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Human brucellosis represents a serious public health concern in Hulun Buir and requires a comprehensive epidemiologic analysis to define adapted control measures. The present study describes the case numbers, constituent ratios and incidence rate of human brucellosis. Conventional biotyping, that is abortus, melitensis, ovis and suis (AMOS)-PCR and multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) were used to characterize the Brucella strains. Between 2003 and 2018, a total of 23,897 human brucellosis cases were reported, with an incidence rate of 56.03/100,000, which is 20 times higher than the country's average incidence. This incidence rate increased year after year, culminating in 2005 and decreased between 2011 and 2018. Because Hulun Buir relies on a nomadic livestock rearing system, brucellosis spreads easily among different animal species and humans. In Xin Barag Left Banner and Xin Barag Right Banner, the incidence rates were, respectively, 226.54/100,000 and 199.10/100,000, exceeding those observed in other areas. Most of the cases occurred in the 25-to 45-year-old group, accounting for 65.74% of the cases (15,709/23,897), and among farmers, accounting for 66.71% (15,942/23,897). The male to female incidence ratio was 2.67:1. The higher incidence in younger people and the large gender ratio reflected the unique traditional production and lifestyle of nomads. Most reported cases were observed from April to June, indicating that more than 40% of the cases were related to the delivery of domestic livestock. The biotyping showed that the 44 isolated strains were all B. melitensis, including 12 Brucella melitensis biovar (bv) 1 and 32 B. melitensis bv. 3. The strains displayed a genetic similarity of 80%-100%. Our hypothesis is that human brucellosis outbreak in this region may be originating from a limited source of infection, so further investigation is necessary. The epidemic situation of human brucellosis in Hulun Buir is extremely serious, strengthened surveillance and control in animals' brucellosis should be priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taohemu deposit is a superlarge silver‐polymetallic deposit discovered in the Great Xing'an Range metallogenic belt of China in recent years. The deposit occurs in the terrestrial volcanic rock sequences of Late Jurassic age. The ore bodies consist mainly of rhyolitic tuffs, brecciated tuffs, and volcanic breccia bearing Ag‐Pb‐Zn mineralization, and are largely conformable with the surrounding layered volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks with a gradual transitional relationship manifesting as strata‐bounded features in general. The mineralization system appears to be generally controlled by a paleo‐volcanic chamber. It is suggested that the late volcanic hydrothermal fluids flowed within the permeable layers of rhyolitic pyroclastics consisting mainly of volcanic breccias and breccia‐bearing tuffs. This resulted in the formation of superlarge Ag‐Pb‐Zn polymetallic ore deposit metasomatism and fracture filling. The majority of the deposit occurs as shallowly dipping concealed ore bodies, as defined by sparsely distributed drill holes. Because of its short discovery history, new mineralization style and low degree of comprehensive research, the boundaries of most ore bodies have not been effectively delineated along vertical and lateral extensions. At present, it is crucial to strengthen the comprehensive studies on the deposit, conduct more detailed geological exploration, and establish the metallogenic and prospecting models. For this reason, we have designed and implemented long sections of magnetotelluric (MT) and controlled‐source audio magnetotelluric (CSAMT) sounding across the Taohemu ore field and obtained a large number of geological structures and valuable underground exploration results that provided reliable geophysical support for promoting deep resource exploration. Plain Language Summary: The geological structures associated with metallogenic system is usually covered by surface vegetation and Quaternary layer. Furthermore, surface mineralization is not relevant to deep ore bodies. To reveal the shape of ore bodies and geoelectrical structures in this study area, we applied geophysical electromagnetic methods to achieve this purpose. The results showed that the ore bodies are largely conformable with the surrounding rocks as strata‐bounded features in general tested by borehole information. The mineralization system appears to be generally controlled by a paleo‐volcanic chamber. Key Points: Underground geoelectric structures are imaged from MT and CSAMT exploration over Taohemu superlarge silver‐polymetallic deposit, Inner MongoliaOre bodies are conformable with surrounding volcanic and volcaniclastic rock with a gradual transitional relationship manifesting as strata‐bounded featuresThe mineralization system appears to be generally controlled by a paleo‐volcanic chamber [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasslands play important roles on all continents in ecosystem service and livestock production systems. With increasing human and livestock population, significant challenges are faced in providing safe and high quality animal and herbage products from grasslands in China. The family ranch is the basic management unit and production system in Inner Mongolia, north China. Animal populations are increasing, but the income of herders and grassland condition are not improving. There is a need for new management strategies to guide the future development of animal husbandry. Based on the results of demonstration experiments and surveys in Siziwang Banner, the StageONE Model developed for Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project “ Sustainable Livestock Grazing Systems on Chinese Temperate Grasslands ” was used to simulate changes in management strategies in a typical whole farm system, in order to identify feasible, sustainable and profitable farm management strategies. A new management strategy, including lower stocking rates and increased use of feed supplement in winter and spring, was adopted in a small number of farms and compared with the typical farm using the StageONE model. The results show that the total actual energy intake of sheep in the new strategy is higher than under traditional management, and the net energy surplus is –0.36 MJ/sheep unit/d, which is lower than under traditional management. The new strategy, in which stocking rates are reduced by 14.1%, also reduced methane emissions by 34.14% and increased net income by 15.85%. The simulation results suggest new ways for herders, companies and government to improve grassland management while increasing herders' net incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species abundance distributions (SADs) have been the focus of many ecological studies. Understanding the causes of SAD patterns is a major stepping stone toward understanding of how ecological communities are organized. While SAD patterns have been well studied in marine environments and forests, knowledge of SADs in response to environmental or human‐induced gradients is limited, especially in desert environments. In this study, we used structural equation modeling to analyze the effects of grazing disturbance and climate on plant SADs in a desert steppe of Inner Mongolia, China, aiming to shed light on the assembly of plant communities in this region. We found both grazing disturbance and climate influenced SADs but through different pathways and with different magnitude. Grazing intensity affected SADs by reducing evenness and richness of common species, while increases in annual mean temperature and annual rainfall affected SADs by increasing richness of rare species. Climate had 30% greater effect on community structure than grazing disturbance, highlighting the role of climate in community assembly in desert environments where biological processes are highly constrained by water. We further found geometric series was associated with low annual rainfall and low richness, and log‐normal with high annual rainfall, high richness and evenness. Geometric best fit for majority of the cases (60%) regardless of grazing intensity suggesting niche differentiation on the local scale is the principal community assembly process operating in the study region. Environmental filtering and niche differentiation may be concurrently operating to structure plant communities in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cleistogenes songorica, as a clustered grass, is the main grassland flora of the Stipa breviflora desert grassland. Some studies have shown that the constructive species of S. breviflora (sparse cluster type) is prone to cluster fragmentation; however, research on C. songorica is relatively rare. Then will the C. songorica plant population (dense cluster type) also have cluster fragmentation under the influence of intense grazing? To answer this question, we used variance analysis and geo‐statistical methods. The spatial distribution of C. songorica in S. breviflora desert steppe in Inner Mongolia was measured under four grazing intensities (no grazing, CK, 0 sheep·ha−1·half year−1; light grazing, LG, 0.93 sheep·ha−1·half year−1; moderate grazing, MG, 1.82 sheep·ha−1·half year−1; and heavy grazing, HG, 2.71 sheep·ha−1·half year−1) and four scales (10 cm × 10 cm, 20 cm × 20 cm, 25 cm × 25 cm, 50 cm × 50 cm). We then analyzed C. songorica whether fragmentation was present. The results showed that increased grazing intensity is associated with increased density and decreased height, coverage, and standing crop of C. songorica. The spatial distribution of C. songorica was affected by structural factors, and spatial heterogeneity decreased with increased spatial scale. With increased grazing intensity and spatial scale, the patch area of C. songorica gradually increased and tended toward band distribution. In summary, increased grazing intensity and spatial scale led to weakened heterogeneity of C. songorica spatial distribution and increased consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant species play a principal role in controlling and maintaining ecosystem stability. Stipa breviflora is the dominant species in desert steppe. Changes in the stability of a plant population will further affect the stability of the broader habitat, such as the desert steppe. In the desert steppe ecosystem, it is not clear what level of grazing intensity is best for improving the grazing tolerance and stability of the vegetation. And, the study of this question should involve a multi-dimensional, comprehensive analysis. This study will utilize variance analysis, plant population stability, and trade-off index to study S. breviflora, the dominant species in the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, and its performance under four grazing intensities (control, CK, 0 sheep·ha−1·half year−1; light grazing, LG, 0.93 sheep·ha−1·half year−1; moderate grazing, MG, 1.82 sheep·ha−1·half year−1; and heavy grazing, HG, 2.71 sheep·ha−1·half year−1) over six scales (5 cm × 5 cm; 10 cm × 10 cm; 20 cm × 20 cm; 25 cm × 25 cm; 50 cm × 50 cm; and 100 cm × 100 cm). The characteristics of the population stability of S. breviflora were explored. The results showed that the response of S. breviflora's stability to heavy grazing was multidimensional. Heavy grazing reduced the population stability of S. breviflora. Across different dimensions, base coverage was the first of the population stability metrics of S. breviflora to destabilize, followed by projection coverage, density, and height. Heavy grazing also affected the trade-offs of S. breviflora's population stability across different dimensions. In general, the trade-off degree decreased as the grazing intensity increased, and it increased as the scale increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Global environmental changes are known to affect terrestrial ecosystems functions (i.e., plant growth and carbon storage). However, how plants and soil microorganisms respond to warming and nitrogen deposition in dry ecosystems with strong seasonal precipitation remains largely unexplored. Methods: Based on a 13-year manipulative field experiment, we investigated the effects of warming and nitrogen addition on soil microbial communities and plant net photosynthetic rates during dry and wet months in a desert steppe in Inner Mongolia. Results: We found that in the wet month, warming and nitrogen addition significantly increased soil microbial biomass. Yet, warming and nitrogen addition significantly increased soil inorganic nitrogen and leaf nitrogen concentration, thus promoting an increase in the net photosynthetic rate of Stipa breviflora. Moreover, warming and nitrogen addition significantly shifted soil microbial composition with an increase in soil bacterial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) but a reduction in fungal PLFAs. The increased soil inorganic nitrogen indirectly enhanced leaf nitrogen and plant photosynthesis by changing soil microbial community structure. These changes were not significant in the dry month. Conclusions: Our study indicates that warming and nitrogen addition can promote plant photosynthesis by increasing soil nitrogen availability and changing soil microbial community structure. These changes only occurred when there was sufficient precipitation. These results highlight the crucial role of the soil microbial community and precipitation availability in influencing plant growth responses to global change drivers such as warming and nitrogen deposition. These findings suggest the importance of manipulating multiple factors rather than single factors in global change experiments and the role of plant and soil microbial interactions in ecosystem functions (i.e., plant growth and carbon storage) under global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Grazing disturbance plays an important role in the desert steppe ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China. Previous studies found that grazing affected the spatial distribution of species in a community, and showed patchiness characteristics of species under different grazing treatments. Artemisia frigida is the dominant species and semi-shrub in desert steppe, and whether grazing interference will affect the spatial distribution of A. frigida is studied. In this study, geo-statistical methods were mainly used to study the spatial distribution characteristics of A. frigida population in desert steppe of Inner Mongolia at two scales (quadrat size 2.5 m × 2.5 m, 5 m × 5 m) and four stocking rates (control, CK, 0 sheep·ha–1·month–1; light grazing, LG, 0.15 sheep·ha–1·month–1, moderate grazing, MG, 0.30 sheep·ha–1·month–1, heavy grazing, HG, 0.45 sheep·ha–1·month–1). Results: The results showed that the spatial distribution of A. frigida tended to be simplified with the increase of stocking rate, and tended to be banded with increased spatial scale. The density and height of A. frigida increased with increasing scale. With increased stocking rate, the density of A. frigida population decreased linearly, while its height decreased in a step-wise fashion. The spatial distribution of A. frigida was mainly affected by structural factors at different scales and stocking rate. The density of A. frigida was more sensitive to change in stocking rate, and the patchiness distribution of A. frigida was more obvious with increase in scale. Conclusions: Stocking rate has a strong regulatory effect on the spatial pattern of A. frigida population in the desert steppe. Heavy grazing reduced the spatial heterogeneity of A. frigida in the desert steppe. The smaller dominant populations are unfavourable for its survival in heavy grazing condition, and affects the stability and productivity of the grassland ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]