Desertification and Its Control in China

Ci, Longjun; Yang, Xiaohui

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-01869-5

Cited by 50 publications

(43 citation statements)

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“…As a country with long-term human disturbances and highspeed economic development, China has suffered strong land use changes and serious land degradation in its entire territory (e.g., Zhang et al, 2007;Bai and Dent, 2009;Zhao et al, 2013). Desertification is therefore a very critical natural and social problem in the dry land and sand land of northern and western China (Ci and Yang, 2010). However, in southern China another desert-like but rock-exposed landscape, the so-called "rocky desertification", becomes another critical environmental disaster (e.g., Wang et al, 2004;Jiang et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation in karst terrain of southwestern China allocates more biomass to roots

Luo

Xia

et al. 2015

Solid Earth

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Abstract. In mountainous areas of southwestern China, especially Guizhou province, continuous, broadly distributed karst landscapes with harsh and fragile habitats often lead to land degradation. Research indicates that vegetation located in karst terrains has low aboveground biomass and land degradation that reduces vegetation biomass, but belowground biomass measurements are rarely reported. Using the soil pit method, we investigated the root biomass of karst vegetation in five land cover types: grassland, grassscrub tussock, thorn-scrub shrubland, scrub-tree forest, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forest in Maolan, southern Guizhou province, growing in two different soil-rich and rock-dominated habitats. The results show that roots in karst vegetation, especially the coarse roots, and roots in rocky habitats are mostly distributed in the topsoil layers (89 % on the surface up to 20 cm depth). The total root biomass in all habitats of all vegetation degradation periods is 18.77 Mg ha −1 , in which roots in rocky habitat have higher biomass than in earthy habitat, and coarse root biomass is larger than medium and fine root biomass. The root biomass of mixed evergreen and deciduous forest in karst habitat (35.83 Mg ha −1 ) is not greater than that of most typical, nonkarst evergreen broad-leaved forests in subtropical regions of China, but the ratio of root to aboveground biomass in karst forest (0.37) is significantly greater than the mean ratio (0.26 ± 0.07) of subtropical evergreen forests. Vegetation restoration in degraded karst terrain will significantly increase the belowground carbon stock, forming a potential regional carbon sink.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation in karst terrain of southwestern China allocates more biomass to roots

Luo

Xia

et al. 2015

Solid Earth

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“…In 1994, the Chinese government signed the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) for promoting international cooperation [17]. To better implement the UNCCD, the Chinese Committee for Implementing the UNCCD (CCICCD) was organized [9]. The Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) and the National Action Program to Combat Desertification (NAPCD) were conducted during the late 1990s [18].…”

Section: State Policy and Projects To Combat Wind-induced Soil Degradmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These national policies coupled with local residents' efforts, have made significant achievements in combating soil degradation in China. The expanding rate of soil degradation for some typical regions (such as Horqin Sands and Mu Us Sands) is controlled [9]. However, the campaign for reversing the trend of soil degradation still needs more efforts from government officials, local residents and research in the future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind Erosion Induced Soil Degradation in Northern China: Status, Measures and Perspective

et al. 2014

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“…The contribution of shrublands to the NPP in China has been found to be comparable to the arbores forest [43]. Shrublands in China expanded in this century because of the policy-guided shrub planting after abandonment of crops in northern China [44,45]. While EVI in China has been found to increase in a non-significant manner [46], we expected that the shrubland EVI should have a stronger increasing trend than the overall EVI in China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Greenness of Major Shrublands in China Increased from 2001 to 2013

et al. 2016

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Abstract:Shrubs have been reported to expand into grassland and polar regions in the world, which causes complex changes in ecosystem carbon, nutrients, and resilience. Given the projected global drying trend, shrubs with their superior drought resistance and tolerance may play more important roles in global ecosystem function. Shrubland exists in all of the climate zones in China, from subtropical to temperate and high cold regions, and they occupy more than 20% of the land area. In this paper, we analyzed the spatiotemporal trend of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) for six shrubland types in China from 2001 to 2013 and its relationship to intra-and inter-annual regional climate dynamics. Existing literature reported that the vegetation index did not change significantly in China during 2000-2012. However, we found that the shrubland EVI in China increased significantly at a rate of 1.01ˆ10´3 EVI¨a´1 from 2001 to 2013. Two major shrubland types (subtropical evergreen and temperate deciduous) and two desert types (high-cold desert and temperate desert) increased significantly, whereas subalpine evergreen shrubland decreased at a rate of´0.64ˆ10´3 EVI¨a´1. We also detected a significantly lengthened growing season of temperate deciduous shrubland. The growing season length contributed significantly to the annual averaged EVI for temperate deciduous, subalpine deciduous and subtropical evergreen shrublands. Furthermore, the precipitation variation contributed more to the annual averaged EVI than the temperature. The year-round decrease in rainfall and the increase in temperature led to a significant reduction in the subalpine evergreen shrubland EVI. The enhancement of countrywide shrubland EVI may promote its contribution to the regional ecosystem function and its potential to invade grasslands.

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Desertification and Its Control in China

Cited by 50 publications

References 0 publications

Vegetation in karst terrain of southwestern China allocates more biomass to roots

Vegetation in karst terrain of southwestern China allocates more biomass to roots

Wind Erosion Induced Soil Degradation in Northern China: Status, Measures and Perspective

The Greenness of Major Shrublands in China Increased from 2001 to 2013

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