Authors: Batdelger, Gantuya;

Evidence shows that Mongolian herder’s knowledge can serve as a valuable body of information about ongoing ecological processes.
Our study areas were located in the mountain forest-steppe region in Mongolia. In 2017-2020, we interviewed 33 people using photos of plant species and habitats and semi-structured interviews focusing on landscape change.
Herders distinguished 88 folk habitat types, and we documented the habitat preference of 76 plant species. The habitat classification was multidimensional; key dimensions were geomorphological and edaphic. There were some species (e.g., botyuul - Festuca lenensis, shireg – dominated by Carex duriuscula and species groups (hot and leafy plants) that were often used to describe habitat types.
We found 32 indicators of landscape changes for the 14 main habitat types studied. Herders attributed various changes to diverse drivers. Some of the long-term trends reported by herders are well-known, others are rarely mentioned in the scientific literature, if at all. South-facing mountain slopes and flat areas in valleys are changing most rapidly.
Herders wish to cooperate with each other to deal with adverse changes: to increase mobility, stop overgrazing, and help nature to regenerate. Herders have a reliable and widely shared understanding of landscape changes that could help with this cooperation.