-
adaptedresponses to thedifferent rangeand environ-
mental conditions.These practicesestablished sustain-
able range-livestockproductionunder asystemwhich
developed withoutscientificknowledgeofrangeecosys-
temsand expensive inputs.
Riding yak. Someyaks arenaturallypolled.
WiththeopeningoftheTibetanPlateau and improved
communicationswiththePeople's RepublicofChina, the
equilibriumofthetraditionalTibetanpastoralsystemwas
placed under considerablepressure to support more
intensive livestockproduction.EconomicgrowthinChina
is placing more demands for livestock products. This
shouldstimulateinterestintechnologiesrelatedto live-
stock production from rangelands on theTibetan Pla-
teau. Thereisevidence thatthe"individualresponsibility
system"nowbeingimplemented isleading toanincrease
inlivestocknumbers. Rangeland conditionmaydeclineif
moreanimalsare keptthan the rangelands canrealisti-
callysupporton asustainablebasis.
Pressure increase from human populationsand live-
stock numbers are threatening wildlife species in many
areas. In theshorttimewewereonthe Plateau, we saw
Tibetan gazellegrazing along side the road, wild ass,
wolves,and bluesheep inthemountainousroughcoun-
try.In highelevationspruceforests insouthernQinghai

5. RANGELANDS12(3), June 1990 163
Province, wesaw musk deer, small, secretive animals.
One of the few members of the deer family without
antlers. The males have largecanineteeth. Males pro-
duce musk, used intraditional medicinalpracticesand
perfumes, which has resultedinwidespread poaching.
White-lippeddeer(Thorold'sdeer)and red deerare also
found in high elevationforests and shrublandsonthe
Plateau. MarmotsandpikaswerecommonintheTibetan
grasslands, incontrasttotheRockyMountainswherethe
pikainhabitsrockyareas.Manylarge raptorsarefoundin
theeastern part of theTibetanPlateau probablydue to
thelarge numbers of pikas.
In themoreisolatedvalleysin thewesternpart ofthe
Tibetan Plateau, there are stilt large herdsof hugewild
yaks. Bigbullscanstand sixfeethighattheshoulders and
weighuptoaton.Thehornsfromthewildyakswereused
asmilk pailsbyearlynomads. Tibetanantelopeare also
foundontheTibetanPlateau.Mongolsbelievethatawhip
handle made from thehorns of an antelopewill, inthe
handsofthe rider,preventhishorse fromtiring.Tibetans
used two antelopehorns as rests to help steadytheir
rifles. Once widespread, Przewalski gazelle are now
found only along the northeastern shore of Koko Nor
Lake. Tibetanargalisare foundinmany ofthemountain
rangesinthe Plateau as are snow leopard.Numerous
lakes and marshes providehabitat for a widevarietyof
waterfowland shore birdS. The firstAmericanto really
exploreTibetinthelate1800'scalledthecountryaround
the upper Yellow River "the most wonderful hunting
groundinAsia".
This richabundanceofwildlife ontheTibetanPlateau
is beingincreasinglythreatened.Largenumbers of blue
sheep are killed every yearfor meat markets in Europe.
Musk deer are poached for the valuablemusk and red
deer and white-lipped deer are killed for their velvet
antlers. Knowledgeonthenumbers ofwildlife andecol-
ogy ofwildanimalsontheTibetanPlateau is limited.
Tremendouspotentialexistsforimprovingtheproduc-
tivityof the rangelandsand livestockproductionof the
TibetanPlateau. To overlapappropriaterange policies
anddevelopmentinterventionsforsustainable useofthe
range resources, the dynamicsof the pastoralecosys-
temsneed to be clearlyunderstood.Moreinformationis
requiredon the ecologyofthegrasslands andthecarry-
ing capacities ofthedifferentecosystems. Remote sens-
ing imageryis avaluable toolfor analyzingforagepro-
ductionwhichhasimportantpotentialgiventhevastness
and remotenatureoftherangelands of theTibetanPla-
teau. Informationisrequiredaboutthe livestock andwild
ungulates utilizing the range resources to plan range
improvements forefficientutilizationoftherange. Devel-
opmentstrategies must build uponthe bestaspects of
traditional management systems, ratherthan imposing
complete new systems upon them. Local pastoralists
need to be involved intheplanningand designofdevel-
opmentinterventions. Investigations are neededonplant-
animal interactions. Range and animal scientistsmust
work together.Better grazing management needs to be
promotedthat considersappropriatestockingratesand
properseasonsofuseoftherange. Grazing systemsneed
tobedesignedtoensuretheefficientandsustained useof
rangelands. Hay meadows shouldbe developed to pro-
videsupplementalforageduringthewinter.Development
interventionshaveto bepractical.Instead ofintroducing
expensivetractors and forage harvesting machineryfor
theTibetanPlateau, itmaybemorefeasibletointroduce
horse-drawn mowingmachines andtechnologythat was
widelyusedonrangeoperationsinthewestern USAnot
manyyearsago. Wildlifearean importantresourceonthe
TibetanPlateau andtheirneeds mustalso beconsidered
whendesigningrangemanagement programsanddevel-
opmentinterventions.
Thegrasslands oftheTibetanPlateauareauniqueand
vitalresource. Little attentionhasbeen giventothewise
andscientificmanagement oftheserangeland resources.
The rugged terrain, harsh environmental conditions,
diversevegetationtypes,and interestingpastoralpeople
will maketheapplicationof rangemanagement princi-
ples on the Tibetan Plateau a very challenging and
extremelyexcitingtask.
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