Depended on the analysis of ground snow situation, soil moisture loss speed and soil structure after planting crops of Mu Us Sandy Land remedied with feldspathic sandstone in the fallow period, it is concluded that fe...Depended on the analysis of ground snow situation, soil moisture loss speed and soil structure after planting crops of Mu Us Sandy Land remedied with feldspathic sandstone in the fallow period, it is concluded that feldspathic sandstone mixed with sand improved the sand stabilization in the governance of Mu Us Sandy Land in the fallow period. The sandy land remedied with feldspathic sandstone had big snow coverage, 25%-75% higher than normal sand; soil moisture losses slowed down, and moisture content rose by over 3 times; soil structure had been improved, and water stable aggregate content increased by 6.52%-18.04%; survival rate of protection forest increased to 85%; and ground flatness is less than 1%. The above conditions weakened sand rising conditions of Mu Us Sandy Land in the fallow period and formed two protective layers of snow cover and soil frozen layer under cold weather so as to prevent against wind erosion.展开更多
To better understand the key role of biological soil crusts(BSCs) in redistribution processes of limited water resources in semi-arid sandy ecosystems,surface runoff over BSCs in a sandy area in the southern Mu Us san...To better understand the key role of biological soil crusts(BSCs) in redistribution processes of limited water resources in semi-arid sandy ecosystems,surface runoff over BSCs in a sandy area in the southern Mu Us sandy area was observed in this study.The results indicated that runoff occurred twice among six rainfall events during the experimental period.Runoff yields varied among types of BSCs,and that they increased in the following order:light algae crusts,dark algae crusts and moss crusts.These findings showed that runoff yields were increasing with the development of BSCs.The percentage of runoff in individual rainfall events increased from light algae crusts to moss crusts,which indicated that the redistribution ratios of different types of BSCs differed.Surface runoff of BSCs may be influenced by rainfall,rain intensity,degree of water saturation of the BSCs before the rain and degree of development of BSCs.Formation of BSCs on the surface of sand dunes changed the spatial distribution pattern of water in this semi-arid sandy ecosystem,which increased the heterogeneity of resources such as water and nutrients.Therefore,making appropriate disturbances of BSCs during storm season is beneficial to maintaining the balance of natural resources in the semi-arid sandy ecosystem.展开更多
Artemisia ordosica is an excellent sand-fixing shrub for sand stabilization in northwestern China. Sand dune stabilization, a critically important process, leads changes in abiotic factors, such as soil structure and ...Artemisia ordosica is an excellent sand-fixing shrub for sand stabilization in northwestern China. Sand dune stabilization, a critically important process, leads changes in abiotic factors, such as soil structure and nutrient contents. However, the effects of factors on an A. ordosica community following sand stabilization remain unclear. In this study, we used canonical correspondence analysis （CCA） to examine the relationships between A. ordosica communities and environmental factors at three habitats： semi-fixed dune （SF）, fixed dune with low-cov- erage biological soil crust （F）, and fixed dune with high- coverage biological soil crust （FC） in Mu Us desert. The mean height and coverage of plants increased with sand stabilization, while species diversity and richness increased initially and then reduced significantly. Correlation analysis and CCA revealed that slope, soil organic carbon, and nutrient contents, proportion of fine soil particles, soil moisture, and thickness of biological soil crust were all highly correlated with vegetation characteristics. These environmental factors could explain 40.42 % of the vege- tation-environment relationships at the three habitats. The distribution of plant species was positively related to soil moisture in the SF dune. Soil moisture, soil nutrient, and fine-particle contents mainly affected plants distribution in the F dune. In the FC dune, distribution of plant species was positively and negatively correlated with the thickness of biological soil crust and soil moisture at a depth 0-20 cm, respectively. The dominance value of typical steppe species increased significantly following sand-dune stabilization and relations between species and samples in CCA ordination bi-plots showed that perennial grasses could invade the A. ordosica community on FC, indicating A. ordosica communities had a tendency to change into typical steppe vegetation with the further fixation. We conclude that the significant differentiation not only occurred in community characteristics, but also in the relationships between vegetation and environmental factors among the three stages of dune fixation. So, restoration of degraded dune ecosystems should be based on habitat conditions and ecological needs.展开更多
The variation of the Asian winter monsoonal strength has seriously affected the climate and environmental conditions in the Asian monsoonal region, and even in marginal islands and the ocean in the East Asian region. ...The variation of the Asian winter monsoonal strength has seriously affected the climate and environmental conditions in the Asian monsoonal region, and even in marginal islands and the ocean in the East Asian region. However, relevant under-standing remains unclear due to the lack of suitable geological materials and effective proxies in the key study areas. Here, we present a grain-size record derived from the palaeo-aeolian sand dune in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, together with other proxies and OSL dating, which reflect a relatively detailed history of the winter monsoon and abrupt environmental events during the past 4.2 ka. Our grain-size standard deviation model indicated that 〉224 μm content can be considered as an indicator of the intensity of Asian winter monsoon, and it shows declined around 4.2–2.1 ka, enhanced but unstable in 2.1–0.9 ka, and obviously stronger since then. In addition, several typical climate events were also documented, forced by the periodic variation of winter monsoonal intensity. These include the cold intervals of 4.2, 2.8, 1.4 ka, and the Little Ice Age （LIA）, and relatively warm sub-phases around 3.0, 2.1, 1.8 ka, and the Medieval Warm Period （MWP）, which were roughly accordant with the records of the aeolian materials, peat, stalagmites, ice cores, and sea sediments in various latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Combined with the previous progresses of the Asian summer monsoon, we prelimi-narily confirmed a millennial-scale anti-correlation of Asian winter and summer monsoons in the Late Holocene epoch. This study suggests that the evolution of the palaeo-aeolian sand dune has the potential for comprehending the history of Asian monsoon across the desert regions of the modern Asian monsoonal margin in northern China.展开更多
基金The public welfare scientific research of Ministry of Land and Resources,No.201411008
文摘Depended on the analysis of ground snow situation, soil moisture loss speed and soil structure after planting crops of Mu Us Sandy Land remedied with feldspathic sandstone in the fallow period, it is concluded that feldspathic sandstone mixed with sand improved the sand stabilization in the governance of Mu Us Sandy Land in the fallow period. The sandy land remedied with feldspathic sandstone had big snow coverage, 25%-75% higher than normal sand; soil moisture losses slowed down, and moisture content rose by over 3 times; soil structure had been improved, and water stable aggregate content increased by 6.52%-18.04%; survival rate of protection forest increased to 85%; and ground flatness is less than 1%. The above conditions weakened sand rising conditions of Mu Us Sandy Land in the fallow period and formed two protective layers of snow cover and soil frozen layer under cold weather so as to prevent against wind erosion.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (401171002)the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities
文摘To better understand the key role of biological soil crusts(BSCs) in redistribution processes of limited water resources in semi-arid sandy ecosystems,surface runoff over BSCs in a sandy area in the southern Mu Us sandy area was observed in this study.The results indicated that runoff occurred twice among six rainfall events during the experimental period.Runoff yields varied among types of BSCs,and that they increased in the following order:light algae crusts,dark algae crusts and moss crusts.These findings showed that runoff yields were increasing with the development of BSCs.The percentage of runoff in individual rainfall events increased from light algae crusts to moss crusts,which indicated that the redistribution ratios of different types of BSCs differed.Surface runoff of BSCs may be influenced by rainfall,rain intensity,degree of water saturation of the BSCs before the rain and degree of development of BSCs.Formation of BSCs on the surface of sand dunes changed the spatial distribution pattern of water in this semi-arid sandy ecosystem,which increased the heterogeneity of resources such as water and nutrients.Therefore,making appropriate disturbances of BSCs during storm season is beneficial to maintaining the balance of natural resources in the semi-arid sandy ecosystem.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of P.R.China(973 Program,2013CB429901)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of P.R.China(BJFU-TD2011-04)National Technology and Science Support Program of P.R.China(2012BAD16B02)
文摘Artemisia ordosica is an excellent sand-fixing shrub for sand stabilization in northwestern China. Sand dune stabilization, a critically important process, leads changes in abiotic factors, such as soil structure and nutrient contents. However, the effects of factors on an A. ordosica community following sand stabilization remain unclear. In this study, we used canonical correspondence analysis （CCA） to examine the relationships between A. ordosica communities and environmental factors at three habitats： semi-fixed dune （SF）, fixed dune with low-cov- erage biological soil crust （F）, and fixed dune with high- coverage biological soil crust （FC） in Mu Us desert. The mean height and coverage of plants increased with sand stabilization, while species diversity and richness increased initially and then reduced significantly. Correlation analysis and CCA revealed that slope, soil organic carbon, and nutrient contents, proportion of fine soil particles, soil moisture, and thickness of biological soil crust were all highly correlated with vegetation characteristics. These environmental factors could explain 40.42 % of the vege- tation-environment relationships at the three habitats. The distribution of plant species was positively related to soil moisture in the SF dune. Soil moisture, soil nutrient, and fine-particle contents mainly affected plants distribution in the F dune. In the FC dune, distribution of plant species was positively and negatively correlated with the thickness of biological soil crust and soil moisture at a depth 0-20 cm, respectively. The dominance value of typical steppe species increased significantly following sand-dune stabilization and relations between species and samples in CCA ordination bi-plots showed that perennial grasses could invade the A. ordosica community on FC, indicating A. ordosica communities had a tendency to change into typical steppe vegetation with the further fixation. We conclude that the significant differentiation not only occurred in community characteristics, but also in the relationships between vegetation and environmental factors among the three stages of dune fixation. So, restoration of degraded dune ecosystems should be based on habitat conditions and ecological needs.
基金funded by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZZD-EW-04-04)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos., 41271215, 41501220)+1 种基金the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2015M570861)the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University (No. 2015-KF-13)
文摘The variation of the Asian winter monsoonal strength has seriously affected the climate and environmental conditions in the Asian monsoonal region, and even in marginal islands and the ocean in the East Asian region. However, relevant under-standing remains unclear due to the lack of suitable geological materials and effective proxies in the key study areas. Here, we present a grain-size record derived from the palaeo-aeolian sand dune in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, together with other proxies and OSL dating, which reflect a relatively detailed history of the winter monsoon and abrupt environmental events during the past 4.2 ka. Our grain-size standard deviation model indicated that 〉224 μm content can be considered as an indicator of the intensity of Asian winter monsoon, and it shows declined around 4.2–2.1 ka, enhanced but unstable in 2.1–0.9 ka, and obviously stronger since then. In addition, several typical climate events were also documented, forced by the periodic variation of winter monsoonal intensity. These include the cold intervals of 4.2, 2.8, 1.4 ka, and the Little Ice Age （LIA）, and relatively warm sub-phases around 3.0, 2.1, 1.8 ka, and the Medieval Warm Period （MWP）, which were roughly accordant with the records of the aeolian materials, peat, stalagmites, ice cores, and sea sediments in various latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Combined with the previous progresses of the Asian summer monsoon, we prelimi-narily confirmed a millennial-scale anti-correlation of Asian winter and summer monsoons in the Late Holocene epoch. This study suggests that the evolution of the palaeo-aeolian sand dune has the potential for comprehending the history of Asian monsoon across the desert regions of the modern Asian monsoonal margin in northern China.
