Desertification in China: An assessment

Wang, Xunming; Chen, Fahu; Hasi, Eerdun; Li, Jinchang

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2008.02.001

Cited by 289 publications

(207 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In China, drylands cover an area of more than 1.6 million km 2 (Zhu et al 1980;Zhu and Chen 1994;Wang et al 2006Wang et al , 2008. Yuyang County, located in the Mu Us Desert in central-northern China (38°N-39°N and 108°E-110°E, see Fig.…”

Section: Study Area and Remote Sensing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reduced vegetation cover and increased wind energy usually exacerbate sand transport (Wang and Zhu 2001;Wang et al 2005aWang et al , b, 2006D'Odorico et al 2013). Soil erosion caused by wind is considered to be the primary cause of desertification in these regions Dong et al 2000;Wang et al 2008). The scale of soil erosion has thus created an urgent need for effective estimations of wind erosion in drylands as a step in easing the trend of desertification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The measurement of wind erosion through field survey and remote sensing: a case study of the Mu Us Desert, China

et al. 2015

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The measurement of wind erosion is not only important to understand wind erosion itself, but also an important scientific step in efforts to reverse the process of desertification. This study develops a model that predicts sand transport flux at pixel level based on the quantitative relationship between remotely sensed vegetation coverage and observed sand transport rate data. The data were collected from field surveys in the sandy area of Yuyang County, which is located in the Mu Us Desert. The study found that the sand transport flux was 9,643 kilograms per meter annually (kga -1 m -1 ) for a mobile dune, 6,394 kga -1 m -1 for a semi-mobile dune, 2,634.5 kga -1 m -1 for bare cultivated land, and 127.7 kga -1 m -1 for a semi-fixed dune. Using the sand flux derived by our model, the wind erosion modulus in the Yuyang sandy area was found to be 1 123Nat Hazards (2015) 76:1497-1514 DOI 10.1007/s11069-014-1516 increased in the region, while decreasing in some areas, and that the vegetation coverage incensement failed to reduce the quantity of regional wind erosion. This sand flux retrieval method has the potential for successful application in other, similar areas.

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Section: Study Area and Remote Sensing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The measurement of wind erosion through field survey and remote sensing: a case study of the Mu Us Desert, China

et al. 2015

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“…Conversely, during periods with high wind activity, these fine particles may be eroded and transported away from the plants, leading to coarsening of the surface soil, and if plant growth and survival decrease sufficiently, anchored and semi-anchored dunes may evolve into semi-mobile and mobile dunes, causing an increase in sandy desertification [46][47][48]. As a result of these contrasting processes, sandy lands and the margins of mobile deserts reveal a strong and fundamental association between sandy desertification and wind activity: during periods with high wind activity, sandy desertification increases, and during periods of low wind activity, it decreases [49][50][51][52]. In addition to sandy lands and the margins of deserts with mobile dunes, steppes and reclaimed grasslands are also at risk of sandy desertification.…”

Section: Relationships Between Wind Activity and Sandy Desertificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variations in dune activity in arid, semiarid, and semihumid China and their relationships with sandy desertification have been discussed in detail [52]. However, studies in other global dune fields have focused on South Africa and Australia.…”

Section: Advances In Current Research On Sandy Desertificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sandy desertification: Borne on the wind

Wang

2013

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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Sandy desertification is both an inherently interesting bioscience and geoscience topic and an important topic from the perspectives of the ecological environment and food security. It has therefore increasingly attracted the attention of the public, in addition to researchers, government officials, and international organizations. This paper reviews the development of knowledge on sandy desertification, research progress in understanding the physical and biological processes involved in sandy desertification, and the significance of wind activity in determining the increases and decreases in sandy desertification. Based on this review of current research on the mechanisms and processes of sandy desertification, combining geological and biological sciences appears likely to improve our understanding of this complex system, thereby providing a more holistic understanding of sandy desertification at a range of temporal and spatial scales. aeolian desertification, sandy desertification, wind activity, dune activity, physical processes, biological processes Citation:Wang X M. Sandy desertification: Borne on the wind.

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“…1), is one of the four main sandy lands in northern China (Wu and Ci, 2001) and an important part of Inner Mongolia's grassland resources (Liu et al, 1996). However, the Horqin Sandy Land has undergone severe desertification in recent decades (He et al, 2008;Wang, et al, 2008); desertified land has reached 57.8 % of the Land's total area , primarily because inappropriate reclamation for agriculture (e.g., chisel plough tillage in fall) and overgrazing (Zuo et al, 2008) adversely altered the natural hydrologic conditions. As a result, most of the sandy grasslands have evolved into mobile, semi-mobile and/or semi-fixed dunes with severe, moderate or light desertification (Zhu and Chen, 1994;Guan et al, 2000).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal variations in soil moisture and physicochemical properties of a typical semiarid sand-meadow-desert landscape as influenced by land use

Duan

Liu

Wang

et al. 2011

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract.A good understanding of the interrelations between land cover alteration and changes in hydrologic conditions (e.g., soil moisture) as well as soil physicochemical properties (e.g., fine soil particles and nutrients) is crucial for maintaining the fragile hydrologic and environmental conditions of semiarid land, such as the Horqin Sandy Land in China, but is lacking in existing literature. The objectives of this study were to examine: (1) spatio-temporal variations of soil moisture and physicochemical properties in semiarid land; and (2) how those variations are influenced by land cover alteration. Using the data collected in a 9.71 km 2 well-instrumented area of the Horqin Sandy Land, this study examined by visual examination and statistical analyses the spatio-temporal variations of soil moisture and physicochemical properties. The results indicated that for the study area, the soil moisture and physicochemical properties were dependent on local topography, soil texture, vegetation density, and human activity. Long-term reclamation for agriculture was found to reduce soil moisture by over 23 % and significantly (p-value < 0.05) lower the contents of soil organic matter, fine soil particles, and nutrients.

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Desertification in China: An assessment

Cited by 289 publications

References 20 publications

The measurement of wind erosion through field survey and remote sensing: a case study of the Mu Us Desert, China

The measurement of wind erosion through field survey and remote sensing: a case study of the Mu Us Desert, China

Sandy desertification: Borne on the wind

Spatio-temporal variations in soil moisture and physicochemical properties of a typical semiarid sand-meadow-desert landscape as influenced by land use

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