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.

Mapping desertification potential using life cycle assessment method: a case study in Lorestan Province, Iran

In recent year,desertification has become one of the most important environmental hazards all over the world,especially in developing countries such as Iran.Understanding the factors impacting on desertification and identifying the regions with high desertification potential are essential to control this phenomenon(i.e.,desertification).The life cycle assessment(LCA)method is essential in assessing the desertification of ecosystems,especially for susceptible ecosystems with high degradation risks.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the desertification potential of Lorestan Province,Iran,based on the LCA method.We selected aridity,fire and dust as three indicators of desertification and collected data from 2000 to 2015.We divided the study area into 6 types of ecoregions according to the climate types(arid,semi-arid and dry sub-humid)and dominant species(Quercus brantii and Astragalus adscendens),and calculated the characteristic factor(CF)of each indicator(aridity,fire and dust)by combining the indicator layers and ecoregion layer of the study area.In a given ecoregion,the sum of CF values of aridity,dust and fire indicators represents the life cycle inventory(LCI)desertification value(the higher the LCI value,the greater the desertification potential).Then,we obtained the desertification potential map by combining and overlapping the ecoregions and the normalized indicators based on the LCA method.Aridity and fire exhibit significant impacts on desertification in the study area compared with dust.In the study area,semi-arid ecoregion with Quercus brantii as the dominant species is the largest ecoregion,while arid ecoregion with Quercus brantii as the dominant species is the smallest ecoregion.Arid ecoregion with Astragalus adscendens as the dominant species(LCI desertification value of 1.99)and dry sub-humid ecoregion with Quercus brantii as the dominant species(LCI desertification value of 0.79)show the highest and lowest desertification potentials,respectively.Furthermore,arid ecoregion with Quercus brantii as the dominant species also has a higher LCI desertification value(1.89),showing a high desertification potential.These results suggest the necessity of proper management and appropriate utilization in these ecoregions.In general,assessing desertification potential using the LCA method on a local and regional scale can possibly provide a new methodology for identifying and protecting areas with high degradation risks.

SPATIAL CORRELATION ANALYSIS BETWEEN KARST ROCKY DESERTIFICATION AND LITHOLOGY IN DU'AN YAO AUTONOMOUS COUNTY IN GUANGXI

Du’an Yao Autonomous County is a typical area for the distribution of karst rocky desertification in Guangxi. The indices for the grades of rocky desertification are selected according to the scientific meaning of karst rocky desertification and after the interpretative symbol system of rocky desertification. RS images are established by the landscape characteristics of Du’an karst and its TM image. Relying on RS & GIS means and taking land use map as base map, this paper conducts synthetic analysis on the 1999a TM image (126-043) and the correlation data involving landform, soil, geological map and GPS—database and photo on the spot, and brings forth a map showing the Du’an rocky desertification grades and a digital lithology map. As can be viewed from spatial correlation, the inherent connection is also illuminated between the various levels of rocky desertification and the carbonate lithology.

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.

Assessment on eco-environmental quality of the Yellow River Basin by considering desertification index

Desertification has had a significant impact on the ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin(YRB)in China.However,previous studies on the evaluation of the ecological environment quality(EEQ)in the YRB have paid limited attention to the indicator of desertification.It is of great significance to incorporate the desertification index into the spatiotemporal assessment of the EEQ in the YRB in order to protect the ecological environment in the region.In this study,based on multi-source remote sensing data from 91 cities in the YRB,this article proposes a desertification remote sensing ecological index(DRSEI)model,which builds upon the traditional Remote Sensing Ecological Index(RSEI)model,to analyze the spatiotemporal changes in the EEQ in the YRB from 2001 to 2021.Furthermore,using the geographic detector(GD),and geographically and temporally weighted regression(GTWR)model,the study assesses the impact of human and natural factors on the EEQ in the YRB.The research findings indicate that:(1)Compared to the traditional RSEI,the improved DRSEI shows a decreasing trend in the evaluation results of the EEQ.Among the 24 cities,the change in DRSEI exceeds 0.05 compared to RSEI,accounting for 26.37%of the YRB.The remaining 67 cities have changes within a range of less than 0.05,accounting for 73.63%of the YRB.(2)The results of the GD for individual and interactive effects reveal that rainfall and elevation have significant individual and interactive effects on the EEQ.Furthermore,after the interaction with natural factors,the explanatory power of human factors gradually increases over time.The spatial heterogeneity results of GTWR demonstrate that rainfall has a strong direct positive impact on the EEQ,accounting for 98.90%of the influence,while temperature exhibits a more pronounced direct inhibitory effect,accounting for 76.92%of the influence.Human activities have a strong negative impact on the EEQ and a weak positive impact.

DESERTIFICATION HAZARD AND FARMING-GRAZING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN LINGWU-YANCHI REGION OF NINGXIA

In the view of the desertification hazard process in Lingwu Yanchi region of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the paper analyzed the interaction between the physical environment and the human activities, and discussed the social problems of controlling sandy land by using the way of “decreasing farming for increasing grazing” and developing agriculture and animal husbandry. The results indicated that the changes of desertification in the Quaternary geological periods was a kind of climatic geomorphic processes, and a kind of climate human processes in human history, which are mainly controlled by climatic conditions and partly interfered by human economic activities. Both of the physical environment and the human activities have double effects to aggravate or reverse the desertification.

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.

PRESENT STATUS AND CAUSE OF LAND DESERTIFICATION IN THE YARLUNG ZANGBO RIVER BASIN

The Yarlung Zangbo River basin is a spacial zone in the south of Xizang, the types, distribution and causes of desertified lands have special features. The type, area, distribution and damage of desertification land in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin are firstly analysed in detail by using latest investigation information. According to the classification criteria of desertified land types and grades, the desertified land in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin can be divided into three grades and five types: fixed sand (dune) land, semi bare sand and gravel land, semi fixed sand (dune) land, base sand and gravel land, and shifting sand (dune) land. The desertified lands in the basin are mainly distributed in the wide valley floor and tributary junction area. The main factors affecting desertification are fragile eco environment, climate warming and drying and over exploitation of land resources. The man made factors leading to desertification in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin are over cutting and over grazing, dominated by over grazing.

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.

IMPACT OF WATER ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS IN DRY-HOT VALLEY OF JINSHA RIVER ON SOIL DESERTIFICATION

Based on the field investigation and the analysis of soil moisture curve, it is clearly shown that there is a positive relationship between vegetation coverage rate and soil moisture capacity and soil depth in dry hot valley of the Jinsha River, and also there is a desertification process with seasonality. It is suggested that the basic factor of desertification in the area is water deficiency (seasonal drought and low soil water capacity) and the direct dynamic of desertification is soil erosion. Some effective countermeasures are presented, of which water saving planting and irrigation techniques should be firstly applied in the studied area.

An over review of desertification in Xinjiang,Northwest China

Desertification research in arid and semi-arid regions has always been actively pursued.In China,the problem of desertification in Xinjiang has also received extensive attention.Due to its unique geography,many scholars have conducted corresponding research on the desertification status of Xinjiang.In this paper,we comprehensively reviewed desertification in Xinjiang,and compared the underlying mechanisms of desertification and the status of desertification conditions after the implementation of ecological control projects.On a larger scale,desertification in Xinjiang can be divided into soil salinization inside oases and sandy desertification on the edges of oases.Human activities are considered the main cause of desertification,but natural factors also contribute to varying degrees.Research on the mechanisms of desertification has effectively curbed the development of desertification,but unreasonable use of land resources accelerates the risk of desertification.For desertification control,there are several key points.First,desertification monitoring and the early warning of desertification expansion should be strengthened.Second,monitoring and reversing soil salinization also play an important role in the interruption of desertification process.It is very effective to control soil salinization through biological and chemical methods.Third,the management of water resources is also essential,because unreasonable utilization of water resources is one of the main reasons for the expansion of desertification in Xinjiang.Due to the unreasonable utilization of water resources,the lower reaches of the Tarim River are cut off,which leads to a series of vicious cycles,such as the deterioration of ecological environment on both sides of the river and the worsening of desertification.However,in recent years,various desertification control projects implemented in Xinjiang according to the conditions of different regions have achieved remarkable results.For future studies,research on the stability of desert-oasis transition zone is also significantly essential,because such investigations can help to assess the risk of degradation and control desertification on a relatively large scale.

Diverse responses of fungal functional groups to desertification in forest soils of Pinus densata on the Chinese Tibetan plateau

Rapid increase in desertification is an environ-mental concern,especially for the health and sustainabil-ity of ecosystems in changing climates.How ecosystems respond to such changes may be partially understood by studying interactions and performance of critically impor-tant groups such as soil fungi functional groups.This study investigated variations in diversities of three soil fungi functional guilds(saprotrophic,symbiotic,pathogenic)and influencing abiotic factors in a Pinus densata forest on the southeast Tibetan Plateau where desertification is intense.The results indicate desertification significantly decreased the proportion of dominant fungal guild-symbiotic fungi(mean relative abundance decreasing from 97.0%to 68.3%),in contrast to saprotrophic fungi(increasing from 2.7%to 25.7%)and pathogenic(from 0.3%to 5.9%).Soil pH had the most significant impact on fungal community structure and negatively correlated with symbiotic fungal richness,which was significantly lower in arid soils,and positively correlated with saprotrophic and pathogenic fungal alpha-diversity,which were abundant.Different community struc-tures and regulators of the three fungi communities were observed,with pH,total phosphorus and ammonium(NH_(4)^(+))as the main determinants.This study links the biotic and abi-otic components during desertification and the interactions between them,and may be used as indicators of ecosystem health and for amendments to mitigate the effects of a chang-ing climate.

Pyrosequencing of nirS gene revealed spatial variation of denitrifying bacterial assemblages in response to wetland desertification at Tibet plateau

Amplicon sequencing of functional genes is a powerful technique to explore the diversity and abundance of microbes involved in biogeochemical processes. One such key process, denitrification, is of particular importance because it can transform nitrate(NO3-) to N2 gas that is released to the atmosphere. In nitrogen limited alpine wetlands, assessing bacterial denitrification under the stress of wetland desertification is fundamental to understand nutrients, especially nitrogen cycling in alpine wetlands, and thus imperative for the maintenance of healthy alpine wetland ecosystems. We applied amplicon sequencing of the nirS gene to analyze the response of denitrifying bacterial community to alpine wetland desertification in Zoige, China. Raw reads were processed for quality, translated with frameshift correction, and a total of 95,316 nirS gene sequences were used for rarefaction analysis, and 1011 OTUs were detected and used in downstream analysis. Compared to the pristine swamp soil, edaphic parameters including water content, organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorous, available nitrogen, available phosphorous and potential denitrification rate were significantly decreased in the moderately degraded meadow soil and in severely degraded sandy soil. Diversity of the soil nirS-type denitrifying bacteria communities increased along the Zoige wetland desertification, and Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi were the dominant denitrifying bacterial species. Genus Cupriavidus(formerly Wautersia), Azoarcus, Azospira, Thiothrix, and Rhizobiales were significantly(P<0.05) depleted along the wetland desertification succession. Soil available phosphorous was the key determinant of the composition of the nirS gene containing denitrifying bacterial communities. The proportion of depleted taxa increased along the desertification of the Zoige wetland, suggesting that wetland desertification created specific physicochemical conditions that decreased the microhabitats for bacterial denitrifiers and the denitrification related genetic diversity.

Assessment of desertification sensitivity using an improved MEDALUS model in Northern China

Assessment of land sensitivity to desertification is an important step to support desertification monitoring and control.Based on the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use(MEDALUS)model,we defined four quality indicators(soil,climate,vegetation and management)to evaluate the sensitivity of land in northern China to desertification.We improved MEDALUS via excluding cities from the areas at risk of desertification by means of defining a threshold value for population density.The framework,validated in northern China,further optimizes the model to link priority areas and land restoration programmed to support desertification control.We found that the four indicators influenced and restricted each other,which jointly affected the distribution of desertification sensitivity in northern China.The spatial distribution of sensitivity in northern China showed large regional differences,with clear boundaries and concentrated distributions of regions with high and low sensitivity;the overall sensitivity decreased,with some areas rated as having moderate,severe,and extremely severe sensitivity changing to slight sensitivity;and the influence weight was much higher for the management quality index than for the climate,vegetation,and soil indexes.This suggests that management was the main factor that affected desertification sensitivity in northern China,and that climate factors exacerbated sensitivity,but the factors that are driving the spatial heterogeneity of the influencing factors need further study。

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.

Assessment of desertification in Eritrea: land degradation based on Landsat images

Remote sensing is an effective way in monitoring desertification dynamics in arid and semi-arid regions.In this study,we used a decision tree method based on NDVI(normalized difference vegetation index),SAVI(soil adjusted vegetation index),and vegetation cover proportion to quantify and analyze the desertification in Eritrea using Landsat data of the 1970 s,1980 s and 2014.The results demonstrate that the NDVI value and the annual mean precipitation declined while the temperature increased over the past 40 a.Strongly desertified land increased from 4.82×10^4 km^2(38.5%)in the 1970 s to 8.38×10^4 km^2(66.9%)in 2014:approximately 85%of the land of the country was under serious desertification,which significantly occurred in arid and semi-arid lowlands of the country(eastern,northern,and western lowlands)with relatively scarce precipitation and high temperature.The non-desertified area,mostly located in the sub-humid eastern escarpment,also declined from approximately 2.1%to 0.5%.The study concludes that the desertification is a cause of serious land degradation in Eritrea and may link to climate changes,such as low and unpredictable precipitation,and prolonged drought.

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.

Study on Ecological Restoration and Characteristic Agricultural Mode at Rocky Desertification Area of Chongqing City in China——A Case Study of Nanping Town in Nanchuan District of China

The paper had introduced geographical location,natural condition and social development status of Nanchuan District of Chongqing City,analyzed the development principle,necessity and feasibility of characteristic agriculture at rocky desertification area.In view of features of desertification area,it had discussed construction mode of ecological restoration in the perspectives of engineering management measures,development and utilization of water resources,and ecological restoration measures.In line with agricultural characteristic of Nanchuan District of Chongqing City,the development mode of characteristic agriculture had been discussed from the aspects of characteristic Chinese medicinal crops,fruits,breeding,poultries,and cultivation.It emphasized adopting corresponding planning measures,making the best use of advantages and avoiding shortcomings,with scientific planning,reasonable layout and highlighted emphasis,so as to strive to form circular economic development tendency of good environment and harmonious ecology.

Interaction and coordinated development between desertification control and social economy in Xizang,China

Based on the general requirements of the coordinated development of"ecological livable"and"affluent life"in the rural revitalization strategy,the evaluation index system of desertification control was constructed,the interaction between desertification control and regional social economy and the internal space-time coordination mechanism were explored,and the quality of desertification control and its coordination degree with regional economic development were quantitatively analyzed.The decoupling mechanism of desertification governance society economy system were analyzed,and the high level for the government to promote desertification governance,constructing ecological economy coordinated development pattern to provide decision basis to Xizang desertification governance-social economic system interaction and coupling coordination development as the research object,introducing the coupling decoupling model to measure the coupling coordination model and system coordination and decoupling decoupling.Desertification control in Xizang shows a trend of gradual improvement,but the overall level is still not high and there is a lot of room for optimization.The coupling coordination degree of desertification control-social and economic system is in a steady fluctuation trend,rising from D value less than 0.55 in 2004 to 0.87 in 2018,in a state of coordinated development(good),and grey prediction analysis shows that D value is in a continuous rise.The coupling coordination degree of the six prefecture-level cities in Xizang and Ngari region is different in time and space,but the overall development trend is coordinated.The development index of desertification control and the socio-economic development index show the interaction of strong decoupling,strong negative decoupling and weak decoupling,and there are interaction effects of desertification control,economic development and social development at different scales.

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.