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• Grassland ecosystem restoration have substantial ecological benefits. • Majority of the herdsmen preferred the improvement of grassland ecological attributes. • Heterogeneity of herdsmen's preference exists for the grassland ecosystem services. • Three potential segments of the herdsmen with different preferences are highlighted based on latent class model. • The herdsmen's social, economic and environmental attitudes have significant impacts on their preferences. The evaluation of grassland ecosystem restoration benefit considering herdsmen's preference is an important reference for the formulation of grassland protection policy. This study aims to evaluate the marginal benefits of grassland ecosystem services by using choice experiment and mixed logit (ML) model, and a latent class model (LCM) is estimated to identify and explain the heterogeneity of herdsmen's preference for the various functions of the grassland ecosystem, so as to estimate the benefits of grassland ecosystem restoration in Siziwang Banner and Damao Banner of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The results reveal that the restoration benefit of the grassland ecosystem in the two banners is nearly 341.1 million RMB per year. The application of latent class model highlights three potential segments of the herdsmen with different preferences. The social, economic and environmental attitudinal characteristics of herdsmen have significant impacts on their preferences. Thus, to improve the universality of grassland ecological restoration policy, herdsmen's preferences should be thoroughly investigated before policy formulation and implementation. Meanwhile, it is important to publicize the grassland ecosystem services, to popularize the role of wildlife in the ecosystem, and to realize the benign interaction between wildlife protection and animal husbandry development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the adaptability of cement-improved expansive soil as a heavy-haul railway subgrade filling material, based on a test section of the Inner Mongolia-Jiangxi railway cement-improved expansive soil embankment, cyclic vibration tests were conducted under different axle load, train speed and service environment conditions. By analysing dynamic parameters such as dynamic stress, acceleration and dynamic displacement at different subgrade positions, the train dynamic load distribution and attenuation law in the cement-improved subgrade were obtained, and the axle load, train speed and rainfall effects on the dynamic cement-improved subgrade response were analysed. The dynamic parameters are linearly attenuated along the subgrade depth and lateral direction in the same filling structure layer. The dynamic stress attenuation at the bottom of the subgrade surface layer is approximately 49%, and that at the bottom of the lowermost subgrade layer is 76%. The attenuation of the coarse-grained filler is larger than that of the cement-improved expansive soil; the dynamic parameter values at various subgrade positions increase linearly with increasing train speed and axle load. The closer the vibration source is, the larger the dynamic parameter increment; the change in the subgrade water content has a certain effect on the subgrade's dynamic response characteristics. In the immersed state, the subgrade dynamic parameter value is greater than the natural state value, and the subgrade accumulated deformation will be promoted after subgrade immersion in water. • The dynamic parameters are linearly attenuated in the same filling structure layer. • The dynamic parameters change linearly with the speed and axle load. • Water has a certain effect on the subgrade's dynamic response characteristics. • The cement-improved expansive soil is used as the subgrade fillings can meet the requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]