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Recent researches have primarily focused on the relationship between livelihood strategies and livelihood capital, with few empirical studies on the sensitivity of livelihood strategies to livestock production and marketization in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. This study used an income distribution approach to categorize livelihood strategies of the respondents (n ​= ​394) into three types, i.e., herder livelihood strategy (LS1), petty-herder livelihood strategy (LS2), and non-herder livelihood strategy (LS3). Using the multinomial logistic regression model, we compared livestock production and marketization across the three livelihood strategies. Our findings showed that (1) livestock production and marketization tended to favor LS1; (2) an increase in the land asset (contracted and rented grassland) and off-take rate increased the probability of households choosing LS1; (3) stocking rate was higher for LS1; and (4) the higher critical market-related risks perceived by herders were animal price and hay and corn price. Moreover, higher livestock price acted as a deterrent to diversifying into other livelihood strategies (LS2 and LS3). Finally, this study advocates for policies that will promote the land transfer market, adopt modern techniques in animal husbandry, improve the medium for disseminating market information to herders, and provide incentives for long-term livelihood transformation.

The genetic variation in Northern Asian populations is currently undersampled. To address this, we generated a new genetic variation reference panel by whole-genome sequencing of 175 ethnic Mongolians, representing six tribes. The cataloged variation in the panel shows strong population stratification among these tribes, which correlates with the diverse demographic histories in the region. Incorporating our results with the 1000 Genomes Project panel identifies derived alleles shared between Finns and Mongolians/Siberians, suggesting that substantial gene flow between northern Eurasian populations has occurred in the past. Furthermore, we highlight that North, East, and Southeast Asian populations are more aligned with each other than these groups are with South Asian and Oceanian populations.

Sensory neurons perceive itch and heat-induced pain through two different receptors.