Remote-sensing data reveals the response of soil erosion intensity to land use change in Loess Plateau, China

Developing an effective approach to rapidly assess the effects of restoration projects on soil erosion intensity and theirextensive spatial and temporal dynamics is important for regional ecosystem management and the development of soilconservation strategies in the future. This study applied a model that was developed at the pixel scale using water soilerosion indicators （land use, vegetation coverage and slope） to assess the soil erosion intensity in the Loess Plateau,China. Landsat TM/ETM＋ images in 2000, 2005 and 2010 were used to produce land use maps based on the object-oriented classification method. The MODIS product MOD13Q1 was adopted to derive the vegetation coveragemaps. The slope gradient maps were calculated based on data from the digital elevation model. The area of watersoil-eroded land was classified into six grades by integrating slope gradients, land use and vegetation coverage. Resultsshow that the Grain-To-Green Project in the Loess Plateau worked based on the land use changes from 2000 to 2010and enhanced vegetation restoration and ecological conservation. These projects effectively prevented soil erosion.During this period, lands with moderate, severe, more severe and extremely severe soil erosion intensities significantlydecreased and changed into less severe levels, respectively. Lands with slight and light soil erosion intensities increased.However, the total soil-eroded area in the Loess Plateau was reduced. The contributions of the seven provincesto the total soil-eroded area in the Loess Plateau and the composition of the soil erosion intensity level in eachprovince are different. Lands with severe, more severe and extremely severe soil erosion intensities are mainly distributedin Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. These areas, although relatively small, must be prioritised andpreferentially treated.

Evaluation of soil erosion from chestnut forests: A case study in the Yanshan Mountains, China

Soil erosion from chestnut forests has many types and intensities. However, less attention has been paid to the increasing soil erosion in the chestnut forests of Yanshan Mountains region, North China. The objective of this study was to discuss forest ages(<5, 5~<10, 10~<20, and 20~ yr), slopes(5°~<15°, 15°~<25°, 25°~<35°, and 35°~), slope positions(upslope, midslope, downslope, and whole slope), and slope aspects(sunny, half-sunny, shade, and half-shade) effects on soil erosion types and intensities in chestnut forests. A field survey was applied to investigate in detail the contiguous chestnut forests near Changfu village of Hebei Province, China on October 9-30, 2016. Results showed that chestnut forests are dominated by moderate erosion in this region, and the soil erosionfrom chestnut forests tended to deteriorate gradually. The average land degradation index was 0.31. The erosion intensity from chestnut forests will gradually increase with the year of planting. Most of the slopes are greater than 15°, accounting for 86.7% of the total chestnut forests. Most of the chestnut forests occupy the whole slope, accounting for 47.5% of the total area. Moderate erosion occurs most commonly for different slope aspects. In conclusion, improving the preparation efficiency of chestnut forests and enhancing the construction standards of soil and water conservation measures would be useful measures to avoid soil erosion from chestnut forests reaching a more severe level.

Aeolian Activities and Protective Effects of Artificial Plants in Re-vegetated Sandy Land of Qinghai Lake,China

Land desertification and aeolian activity are currently the greatest threats to alpine ecological environments and are also the primary challenges of desertification control and ecological restoration projects.Afforestation of sandy lands around the Qinghai Lake in China has effectively controlled the desertification of this watershed.However,certain issues remain which challenge its overall success,including lack of diverse biological species and poor theoretical understanding of aeolian processes,such as controlling wind-sand flow in relation to complex alpine ecological factors.Therefore,to help improving afforestation techniques,this research focused on Hippophae rhamnoides,Salix cheilophila,Pinus sylvestris,Populus simonii and Artemisia desertorum vegetation implanted in the mobile dunes on the eastern shore of Qinghai Lake.Aeolian transport characteristics and annual changes to community ecological factors from 2010–2016 were monitored in comparison with uncontrolled sand dunes.Based on simultaneous observations using gradient anemometers and sand samplers,it was found that the aeolian activities exhibited the following features:1)In re-vegetated lands,the logarithmic growth of wind speed was disrupted by the wind speed amplification in the middle and high layers and wind speed reduction in the low layers,while vegetation had significant wind-breaking(>37%)and sand-fixing(>85%)effects in 2016.2)Wind speeds in re-vegetated lands and mobile dunes showed a linear correlation,especially in lower layers of H.rhamnoides and S.cheilophila,while sand transport in re-vegetated land increased linearly or exponentially with increasing wind speed.3)The four artificial shrubs and forests had greater sand deposition with intensities of 280–860 t/(ha·yr),largely concentrated during winter and spring which accounted for 60%–85%of the annual cycle,while A.desertorum experienced significant root undercutting;and 4)Intensity of aeolian activity in re-vegetated lands,except for A.desertorum,was significantly negative with respect to plant growth structure,community cover,topsoil moisture,and regional precipitation.Overall,these five sand-binding species produced optimistic wind-sand protection effects for the alpine sandy lands,which relied on the plants’physical disturbance of wind-sand flow during the early stages of community development.In comparison,H.rhamnoides and S.cheilophila individually maintained stable wind-sand protection effects,while P.sylvestris and P.simonii were better in mixing with other shrubs and herbs to achieve a comprehensive ecological system for future control of aeolian activity.

Indication of paleoecological evidence on the evolution of alpine vegetation productivity and soil erosion in central China since the mid-Holocene

Although alpine ecosystems have been commonly recognized as sensitive to recent climate change,few studies have examined its impact on the long-term productivity of vegetation and soil erosion.Using paleoecological records,these two aspects were examined in the alpine zone of the Taibai Mountains(elevation,3767 m)in monsoon-dominated East Asia since the middle Holocene.Proxies for the productivity of vegetation and severity of soil erosion from high-resolution alpine lacustrine records show that the productivity and soil erosion were closely related to mean annual temperature and summer precipitation from the East Asian Summer Monsoon(EASM),respectively.Specifically,when the mean annual temperature was low and precipitation was abundant,during 5800–4000 calendar years before the present(cal.yr BP),the alpine ecosystem was characterized by low vegetation productivity and severe soil erosion.However,the productivity increased and soil erosion decreased from 4000 cal.yr BP onwards.These results highlight the role of paleoecological evidence in studying ecosystem services on longer time scales,which is significant in making policies for sustainable development under climate change in regions for which such long-term monitoring data are not available.