%I Reimer Verlag Berlin %X On the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the ecological crisis appears in every physical and social aspect, and typically affects the rangelands on which most local people depend for their livelihood. Until today, however, changes in land use and vegetation cover on this Plateau have not yet been adequately and practically treated in studying the framework of sustainability. This thesis deals first with the basic ecological influences and interactions before reviewing their implications for development. The limitations of an ecological perspective is recognized, but this stems mainly from the misapplication of perspective and should not detract from its value. Ecology is undoubtedly the most basic and pervasive of the many determinants of the pastoral production systems of the high-frigid land. To ignore ecology or to fail to take it into account is to court disaster. The amount of literature reflects the importance of the subject but is not reviewed here in any detail; rather the aim is simply to set the scene for later discussions. %U http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/8006 %~ FID GEO-LEO e-docs