The incredible growth of China's cattle, sheep and dairy production is a visible phenomenon of the past twenty years, but its foundations were laid decades earlier. Seeking to industrialize its hinterland, and exploit its vast wealth of grazing livestock, China created slaughtering and processing facilities across its northern grasslands during the 1950s. Since the 1980s, much of this infrastructure has been privatized by companies which, like their predecessors, seek efficiency through economies of scale. Brutal competition over price and constant arrival of new domestic and foreign players have encouraged the integration of processing chains, but also sidelined small operators, and created gaps in safety best epitomized by the 2008 tainted milk scandal. Despite steps taken to “green” the production chain, it remains to be seen if such gaps have been adequately filled.

This article focuses on the 1935 discovery of what is now believed to be a selenium deficiency disorder in the Japanese client state of Manchukuo. The epicenter of this disease had served as pasture for Oirat Mongols until the late nineteenth century. Opening up the land for reclamation by Chinese migrants put greater pressure on each acre to produce food. With a limited supply of selenium in the soil, the intake of this mineral by crops decreased over time, especially under the extractive conditions of the soybean industry during the Japanese occupation. Japanese theories on climate and hygiene made legible the consequences of transforming this nomadic borderland into an agrarian heartland on colonized bodies. By bringing attention to the understudied Mongol territories in Manchukuo, this essay goes beyond environmental histories bound by the nation-state to reveal the corporeal costs of settler colonialism and ecological imperialism.

The non-market values of changes in grassland management stimulated by changes in policies were estimated by choice modeling. Four-hundred twenty-seven residents of Hohhot city in Inner Mongolia were selected using the popular mobile phone application WeChat. Conditional logit (CL) and random parameter logit (RPL) models were estimated to analyze the preference of respondents for environmental and social attributes. Based on the preferred RPL model, the average per household willingness to pay over 10 years for the best policy outcome scenarios was estimated to be CNY892 (US$141). The total willingness to pay for this policy change, extrapolated to the population of Hohhot, was CNY208 million (US$33 million). The findings suggest that environmental and social outcomes are valuable to Chinese residents of a regional urban center. Such values should be viewed as a public financial base for market-based mechanisms for grassland protection both in China and internationally. WeChat proved to be convenient but required the application of extrapolation caveats relating to sample representation.

This paper examines two contrasting cases of ethnic-group political activism in China – the Uighurs in Xinjiang and the Mongols in Inner Mongolia – to explain the former's political activism and the latter's lack thereof. Given similar challenges and pressures, how can we explain the divergent patterns in these two groups’ political behavior? This paper forwards the argument that domestic factors alone are not sufficient to account for differences in the groups’ political behavior. Instead, international factors have to be included to offer a fuller and satisfactory explanation. The paper illustrates how three types of international factors – big power support, external cultural ties, and Uighur diaspora community activism – have provided opportunities and resources to make the Uighur political activism sustainable. In Inner Mongolia, its quest for self-determination reached the highest fervor in the early half of the twentieth century, particularly with the support of imperial Japan. However, since the end of WWII, Inner Mongolia has not received any consistent international support and, as a result, has been more substantially incorporated into China's geopolitical body.

In response to foreign demands for concessions and territories, China's last imperial court in the early twentieth century executed reforms to strengthen fiscal, personnel, military, and cultural control over its frontier regions. However, in so doing, it provoked an awakening of the national consciousness of the elites of non-Han ethnic minorities there. Much has changed over the past 100 years regarding the governance of China's frontier territories of Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang, with the diffusion of nationalist claims among increasing numbers of the ethnic minority populace, heightened focus of foreign actors on the humanitarian and rights situations of the ethnic minorities, and greatly extended reach and firmer grip of the central government. What remained unaltered is the “state integration” purpose of Chinese regimes, as manifested in the practices of “internal colonialism” or “ethnic assimilation,” which has led to grievances and resistance by China's ethnic minorities against the Chinese state.

The deformation of the Solonker Belt and nearby regions is helpful for understanding the tectonic evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. This study carried out structural analysis in the Mandula and Ganqi areas of western Inner Mongolia, including the Solonker Belt, the Southern Orogenic Belt and the northern Yinshan Belt (Langshan range). Our results reveal that the Solonker Belt, the Southern Orogenic Belt and the northern Yinshan Belt underwent two stages (D1 and D2) of deformation during the Mesozoic period. The D1 stage produced the NNE-directed thrusts and asymmetric folds, indicating a NNE–SSW contraction. The northern Yinshan Belt, the Southern Orogenic Belt and the Solonker Belt formed as a series of NNE-verging tectonic nappes. The D2 stage developed the NE-trending folds and the SE- or NW-directed thrusts that cross-cut the D1 structures. The two events of nearly orthogonal or oblique shortening gave rise to the superimposed structures (e.g. fold interference patterns). The quartz veins that filled the fractures of the D1 deformation contain zircons of Middle Triassic U–Pb ages. The new dating data, along with the regional sedimentary hiatus, led us to infer that the D1 stage of deformation occurred in Middle Triassic time and the D2 stage occurred in Late Jurassic time. We consider that the D1 stage of deformation resulted from a convergent event, which might be related to the closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean or limited, narrow ocean basins; and the D2 stage of deformation was the far-field result of subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean and the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean.

The feature distinguishing typical angiosperms from gymnosperms is that their ovules are enclosed before pollination. Bennettitales were formerly related to angiosperms because of the flower-like organisation of the former's reproductive organs. There is little information on how the naked ovules of Bennettitales became enclosed in angiosperms because fossil evidence for such a transition, if it exists, has not been described. Here, we report a reproductive organ, Zhangwuia gen. nov., from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Like many Bennettitales, the arrangement of the foliar parts around the female part in Zhangwuia demonstrates a resemblance to typical angiosperm flowers. It is noteworthy that the ovule is secluded from the exterior space in Zhangwuia, therefore implying the existence of angio-ovuly. Although Bennettitales have been related to angiosperms for more than a hundred years, their way of ovule-enclosing was not previously revealed. The discovery of Zhangwuia prompts a rethinking of the relationship between Bennettitales and angiosperms, as well as of the origin of angiosperms.

The woodland-steppe ecotone of the southeastern Inner Mongolian Plateau in northern China is located at the northwestern limit of the Pacific monsoon influence, where the landscape may have been a sensitive recorder of past climatic changes. Physical, chemical, and biological analyses of AMS 14C-dated sediment sequences from two lakes of this region were used to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and desertification history and distinguish four periods: (1) a cold and humid period from 10000 to 8000 14C yr B.P., (2) a warm and humid period from 8000 to 5900 14C yr B.P., (3) a warm and dry period from 5900 to 2900 14C yr B.P., and (4) a cool and dry period from 2900 14C yr B.P. to the present. The increased aridity during the middle Holocene was likely caused by increased winter temperatures and enhanced winter evaporation. The transition from a humid to an arid climate after ∼5900 14C yr B.P. coincided with enhanced aeolian activity, and deciduous woodlands were replaced by pine woodlands and then by steppes in response to the climatic deterioration. These transitions led to the present desertification. The records suggest that a simple association of thermal and moisture conditions, such as warm/wet or cold/dry, may be misleading.

A sediment core from Hulun Lake, Inner Mongolia was analyzed for species assemblages and shell chemistry of ostracodes to investigate changes in the hydrology and climate of the East Asian summer monsoon margin during the Holocene. Darwinula stevensoni was abundant, Ilyocypris spp. scarce, littoral ostracodes absent and Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and δ18O were low 11,100 to 8300 yr ago, indicating high lake levels and cool/fresh waters. Darwinula stevensoni declined largely, Ilyocypris spp. throve, littoral ostracodes were rare and chemical indicators remained in low values 8300 to 6200 yr ago, suggesting that the lake continued high stands but water became warm. The lake then contracted and water became cool/brackish 6200 to 4300 yr ago. Littoral ostracodes flourished 4300 to 3350 yr ago, marking the lowest lake levels of the entire Holocene. The lake level recovered and water salinity decreased 3350 to 1900 yr ago. From 1900 to 500 yr ago, the lake maintained the preceding status albeit lowered stands and increased salinities 1100 to 800 yr ago. During the recent 500 yr, the lake expanded and water salinity decreased. The data imply that the East Asian summer monsoon did not intensify until 8300 yr ago and weakened dramatically 4300 to 3350 yr ago.

In May 2011, Inner Mongolia experienced the most serious ethnic unrest in the region for 30 years. In this article, I explore the broader context that led to the eruption of the protests, with a particular emphasis on environmental issues. My aim is to explain why environmental issues occupied such a prominent position in the protests, and how these issues were connected to ethnicity. After discussing the material and practical implications of grassland degradation for Mongolian herders, I analyse the symbolic implications of this environmental crisis for the Mongolian educated elite, who have linked environmental issues to ethnic politics and identity. I argue that in the last 20 years or so, Mongolian intellectuals have developed a highly ethnicized environmental discourse, and that this discourse played an important role in informing the 2011 protests. My analysis focuses on this discourse as it is manifested in the domains of art, academia and daily discourse.

In the Inner Mongolian steppe, China, sheep generally graze during daytime and are kept in yards overnight. Hence, nutrients are not returned to the grassland, which might reduce its long-term productivity. Furthermore, the restricted grazing time may limit forage intake and thus the performance of sheep. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the impact of continuous 24-h grazing (CG) v. the common daytime grazing (DG) on herbage mass (HM), feed quality, feed organic matter intake (OMI) and live weight gain (LWG) of sheep in the Inner Mongolian steppe. Experiments were carried out from July to September, between 2005 and 2007 on two 2-ha plots per grazing treatment. Each month, the external faecal marker titanium dioxide (TiO2) was orally administered to six sheep per plot on 10 consecutive days. Faecal grab samples were obtained from day 6 to 10 and analysed for CP concentrations to estimate digestibility of organic matter (dOM). Faecal TiO2 concentrations were used to determine the total faecal output and hence OMI of sheep. Concomitant to faeces collection, HM and quality, as well as LWG of the animals were measured. HM and herbage quality did not differ between treatments. However, as the season progressed, concentrations of NDF, ADF and ADL increased, whereas HM and CP concentrations declined. HM and herbage quality parameters differed between years according to the annual precipitation. dOM was similar in CG (0.577) and DG (0.572) sheep, but it decreased from July (0.583) to September (0.558) and differed between years. Accordingly, the OMI of sheep was similar for both treatments across the entire grazing season and all study years. Although mean LWG differed between months and years, it was identical in CG (101.5 g/day) and DG sheep (101.8 g/day). Additional time on pasture during night does not increase feed intake or animal performance. Positive effects of a nutrient reflux on grassland productivity and herbage quality when animals remained on the plots overnight were not found, most likely because of the fact that sheep crowded together in one corner of the plots during darkness and faecal and urinary excretions were thus not evenly distributed across the entire pasture. Considering the risk of animal theft as well as the importance of sheep manure as fuel, the common penning of sheep at night seems to be an adequate management practice for pastoralists in the Inner Mongolian steppe.

The authors present new research on the Chifeng area of north-eastern China where they have been studying the remains of a society of the second millennium BC. This northern region, which saw the introduction of agriculture at the same time as the Yellow River basin experienced a brief and intensive period of fortification in the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age: natural ridges above the valleys were ringed with double stone walls and semicircular towers enclosing clusters of round houses with yards. Using large-scale survey and analysis of the structures at the key site of Sanzuodian, they place this phenomenon in its cultural and social context.

Springtime meteorological and satellite data from 1971 to 2000 have been used to assess surface desertification and grassland deterioration to obtain a better understanding of the synoptic characteristics of dust storms observed in Inner Mongolia, the relationship between dust storms and their impact on the Beijing-Tianjin Region, and the effect of climatic change on the surface environment of dust storm source areas in Inner Mongolia. Based on the statistics and the analysis of weather charts during each dust storm event, details and characteristics of sand and dust source regions, such as cold air paths, areas of strong winds and typical synoptic types were obtained. Temperature was found to be the most significant indicator of climate change in the dust storm source regions, having increased by 1.01 °C in the Alxa source region and by 0.96 °C in Hunshdak over the past three decades. Other factors include lack of precipitation, higher evaporation, lower relative humidity, soil desertification and decrease of grasslands in the source regions. As a consequence, nearly two-thirds of the very strong dust storm events observed in Inner Mongolia (characterised by horizontal visibility below 1000 m and wind speeds of 12 m s−1 or over) led to suspended dust or dust storms in the downwind area, the Beijing-Tianjin Region. This study also analyses the upper air and surface weather charts of 58 very strong dust storm events and established the direction of three cold air paths: northwesterly, westerly and northerly. The northwesterly cold air path is seen as the major one, responsible for 58.6% of the dust storm episodes. In addition, the observed areas where strong winds occur lie mostly across the central-west and central regions of Inner Mongolia. Finally, the synoptic situations associated with dust storm events can be classified into three types: trough, northwesterly current and Mongolian vortex. The predominant synoptic system is the trough, responsible for 63.8% of the 58 events analysed in this study.