LAUSR

Abstract Over the past 100 years, the social system, agricultural production modes, lifestyles, and ecological conditions in Kazakhstan have changed dramatically. Understanding how social institution changes altered the land use patterns and the ecosystem processes in Kazakhstan can provide important knowledge for the sustainable ecological management of semi-arid regions. By summarizing the documented research on major social institution reforms, this study investigated land use changes in response to social system changes and analyzed the impacts of agricultural and animal husbandry development on ecological degradation. Three important characteristics of social-ecological system changes were found in this study. First, population migration, land policy changes, and social system reform were the major driving factors of ecological degradation, especially within the periods of Russian emigration in the early 20th century, the Virgin Lands Campaign, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Second, changes in land use patterns caused by changes in social systems have led to a series of ecological degradation, especially the policy of collective management and regional intensive grazing. Land experiencing reclamation-abandonment-reclamation turbulence developed in a vicious cycle and eventually became a high-risk area of ecological degradation. Third, Kazakhstan experienced a long-term cultivated land expansion, occupying high-quality grassland and pastoral areas, which moved animal husbandry production to desert vegetation areas. The agro-pastoral transition zone in Kazakhstan was the mostly affected area by land use changes due to the social institutional changes and special attention is urgently needed to reduce land degradation and desertification.