Monitoring landcover change and desertification processes in northern China and Mongolia using historical written sources and vegetation indices

Abstract

Abstract. Fighting land degradation of semi-arid and climate-sensitive grasslands are among the most urgent tasks of current eco-political agenda. Northern China and Mongolia are particularly prone to surface transformations caused by heavily increased livestock numbers during the 20th century. Extensive overgrazing and resource exploitation amplify regional climate change effects and trigger intensified surface transformation, which forces policy-driven interventions to prevent desertification. In the past, the region has been subject to major shifts in environmental and socio-cultural parameters, what makes it difficult to measure the extent of the regional anthropogenic impact and global climate change. This article analyses historical written sources, palaeoenvironmental data, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) temporal series from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to compare landcover change during the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the reference period 2000–2018. Results show that decreasing precipitation and temperature records led to increased land degradation during the late 17th century. However, modern landcover data shows enhanced expansion of bare lands contrasting an increase in precipitation (Ptotal) and maximum temperature (Tmax). Vegetation response during the early growing season (March–May) and the late grazing season (September) does not relate to Ptotal and Tmax and generally low NDVI values indicate no major grassland recovery over the past 20 years.

Current status and future challenges for khulan (Equus hemionus) conservation in China

“…Historically, khulan were distributed beyond the Gobi (Reading et al, 2001). And now, the ranges of khulan in China and Mongolia are restricted to the Gobi Desert which is characterized by long, cold winters and low pasture productivity (Pfeiffer et al, 2018;Kempf, 2021). In Xinjiang, the rangelands used by the khulan are usually the traditional winter pasture of local herders which have historically coexisted with khulan for millennia.…”

Spatial-Temporal Process of Land Use/Land Cover and Desertification in the Circum-Tarim Basin during 1990–2020

“…In the century since, the impact of human activities on land degradation due to changing surface vegetation, land use types, and other factors has been a constant focus of exploration. There is research highlighting that unreasonable land use puts desertification in the process of development [18][19][20][21], and rational and efficient land use is the fundamental solution to achieving sustainable development and desertification prevention in affected areas [22]. Therefore, studies around the world have summarized many successful experiences in desertification prevention and control [23][24][25], especially in China, where numerous cases of successful desertification control have emerged [26].…”

Comparison of aeolian desertification between the Moltsog Dune Field in Mongolia and the Ujimqin Dune Field in China

“…Research on the spatial distribution of aeolian desertification across the entire Mongolian Plateau has mainly been based on the analysis of land desertification using the moderate resolution imaging spectrodiometer (MODIS) vegetation index data. Comparative studies on land desertification in both China and Mongolia are few and those that have been conducted typically concentrate on large-scale remote sensing monitoring at a low spatial resolution (Guo et al, 2021;Kempf, 2021). These studies determined the varying degrees of desertification on the Mongolian Plateau in both China and Mongolia depending on the intensity of human activities and policies of the respective governments (Wei et al, 2018;Yembuu & Doljin, 2021).…”