not only the leafy greens of the plant, but also the roots, draining the ecosystem of energy and eventually allowing it to succumb to desertification and erosion. The creation of dirt roads also impacts desertification. It is estimated that there are four times more vehicle tracks than are necessary to ensure access across the nation “causing degradation and denudation of 0.7 million ha of land” (Batjarga 1998, pg. 111). Roads and dirt tracks are problematic mainly because as more dirt and top soil are exposed, there is greater risk of being subjected to erosion by water and wind, which in turn can lead to forms of both water and air pollution from dust and other particulate matter. Deforestation carries the same risks for desertification as the creation of vehicle tracks in terms of soil erosion. Land is changing and not without consequences. Bayan-Ulgii is seeing the same sorts of alterations that the rest of Mongolia is, and there is a worry it might be impacting eagle falconry (Soma and Sukhee 2014).
Figure 1. Bayan-Ulgii. The areas of focus in this research were Altai, Ulgii, and Altansugts and are highlighted with red stars.
1.1 Climate and Land Change in Bayan-Ulgii with Focus on Kazakh Falconry
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