Identifying relationships between multi-scale social-ecological factors to explore ungulate health in a Western Kazakhstan rangeland

1. Rangelands are multi-use landscapes which are socially and ecologically important in different ways. Among other interactions, shared use of rangelands by wildlife and livestock can lead to disease transmission. Understanding wildlife and livestock health and managing disease transmission in rangelands requires an integration of social and ecological knowledge. 2. Using the example of Western Kazakhstan, home to two types of ungulate hosts, the critically-endangered saiga antelopes, Saiga tatarica, and livestock, we conducted a cross-scale analysis of social-economic, ecological and climatic factors that contribute to transmission of diseases. We focused on Gastro-intestinal Nematodes (GINs) because they are transmitted between hosts that share pasture and they affect ungulate fitness. We used an interdisciplinary social-ecological methods approach which included conducting fecal egg counts of GINs in saigas and livestock, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions wit...1. 牧场（rangeland）是多用途景观，在社会与生态层面均具有不同维度的重要价值。除各类互动关系外，野生动物与家畜共享牧场可引发疾病传播。深入掌握野生动物与家畜的健康状况，并管控牧场内的疾病传播，需要整合社会科学与生态学相关知识。 2. 本研究以哈萨克斯坦西部为研究案例——该区域栖息着两类有蹄类宿主：极危物种赛加羚羊（Saiga tatarica）与家畜——针对影响疾病传播的社会经济、生态及气候因素开展跨尺度分析。研究聚焦于胃肠道线虫（Gastro-intestinal Nematodes, GINs），这类线虫可通过共享牧场的宿主间传播，并会对有蹄类动物的生存适应性造成负面影响。本研究采用跨学科社会-生态研究方法，包括对赛加羚羊与家畜体内胃肠道线虫的粪便虫卵计数、半结构化访谈及焦点小组讨论wit...