The causes and processes responsible for rocky desertification in karst areas of southern China

The karst region of southern China is a fragile ecological zone with widespread rocky desertification. This paper describes the rocky desertification occurring in this region in terms of both natural and anthropogenic factors. During geological time periods, the region’s changing environment governed the natural rocky desertification processes, whereas during historical and modern times, anthropogenic processes have been superimposed on these natural processes. Human activities have accelerated and exacerbated rocky desertification. The period from the beginning to the middle of the Qing dynasty was an important transitional period in which human activities began to exert a particularly strong influence on rocky desertification. Since then, the effect of anthropogenic factors has increasingly exceeded the effect of natural factors. The rocky desertification process in southern China’s karst region combines surface ecological processes (including vegetation degradation and loss, soil erosion, surface water loss, and bedrock solution) with a reduction of the land’s biological productivity, leading to degradation that produces rocky desert. Controlling rocky desertification requires comprehensive development of sustainable agriculture and economic development that provides employment alternatives to agriculture and thereby promotes the rehabilitation of rocky desertified land.

Comparative Study on Phosphorus Contents of Soil in Karst Rocky Desertification Area during Eco-restoration Process in Guangxi Province

[Objective] The research aimed to study change law of phosphorus content of soil in karst rocky desertification region(KRD) during eco-restoration process such as Northwest Guangxi Province.[Method] The soil samples were collected from typical KRD in Pingguo County and Yizhou City.The determining quotas of different soil samples such as soil total phosphorus content and available phosphorus content were detected,in addition the soil total phosphorus content,available phosphorus content, urease activity, catalase activity and organic matter content in different soil samples were analyzed comparatively.[Result] Aspect,vegetation type and recovery time generated obviously influences on phosphorus contents in different soil samples.The concrete influence order was listed as follow: phosphorus content in soil of south slope was higher than that in soil of north slope;phosphorus content in soil where Zenia insignis Chun was planted was higher than that in soil of closed forest and that of soil where Dendrocalamus minor Var. amoen was planted,additionally,phosphorus increased with recovery time. Urease activity could be used as a monitoring index of soil fertility because it is related to the change of phosphorus content.[Conclusion] The soil of karst rocky desertification region in Northwest Guangxi Province could be recovered gradually if excessive human disturbance was stopped.If proper natural method of recovery promoted by human was taken,the recovery would reach a better result.

Dynamic Change and Simulation and Prediction of the Karst Rocky Desertification Sensitivity in Guizhou Province

Sensitivity evaluation of rocky desertification is to recognize the areas prone to be rock-deserted,so as to assess the sensitivity degree of rocky desertification to human activities.To perform the sensitivity evaluation of rocky desertification,we should be on the basis of the mechanism of rocky desertification formation for analyzing its regional distribution difference in the sensitivity and further for finding out the rocky desertification-susceptive areas and their possible degrees.Employing remote sensing and geological information system techniques,we regarded the 1∶ 50 000 topographic map and the TM image in 2000 of Guizhou Province,together with the hydrologic map,soil map,geologic map,rock formation map,administrative map and other geological information as data sources to generate the degree data of rocky desertification sensitivity of Guizhou Province in 1962 and 2000,based on which we determined the corresponding degree transfer matrix and adopted Markov model to simulate the dynamic change process of rocky desertification sensitivity and its future evolution trend.In various sensitivity types of rocky desertification in Guizhou Province,only the insensitive type showed a declined acreage,from the proportion of total land acreage of 61.35% in 1962 to 55.55% in 2000.Various sensitivity types inter-conversed,resultantly the acreage of mildly sensitive type increased most.The prediction results showed that the acreage of insensitive type of rocky desertification in Guizhou Province will assume a remarkable decline trend,of mildly sensitive type will present a remarkably increasing trend and of slightly sensitive type basically will maintain a stable level in the future tens of years.Acreages of both highly sensitive and extremely sensitive type of rocky desertification expanded to some extent,suggesting that the rocky desertification risk in Guizhou Province is in an aggravating process.

Physio-ecological adaptability and service function in karst rocky desertification control of Premna puberula

Increased soil erosion as a consequence of karst rocky desertification(KRD)reduces soil quality and plant diversity.Premna puberula Pamp.is a perennial understory shrub that can adapt to the harsh environment of KRD and has potential value for KRD environmental restoration.We measure morphological and photosynthetic characteristics,nutrient accumulation,and soil physical and chemical properties of two-year-old P.puberula planted in KRD habitat and non-rocky desertification areas,and investigate how it adapts to this habitat.In KRD areas,P.puberula reduces aboveground water loss by decreasing leaf area,stomatal conductance,and transpiration rate,while increasing leaf thickness,root length and number,and increases belowground biomass to absorb more water and nutrients.In KRD areas,drought leads to decreased leaf water content,stomatal conductance,intercellular CO_(2) concentration,and chlorophyll content,and decreased photosynthetic rate.Soluble sugar and protein contents increase in KRD areas in response to water stress,but pectin and flavonoid contents decrease.Correlation analysis reveals that leaf area and thickness are important functional traits that affect leaf water content and photosynthesis.Totals of leaf carbon,nitrogen,and phosphorus,along with C:N,C:P,and N:P ratios,are coupled with leaf photosynthetic characteristics and root development.Redundancy analysis reveals that available K and P,and total P,K,and N in soil mainly influence the differences in plant functional traits,explaining 95.8%,95.5%,91.1%,85.8%,and 74%of variation,respectively.We hypothesize that P.puberula reduces aboveground productivity to maintain its water balance,and acquires more water and nutrients by increasing belowground biomass.It indicates that this species adapts to arid KRD environments.

Impact of Vegetation Restoration on Soil Fungal Community Structure in Karst Rocky Desertification Areas

In this paper,managed forest(MF)and natural forest(NF)in the Huajiang Demonstration Zone of Guanling,Guizhou were selected as research objects,and cropland(CL)was taken as control.High-throughput sequencing technology was used to study the characteristics of fungal community composition and species diversity in the surface(0-10 cm)soil of each restoration measure,in order to reveal the dominant soil fungal groups and fungal community composition in karst rocky desertification areas,which was conducive to a more comprehensive understanding of the soil conditions of different vegetation restoration measures.Research has shown that vegetation restoration significantly affected the diversity of soil fungal community,with significant increases in Sob index,Ace index,and Chao index.The vegetation restoration has significantly changed the composition of fungal community.The dominant fungi in the CL topsoil are Sordariomycetes(62.28%),Dothideomycetes(12.34%),and Eurotiomycetes(9.12%);the dominant fungi in the MF soil are Sordariomycetes(45.05%),Dothideomycetes(14.74%),and Mortierellomycetes(10.40%);the dominant fungi in the NF soil are unclassified fungal community(26.38%),Sordariomycetes(19.78%),and Agaricomycetes(13.82%).Vegetation restoration has changed the key fungal groups in the soil.Sordariomycetes,Fusarium,and Setophoma are the key dominant fungal groups in CL soil;Dioszegia is key dominant fungal group in MF soil;c_unclassified_k_Fungi,p_unclassified_k_Fungi,o_unclassified_k_Fungi,f_unclassified_k_Fungi,g_unclassified_k_Fungi,Teichospora,and Diaporthe are key dominant fungal groups in NF soil.

The Evolution of a Karst Rocky Desertification Land Ecosystem and Its Driving Forces in the Houzhaihe Area, China

Understanding the evolution of karst rocky desertification (KRD) quantitatively is essential to obtain objective knowledge about the concept of KRD and the form reason of KRD, and is useful to restore KRD land. Houzhaihe area located in central plateau in Guizhou Province was studied here as a representative assemblage landform and its KRD’ s evolution and driving factors were studied, based mainly on high-resolution remote sensing image in 1963, 1978, 2005 and 2010. The KRD land comprises light KRD, moderate KRD and severe KRD. The results demonstrated that the evolution process of KRD can be divided into four modes such as unchanged, weakened, fluctuated and aggravated in the study area. The KRD with no changes from 1963 to 2010, namely, unchanged mode, accounted for 43.76% of the total area of the KRD in 2010;it distributed in the area with the slope of 15&#176 - 25&#176 and >25&#176 basically. Furthermore, the severe KRD distributed mainly in the areas within 300 - 600 m distance from settlement;when the distance away from the rural settlements was more than 900 m, the severe KRD declined, and its proportion was 28.6% and 10.6% in 1963 and 2010 respectively. In the peak-cluster depressions, located in central study area, the slope cropland with slope of 15&#176 - 25&#176 was still abounding, and was seriously rocky desertification generally. So, we propose that the existence of a large number of slope croplands is still the major driving factor of land rocky desertification. Therefore, for the rocky desertification control, the authors consider that the focal point is to alter the land use of steep-slope cropland at present.

Remote Sensing Image Classification Based on Decision Tree in the Karst Rocky Desertification Areas: A Case Study of Kaizuo Township

Karst rocky desertification is a phenomenon of land degradation as a result of affection by the interaction of natural and human factors.In the past,in the rocky desertification areas,supervised classification and unsupervised classification are often used to classify the remote sensing image.But they only use pixel brightness characteristics to classify it.So the classification accuracy is low and can not meet the needs of practical application.Decision tree classification is a new technology for remote sensing image classification.In this study,we select the rocky desertification areas Kaizuo Township as a case study,use the ASTER image data,DEM and lithology data,by extracting the normalized difference vegetation index,ratio vegetation index,terrain slope and other data to establish classification rules to build decision trees.In the ENVI software support,we access the classification images.By calculating the classification accuracy and kappa coefficient,we find that better classification results can be obtained,desertification information can be extracted automatically and if more remote sensing image bands used,higher resolution DEM employed and less errors data reduced during processing,classification accuracy can be improve further.

On the Ecological Restoration Modes of Rocky Desertification in Chongqing Zhongliang Mountainous Area

In the Haishi Park Demonstration Base of Zhongliang Mountain in Chongqing, ecological restoration modes were established based on growth status of local plants and other natural environmental conditions, including forestry ecology, tourism ecology, agricultural ecology as well as the combined mode of various ecological types.

Mine rocky desertification： Another type of rocky desertification coexisting with Karst rocky desertification in Karst region

Mine rocky desertification is another type of rocky desertification which coexists with Karst rocky desertification, suggested firstly by professor SONG Jian-bo, Guizhou University. Mine rocky desertification is a process and result that the earth＇s surface is similar to desert landscapes after rock is exposed gradually, owing to mine wastes discharged at will which consist of waste residue, waste liquid and waste gas. On the basis of introducing Karst rocky desertification simply, we clarify the concept of Mine rocky desertification systemically, analyze its danger and compare the differences between Mine rocky desertification and Karst rocky desertification. Finally, we make preliminary discussion on the study significance of comprehensive treatment of Mine rocky desertification

Research of Ecological Restoration of Mycorrhizal Mulberry in Karst Rocky Desertification Area

Mycorrhizal mulberry is a plant, whose mulberry root and Arbuscular Myc-orrhizal fungi came into being a symbiotic relationship by a mean of natural or artifi-cial inoculation. Mycorrhizal mulberry coupling with main ecological barriers, such as barren soil drought in rocky desertification area, wil be beneficial to recovering the karst degraded ecosystem by removing these stresses. So, mycorrhizal mulberry is considered a new effective way in ecological control of karst rocky desertification. The research summarized the structures and the characteristic eco-physiological functions of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi （AMF）, and preliminarily discussed its availability and research in karst rocky desertification restoration ,including investiga-tion of AMF diversity, the key affecting factor of AMF species diversity, the sym-biosis mechanism between AMF and mulberry, promoting the development of agri-cultural economy in Karst Rocky Desertification area by mycorrhizal mulberry. These elaborate efforts are to demonstrate mycorrhizal mulberry adapting to karst environ-ment from a new view, lay a theoretical basis for karst degraded-ecosystem restoration, and final y guarantee sustainable development of mycorrhizal mulberry in rocky desertification area.

Human Driving Forces:Analysis of Rocky Desertification in Karst Region in Guanling County,Guizhou Province

Karst rocky desertification is one of the major ecological and environmental problems that threaten the sustainable development of southwestern China. It is caused by irrational and intensive land-use patterns in karst geo-ecological environment. Therefore, it is vital to identify how human forces work on this degraded environment. Based on the soil erosion information in 2000 and remote sensing images of Guanling County collected in 2000 and 2007, four grades of karst rocky desertification data in 14 villages of Guanling County were extracted. Impacts of population, affluence, and other human forces on karst rocky desertification were analyzed using STIRPAT model. The results show that:1) Factors of population and affluence had strong influence on karst rocky desertification. In the STIRPAT model analysis, the population and affluence coefficients were positive, indicating that the increase in population and affluence would lead to more serious desertification. 2) Factors of farmer correlated with karst rocky desertification negatively, especially the way of viewing the relationship between people and nature, and the level of knowledge about rocky desertification. Government behavior was not a significant factor in this analysis. 3) The findings provide evidence that STIRPAT model can be used to analyze the relationship between human driving forces and rocky desertification.

Effects of rainfall and rocky desertification on soil erosion in karst area of Southwest China

Monitoring and evaluating the evolution of rocky desertification timely and studying the characteristics of soil erosion under different rainfall patterns are of great scientific significance for regional soil and water conservation,rocky desertification control and ecological environment construction.Four periods of remote sensing image data from 2005 to 2020 were selected to study the evolution characteristics of rocky desertification and its impact on soil erosion in the controlled boundary area of Shibantang hydrological station of Yeji River Watershed,Guizhou Province,China.According to the 408 erosive rainfall events,the soil erosion under different rainfall patterns in the watershed was analyzed.The results showed that:erosive rainfall events in the study area were mainly pattern A,accounting for 57.4%of the total rainfall events;the second was pattern B,accounting for 28.9%of the total rainfall events;the rainfall pattern of C occurred occasionally.Among them,pattern A was the main rainfall pattern leading to soil and water loss and had the largest contribution rate to soil erosion in the watershed.From 2005 to 2020,the area of rocky desertification showed a decreasing trend,accounting for 72.2%from 87.9%.Spatially,rocky desertification has mainly concentrated in the middle south of the watershed since 2010,while the rocky desertification mainly concentrated in the middle and north before 2010.The effects of different grades of rocky desertification on soil erosion were different,and the soil erosion modulus in areas with the medium,severe and extremely severe rocky desertification was generally small.The soil erosion modulus estimated by the RUSLE(Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation)model was still much higher than that calculated by the data measured by the hydrological monitoring station.Therefore,the application of the RUSLE model in karst area needs to be further modified.These results can provide reference for rocky desertification control,soil erosion control and fragile ecosystem restoration in karst area.

Characteristics of Changes in Karst Rocky Desertification in Southtern and Western China and Driving Mechanisms

The karst landform is a typical ecologically vulnerable region,and the problem of karst rocky desertification in southtern and western China has led to impoverishment and a degraded local ecological environment,which severely limits local socioeconomic development.An effective and appropriate control of karst rocky desertification in southtern and western China requires knowledge about its characteristics of variation and driving mechanisms.In this study,we chose eight regions in the southtern and western China as research areas and analysed the characteristics of the changes in karst ecosystem patterns and rocky desertification from 2000 to 2015.Based on these characteristics,we present the mechanisms that drive karst rocky desertification in the southtern and western China by utilizing the redundancy analysis(RDA)ordination method.The results show that the total area of rocky desertification in southtern and western China had been continuously decreasing from 2000 to 2015,revealing a positive development trend in rocky desertification.Rocky desertification variations were mainly affected by human activities.The reduction in farmland area improved farmland management and increased regional gross industrial product,which together with continuously rising gross domestic product of the tertiary industry caused a positive rocky desertification development.However,the local karst tourism has a certain effect on inducing slight rocky desertification.

DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF DYNAMIC MONITORING AND VISUALIZATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM OF KARST LAND ROCKY DESERTIFICATION

In order to study the spatial-temporal change and environmental management of regional karst LUCC (land use and land cover change) and its causative environmental effect-rocky desertification by integrating qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis, and relying on RS, GIS and GPS (3S) techniques, karst land rocky derification dynamic monitoring and visualization management information system (KLRD.DMVM.IS) is framed, which includes design aim and structure model, function design, database design and model system design. The model system design gives priority to dynamic monitoring, drive force diagnosis, comprehensive evaluation and decision support of karst rocky desertification. From the viewpoint of model type, mathematic expression and its meaning, the dynamic monitoring models are concretely devised to reflect the spatial and temporal changing features and the trend of karst LUCC and rocky desertification. Taking Du'an Yao Autonomic County of Guangxi as an example, the KLRD.DMVM.IS is systematically analyzed in the application of the process and trend of karst LUCC and rocky desertification in Du'an County, and it provides the technical support for the study on karst land rocky desertification.

Monitoring of Karst Rocky Desertification Control Projects Based on Remote Sensing Images with Medium and High Spatial Resolution——A Case Study of Disi River Basin in Puan County

[ Objective] The study aimed to improve methods of monitoring Karst Rocky Desertification （KRD） control projects and increase the working efficiency. [Method] Based on remote sensing images with medium and high spatial resolution, KRD control projects in Disi River basin in Puan County were monitored, that is, information of the project construction in the study area was extracted using supervised classification and hu- man-computer interactive interpretation, and the monitoring results were testified with the aid of GPS. [Result] It was feasible to monitor KRD con- trol projects in Disi River basin based on remote sensing images with medium and high resolution, and the monitoring accuracy was satisfactory, reaching above 80% or 90%, so the method is worthy of popularizing. [ Conclusion] Remote sensing images with medium and high resolution can be used to monitor other KRD control Droiects.

Study on Depression Development Measures of Karst Rocky Desertification Area in Guizhou Province of China

In view of the current situation and environmental fragility of karst depression in Guizhou,the study proposed measures to utilize and explore it so as to promote economic development of Guizhou depression.

Ecological Restoration Technology and Benefit Assessment of Karst Rocky Desertification Mountains in Xixiu District of Anshun City

Ecological restoration refers to the containment of soil erosion,restoration of water conservation,climate regulation,maintenance of ecological functions of biodiversity,and improvement of ecological environment and landscape pattern based on self-repairing capacity of the nature and combined with appropriate artificial measures. Since the natural restoration process of karst desertification mountain is very long,it needs to be supplemented by artificial vegetation restoration. This paper introduced the ecological restoration technologies implemented in karst rocky desertification mountains in Xixiu District,Anshun City of Guizhou Province,and also introduced the afforestation tending management measures. It assessed the ecological benefits of the ecological restoration project from five aspects: mountain community characteristics,vegetation coverage,species diversity,afforestation survival rate and landscape effect.

DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN OF A DISASTER INFORMATION SYSTEM ON REGIONAL KARST ROCKY DESERTIFICATION

Based on a systematic analysis about the design principles, systematic objectives, clients’ demands and functional modules of the regional karst desertification disaster information system, a systematic application plan was proposed in this paper that the mainstream technologies like COMGIS, etc. can be used for secondary development, and Du’an Yao Autonomous County of Guangxi was taken as an example to illustrate the application of geographical information system in development of karst desertification disaster information system, and to provide a feasible plan for realization of accessory decision information aiming for sustainable development of karst desertification area.

Technical Specification for Application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle( UAV) Monitoring of Rocky Desertification in Karst Area

Taking the opportunity of the third monitoring of rocky desertification in the karst area of China,Zigui County of Hubei Province applied Unmanned Aerial Vehicle( UAV) for the first time for monitoring. Through repeated trials and studies,it established technical requirements including the UAV monitoring technology for the rocky desertification,the feature point photographing,UAV video judgment of rocky desertification degree,UAV video correction misclassification subcompartment,and UAV video observation of rocky desertification control. It completed the third rocky desertification monitoring task of karst area in Zigui County.