Evaluation system of determining optimal stocking rates of Tianshan mountain steppeA case study in Xinyuan County,Xinjiang

Based on typical grazing patterns and stocking rate per unit area, five grazing degrees with the extreme, heavy, moderate, light and zero grazing were used to determine the optimal stocking rate of the mountain steppe in the Xinyuan County, and the grazing intensity for he extreme, heavy, moderate, light and zero grazing treatments were 0.51, 0.43, 0.32, 0.26 and 0 sheep unit/hm2 respectively. The Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of different grazing degrees by using vegetation index, soil index, nutritional and economic vegetation index. The results of this study showed that the moderate grazing degree with 0.32 sheep unit/hm2 stocking rate was optimal approach to mountain steppe in the view of steppe ecosystem health and animal husbandry development.