Li Yonggeng is a botanist who works for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2001, he visited the Hunshandake Sandy Land in Inner Mongolia. This area is only 180 kilometers from Beijing. He saw a dry, empty landscape with moving sand. Strong winds there blow more than 60 days each year. The grassland was dying because of overgrazingovergrazing/ˌoʊvərˈɡreɪzɪŋ/L2过度放牧，指牲畜吃草太多，导致草地无法恢复When animals eat too much grass in one area, damaging the land so plants cannot grow back.
Li and his team tried many ways to restorerestore/rɪˈstɔːr/L2恢复；使（土地、生态等）回到原来的健康状态To bring something back to its original good condition the grassland. Removing livestock worked at first, but after seven years the grass became short again. They discovered that cattle manure was not breaking down. The dung beetles that normally decomposedecompose/ˌdiːkəmˈpoʊz/L2分解；腐烂，变成更简单的物质To break down into smaller parts, usually by natural processes like rotting the waste had died. The cause was medicine given to non-native cattle. This medicine killed the beetles.
In 2009, Li brought 50,000 chickens to the grassland. He hoped they would fertilizefertilize/ˈfɜːrtəlaɪz/L2施肥；使土壤更肥沃，帮助植物生长To add substances to soil that help plants grow better the soil and control pests. However, the chickens caused more damage. Large flocks destroyed the vegetation and many birds died from predators or panic. One herder told him, "Dr. Li, please find a way to restore my rangeland." Li changed his method and used small mobile coops with only 600 birds each. The new system worked well.
Today, the grassland is recovering. Forage yields are more than three times higher than before. Local herders now raise chickens and sell eggs online. They call the method a "mini ATM." Li wants to share this model across the Eurasian Steppe. He hopes it will help fight desertificationdesertification/dɪˌzɜːrtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/L2荒漠化；肥沃土地变成沙漠的过程The process by which fertile land becomes dry and desert-like around the world.
