Construction of remains of small-scale mining activities as a possible innovative way how to prevent desertification

Abstract

Initial mapping of secondary succession in places disturbed by mining of the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area in Mongolia shows a possible innovative direction taken by afforestation in order to prevent further expansion of the Gobi Desert in northern Mongolia. The study results from the knowledge of secondary succession of mined areas, which are classified as the remains and consequences of prospecting and mining work dated to the Soviet times. Ongoing succession on sites affected by mining is very slow. In quarry dumps and canavas, herb layer has not been recovered despite the fact that the prospecting and mining activities had finished more than 30 years ago. Herbs biodiversity is very poor in these areas. Conversely, representatives of the tree layer, especially Larix sibirica and Populus tremula, are found far from the continuous forest; they colonized sites located within the aridized steppe. We assume that the main factor of successful tree growth on the mining activities remains consists in the humidity condensation due to and caused by the specific shape of the canavas and dumps. Trees prosperity on these extreme habitats can be ensured particularly in the early stages of growth when the tree roots are unable to reach the groundwater table. Detail mapping of quantitative and qualitative parameters of trees shows that the dump is an ideal shape of self-watering condensation mound for forest growth and can prevent the desertification as well.

A bibliometric-based evaluation on environmental research in the Arab world

“…Additionally, these problems have featured hugely in scientific publications and warnings (Tolba and Saab 2009). Such problems that have been hugely addressed in the literature include, as an examples, air pollution (Ahmadi et al 2015;Li et al 2016a), climatic changes (Carleton and Hsiang 2016; Deutsch et al 2015), industrial effluents (Padmanaban et al 2016), desertification (Juřička et al 2016;Li et al 2016b), vulnerability of groundwater to external pollutants (Damak et al 2016;Iqbal et al 2014), land degradation (Akhtar-Schuster et al 2016;Kosmas et al 2016) and aquatic environment pollution with organic and inorganic pollutants (Shakeri et al 2015).…”

Evaluation of natural forest regeneration as a part of land restoration in the Khentii massif, Mongolia

“…L. Sibirica seedlings require particularly high soil moisture to survive, and consequently are particularly vulnerable to drought, the primary cause of their increased mortality (Oswald and Neuenschwander 1993). Climate change has had a particularly devastating effect in Mongolia which can be seen in the extreme case of aridization of the natural landscape (Lioubimtseva et al 2005;Sato et al 2007;Marin 2010;Oyuntuya et al 2015;Juřička et al 2016). As developed further by Dulamsuren et al (2010), desiccation of the forest-steppe ecosystems causes severe complications impacting both growth and productivity of L. Sibirica.…”

Preparation and characterization of an eco‐friendly sand‐fixing agent utilizing nanosilica/polymer composites

“…According to some estimates, more than 200 million people are directly affected by desertification. 1,2 Desertification is a serious issue in China, and according to the results of the fifth desertification survey of the State Forestry Administration, the total area undergoing desertification in China reached 261.16 Â 10 4 km 2 . Tibet is one of the most serious desertification areas in China.…”