Identification of driving forces for windbreak and sand fixation services in semiarid and arid areas: A case of Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

Soil wind erosion is a global problem that leads to increasingly serious regional land degradation, where the need for windbreak and sand fixation services (WSFS) is substantial. Inner Mongolia plays an important role in global semiarid and arid areas and the severe land degradation resulting from soil wind erosion warrants an urgent solution. However, the mechanism of influence of various driving factors on windbreak and sand fixation services is still not fully studied. In this paper, the revised wind erosion equation (RWEQ) model was used to synthesize the monthly spatiotemporal dynamics of soil wind erosion modulus (SWEM) and WSFS in Inner Mongolia from January 2000 to February 2020 from a semi-monthly scale. The influencing factors of WSFS were examined from both natural and anthropogenic aspects. Results show that over the past 20 years, the average SWEM in Inner Mongolia was 118.06 t ha−1 yr−1, the areas with severe wind erosion were mainly concentrated in the desert areas in the southwest of Inner Mongolia, and the forests in the northeast suffered less soil wind erosion. Meanwhile, the average WSFS was 181.11 × 108 t yr−1, with the high-value areas mainly located in major deserts, sandy land, and the area bordering Mongolia in the north and the low-value areas mainly located in the densely forested northeast and the Gobi Desert in the northwest. Both SWEM and WSFS showed a clear downward trend and a certain periodicity over the past 20 years. WSFS showed two peaks a year (April and October). Among the natural factors, precipitation and NDVI showed a significant correlation with WSFS and were identified as the main driving factors of WSFS, whereas temperature had no significant correlation. Among the anthropogenic factors, farming and animal husbandry intensity and GDP showed a positive correlation with WSFS, whereas population showed a negative correlation. These four types of factors were identified as socio-economic factors that drive WSFS. Meanwhile, WSFS did not show any significant correlation with the administrative area. Land use change contributed to a large proportion of WSFS change, thereby suggesting that the intensity of human activities is another central driver of WSFS.

Using Field Measurements Across Land Cover Types to Evaluate Albedo‐Based Wind Friction Velocity and Estimate Sediment Transport

“…In the study area, on the Inner Mongolia Plateau, the quantity of sediment transport using the albedo‐based approach ( Q A ) was smaller than that estimated by the traditional model approach ( Q T ) (Figure 8). Many previous studies have assessed the wind erosion hazard in this region and suggested that most of the central and western areas suffer from severe wind erosion hazard (Cui et al., 2023; Shi et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2022; Y. Zhou et al., 2015, 2016). These studies used the fractional cover of “green” vegetation observed by satellites as a first approximation for the aerodynamic sheltering effect of these and other roughness elements.…”

Differentiated factors drive the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China

“…Therefore, climate change can affect the water yield by changing the precipitation and temperature of Xinjiang. Sand fixation is affected by precipitation, vegetation and human activities, showing spatial heterogeneity, reflecting the comprehensiveness and complexity of the ecological process (Gong et al, 2022;Niu et al, 2022;Cui et al, 2023). From the perspective of the regression coefficient, fractional vegetation cover and precipitation strongly impact windbreak and sand fixation, and are the main driving factors for sand fixation.…”

Research on the Relationship between the Structure of Forest and Grass Ecological Spaces and Ecological Service Capacity: A Case Study of the Wuding River Basin

“…Windbreak and sand fixation are important ecological system functions in the arid and semi-arid regions of northern China. Scientific evaluation of windbreak and sand-fixation functions can provide a scientific basis and guidance for the protection and restoration of the ecological environment and the delineation of ecological protection redlines [39]. This Remote Sens.…”