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One of China's newest large-scale 'ecological construction' projects, 'converting pastures to grasslands' (tuimu huancao), calls for the creation of three new types of zones on existing pastures: zones in which grazing is to be permanently banned, zones in which grazing is to cease for a period of several years, and zones in which pasture is to be seasonally closed. This project is likely to significantly alter the livelihoods of tens of thousands of pastoralists living in Western China. The paper discusses the policy context in which tuimu huancao emerged, analyzing both continuities with and disjunctures from previous ecological restoration and rangeland management policies, including 'Open up the West,' the Sloping Land Conversion Project, and the 'four that form a complete set' (si peitao). Differences suggest that tuimu huancao constitutes a deepening of state control over territory, and can be understood as an emergent form of green governmentality in China. The paper then discusses tuimu huancao implementation on the Tibetan plateau, specifically in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. Finally, directions for future research are outlined.

Mountain social‐ecological systems (MtSES) are vital to humanity, providing ecosystem services to over half the planet's human population. Despite their importance, there has been no global assessment of threats to MtSES, even as they face unprecedented challenges to their sustainability. With survey data from 57 MtSES sites worldwide, we test a conceptual model of the types and scales of stressors and ecosystem services in MtSES and explore their distinct configurations according to their primary economic orientation and land use. We find that MtSES worldwide are experiencing both gradual and abrupt climatic, economic, and governance changes, with policies made by outsiders as the most ubiquitous challenge. Mountains that support primarily subsistence‐oriented livelihoods, especially agropastoral systems, deliver abundant services but are also most at risk. Moreover, transitions from subsistence‐ to market‐oriented economies are often accompanied by increased physical connectedness, reduced diversity of cross‐scale ecosystem services, lowered importance of local knowledge, and shifting vulnerabilities to threats. Addressing the complex challenges facing MtSES and catalyzing transformations to MtSES sustainability will require cross‐scale partnerships among researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers to jointly identify desired futures and adaptation pathways, assess trade‐offs in prioritizing ecosystem services, and share best practices for sustainability. These transdisciplinary approaches will allow local stakeholders, researchers, and practitioners to jointly address MtSES knowledge gaps while simultaneously focusing on critical issues of poverty and food security.

Despite widespread acceptance of the idea of working across disciplines and methods in climate change research, the interpretive social sciences continue to be relatively neglected in interdisciplinary research endeavours. Much greater appreciation across epistemological differences is necessary for inclusive collaborative efforts, which in turn requires explicit discussion of what those differences are. Based on the author's participation in an interdisciplinary research project on climate change in Tibet, this article discusses three conceptual challenges: knowledge, system and ontology.

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Climate change and overgrazing are believed by policy makers to have been the drivers of grassland degradation in China over the past thirty years. However, recent work has suggested that policies that have led to privatization of use rights and household enclosures are more important drivers of degradation. An analysis of available evidence from scientifi c publications and national survey data relating to climate change, livestock numbers, and management policy was undertaken to evaluate the case for each of these possible drivers of degradation. The analysis suggests that, to date, policy measures imposed to avoid the 'tragedy of the commons' have been more important than either climate change or overgrazing as a driver of degradation. The resulting fragmentation of the pastoral landscape has caused localized grazing pressure and spatial and temporal mismatches between grassland production and livestock access to forage. Grazing rights negotiated and allocated at a multiplehousehold level would allow greater productivity, better rangeland condition, possible advantages of scale and pooling of herder resources, and better potential to adapt to future climate change.