Desertification Reversion in Relation to Land Use Change and Climate in Naiman County, Inner-Mongolia, China

Analyses of desertified land and land use change in Naiman County of Inner-Mongolia showed that there was a fluctuated in-crease of rain-fed cropland in the period from 1951 to 1960, then decreased until the middle of the 1990＇s, then increased again, while irrigated cropland consistently increased. The woodland and build-up land consistently increased while grassland area de-creased. The area of water body increased from 1975 to 1995 and then decreased while river beach decreased. Wetland change fluctuated with a maximum of 303.53km2 in 1995 and a minimum of 62.08 km2 in 2002. Invasion of cropland into river beach does not only change land coverage on the beach, but also the hydrological process of the river systems and deeply influence wa-ter availability. The correlation between cropland and underground water table is negative and significant. Increase of irrigated cropland is the primary cause of water availability reduction. Water table reduction is negatively correlated to cropland. The total desertified land has decreased since 1975. A rapid increase occurred before 1959, but it is difficult to assess the change of deserti-fication due to lack of data from 1959 to 1975. Changes of different types of desertified lands were different. There is no signifi-cant correlation between land use and different types of desertified land, but there is a significant negative correlation between woodland and total desertified land. The correlation between grassland and total desertified land is positive and significant. There is a significant correlation between different land cover and key factors such as water body and annual precipitation, river beach and runoff, area of shifting dune and annual precipitation, and cropland and underground water table. Desertification reversion in Naiman County is fragile and will be even much more fragile due to population growth, rapid land use and climate change. This will lead to continued invasion of irrigated cropland into more fragile ecosystems and reduction of water availability.

Rocky Land Desertification and its Driving Forces in the Karst Areas of Rural Guangxi,Southwest China

With a subtropical climate,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has a typical karst landscape.Rocky desertification has become a serious environmental issue due to its high vulnerability caused by the joint effect of natural settings and human activities,because of which its eco-environment has been deteriorated in recent years,and farmland has been disappearing sharply at the same time.This,in turn,has exacerbated the poverty level in the rural areas of the region.In this study,we monitored the spatial distribution of rocky land desertification and its temporal evolution using Landsat TM/ETM images of 1985,1995,2000 and 2005.We also analyzed the driving forces of the desertification and its expansion.Through constructing regression models by using all the relevant variables and considering the lagged effects as well as fixed effects,we quantified the exact role of different factors causing rocky land desertification in the study area with some new findings.The new findings in this study are greatly helpful for preserving,restoring and reconstructing the degraded mountain environment in Guangxi and other karst areas in Southwest China,and also for alleviating poverty in the rural areas in the future.

Analysis and assessment of land desertification in Xinjiang based on RS and GIS

The land desertification in Xinjiang was monitored and analyzed based on RS and GIS techniques. Satellite data interpretation was adopted to obtain the general situation of Xinjiang’s land desertification in assistance with the sampling method and on-the-spot investigations. Related monitoring and investigations showed that Xinjiang was facing with severe wide range land desertification, and its desertified area made up 77.08% of the total monitoring area. As for land types, the desertified farmland accounted for 1.92% of the total monitoring area, desertified woodland 4%, desertified grassland 45%, and unused land 49%. Accordingly, as for desertification degrees, non-desertified land occupied 22.92%, weak desertified land 5.69%, medium-degree desertified land 16.58%, severe desertified land 33.19% and super severe desertified land 21.61%. Finally, as for inducing factors, wind-eroded desertification made up 58.23%, water-eroded desertification 8.69%, salinization desertification 6.52% and frozen-melt eroded desertification 3.64%. Xinjiang’s land desertification tended to get worse and the harnessing mission remained hard.

The impact of Dunhuang railway construction on land desertification

The area that the railway will cross is a region with the main physiognomies of desert and Gobi with a most fragile ecological environment. It is also a region that is highly susceptible to man-made disturbance. The construction of railway will intensify soil erosion along the railway line to a certain degree. The map of soil erosion conditions in the section from Liugou to Dunhuang City in the range of 10 km each side along the line was compiled by using the techniques of remote sensing and geographic information system （GIS）. Based on analysis of the status of desertification and the influence of the railway construction projects, the changes of the types, intensities and the total amount of the soil erosion caused by the construction were predicted.

A HISTORICAL EXAMINATION ON LAND DESERTIFICATION IN NORTH CHINA

Desertification control has been facing severe situations in the interlocking area between cultivated land and grazing land in North China since the Qing Dynasty because of unreasonable land utilization. The paper analyzes the policies of all the previous governments to open up land, and examines the historical and geographical background and process by means of historical records. We consider that causes of the area of land desertification to extend are increase of farming migrants, the change of life style of Mongol and weather and land conditions. In order to control the spread of land desertification, we suggest the level of the government to make policies should be improved, the number of farming migrants should be controlled, the Government′s general and specific polices should be actively publicized, and investment in agriculture should be increased.

Carbon and nitrogen mineralization in soils along a desertification gradient in the semiarid Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China

This experiment was conducted in three sites along a desertification gradient in Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China. Soils una-mended and amended with five types of plant residue in a wide range of C：N ratios from 9.9 to 82.2 were incubated for 70 days, during which C and N mineralization were measured. Along the desertification gradient from fixed sand dune to semifixed, and mobile sand dune： cumulative CO2-C produced from the unamended soils was 231.6, 193.3 and 61.9 μg/g, respectively, while net inorganic N was 22.9, 17.6 and 0.9 mg/kg. Soils amended with residues produced more CO2-C than the unamended soils across all sites. During the first 10 days, C mineralization rate of residue-amended soils decreased with the increase of C：N ratio at each site. However, the mineralization rates were poorly correlated with the C：N ratio in subsequent stage of incubation. Soils of mobile sand dune amended with higher C：N ratio （more than 32） residues produced less CO2-C than that of fixed and semifixed sand dune. NO3--N was the predominant form of inorganic N during the mineralization process in sandy soils. Carbon-to-nitrogen ratio （C：N） can be regarded as a predictor of the speed of N mineralization in sandy soil. The more C. microphylla residue with the lowest C：N ratio （9.9） added in soils, the more net inorganic N released. Our results suggest that C. microphylla residue when added to soil would potentially provide short-term plant available N and improve the soil quality in sandy land. The desertification process postponed the release of inorganic N from plant residues.

Study on dynamic changes of land desertification in the circum-lake zone of the Qinghai Lake in the past 30 years supported by Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System

The circum-lake zone of the Qinghai Lake is one of the most serious regions of desertification on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Based on Remote Sensing （RS） and Geographical Information System （GIS） techniques, the four sets of remote sensing images acquired in 1976, 1987, 1995, and 2006 were selected to conduct thematic information extraction in 14,300 km2 of land in the circum-lake zone using the Earth Resource Data Analysis System （ERDAS） image and information processing function. In the meantime the off-site interpretation and filed check-correction methods were used to recon- struct the temporal-spatial dynamic changes and differentiation patterns of land desertification in the circum-lake zone in the past 30 years, and based on this, the developmental trend of land desertification in the next 20 years was predicted. The results of the study show that in the past 30 years land desertification in the region experienced a continuous fluctuation between rapid- and slow-development processes in time, while in space it exhibited a few small patchy distributions or sporadic distributions in many places while at the same time, four large sand-dominated distributions stood out and evolved into a circum-lake belt differentiation pattern with a lakeside dike as the connecting line. Due to the integrated effects of climate changes, human activities and artificial rehabilitation, land desertification area in the region in the next 20 years will exhibit an increasing trend in the first 15 years and then increase at a slower rate, and afterward occur in a reverse, decreasing trend.

Remote sensing monitoring of the recent rapid increase in cultivation activities and its effects on desertification in the Mu Us Desert, China

The recent ecological improvement in the Mu Us Desert of China, largely attributed to large-scale afforestation projects, has created new opportunities for cultivation activities. However, the subsequent rapid increase in reclamation on desertification land and its impact on desertification have raised concerns. In this study, we first extracted data on cultivated land and desertification land in 1975,1990, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 through the human-computer interaction visual interpretation method. By overlaying the cultivated land dynamics and desertification land, we subsequently explored the effect of cultivation activities on desertification in the Mu Us Desert during the six periods from 1975 to 2020(1975–1990, 1990–2000, 2000–2005, 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020). The results showed that cultivated land in the Mu Us Desert showed a fluctuating and increasing trend from 3769.26 km~2 in 1975 to 4865.73 km~2 in 2020, with 2010 as the turning point for the recent rapid increase. The main contributors included the large and regular patches distributed in Yuyang District and Shenmu of Shaanxi Province, and relatively smaller patches concentrated in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The increased cultivated land from the reclamation on desertification land was dominated by moderate and severe desertification lands, and the decreased cultivated land that was transferred into desertification land as abandoned cultivated land was dominated by slight and moderate desertification lands. The effect of cultivation activities on desertification reversal(average area proportion of 10.61% for reversed desertification land) was greater than that of the development of desertification(average area proportion of 5.82% for developed desertification land). Nevertheless, compared to reversed desertification land,both the significant increase of developed desertification land during the periods of 2000–2005 and 2005–2010 and the insignificant decrease during the periods of 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020 implied a potential remobilization risk. Therefore, this study provides a significant theoretical reference for the formulation of ecological restoration projects and regional macroeconomic development policies by considering the influence of cultivation activities, to ensure the overall environmental stability and sustainability in desertification land where reclamation and abandonment activities have taken place.

Mechanism and regulation of land degradation in Yulin district

Yulin district is located in the transitional zone between Mu Us Desert and Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi Province, thus it is particularly vulnerable to degradation due to its fragile ecosystem and intense human activities there. The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism, process and driving force of land degradation in area with vulnerable eco-environment within the context of increasing population and intensifying human economic activities, and then find out the patterns and countermeasures of how to control them using the economic and technological ways. In detail, this study includes three main sections: the first section analyzes the mechanism, causes and characteristics of land degradation, which can be achieved by the typical field investigations and systematical analysis within the regional natural, social and economic context. Based on the technologies of remote sensing and GIS, and combined with the modeling methods, the second section reveals the change characteristics of land use and its driving force from 1990 to 2000; As to the third section, feasible countermeasures of how to prevent the degradation and rehabilitate the regional ecology are proposed, which are studied from the perspective of harmony between nature and economy, and the conception of regional sustainable development.

Identification and analysis of root causes of desertification in semi-arid region of China──a case study from Ejin Horo Banner, Inner Mongolia

A case study on the driving forces of desertification in the semi-arid region was carried out in the Ejin Horo Banner of Inner Mongolia. The occurrence and development of desertification were demonstrated and its driving factors were identified and analyzed. The results obtained indicated that over-reclamation of land overgrazing and denudation of natural vegetation cover were immediate and dominant factors causing land vulnerability to desertification. For a better understanding of the deep-rooted causes of the inappropriate land use and agricultural practices, the problems arising from various socioeconomic facets were comprehensively discussed.

The perception of desertification,its social impact and the adaptive strategies of ecological migrants in the desertification area,China

Based on social influence theory,the Risk-Coping-Social Appraisal model,and data on land desertification,its social influence,and the adaptive measures of 506 households surveyed in Ordos and Bayan Nur,Inner Mongolia,China,we used the Heckman two-stage model and a multinomial logistic model and found the following.First,the perception of land desertification was a prerequisite for eco-migrants to employ adaptive strategies but did not necessarily indicate the adoption of adaptive countermeasures.Second,the social influences eco-migrants experienced at their resettlement site had a significant effect on their ability to employ countermeasures to land desertification.Third,asset variables that reflected migrant's coping ability positively affected perceptions of land desertification and subsequent adaptive countermeasures.To mitigate the negative effects of climate change and land desertification,the local government should encourage migrants to accumulate assets and help migrants to integrate into their new community.This can be achieved by propagandizing information on climate change through a range of channels,diversifying publicity content,and guiding migrants to learn about new technologies and methods for reducing land desertification to minimize related economic losses.

Description of desertification evolution in Fuxin district of Liaoning province based on fractal theory

Desertification is the most serious environmental problem in the world today. Fractal feature of granularity composition was studied by using the fractal theory in view of desertification soil in Fuxin district, thereby evolution patterns of desertification was promulgated. The result shows that the self-formation degree of the developing desertification areas is higher than the relatively steady desertification areas. Evolution of desertification is beginning of forming sandy soil of framework composition, and then the sandy soil be came complex by the effect of environment, climate and anthropo-activity.

Analyses of environmental impacts of underground coal mining in an arid region using remote sensing and GIS

The influences of coal mining in an arid environment on vegetation coverage, land-use change, desertification, soil and water loss were discussed. A series of available TM/ETM＋ images with no cloud cover from July/August in different years （1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005） were used to analyze the change in various land environmental factors over time. The results show that while mining activity initially had a marked adverse impact on the environment, mine rehabilitation measures have also subsequently played a great role in improving vegetation cover and controlling land desertification and loss of water and soil. The effect of coal mining on vegetation cover is dependent upon the soil type and natural indigenous flora. Results of this investigation imply that mining activity has a greater effect on the vegetation of loess areas than at sandy sites. Although local vegetation coverage was improved by planting in the mining area, the total area of land affected by desertification still in- creased from 26.81% in 1990 when large-scale mine construction was introduced, to 46.79% in 1995. With continuous efforts at rehabilitation, the vegetation cover in the Shendong coal mining area was increasing, and loss of water and soil were effec- tively controlled since 1995. Subsequently, the total area of extreme desertification decreased to 23.24% in 2000 and further to 18.68% in 2005. The total area affected by severe loss of water and soil also decreased since the early 1990＇s （70.61% in 1990, 71.43% in 1995）, to 43.64% in 2000 and 34.93% in 2005, respectively.

Analysis on Green Development Strategy of Xinjiang Cotton

Through on-the-spot investigation and survey in Xinjiang cotton region and relevant data( containing statistical data,online information and government documents,etc.),the characteristics of water resource,wind-sand disaster,soil salinization,cotton diseases,insect pests and weeds in Xinjiang are studied. It is proposed reasons and specific programmes of green development strategy of Xinjiang cotton,and specific strategies contain ecological water supply,land desertification control,soil improvement,and ecological control of diseases,insect pests and weeds,thereby providing the support for sustainable development of Xinjiang cotton.

Assessment of Terrestrial Ecosystem Sensitivity and Vulnerability in Tibet

The Tibetan Plateau serves an important shelter function for the ecological security of Asia, and especially China. Here, we proposed and improved indicators and methods for assessing the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of the terrestrial alpine Plateau ecosystems and assessed the freeze-thaw erosion, land desertification, water-caused soil loss, and land salinization sensitivity, together with ecological vulnerability, from the overall ecological sensitivity, ecological pressure, and elasticity aspects in Tibet. The results indicate that the terrestrial ecosystem of Tibet is quite sensitive to freeze-thaw erosion, land desertification and water-caused soil loss. Extremely and highly sensitive regions account for 9.62% and 83.69%, respectively, of the total area of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Extremely and highly vulnerable areas account for 0.09% and 52.61%, respectively, primarily distributed in the Himalayan and Gangdise mountain regions in west Tibet; the Nyainqentanglha, Tanggula, Hoh Xil, and Kunlun mountain regions; and the northwest and northern regions of the Changtang Plateau. The results will aid the development of customized protection schedules according to different ecological issues in each region.

以色列严重退化旱地长期恢复对土壤和植被的影响

Land degradation affects extensive drylands around the world.Due to long-term misuse,the Israeli Sde Zin dryland site has faced severe degradation.The study objective was to assess the feasibility of passive restoration in recovering the site.The study was conducted in four land-units along a preservation-degradation continuum:(1)an area that has not faced anthropogenic disturbances(Ecological land);(2)an area that was proclaimed as a national park in the 1970s(Rehabilitation);(3)an area that was prone,until recently,to moderate anthropogenic pressures(Triangle);and(4)a dirt road that was subjected to long-term off-road traffic(Dirtroad).Soil was sampled and analyzed for its properties.The soil physical quality followed the trend of Ecological land>Rehabilitation>Triangle>Dirtroad.Specifically,high soil salinity in the latter three land-units is attributed to long-term erosional processes that exposed the underlying salic horizons.Herbaceous and shrubby vegetation cover was also monitored.The herbaceous vegetation cover followed the trend of Ecological land(86.4%)>Rehabilitation(40.3%)>Triangle(26.2%)>Dirtroad(2.1%),while the shrubby cover was 2.8%in the Ecological land-unit,and practically zero in the other land-units.It seems that despite the effectiveness of passive restoration in recovering the soil’s physical properties,the recovery of vegetation is limited by the severe soil salinity.