BACKGROUND Traditional habitat knowledge, like the classification of folk habitats and how people partition their landscape into habitats, is an emerging but still understudied part of traditional ecological knowledge. Our objectives were to reconstruct the folk habitats and the partitioning of the landscape into these folk habitats by Mongolian herders in Northern Mongolia and to compare it with other Northern Hemisphere boreal-temperate classifications. METHODS The study area is located in Seruun Gilad (Khuvsugul province) and belongs to the mountain forest steppe of the Khangai region (dominated by meadow steppes and larch forests). Most herder families use the area for summer pasturing. Data collection was based on indoor and outdoor, structured and semi-structured interviews and interviews during landscape walks and participatory fieldwork. We interviewed 20 people using 76+ photos of plant species and 25+ photos of habitats and asked them to name and describe the habitats and describe the habitat preferences of the species. RESULTS Mongolian herders distinguished at least 88 folk habitat categories and knew well the habitat preferences of the 76 plant species. They argued that a herder has to be observant of nature. The habitat classification was moderately lexicalized, with many descriptive expressions. Most habitats (77%) belonged to the meso-scale, while macro-scale habitats (like taiga, Gobi) and micro-scale habitats (like marmot burrow, top of the tussock) were few. Habitat names did not reflect directly the usefulness of the habitat. Classification was multidimensional; key dimensions were geomorphological and edaphic. There were some species (e.g., botyuul, hyag, shireg) and species groups (hot plants, leafy plants) that were often used to describe habitat types. CONCLUSIONS Landscape partitionings in the Northern Hemisphere differed considerably in the importance of various dimensions used, with edaphic, geomorphological, hydrological, and dominant species-based dimensions having higher importance, while land use, successional, and zoological dimensions having lower importance. We argue that conducting research on folk habitats will contribute to a deeper understanding of how nature is perceived by locals and to a more efficient management of the Mongolian pastures.

中文翻译：

---

“牧民的职责是思考”：在山区森林草原（Khuvsugul-Murun地区）中蒙古牧民的景观划分和民间栖息地。

背景技术传统的栖息地知识，如民间栖息地的分类以及人们如何将其景观划分为栖息地，是传统生态知识的新兴但仍未被研究的部分。我们的目标是重建蒙古北部牧民的民间栖息地，并将景观划分为这些民间栖息地，并将其与北半球其他寒带-温带分类进行比较。方法该研究区位于库鲁苏格勒州的Seruun Gilad，属于Khangai地区的高山森林草原（以草甸草原和落叶松林为主）。大多数牧民家庭将该地区用于夏季放牧。数据收集基于室内和室外，结构化和半结构化访谈以及景观漫步和参与性野外工作期间的访谈。我们使用76种以上的植物物种照片和25种以上的栖息地照片采访了20个人，并要求他们命名和描述栖息地以及描述该物种的栖息地偏好。结果蒙古牧民至少区分了88种民间生境类别，并且充分了解76种植物的生境偏好。他们认为牧民必须遵守自然。生境分类被适度词汇化，具有许多描述性表达。大多数生境（77％）属于中尺度，而宏观生境（如塔加羚羊，戈壁）和微观生境（如土拨鼠洞穴，草丛顶部）则很少。人居地名称并不能直接反映出栖息地的有用性。分类是多维的；关键尺寸是地貌和前缘。有一些物种（例如botyuul，hyag，shireg）和物种组（热植物，叶植物），通常用于描述栖息地类型。结论北半球的景观分区在使用的各个维度的重要性上存在很大差异，其中以水生，地貌，水文和优势物种为基础的维度具有更高的重要性，而土地利用，演替和生态学的维度则具有较低的重要性。我们认为，对民间栖息地进行研究将有助于加深对当地人如何看待自然的了解，并有助于对蒙古牧场进行更有效的管理。基于地貌，水文和优势物种的维度具有较高的重要性，而土地使用，演替和生态方面的维度具有较低的重要性。我们认为，对民间栖息地进行研究将有助于加深对当地人如何看待自然的了解，并有助于对蒙古牧场进行更有效的管理。基于地貌，水文和优势物种的尺度具有较高的重要性，而土地利用，演替和生态学尺度具有较低的重要性。我们认为，对民间栖息地进行研究将有助于加深对当地人如何看待自然的了解，并有助于对蒙古牧场进行更有效的管理。