Historical desertification of the Mu Us Desert, Northern China: A multidisciplinary study

Huang, Yongguang; Wang, Nai’ang; He, Tianbai; Chen, Hongyi; Zhao, Liqiang

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.03.020

Cited by 53 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Many relics of ancient cities were preserved in this area in the last 2000 years, but were gradually abandoned in response to active sand movement and deterioration of the local environment (Sun, 2000). Extensive agricultural activities, especially in the Tang dynasty (A.D. 800) and the late Ming (about A.D. 1500-1600) (Huang et al, 2009), destroyed a large amount of the natural vegetation cover. Meanwhile, frequent military activity and conflicts between the Han and nomads in this area over the last 2000 years resulted in the abandonment and destruction of farm land and vegetation cover, and this also accelerated the reworking of relic sand dunes (Sun, 2000).…”

Section: Environmental Change In the Most Recent 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene environmental changes in central Inner Mongolia revealed by luminescence dating of sediments from the Sala Us River valley

Sun

2011

The Holocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Luminescence dating of the fluvial and lacustrine sediments from the Sala Us River valley at the south edge of the Mu Us Desert, central Inner Mongolia, is reported. The study region lies in the northwestern marginal zone of the east Asian summer monsoon and is sensitive to climate change. The dating results combined with environmental proxies indicate that the Holocene Climate Optimum period, took place from 8.5 to 5 ka ago and was marked by lake development. After ~5 ka ago, the region became arid, as inferred from lake regression and fluvial activity. Deposition of fluvial sediments lasted from ~5 ka to ~2 ka ago. At about 2 ka ago, incision of the Sala Us River was initiated into the underlying sediments, with a down-cutting rate of ~3–4 cm/yr. Since 2 ka ago, human activities also played an important role in causing environmental change in the region.

show abstract

Section: Environmental Change In the Most Recent 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene environmental changes in central Inner Mongolia revealed by luminescence dating of sediments from the Sala Us River valley

Sun

2011

The Holocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Researching the changes in annual vegetation coverage and its natural drivers has great theoretical and practical significance for assessments of terrestrial ecosystems and environmental management (Mu et al, 2012 (Yu et al, 2007). The use of remote sensing imagery has enabled a better understanding of the dynamics of the current vegetation coverage in this region (Huang et al, 2009;Yan et al, 2009). For example, satellite images of vegetation coverage have been used for assessing temporal vegetation dynamics (Qi et al, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating natural drivers of vegetation coverage variation using MODIS imagery in Qinghai, China

Zhou

Lyu

2015

J. Arid Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The climatically sensitive Qinghai province of China has been recognized as a hotspot for studies on the feedbacks of terrestrial ecosystems to global climate change. Thus, investigating vegetation coverage and its natural drivers in Qinghai is an important focus of ecosystem research. On the basis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) time series data, we estimated the vegetation coverage in this region using the dimidiate pixel model. Trend analyses, correlations between meteorological parameters, changes in vegetation coverage, and the temporal and spatial relationships between soil texture and vegetation coverage were used to investigate the possible drivers of vegetation coverage variations. The results indicated that the reduction of vegetation coverage slowed down in the period from 2000 to 2012. Annual mean temperature was the main climatic driver of the total extremely low and low vegetation coverage areas in Qinghai, followed by the precipitation anomalies. The extremely low and low vegetation coverage areas were mainly distributed in regions with a mean annual relative air humidity of <40% and the spatial distributions of these two area types differentiated along the 200-mm rainfall contours. The total extremely low and low vegetation coverage areas were mainly characterized by sandy clay loam soil, followed by loamy sand and sandy soil. Regions with sandy loam or loam soil have the greatest risk of vegetation coverage reductions. Knowledge of vegetation coverage variation and its natural drivers in the ecologically fragile region of Qinghai can provide scientific support for managing environmental change and desertification.Keywords: vegetation coverage; remote sensing; MODIS; climate change Citation: ZHOU Lei, LYU Aifeng. 2016. Investigating natural drivers of vegetation coverage variation using MODIS imagery in Qinghai, China. Journal of Arid Land, 8(1): 109-124. doi: 10.1007/s40333-015-0016-1 Vegetation is the natural link between the soil, atmosphere and water in an environment (Pan et al., 2015). Plants play an important role in the energy exchange, biogeochemical cycles and hydrological cycles in terrestrial systems and are an indicator of global change (Sun et al., 1998). Vegetation coverage is also an important indicator of the growth trends of vegetation communities and provides essential information for describing ecological systems. There is a close relationship between vegetation coverage and climatic factors. Global climate change has an amplified effect the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the headwater region in this area is more sensitive to climate change. Thus, the investigation of vegetation coverage and its natural drivers in Qinghai is important for understanding climate change (Peng et al., 2012;Guo et al., 2014). Researching the changes in annual vegetation coverage and its natural drivers has great theoretical and practical significance for assessments of terrestrial ecosystems and environmental management (Mu et al., 20...

show abstract

“…Both the cessation of peatland development and aridification in the region appear to follow the trend in the late Holocene toward climatic deterioration across a large area, as evidenced, for example, by increased eolian activity in northern China (Chen et al, ; Jia et al, ; Lu et al, , ; Qiang et al, ; Xu et al, ). Nevertheless, the possible effect of human activity on peatland development in the Mu Us Desert cannot be excluded (Huang et al, ; Miao et al, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Peatlands in the Mu Us Desert, Northern China, Since the Last Deglaciation

Liu

et al. 2018

JGR Earth Surface

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climatic reconstruction from peat deposits is an important aspect of Quaternary research. Previous studies of the peatlands in the Mu Us Desert in northern China have focused on the processes of paleoclimatic evolution, but the history of peatland development remains unclear due to the absence of comparative studies. Here we present a synthesis of the available records documenting peatland development within the Mu Us Desert since the last deglaciation. We combine paleoclimatic records from profiles from two new sites with previously published results from 12 sites. Our aim is to reconstruct the temporal and spatial record of peatland development and to determine its driving forces. The results show that the peatlands developed in two phases: from ~15 ka until the early Holocene and from 6.5–3 ka when there was a significant expansion of their spatial extent. These phases correspond to two distinct types of paludification process, and both were closely related to changes in the East Asian monsoon. A final stage after 2 ka resulted from the significant weakening of the monsoon, during which peat accumulation ceased.

show abstract

Historical desertification of the Mu Us Desert, Northern China: A multidisciplinary study

Cited by 53 publications

References 20 publications

Holocene environmental changes in central Inner Mongolia revealed by luminescence dating of sediments from the Sala Us River valley

Holocene environmental changes in central Inner Mongolia revealed by luminescence dating of sediments from the Sala Us River valley

Investigating natural drivers of vegetation coverage variation using MODIS imagery in Qinghai, China

Evolution of Peatlands in the Mu Us Desert, Northern China, Since the Last Deglaciation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About