Session III : Nutrition and Feeds Vegetation composition, species performance and its relationship among the livestock and wildlife in the grassland of upper Mustang, Nepal Madhu Chetri and Chhimi Rinzin Gurung King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation/Upper Mustang Biodiversity Conservation Project, KMTNC/ACAP/UMBCP, Hariyo Kharka, Pokhara, PO Box No. 183, Nepal Summary A study on the rangeland of Panga and Dhalung pasture in Upper Mustang was made during June 2003 to April 2004. Data from three controlled plots and three open plots were compared in the Panga Pasture. In the Dhalung pasture data was collected from 23 plots laid in a 3.99 km transect during September 2003 and April 2004. Vegetation cover, dominant plant species, height of the individual plant species, phenology and palatable species was recorded. In the controlled plots during September there is slightly increase in the coverage whereas in other months it is more or less similar. No significance difference in the ground cover was found between the controlled and open plots in any months as revealed by a Chi square test. Similarly the analysis of variance reveals no significance difference between growths of the Kobressia spp. and Potentilla plurijuga species in between the control and open plots. A significance difference was found in the growth of the species between the months, but no significance difference was detected in combined analysis of plot types, months and species. It was found that monitoring of the cover and the height of the vegetation does not give a clear picture in the increase of the forage availability. For overall growth of the species other parameters should also be measured. In the Dhalung pasture, the average ground coverage during September is 59% where as in April it was only 47%. More than 90% of the plots have high distribution of the palatable species in both the months. The percentage of non palatable species is comparatively low which indicates that grazing is not only a single factor affecting the grassland in Upper Mustang. A more detailed vegetation mapping and long tem monitoring of the pasture is in urgent for formulating future strategy for the management of rangelands in Upper Mustang. Keywords: Vegetation composition, palatable species, dominant plant species, phenology, livestock grazing pressure, Tibetan gazelle, Kiang, conservation Introduction Upper Mustang is located in between N 28ß47'39" to 29ß19'54" and E 83ß28'55" to 84ß15'16", north from the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri massiff. Mustang is flanked by the districts of Manang to the east and Dolpa to the west; the Tibetan frontier stretches north from Mustang. The region represents the unique example of high altitude environment similar to that of Tibetan Pleteau. In comparison to other parts of Nepal, the population of Upper Mustang is very low and basically depends on animal husbandry to survive. The livestock population is double the carrying capacity of the rangeland (Rajbhandari and Shah, 1981). In this region, rangelands cover about 98 % of total land use, comprising 48 % natural vegetation (LRMP, 1986). Most of the areas are barren and consists of deserted landscapes. The varied topography, altitudes, and climate give rise to great diversity in rangeland types. These rangelands are the habitat of a wealth of high altitude plant species unique for the region. Plant species such as Caragana spp., Lonicera spp., Astragalus spp., Stipa spp., Carex spp., Kobresia pygmea, Kobresia felicina, Lagotis spp., The research was co-financed by the Austria Development Agency (ADA) and the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). E-mail: mchetri@kmtnc-acap.org.np; mchetri@yahoo.com .