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Has the Three-North Forest Shelterbelt Program solved the desertification and dust storm problems in arid and semiarid China?
Abstract
From the late 1970s to the present, a large-scale afforestation program called the “Three Norths Forest Shelterbelt” program was carried out to combat desertification and control dust storms in China. However, few detailed and systemic assessments have evaluated its success despite the huge investment in the program, its long-term, the extensive area covered by the program, and the importance of combating desertification and controlling dust storms. Although numerous Chinese researchers and government officials have claimed that the afforestation has successfully combated desertification and controlled dust storms, there is surprisingly little unassailable evidence to support their claims. Using basic data on afforestation, desertification, and dust storms, we assessed the effects of this afforestation on combating desertification and controlling dust storms. Although the large-scale afforestation program may have had some beneficial effects on reducing dust storms and controlling desertification in China, the results of our analysis suggest that the importance of this project seems to have been overstated. Thus, future research must seek stronger and more direct evidence for the causal relationships that we have proposed as possible explanations for the observed trends, and the true significance of the Three Norths program should be reassessed.
... To mitigate this problem, the Chinese government implemented a variety of measures that led to significant achievements in curbing the effects of land degradation on the environment and human life in some affected regions [5,6]; however, not all assessments agree about how effective these measures are, specifically in preventing wind erosion and dust storms [7,8]. Poplars are used as shelterbelts in many other parts of the world, such as Canada [9] and Russia [10]. ...
... The data were processed using Sigmaplot 12.0 and SPSS 19.0. To rule out the impact of wind direction, only 25 days of northwest (NW) wind (spring main wind) were selected for 60 days from April to May [1,6,7]. The differences in daily mean wind speed, daily wind sediment transport rate, daily dust transfer rate, and soil and vegetation parameters were tested by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher's least significant difference (LSD), using the statistical software package SPSS; significance was set at 5%. ...
To assess the ecological effects of poplar stands with different densities and ages, fixed observation sites were established in selected standard forest plots. Daily dynamics of wind speed and sand transport rate were monitored over an erosive period (March to June) in 2017. Soil characteristics were also measured at these plots. Average daily wind speed and average daily wind erosion modulus decreased significantly after the establishment of poplar trees on sandy land, while soil density decreased significantly, soil hardness increased greatly, and soil organic carbon, total N, and available P levels increased significantly. With increasing stand density, average daily wind speed and daily sediment transport firstly decreased and then increased, while the investigated soil nutrients showed the opposite trend. A tree density of 1320–1368 trees·hm⁻² significantly reduced surface wind erosion. With the increase in forest age, the average daily wind speed and daily sediment transport declined, while soil physical and chemical properties were gradually improved. At a stand age of 40 years, wind-caused soil erosion significantly reduced. Taking these effects into consideration, the design and management of protective forest systems in arid and semi-arid areas can be greatly improved.
... Fall Prec was observed to improve WUE, whereas spring Prec was associated with a decline in WUE. Previous studies have also indicated that the enhancement of spring rainfall was a key factor in promoting vegetation regeneration in arid regions, which played a crucial role in revitalizing the western drylands [29,50]. Climatic factors exhibited distinct responses to WUE across different seasons (Figure 4), suggesting that vegetation employed varying water utilization strategies at different developmental stages. ...
... Different soil types possessed varying soil water contents, soil organic matter, and soil textures. Previous studies have demonstrated that soil water content and organic matter are crucial drivers of WUE [50]. The application of organic matter was a significant factor in determining WUE, and the combined influence of these factors rendered WUE more sensitive to Soilt. ...
In the context of global warming, terrestrial ecosystems have undergone significant variations. China has implemented a variety of ecological engineering methods to enhance carbon stocks. However, understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon and water in drylands under climate change remains limited. Here, our research elucidates carbon and water dynamics in China’s drylands over the last two decades, with a focus on understanding spatial–temporal changes and the effects of ecological engineering on the carbon–water cycle. Furthermore, this study investigates the relationships among climate change, water use efficiency (WUE), and its components—Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Evapotranspiration (ET)—identifying key climatic drivers and assessing possible directions for enhancing WUE under changing climate conditions. Our research indicates that both GPP and ET have significantly increased over the past 20 years, with growth rates of 4.96 gC·m⁻²·yr⁻¹ and 4.26 mm·yr⁻¹, respectively. Meanwhile, WUE exhibited a slight declining trend, at a rate of −0.004 gC·mmH2O·yr⁻¹. This confirms the positive impact of vegetation restoration efforts. We found that fluctuations in interannual WUE were influenced by human activities and climate change. Precipitation (Prec) was the key climatic factor driving the GPP increase. Both solar radiation (Solra) and Prec were crucial for the interannual variation of WUE. Interestingly, WUE was the main factor affecting GPP development. The decline in WUE in drylands is linked to interannual variability in WUE and increased Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) due to warming. Seasonal variations in how WUE responds to climatic factors were also observed. For instance, fall rainfall increased WUE, while spring rainfall decreased it. Fall WUE was highly sensitive to VPD. Spatially, we found higher WUE in China’s eastern and Xinjiang regions and lower in inland areas and the Tibetan Plateau. Geomorphologic factors and soil conditions were the main drivers of this spatial variability in WUE. Temperature (Tem), Solra, VPD, and relative humidity (Relah) also played significant roles. Our results show a generalized inverse persistence in WUE variability. This suggests a potential for increased WUE in the eastern regions and a risk of decreased WUE on the Tibetan Plateau. Addressing the threat of vegetation decline in arid regions, particularly within the Tibetan Plateau, is crucial. It is essential to adapt forestry practices to complement the carbon and water cycles in these landscapes.
... China leads globally in large-scale land conservation and restoration programs to combat desertification, greening the country's drylands (Bryan et al. 2018). However, largescale ecological restoration projects also impose substantial pressure on these waterlimited environments (Cao 2008;Wang et al. 2010). ...
... Wind erosion results in loss of soil nutrients (Wang et al. 2006b;Yan et al. 2005) and reduction in NPP and the provisioning services of croplands, grasslands, and forests (Zhao et al. 2017). Wind erosion impacts the lives of 200 million people going as far back as half a century (Wang et al. 2010). Sand and dust storms caused by wind erosion have adverse impacts on air quality, public health, safety of transportation, communication, and irrigation infrastructure, and have significant impacts on the economy (Jiang et al. 2018;Shen et al. 2018;Wang et al. 2016b). ...
China has one of the largest dryland areas worldwide, covering 6.6 million km ² and supporting approximately 580 million people. Conflicting findings showing a drier China’s drylands with increasing aridity and observed greenness indicate the complexity of environmental processes, highlighting a pressing research need to improve understanding of how active dryland processes, ecosystem structure and functioning will alter. This chapter synthesizes the changes, impacts, and their drivers in China’s dryland ecosystems. Results from analyses covering the period 2000–2015 showed that 58.69% of the vegetated area exhibited an increase in vegetation greenness, cover, and productivity, while 4.29% of those showed a decrease in all three aspects. However, 37.02% of the vegetated area showed inconsistent trends in vegetation greenness, cover, and productivity, suggesting high uncertainty in estimations of vegetation dynamics in drylands. China’s drylands are nevertheless at risk of expansion and could pass an irreversible tipping point with increasing aridity, particularly in the country’s semi-arid regions. Nitrogen enrichment and overgrazing generally reduce plant species diversity. Wind erosion, water erosion, salinization, and freeze–thaw erosion are typical processes of desertification in China’s drylands. Large-scale ecological restoration projects enhance greening and ecosystem services of China’s drylands, but also impose substantial pressure on these water-limited environments. Future research is needed to examine interactions among different drivers of environmental change (e.g., the relationships between CO 2 fertilization and increased aridity). Such research could usefully include complex systems approaches to link patterns and processes across spatial and time scales, and long-term experiments on physical‐chemical‐biological process interactions.
... This is attributed to the use of improper nursery and management practices, which have led to a significant decline in soil fertility. This is particularly evident in poplar nurseries, where the continuous nursery system has led to a low survival rate of seedling cuttings, reduced growth potential, and other observable phenomena [10,11]. Therefore, effective herbaceous management for seedlings can be achieved through the implementation of rational fertilization practices, which enhance fertilizer use efficiency, stimulate plant growth, and mitigate N losses [12,13]. ...
To promote the growth of cutting seeding of poplar (Populus L.), nitrogen (N) fertilizer and surface weed managements were required. We here conducted a pot experiment to examine the effects of natural vegetation, barnyardgrass (Echinochloa Beauv.), and sesbania (Sesbania cannabina pers.) on the growth of poplar cutting seedlings, soil properties, and ammonia (NH3) volatilization under three N inputs (0, 0.5, and 1.5 g/pot, i.e., N0, N0.5, and N1, respectively). Results showed that N application promoted the growth of poplar cutting seedlings, including plant height, ground diameter, and biomass, compared with N0 treatment. Moreover, under N0, sesbania significantly increased the plant height by 87.1%, barnyardgrass and sesbania significantly increased the ground diameter (16.2% and 51.5%), and biomass (67.4% and 74.7%) of poplar cutting seedlings, compared with natural vegetation management. Compared to natural vegetation, soil organic matter (SOM) of barnyardgrass and sesbania covered soil significantly increased by 12.4% and 18.7% at N1, respectively. In addition, soil total N (TN) content was significantly increased by 15.8% in barnyardgrass planted at N0. The soil ammonium N (NH4⁺-N) content decreased with the planting of barnyardgrass and sesbania across all levels of N application. At N0.5, the nitrate N (NO3⁻-N) content of soil planted with barnyardgrass significantly increased compared to both the natural vegetation and the sesbania groups. Compared to the natural vegetation, the soil available phosphorus (AP) content of the barnyardgrass group significantly increasing by 78.8% at N0.5, soil available potassium (AK) content was significantly reduced by 12.5% in the sesbania group at N0 and increased by 24.1% in the barnyardgrass group at N1. We found that cumulative NH3 emissions were significantly higher in all treatment groups at the N1 level than that at the N0.5 level, while the differences among the three plants treated were not significant. The results suggest that both barnyardgrass and sesbania promote seedling growth in the short term, while also increase certain properties. Therefore, effective herb management during the seedling stage is recommended in nurseries to support seedling growth and retain soil fertility.
... The significant increase in the GEI reflects the effectiveness of large-scale ecological restoration projects such as the Three-North Shelterbelt project, the Beijing-Tianjin sand source control project, the Grain for Green Program, the Grazing Withdrawal program, and the integrated management of the Kubuqi-Mu Us Desert. These projects have significantly increased vegetation coverage, promoted land reclamation, and effectively slowed down the desertification process (Ren et al., 2022;Wang et al., 2010;Yu et al., 2022;Zhao et al., 2020). ...
The Mu Us Desert-Loess Plateau transition zone in China, a fragile ecosystem prone to desertification, has undergone substantial ecological restoration since the early twenty-first century. This study utilized land use/cover data from 2000 to 2023 to assess the ecological response of green spaces to these efforts. A comprehensive set of ecological indices—including the green ecosystem index (GEI), equivalent ecological quality (EEQ) index, and green ecological contribution (GEC) rate—was used to quantify changes in green space extent and ecosystem quality. The study results showed a 5.83% increase in green space area, corresponding to an addition of 1979.7 km², along with a notable rise in the GEI across 20.18% of the region, reflecting improved ecosystem function and resilience. The conversion of barren into productive green spaces has mitigated land degradation and supported ecological recovery. The EEQ of regional green spaces improved by 1.16%, and the GEC from land use changes was 1.15%. However, challenges remain, including the degradation of 3114.5 km² of high-quality green spaces and the encroachment of 428.2 km² by non-green land uses. Ongoing monitoring, targeted interventions, and adaptive management strategies are essential for further improving land greening and ecological quality. This study provides valuable insights for sustainable land management and ecological restoration in similar fragile environments.
... Due to the harsh natural environment, which results in a low afforestation survival rate and unsatisfactory afforestation results, causing the national ecological construction investment and ecological governance scale to lag far behind the speed of ecological deterioration. The country needs to spend more financial resources and to apply appropriate management measures to solve the degradation problem (Runnstr€ om, 2000;Wang et al., 2010;Wang et al., 2009). Forest degradation in Qinghai Province is also worthy of attention. ...
With the rapid economic development and continuous expansion of human activities, forest degradation—characterized by reduced forest stock within the forest including declining carbon storage—poses significant threats to ecosystem stability. Understanding the current status of forest degradation and assessing potential carbon stocks in China are of strategic importance for making forest restoration efforts and enhancing carbon sequestration capacity. In this study, we used the national forest inventory data from 2009–2018 to develop a set of standard measures for assessing degraded forests across China, based on five key indicators: forest accumulation growth rate (FAGR), forest recruitment rate (FRR), tree species reduction rate (TSRR), forest canopy cover reduction rate (FCCRR), and forest disaster level (FDL). Additionally, we estimated standing carbon stock, potential carbon stock, and theoretical space to grow by developing a stand growth model, which accounts for stand density across different site classes, to evaluate the restoration potential of degraded forests. The results indicate that degraded forest area in China is 36.15 million hectares, accounting for 20.10% of a total forest area. Standing carbon stock and potential carbon stock of degraded forests in China are 23.93 million tons and 61.90 million tons, respectively. Overall, degraded forest varies significantly across different regions. The results highlight the important trade-offs among environmental factors, policy decisions, and forest conditions, providing a robust foundation for developing measures to enhance forest quality.
... The lack of public participation in the design and planning of green infrastructure projects in China has led to bad outcomes; these include projects that do not reflect the soul of the city, are too uniform [1] and have a dearth of local characteristics, as well as parks that lack a human touch in their overall design, do not have public acceptance and have low usage rates, resulting in a waste of resource . At the same time, some completed green infrastructures on the edge of the city are not patronised by citizens, placing a huge financial burden on the maintenance and management of the parks [2]. ...
Public participation has always played an important role in urban design and planning. Urban green infrastructure is a part of urban planning and design. This research uses a policy review and semi-structured interviews with residents and stakeholders. The findings suggest that the lack of public participation in urban green infrastructure projects is the result of a combination of both government and the general public. Residents have low interest in participating in urban green infrastructure due to social cultural, public competence and lack of community spirit. Stakeholders have tried to avoid public participation in projects due to limited participation methods and limited project timeline. Citizen participation can be increased through improved technical support, media advocacy and legislation and regulations.
... Given the challenging hilly terrain and frequent fog, assessing its condition using remote sensing technology is essential. Sentinel image data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have proven to be invaluable tools for providing data, even though damages on forest lands have been noted (Wang et al., 2010). The gap in this research is that there is no research regarding land cover analysis in Sianjur Mula-mula. ...
... A vital finding from the present study underscores a noticeable disparity between governmental policies and the actual needs of local residents. For example, despite ambitious afforestation programs like the "Three Norths Forest Shelterbelt" aimed at combating desertification and dust storms since 1970, their efficacy has recently been found to be overstated [32]. Policymakers must listen more closely to local voices to enact policy changes that better address residents' real needs and enhance existing policies. ...
Dust storms, which are common aversive occurrences in northern China, result from high winds, dry soil or dust, and soil surface disturbance. Exposure to dust storms, regardless of duration, can induce varying mental and physical distress levels. Recognizing the urgency of comprehending the impact of dust storms on residents and the scarcity of information on their effects on the indigenous civilians there, this study aims to address this gap by qualitatively sampling 29 participants from Beijing, a typical city in northern China. The current study seeks to gain insights into residents’ dust storm experiences and explore their perspectives on effective coping mechanisms. The findings align with existing knowledge regarding the mental and physical repercussions of dust storms while identifying some emerging patterns of coping mechanisms already employed by residents in Beijing. Concerns regarding mental well-being, either directly influenced by the environmental conditions or indirectly stemming from disruptions to life routines on a broader scale, persistently dominate people’s perceptions of dust storms. New themes emerged following the step-by-step exploration of feelings and coping mechanisms. This study aims to enlighten the public about the ramifications of the dust storms in Beijing and advocate for essential policy support.
... It is generally believed that vegetation construction plays an important role in reducing wind erosion, improving soil nutrient content, and regulating climate [11]. However, inappropriately implemented vegetation restoration may cause negative ecological effects, while large scale and high-density artificial afforestation may lead to the reduction of deep percolation and groundwater recharge in arid and semi-arid areas [12][13][14]. Plant interactions and their underlying mechanisms must be understood when formulating a vegetation restoration plan. Further research is needed to clarify the processes and mechanisms of plant community establishment under different restoration patterns, to guide the selection of appropriate technologies. ...
Vegetation construction is a key process for restoring and rehabilitating degraded ecosystems. However, the spatial pattern and process of native plants colonized by different vegetation restoration methods in semi-arid sandy land are poorly understood. In this study, two artificial vegetation restoration patterns (P1: row belt restoration pattern of Salix matsudana with low coverage; P2: a living sand barrier pattern of Caryopteris mongolica with low coverage) were selected to analyze the spatial distribution pattern and interspecific association of the colonizing native shrubs. The effects of the two restoration models on the spatial patterns of the main native semi-shrubs of the colonies (i.e., Artemisia ordosica and Corethrodendron lignosum var. leave) were studied using single variable and bivariate transformation point pattern analysis based on Ripley’s L function. Our results showed that two restoration patterns significantly facilitated the establishment of A. ordosica and C. lignosum var. leave, with their coverage reaching 17.04% and 22.62%, respectively. In P1, the spatial distribution pattern of colonial shrubs tended to be a random distribution, and there was no spatial correlation between the species. In P2, the colonial shrub aggregation distribution was more dominant, and with the increase in scale, the aggregation distribution changed to a random distribution, whereas the interspecific association was negatively correlated. The differences in the spatial distribution patterns of colonized native semi-shrubs in these two restoration patterns could be related to the life form of planted plants, configuration methods, biological characteristics of colonized plants, and intra- and interspecific relationships of plants. Our results demonstrated that the nurse effect of artificially planted vegetation in the early stage of sand ecological restoration effectively facilitated the near-natural succession of communities. These findings have important implications for ecological restoration of degraded sandy land in the semi-arid region of northern China.
... Several ecological projects on forests have been implemented in the Loess Plateau and southern part of the Inner Mongolia Plateau, such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Program, the Grain for Green Program, and the Natural Forest Conservation Program Chu et al., 2019 ;Wang et al., 2020 ). Despite the substantial investment of time and resources to restore and protect forests, the CCV max remained lower than that of other regions because of forestation mortality limits and younger stand age ( Cao, 2008 ;Cao et al., 2011 ;Wang et al., 2020Wang et al., , 2010Zhang et al., 2020b ). As for the northern Tianshan Mountains, the prevailing westerly winds of the Atlantic Ocean and the air flow from the Arctic Ocean encounter the Tianshan Mountains and climb upward, thus forming precipitation and maintaining vegetation growth in the region. ...
... A contributing factor is the favorable climatic conditions in these regions, including ample water availability, which have accelerated both expansion and growth of planted forests 43,44 . Previous research indicated that in regions with high evaporation and transpiration rates (water-stressed regions), the survival rate and growth status of planted forests may be inadequate 45 . This explains why the distribution of planted forests in the northwestern and northern regions, despite their large geographical area, is not as extensive (Fig. 1). ...
China’s extensive planted forests play a crucial role in carbon storage, vital for climate change mitigation. However, the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of China’s planted forest area and its carbon storage remain uncaptured. Here we reveal such changes in China’s planted forests from 1990 to 2020 using satellite and field data. Results show a doubling of planted forest area, a trend that intensified post-2000. These changes lead to China’s planted forest carbon storage increasing from 675.6 ± 12.5 Tg C in 1990 to 1,873.1 ± 16.2 Tg C in 2020, with an average rate of ~ 40 Tg C yr⁻¹. The area expansion of planted forests contributed ~ 53% (637.2 ± 5.4 Tg C) of the total above increased carbon storage in planted forests compared with planted forest growth. This proactive policy-driven expansion of planted forests has catalyzed a swift increase in carbon storage, aligning with China’s Carbon Neutrality Target for 2060.
... This region is also the source of numerous inland rivers, which support ecosystem stability in the arid Hexi River Corridor. Several afforestation projects have been implemented to conserve soil and water, control desertification, and produce timber [11]. P. crassifolia is the dominant species in the region [12]. ...
The spatial distribution of soil moisture is a critical determinant for the success of vegetation restoration initiatives in semi-arid and arid regions. The Qilian Mountains, situated within a semi-arid zone in China, have been subject to significant water-induced soil erosion, which has led to extensive restoration activities, predominantly utilizing the species P. crassifolia. However, the interconnections between soil moisture and various land cover types within this region remain unclear, presenting challenges to effective woodland rehabilitation. This study examines the surface soil moisture dynamics in afforested areas with varying ages of plantation to determine the influence of tree planting on the moisture content of the upper soil layer. It investigates the characteristics and temporal patterns of surface soil moisture as the age of the plantation increases. The findings indicate that: (1) soil moisture levels follow a descending sequence from natural forest, through shrubland and grassland, to planted forest and mixed forest, with statistically significant differences observed between natural and mixed forests (p < 0.05); (2) young afforested areas (less than 50 years old) have lower soil moisture levels compared to natural forests, shrublands, or grasslands, and the ecohydrological impacts of afforestation become apparent with a temporal delay; and (3) the analysis using Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMM) and the application of Kriging interpolation to determine the spatial distribution of soil moisture reveals that in semi-arid and arid regions, several factors have a pronounced a non-linear relationship with the moisture content of the surface soil. These factors include the duration of afforestation, the position on the lower slope, the presence of shade on the slope, and the scale at which the study is conducted. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of soil water content is essential to prevent the potential failure of artificially established forests due to inadequate soil moisture in their later stages.
... For example, over 6 × 10 6 ha of sand-fixing vegetations have been established in China over the past 60 years, serving as a critical ecological barrier to desertification control Wang et al., 2008). Unfortunately, many planted sand-fixing vegetations have undergone severe crown dieback and mortality with age (Bao et al., 2015;Cao et al., 2011), which has led to new instances of desertification in formerly revegetated sandy desert regions Wang et al., 2010). The degradation of revegetated sandy lands directly affects the effectiveness and sustainability of long-term ecological restoration projects (Cao et al., 2011;Li et al., 2021;Wang et al., 2008). ...
Crown removal revitalises sand‐fixing shrubs that show declining vigour with age in drought‐prone environments; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we addressed this knowledge gap by comparing the growth performance, xylem hydraulics and plant carbon economy across different plant ages (10, 21 and 33 years) and treatments (control and crown removal) using a representative sand‐fixing shrub ( Caragana microphylla Lam.) in northern China. We found that growth decline with plant age was accompanied by simultaneous decreases in soil moisture, plant hydraulic efficiency and photosynthetic capacity, suggesting that these interconnected changes in plant water relations and carbon economy were responsible for this decline. Following crown removal, quick resprouting, involving remobilisation of root nonstructural carbohydrate reserves, contributed to the reconstruction of an efficient hydraulic system and improved plant carbon status, but this became less effective in older shrubs. These age‐dependent effects of carbon economy and hydraulics on plant growth vigour provide a mechanistic explanation for the age‐related decline and revitalisation of sand‐fixing shrubs. This understanding is crucial for the development of suitable management strategies for shrub plantations constructed with species having the resprouting ability and contributes to the sustainability of ecological restoration projects in water‐limited sandy lands.
... The TNSP region includes 1.6 10 6 km 2 of arid and semi-arid land in 13 provinces. By 2015, afforested lands sequestered 684.02 gigatons of carbon (Wang et al. 2010;Chu et al. 2019). ...
This report reviews current agricultural policies in China and their role in support of China’s broader
environmental goals. The policies reflect an expansion of agricultural policy objectives to better manage
China’s limited and overburdened natural resources. The report anchors its discussion of current policy
with a description of past policies and past technology choices, emphasizing their impacts on land, water,
and air. Collectively, these decisions launched a remarkable period of expansion for China’s farm sector but
left the country’s ecosystems scarred and natural resources depleted. We review how a growing
agricultural sector contributed to economic growth, poverty reduction, and the transformation of China’s
economy, labor markets, and farm structure, and the consequences of those changes for the sector, for new
production technology choices, and for agricultural policy. We then discuss the evolution of China’s broader
environmental goals and link them to changes in agricultural policy designed to mitigate the effects of
agricultural pollution and resource use while meeting a growing demand for agricultural products. We
review the set of new greener technologies central to China’s twin goals of reducing agriculture’s
environmental footprint and sustaining decade-long sector gains in output and productivity. We then
describe challenges that policymakers and the private sector must solve to implement China’s well-
articulated vision of a cleaner and sustainable future for agriculture. Chief among these challenges is a need
to quickly realign China’s farm structure, agricultural institutions, and governing process and the skills
embedded in them to accommodate a diverse set of technologies and an interconnected set of multisector
goals and objectives that mark a significant departure from the past.
Broadly, this report examines the overlap between agricultural and natural resource management (NRM)
policies, policies that touch on the multiple ways humans interact with their natural environment. This
creates a challenge when setting out the report’s scope. To manage the report’s length, we emphasize the
sector’s impact on domestic natural resources but do not discuss fully the important impacts through trade
of China’s domestic food system on natural resources elsewhere. For the same reason, we emphasize efforts
to support greener agricultural production technologies that limit pollution and use natural resources more
efficiently but do not cover a complementary set of off-farm supply-chain technologies and food-system
policies that could also limit agriculture’s natural resource footprint. While Li et al. (2022), in a companion
article, review the composition and degradation of China’s varied landscapes, including its environmentally
valuable forests and marshlands, our primary policy focus is on the sustainable management of croplands
and grasslands.
The report draws on material from a collaborative program of applied research undertaken between 2020
and 2022 by several Chinese universities and research agencies, the World Bank, and international
researchers from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Food Policy Research Institute,
and Michigan State University. Some 20 background papers were prepared on topics relating to China’s
agricultural and environmental performance, institutions, initiatives, and policies. This work was
subsequently synthesized into a set of shorter papers focused on (1) the evolution of China’s agricultural
sector, policies, and public expenditures; (2) agricultural innovation, including low-carbon agriculture; (3)
natural resources management; and (4) agricultural pollution prevention and control. These working
papers and a compendium of the four shorter papers can be found at (link to be provided once docs are
uploaded)
... The dataset has a temporal resolution of 1 year, a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km, and uses the Al-bers_Conic_Equal_Area coordinate projection. This dataset is widely used for monitoring vegetation changes at various scales and is particularly valuable for studying vegetation change trends in larger areas [65,66]. While the 1 km resolution may not capture microscopic changes in vegetation, it is sufficient for identifying and analyzing the main patterns of vegetation change, especially at the county scale. ...
China has implemented several ecological projects in the Loess Plateau region to address severe land degradation and soil erosion. Accurately assessing ecological restoration and its driving factors remains challenging. Previous studies in this area concentrated on driving factors have mainly focused on natural factors at the regional or watershed scale, with limited consideration of socioeconomic factors at the county scale. In this study conducted in Huanglong County on the Loess Plateau, the focus was to fill the gaps in previous research and provide insights into the socioeconomic driving forces behind vegetation greening. Remote sensing image data (NDVI) from 1999 to 2019 were used to analyze vegetation greenness dynamics in the region. Five socioeconomic variables were considered, including afforestation intensity, deforestation intensity, agricultural intensity, village intensity, and road intensity layers, to characterize the impact of afforestation, agriculture, and urbanization policies. The RESTREND (residual trends) method was employed to assess the relative importance of climate and human activities on vegetation dynamics. This study found that temperature–NDVI relationships are more suitable for building RESTREND models than precipitation–NDVI relationships. Human activity was the main driver of vegetation dynamics, contributing 62% compared to 38% from climate change. Agricultural practices and afforestation were found to have a positive impact on ecological restoration, while deforestation and urbanization had no significant impact. These findings highlight a conceptual framework for understanding the intricate relationship between ecological restoration, climatic factors, and human activity on the Loess Plateau. This study suggests that significant progress has been made in ecological restoration through human efforts in combating land degradation. However, it emphasizes the need to strengthen natural conservation efforts and gradually transition toward restoration processes driven by natural forces for sustainable socioeconomic development. The methodology used in this study can be applied to explore the driving forces of ecological restoration in other regions facing human-driven land degradation.
... In addition, the other three carbon pools stopped shrinking during 2000-2010, and even the DOM carbon pool increased. For another example, since the 1980 s, in the Hobq Desert and the Mu Us Desert, a massive sand control campaign has been initiated with a combined planting of native trees, shrubs, and grasses (Wang et al., 2010). This explains the two deserts emerging as the hotspots of increasing carbon stocks in the CLP (Fig. 3a). ...
Synergies and trade-offs among land use and land covers (LULCs) pose considerable uncertainties in achieving the dual carbon goals for China's Loess Plateau (CLP). In this context, we unraveled the carbon stock dynamics induced by land use and land cover change (LUCC) in the CLP over the past 40 years using the satellite-derived annual LULC maps and the InVEST model. Then, mixed measures were employed to quantify the global and local responses of the carbon stock dynamics to both natural and anthropogenic factors. We found that approximately a total of 5.58 × 109 Mg of carbon was stored in the CLP's ecosystems in 2019. Chronologically, the total carbon stock showed a slight decrease in the CLP from 1980 to 2019 due to the extensive LUCCs linked to socioeconomic activities. Specifically, the total carbon density loss rate accelerated in urban–rural-wild continuum (RUWC) types with higher human activity intensity, such as villages and urban, while it decelerated in woodlands, and croplands, where the human activity intensity is lower. Moreover, the total carbon density gain rate in wildlands was accelerating. Finally, we revealed that the carbon stock dynamics in the CLP over the past 40 years were primarily influenced by socioeconomic variables and have responded diversely to the drivers in space.
... The regions with more pronounced contributions from human activities to EEQ are primarily situated in central China, the northern Sichuan Basin, and the Junggar Basin. These areas are closely linked to a succession of ERPs initiated across China, including the Natural Forest Resources Protection Project and the construction of the Three-North Protective Forest System [45]. Additionally, these regions have progressively adopted advanced agricultural technologies such as intelligent agricultural machinery and drip irrigation, further supporting ecological development [46]. ...
Since the beginning of the new century, there has been a notable enhancement in China’s ecological environment quality (EEQ), a development occurring in tandem with climate change and the extensive ecological restoration projects (ERPs) undertaken in the country. However, comprehensive insights into the spatial and temporal characteristics of China’s EEQ, and its responses to both climate change and human activities over the past two decades, have remained largely elusive. In this study, we harnessed a combination of multi-source remote-sensing data and reanalysis data. We employed Theil–Sen median trend analysis, multivariate regression residual analysis, and the Hurst index to examine the impacts and changing patterns of climatic factors and human activities on China’s EEQ during the past two decades. Furthermore, we endeavored to forecast the future trajectory of EEQ. Our findings underscore a significant improvement in EEQ across most regions of China between 2002 and 2019, with the most pronounced enhancements observed in the Loess Plateau, Northeast China, and South China. This transformation can be attributed to the combined influence of climatic factors and human activities, which jointly accounted for alterations in EEQ across 78.25% of China’s geographical expanse. Human activities (HA) contributed 3.93% to these changes, while climatic factors (CC) contributed 17.79%. Additionally, our projections indicate that EEQ is poised to continue improving in 56.70% of China’s territory in the foreseeable future. However, the Loess Plateau, Tarim Basin, and Inner Mongolia Plateau are anticipated to experience a declining trend. Consequently, within the context of global climate change, the judicious management of human activities emerges as a critical imperative for maintaining EEQ in China. This study, bridging existing gaps in the literature, furnishes a scientific foundation for comprehending the evolving dynamics of EEQ in China and informs the optimization of management policies in this domain.
... China has some of the most widespread areas in the world with serious problems of desertification, especially in northern and northwestern China (Guo et al., 2014;Wang F et al., 2013;Wang T et al., 2002). In previous studies, most researches have attributed the rapid expansion of desertification in North China to human activities, such as population increase, economic growth, long-term overgrazing, and expansion of agricultural land in some areas (e.g., Wang et al., 2010;Liu and Diamond, 2005;Zhao et al., 2005). However, some researchers argue that temperature rise and reduction in precipitation are the primary factors leading to the occurrence and expansion of desertification (e. g., Wang et al., 2005;Hai et al., 2002). ...
The unique desertification processes occurring under the Alpine climate and ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau could provide critical clues to the natural and anthropogenic impacts on desertification. This study used the Landsat data to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of desertification from 1990 to 2020 in two areas (Shannan and Mainling), within the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin. The results show not only distinct spatial patterns but also various temporal changes of desertification. In Shannan, aeolian sand was distributed over wide areas from valley floor to mountain slope, while in Mainling, it is distributed sporadically at the footslope. The aeolian sandy land initially expanded before undergoing long-term shrinkage in Shannan. While in Mainling, it steadily expanded followed by a rapid decrease. These changes are attributed to both climate change and human activites. The increase in temperature causes desertification expansion in Shannan, while favorable climate conditions coupled with decreasing human activity promoted desertification reversal. However, both the expansion and shrinkage of desertification were sensitive to human activity in Mainling. This highlights the diverse responses of desertification to natural and anthropogenic impacts on different backgrounds of climatic and vegetation coverage. A threshold of climatic conditions may control the dominance factors in desertification, shifting from natural to anthropogenic elements.
... However, active revegetation after a landslide seems not to be the adequate solution in arid and semiarid zones to recover the territory after this natural disaster (Li et al. 2016;Qi et al. 2013;Wang et al. 2018;Wei et al. 2012), since in addition to being ineffective, it even causes an increase in soil erosion (Wang et al. 2010) and water scarcity (Cao et al. 2009). ...
Regeneration after landslides is how an ecosystem recovers itself following a landslide event. Natural systems can recover and regenerate over time. The main objective of the current work is to identify and characterise the regeneration pattern after a great landslide event in 2013 in the Guerrero state (Mexico) using remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and machine learning techniques. Remarkably, the authors consider normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a proxy of part of this “regeneration” in the present work. A first methodology attempt presented here was to monitor and characterise the “regeneration” after severe landslide events. First, the authors calculated and identified the (1) losses, (2) speed and (3) recovery time through a continuous change detection and classification algorithm (CCDC) in Google Earth Engine (GEE) from a NDVI-Landsat time series (from 1984 to 2021). Second, these three factors were introduced as variables in a not supervised machine-learning model to get 5 clusters that characterise the different regeneration patterns followed from 2013 to 2021 in the landslide zones. Finally, we studied 16 variables like elevation, slope, or soil pH. The authors included those variables in a supervised machine learning classification to find the most important main drivers related to the NDVI regeneration of the landslide areas. The results showed that the cluster called Group 0 had a low loss of NDVI value, speed and medium recovery time. Group 1 showed a medium–high loss, high speed and low recovery time. Group 2 reached a high loss, a low speed, and an increased recovery time. Group 3 with a medium loss, a medium speed, and a low recovery time. Finally, Group 4 with a high loss of NDVI, a medium speed, and a medium recovery time. Distance to the edge of the landslide, precipitation, land cover type and lithology are highlighted as the main drivers in landslide regeneration.
... Since 1978, the Chinese government has implemented the Three North Shelterbelt program in arid northeast, north, and northwest areas to control desertification and prevent further degradation. The plan is to increase the forest coverage in these areas from 5 % to 15 % (Wang et al., 2010;Mu et al., 2022a). However, recent studies suggest that reforestation may cause an imbalance between ecological restoration and water conservation in these regions (Qiu et al., 2015;Pang et al., 2023). ...
Clarifying the dependence of the grassland water budget change and its components on environmental factors is significant for the sustainable development of dryland ecosystems. Here, the Hydrus-1D model was used to simulate the water budget of natural grassland for 42 years (1980-2021). The standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and soil moisture deficit index (SMDI) were used to analyze the soil drought evolution characteristics and the water use dynamic of the grassland in dry and wet years. Here, the calibrated Hydrus-1D model accurately identified the dynamic of grassland soil moisture in 2020 and 2021. The simulated data showed that evaporation (E) and transpiration (Tc) were the main pathways of soil water consumption, accounting for 96.5% and 86.1% of rainfall in dry and wet years, respectively. The soil water storage did not present a difference in precipitation proportion in dry (2.4%) and wet (1.2%) years, and the deep percolation accounted for a maximum of 12.8% in wet years. Rainfall from 380 to 400 mm was the threshold, as it not only corresponds to the maximum water use efficiency (Tc / ET = 0.52, ET = E + Tc) but also serves as an important turning point for drought and deep percolation (below 150 cm) within the soil. The structural equation model further indicated that the dependence of E and Tc on meteorological factors was the main reason for the change of their proportions in dry and wet years. Tc was more sensitive to meteorological factors (R2 = 0.63), while E was not (R2 = 0.27). The SMDI had a greater impact on determining the threshold for water budget components than the SPEI. These results deepen the understanding of the hydrological process of grasslands in sandy areas, including the interaction between water budget components and environmental factors in wet and dry scenarios.
... Similarly, (Fu et al., 2011) evaluated the impact of ecosystem changes on soil erosion control services in the Loess Plateau region of China and found that over the past few decades, vegetation restoration projects such as the Grain for Green Program have improved soil erosion control in the region. Therefore, the implementation of these ecological engineering projects has improved the ecological environment in lake basins, reduced the frequency of land erosion and sandstorms, and promoted the restoration of vegetation diversity and ecosystem functionality (Bryan et al., 2018;Fu et al., 2023;Tan and Li, 2015;Wang et al., 2010). ...
... The revegetation program has been in operation in the Ordos Basin since the 1980s to control the problem of desertification (Wang et al. 2010;Zhang et al. 2016). It is observed that the expanded vegetation has led to increased ET (Feng et al. 2016;Han et al. 2020;Zhang et al. 2021). ...
Groundwater storage (GWS) decline, as well as total water storage (TWS) decline, in the (semi)arid Ordos Basin (China) poses great challenges to the water supply and ecological environment. In this study, the major factors causing the rapid loss of water storage during 2003–2020 are first investigated using correlation analysis, where the storage estimates are derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites. The major hydroclimatic drivers of monthly water storage changes are then explored among precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (ET), and runoff (RO) using an interpretable deep learning (IDL) method. The relative contribution of each driver is quantified by leveraging the interpretability nature of IDL. Results show that the GWS depletion (–0.82 cm/year) primarily accounts for the TWS loss (–0.73 cm/year) in the Ordos Basin under increased precipitation. The decreased TWS and GWS are both closely related to the increased vegetation density and coal production, indicating that they are the major drivers of the long-term water loss. At the monthly scale, the IDL method reveals that P and ET contribute over 75% to the changes of both TWS and GWS in most regions. The response lag of TWS to P and ET is generally 1–3 months. In contrast, GWS shows a more complicated response to P and ET with a longer lag range of 1–11 months in different regions due to the complicated Ordos Basin aquifer systems. These findings achieve a better understanding of hydrologic cycles and better guide sustainable water resources management in the Ordos Basin.
... This would lead to some negative ecological consequences, such as soil drying (Huang & Shao, 2019), groundwater decline (Cao, 2008;Wilske et al., 2009) and runoff loss (Cao et al., 2011). In the sandy areas of northern China, a large area of woody sand-fixing vegetation is expected to degrade or become extinct owing to the depletion of soil moisture and the reduction of groundwater (Cao, 2008;Wang et al., 2010). Second, there is an increasing trend of drought in dryland areas because drylands have a much fasterwarming trend than the global average (Lian et al., 2021). ...
Dryland area accounts for approximately 40% of worldwide land area, which plays a significant role in regulating the carbon sequestration capacity of land. Vegetation restoration in drylands adopted to prevent land degradation, and may also serve as a carbon sink in the earlier stage. However, the persistence of the carbon sink for the revegetated ecosystem in drylands is still unknown. Can the well‐established restoration vegetation in dryland areas serve as a carbon sink in long‐run? To address this question, we investigated the carbon sequestration capacity of planted vegetation in dryland areas with 13 years of observation (2009–2021) for established vegetation restoration, which began in 1989. We found that the revegetation area serves as a carbon sink in all years. The mean annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) is 91.61 ± 36.17 gC m ⁻² yr ⁻¹ (mean ± standard deviation). Annual NEP showed a significant increasing trend over the study period with a rate of 5.65 gC m ⁻² yr ⁻¹ yr ⁻¹ ( p < 0.05). The increase in spring temperature, the earlier start of net carbon uptake and the longer duration of net carbon uptake contribute to the gradual trend of NEP. The amount of annual NEP is predominantly determined by summer precipitation. Meanwhile, our results revealed that the increase in net carbon uptake by revegetation did not lead to excessive consumption of water resources. Our results have suggested that appropriate vegetation restoration in arid areas can increase ecosystem carbon sequestration over longer timescales and mitigate climate change, with relatively low environmental consequences and risks. Considering the vast area of degraded land in the global drylands, the carbon sequestration effect of this model should be given more attention.
... Large-scale tree planting and forest ecosystem restoration programs have been implemented in various regions across the world, such as the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact in Brazil ( (Crouzeilles et al., 2019);; http://www.pactomataatlantica.org.br/)), China's Grain for Green Program (Delang and Yuan, 2015), Rewilding Europe (Helmer et al., 2015), Three Norths Forest Shelterbelt in China (Wang et al., 2010), and Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Program (TBTTP) in Pakistan (MoCC, 2019). The TBTTP is one of the world's largest forest restoration projects with the aim of addressing ecological and environmental challenges, including climate change, deforestation, and water scarcity, by a nationwide plantation drive, wildlife protection and advocating sustainable development (TBTTP, 2023). ...
... Intensive afforestation and forest restoration measures have been launched since the mega-floods in 1998 exacerbated by soil erosion and siltation, which swept through many of the country's major rivers, including the Yangtze, Songhua, Nen, Min, and Pearl rivers (Du et al., 2019;Lang, 2002;Zhang & Wen, 2008). Moreover, afforestation and forest restoration programs have contributed to reducing China's long-standing issues with regional sand and dust storms in the dry north and rocky south arising from denudation and desertification (Bryan et al., 2018;Wang et al., 2010;World Bank, 2022). ...
Over the past three decades, China's government has implemented many projects under its ecological compensation policy, including paying compensation fees for habitat creation to redress natural habitat losses caused by development. However, a critical evaluation of both the policy design and its ecological outcomes, has not previously been carried out. We assemble diverse data sources to provide the first evaluation of China's eco‐compensation policy and practice, identifying several challenges. In policy, the pricing of forest restoration fees is insufficient in several provinces, and there is no requirement for use of biodiversity metrics or for ecological equivalence of compensation and losses. In practice, only 23% of a sample of 31 developments applied quantitative biodiversity metrics, and fewer than 1% of China's local governments have disclosed information regarding compensation implementation. Thus, to improve the validity of its compensation policy and practice to better secure biodiversity, China may need to embrace higher compensation standards, having first prevented ecological losses where possible. Equally important, China may also need to improve compensation governance for data tracking and conservation effectiveness monitoring.
... In particular, N.J.Middleton [3] described the danger of sand-and-dust storms on civil objects in his works; on urban infrastructure C.L.Zhang et al. [5]; on agricultural infrastructure X.M.Wang, C.X.Zhang, E.Hasi, Z.B.Dong [6]; highways J.H. Redding, J.A. Lord [7], railways L. Bruno, D. L. Fransos, A. Giudice, L. Raffaele [8]. ...
This article presents the results of theoretical studies to substantiate the optimal parameters of sand-proof structures and their influence on the amount of retained sand; to establish the nature of the distribution of air-sand flow when flowing around the roadbed of highways and the speed zone of this flow; the shapes and installation dimensions of sand-proof structures, as well as the nature of the drift of individual parts of the highway with sand. For clarity, the results are presented in the form of illustrations.
... However, findings from some assessments were not congruent with the ecological effects of these projects. For example, the decline and death of young trees caused by afforestation reflects ecological adaptability (Wang et al. 2010;Cai et al. 2020;Middleton 2018). Hence, local conditions and the combination of artificial management with natural restoration must be prioritised to effectively control SDSs. ...
According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15.3), frequent sand and dust storms (SDSs) in the spring are a long-term challenge to the prevention and control of land degradation on the Mongolian plateau. In this study, MODIS remote sensing data are used to monitor and analyse SDS events on the Mongolian Plateau. The annual distribution of spring SDSs (March to May) from 2000 to 2021 are obtained based on the dust storm detection index. The overall classification accuracy is 85.24% and the kappa coefficient is 0.7636. Results show a decrease in the overall frequency of SDS events, where storm events in 2000–2010 are significantly higher than those in the second decade. The cross-border regions between China and Mongolia appear to be SDS intensity centers, particularly those in southern Mongolia. Precipitation exhibits a strong negative correlation with the area affected by SDS, and the correlation coefficient is – 0.72. The increase in barren and sand contributes primarily to the increase in SDS, whereas wind prevention and sand control projects undertaken by the Mongolian and Chinese governments promote regional restoration. Policies pertaining to cross-board sandstorm responses on the Mongolian Plateau are recommended.
... Furthermore, damage to the plant leaf tissue due to sandblasting affects the overall growth and performance of the plants and consequently impacts agricultural production (Stefanski and Sivakumar 2009). Infrastructure is also affected by deflation in near-source areas, where the entrainment and transport of large quantities of particles occur (Huszar and Piper 1986;Wang et al. 2010). For example, in Kuwait, the annual cost of removing sand and dust from roads is $9.36 million annually (Al-Hemoud et al. 2019). ...
Sand and dust storms (SDS) are a major disruptor in both the source areas where they occur and at distant locations. This critical review aims to address the question of whether mitigation and adaptation measures have been or can be implemented and what is the optimal scale of their implementation to negate the impacts of SDS in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR)? Measures which differ in approach are also assessed by recording their successes, failures, and future challenges. We conclude that developing and implementing appropriate mitigation or adaptation measures for SDS at the local level is feasible but, at a wider scale, is a new challenge. This challenge is even more complex in areas like the EMR and the SDS sources affecting it, as it is a crossroad of air masses originating from three major SDS areas, which exhibit economic, political, and social diversity. This review also aims to identify successful mitigation strategies that have been used for similar environmental issues and to draw attention to the lack of adaptation measures in the region. This critical synthesis will serve as a guide for public stakeholders considering measures to mitigate or adapt to SDS based on their effectiveness and the area of implementation.
Sandstorms, exacerbated by global warming and distinct from industrial sources of air pollution, have significant detrimental effects on various socio‐economic factors. However, evidence of their impact on agricultural production and the adaptation strategies employed by farmers remains limited. This paper estimates the impacts of sandstorms on crop yields and examines the associated adaptation strategies. Using data from 288 counties in China's winter wheat production regions spanning 2000 to 2007, we uncover a substantial 14.8% reduction in winter wheat yields in northern China due to sandstorms. Each additional hour of sandstorm during the winter wheat growing season corresponds to a 1.4% decrease in yield. Household‐level data further reveal that sandstorms not only threaten food security by reducing crop yields, but also lead to a significant decrease in planted areas. Furthermore, we find that farmers increase their investments in fertilizer and labor as adaptation measures to mitigate the negative impacts of sandstorms on crop yields. Our results suggest that timely irrigation following a sandstorm, especially in areas with less precipitation, can effectively mitigate its adverse effects, offering valuable insights for reducing the economic impact of sandstorm events. These findings underscore the need for adaptive strategies to safeguard agricultural productivity in the face of increasing sandstorm risks, offering valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders engaged in agricultural resilience planning.
Aeolian-driven sand dune erosion is an escalating environmental and socioeconomic challenge in arid and semi-arid deserts, particularly in the Thar Desert, which faces intensified dune migration due to climate change and increased anthropogenic activities. This article provides a comprehensive review of sand dune fixation (SDF) strategies in the Thar Desert, evaluating their effectiveness in mitigating the adverse impacts of dune erosion. The review begins by examining globally adopted SDF measures, followed by a focused analysis of the Thar Desert’s geomorphology, dune evolution, and the reactivation of dunes driven by climatic shifts and anthropogenic pressures. The article reviews aeolian soil dynamics, dune soil characteristics, and the limitations of existing SDF strategies in the region. Western Rajasthan districts including Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, and Jodhpur are highlighted, where wind-driven dune mobility has reached alarming levels. A field-based pilot study at a solar park in western Rajasthan suggests that surface treatments like stone mulching with cement mortar improve dune stability, particularly on sloped dunes. Additionally, Khejri tree plantations are identified as a sustainable long-term solution due to their deep root systems and minimal water requirements. Despite these promising findings, the review identifies significant gaps in current research, including a lack of field-based investigations, aerodynamic considerations, scalable mechanical solutions, and grain-scale or dune morphology studies. Furthermore, the integration of climate change models in evaluating dune dynamics remains insufficient. This article advocates for a holistic, multidisciplinary approach combining geomorphology, wind engineering, and climate science to develop effective dune migration control strategies and calls for urgent research to address these critical gaps.
The severe storms are the disturbed state of the atmosphere and could come in the forms of thunderstorms, squall lines, cloudbursts, tornadoes, hail, tropical cyclones, typhoons, hurricanes, windstorms, dust and sand storms, winter storms, blizzards, etc. They can be understood and analyzed through meteorological observations and derived information. Besides, they could be represented through a numerical weather model to study the associated physical processes, meteorological characteristics and dynamics. However, the advancement in understanding indicates a role of large scale synoptic conditions and ocean and land feedback in governing these regional and local storms. Also, they show climatological variability and a connection to the changing climate. While the whole globe experiences such storms depending upon their geographical relevance, severity depends upon the prevailing meteorological conditions, and strength of the land and ocean feedbacks. South Asia and India experiences most of these storms and the associated characteristics are found to be altering with a changing climate in this region. Based on the geographical relevance, some of these storms exhibited primarily in South Asia and India are described and discussed in this chapter.
The Desert oasis ecotone (DOE) protects the oasis from wind and sand intrusion, thereby playing a crucial role in controlling desertification. However, there is limited knowledge about how DOE functions in windproof and sand-fixation. Therefore this study employs a three-dimensional (3D) laser scanner to monitor surface accumulation and erosion, and through field observations, collects data on wind profiles, grain size, and sand transport rates to uncover the role of DOE in aeolian sand protection. The results indicate that, compared to the desert area, the wind speed and sand transport rate decreased by 39.8% and 44.64% respectively in the DOE, while the friction velocity u* increased by 18. 51% and roughness Z0 increased by 8 times. The average grain size gradually diminished from desert area to DOE, and the sorting worsened. Observations show that in both desert area and DOE, wind erosion pits form on the windward side and dunes on the leeward side. The volume of sand accumulation shows an exponential increase with wind speed, while the erosion volume decreases linearly in the desert and sand barrier fence zones. The DOE effectively mitigated wind speed and the sand flow entering the oasis, demonstrating a remarkable windproof and sand-fixation effect. This study can provide important references for the establishment and optimization of protective systems in DOE.
Four polyacrylate materials with different mass ratios of soft and rigid segment were made by semi-continuous pre-emulsified seed emulsion polymerization. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA) were used as soft and rigid segments, and acrylic acid (AA) was used as the functional segment. The composite emulsifiers were composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and alkylphenol polyoxyethylene ether (OP-10). In this study, we successfully fabricated polyacrylate (PA). The morphology of the latex particles was spherical, with a diameter of ∼200 nm. With the increase of BA content, the glass transition temperature ( T g ) of PA decreased. The PA curing agent could significantly improve the soil’s mechanical property and water resistance. The compressive strength of PA-1 solidified soil increased to 2.67 MPa, which 187 % higher than the pure soil sample (PA-0). Meanwhile, PA-1 solidified soil would not break down after being immersed in water for 30 days. This indicated that PA emulsion had an efficient solidification ability and a good water resistance, which was beneficial to sand fixation and slope protection.
Anthropogenic activities like trade facilitate increasing rates of biological invasions. Asian long-horned beetle (ALB), which is naturally distributed in eastern Asia (China, Korean peninsula), was introduced via wood packing materials (WPM) used in trade to North America (1996) and Europe (2001). We used 7810 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived by a genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) approach to decipher the introduction patterns into Europe. This is applied for the first time on European ALB outbreaks from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, both from still active and already eradicated infestations. The genome-wide SNPs detected signs of small and highly structured populations within Europe, showing clear founder effects. The very high population differentiation is presumably derived from multiple independent introductions to Europe, which are spatially restricted in mating. By admixture and phylogenetic analyses, some cases of secondary dispersal were observed. Furthermore, some populations suggest admixture, which might have been originated by either multiple introductions from different sources into the new sites or recurrent introductions from an admixed source population. Our results confirmed a complex invasion history of the ALB into Europe and the usability of GBS obtained SNPs in invasion science even without source populations.
Disaster is any natural and man-made (anthropogenic) adverse event that results in mass destruction and the ecosystem as a whole. Disasters like catastrophes, earthquakes, avalanches, cyclones, droughts, landslides, floods, hailstorms and fires occur worldwide due to deforestation, climate change, mining activity, soil erosion and tectonic movements. Moreover, these disasters not only limit crop production but also decline the quality of the soil. In this regard, numerous management measures have been adopted to regulate or control all forms of disasters by maintaining soil properties, i.e., soil texture, soil water and soil aggregation. Further, soil quality is improved and exhibits resilience to disasters when soil properties are suitable. Therefore, assessment of soil quality is crucial to improve crop production and conservation of natural resources and can help as a tool for agricultural executives and policymakers to gain a better understanding of how the soil properties reduce or minimize the risk of disasters. This chapter summarizes the accessible information regarding the role of soil science, particularly soil properties, in mitigating all kinds of disasters. In addition, it also describes the conservation of soil resources to control or minimize the chances of disasters in future.
The economic and environmental impacts of persistent droughts in East Asia are of growing concern, and therefore it is important to study the cyclicity and causes of these regional droughts. The self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI) has been extensively employed to describe the severity of regional drought, and several scPDSI reconstructions based on tree rings have been produced. We compiled a tree-ring chronology for Hailar pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) from two sites in the Hailar region in the upper Heilongjiang (Amur) River basin. Analysis of the climate response revealed that scPDSI was the primary factor limiting tree ring growth from May to July. The mean May to July scPDSI in the Hailar region since 1796 was reconstructed from the tree-ring width chronology. The results of spatial correlation analysis revealed that the reconstructed scPDSI in this region responded significantly to climate change. Analysis of the synoptic climatology indicated that the drought in the upper Heilongjiang (Amur) River basin is closely related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Silk Road teleconnection. The results of atmospheric water cycle analysis show that water vapor transport processes are the dominant factor in the development of drought in this region.
Urban growth is recognized as the conversion of vegetated surface to built-up surface. However, there is still no consensus about the urbanization-induced dynamic of vegetation greenness in view of existing literatures. In this study, we aimed to empirically investigate whether urban growth mean the loss of vegetation greenness. We selected 340 Chinese cities as the study areas, relied on consistent multi-temporal remotely sensed data and adopted linear regression analysis, annual growth area, Tail-Sen slope and Mann-Kendall models. Results show that although vegetation greening generally lagged behind urban growth in the monitoring period, a tendency of their consistent speeding up can be observed over time. By categorizing four forms and four trends of vegetation greenness dynamics related to urban growth, we revealed the diversity of Chinese cities. The former focused on the velocity of urban growth and vegetation greenness dynamics within newly urbanized area in three phases, i.e., 2003-2008, 2008-2013 and 2013-2018. The latter focused on the interannual trends of vegetation greenness dynamics among the previously existing and newly urbanized areas. The key finding is that, in over 85 % of the cities, we measured an increase of vegetation greenness along with urban growth. In addition, our detailed results allow quantifying the impact of urbanization in Chinese cities on vegetation protection and sustainable development.
Dünyadaki artan nüfus ve enerji ihtiyacı hızlı kentleşme ve endüstriyel faaliyetlerin
artmasıyla sonuçlanmaktadır. Kentsel yayılımın artması ve sanayi bölgelerinin
kentlerdeki kapladığı alanların genişlemesi doğal alanlardaki tahribatı arttırmakta ve
kentsel peyzaj üzerinde ciddi bir baskı oluşturmaktadır. Bu baskının getirdiği olumsuz
etkileri önlemek için kentlerdeki hidrolojik ağ sistemleri ve açık yeşil alanlar gibi
doğal unsurların korunması ve planlanması kentler için kritik önem taşıyan bir
konudur. Özellikle kentsel akarsular, dinamik yapıları ve biyoçeşitlilik anlamındaki
zenginlikleriyle kent dokusu içinde tatlı su ekosistemini temsil etmektedirler.
Sağladıkları servislerle kentteki yaşam kalitesini arttırmakta ve kentteki ekolojik
dengenin sürdürülebilirliğine katkıda bulunmaktadırlar. Aynı zamanda sahip oldukları
akarsu kenarı bitki örtüleriyle de kentsel yeşil ağ sisteminin önemli koridorları olmakta
ve sistemin bağlayıcı unsuru haline gelmektedirler. Ancak günümüzde yoğun
yapılaşma, kirlilik ve uygun olmayan imar uygulamaları gibi çeşitli nedenlerle baskıya
maruz kalmaları nedeni ile kentlerdeki devamlılığı yok olan kentsel akarsular, yeşil ağ
sistemininde bağlayıcı unsur olma görevlerini yerine getirememektedirler. Bu sebeple,
kentlerdeki su kaynaklarının ve açık yeşil alanların sürdürülebilirliğinin ve kentlerdeki
ekolojik dengenin devamlılığının sağlanması için akarsuların maruz kaldıkları
baskılardan kurtarılması ve kentsel yeşil alanlarla entegre edilerek kentlere yeniden
kazandırılması gerekmektedir.
Bu çalışmada, Bursa kentinin ana su kaynağı olan Nilüfer Çayı’nın kentteki yeşil ağ
sistemi ile arasındaki ilişkinin güçlendirilmesi, çayın sahip olduğu doğal sisteminin
kent içerisinde de devamlılığının sağlanması, kentteki görünürlülüğünün arttırılması
ile ekolojik ve kültürel olarak kente yeniden kazandırılması için stratejilerin
geliştirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu bağlamda tezin ilk aşamasında, kent ve akarsu
ilişkisini ve akarsu ve kentsel yeşil ağ sistemi ilişkisini ortaya koyan literatür
araştırmaları yapılarak, örnek alan çalışmaları incelenmiştir. Tezin ikinci aşamasında
ise Nilüfer Çayı’nın kent içinde sahip olduğu farklı karakterlerin ortaya konulması, bu
karakter alanlar ile kent arasındaki ilişkide ortaya çıkan sorunların irdelenmesi ve
ortaya çıkan her karakter alanın sahip olduğu problemlerin ve mevcut potansiyellerin
tespit edilmesi için analizler yapılmıştır. Üçüncü aşamada özellikle kentsel ve kent
çeperi bağlamında ortaya çıkan yeşil koridordaki kopukluğun giderilmesi, diğer
bağlamlarda da yeşil dokunun güçlenmesi ve Nilüfer Çayı koridoru için doğduğu
kaynaktan döküldüğü Susurluk Çayı’na varana kadarki süreçte sağlıklı bir yapının
oluşturulması amacıyla stratejiler geliştirilmiştir.
Çalışma, Nilüfer Çayı için kapsamlı bir karakter analizi sunarak, ortaya çıkan karakter
alanlardaki mevcut problemlere yönelik çözüm stratejileri getirmeyi hedeflemiştir.
Bursa kentinin yeşil ağ sisteminin güçlendirilmesi için tasarım stratejileri geliştiren ve bu tasarım stratejilerini sistematik bir çerçevede toplayan ilk araştırma olan çalışmanın Bursa’daki tüm akarsu koridorları için bir örnek teşkil edeceği öngörülmektedir.
Time-series analysis of soil water storage (SWS) can provide important information on critical hydrological variability related to soil water recharge, retention, and vegetation water consumption, all of which are highly non-linear and non-stationary, making mining and analysis extremely challenging. In this study, Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition (MEMD) was used to separate and analyze time-series data on soil moisture, soil temperature, and meteorological factors in three different land types (bare land [BL], grassland [GL], and shrubland [SL]) in the Mu Us Desert, Shaanxi Province, China. Path analysis was then used to reveal the driving force of periodic variability in SWS after decomposition. Using daily SWS data, two new indicators, evapo-transpiration capacity (K e) and rainfall interception capacity (K p), were also proposed in order to improve the accuracy of soil water conservation capacity calculation. The results revealed strong time-persistent memory of SWS in all land types, with hydrological periodic variability mainly reflected on a monthly scale (34-45 d). The greatest memory period was observed in SL followed by BL and GL. Subsequent path analysis suggested that dry-wet alternation (R 2 =0.32-0.48) driven by interactions between precipitation, solar radiation, and saturated vapor pressure were the main causes of SWS variability in the summer. While, freeze-thaw cycles (R 2 =0.73-0.86) driven by the soil temperature and meteorological factors were the main causes of SWS variability in winter. In the root zone (0-150 cm), the water conservation capacity of BL, GL, and SL was 139.24, 38.24, and 24.76 mm/y, respectively. In addition, the K e /K p values and MEMD residual component revealed that SL has greater potential for water conservation than GL. Overall, these findings suggest that in order to conserve local groundwater aquifers, areas of BL require appropriate protection in arid regions. The results of this study provide a basis for future analyses of soil moisture variability and water conservation in arid regions.
The dust storm of April 14-17, 1998 in China was mainly associated
with the frontal systems and the Mongolia cyclonic depression, which
caused heavy dust fall at Beijing on April 16. In nearly fifteen hours,
approximately 38.3 g/m² of dust fell on Beijing. This dust storm
was of strong intensity, long duration, and with a wide coverage; it not
only affected southern Mongolia and the central and southeastern China,
but also the North Pacific Ocean. The source areas of the dust storm
were from the Gobi areas of southern Mongolia and the Gobi and desert
areas of Inner Mongolia, China. This dust storm is a good example of
long-range transport and deposition of airborne materials, which
provides a useful analogue for studying the dust sources and deposition
in the geological record.
Arid and semiarid China have experienced multiple arid phases throughout the Quaternary, and over the past five decades, there have been several periods with relatively high or low rates of desertification and rehabilitation. The causes of these changes and their historical trends have been debated by scientists because of their potentially huge significance for China, as well as for the global ecology and food supply. This paper reviews recent studies of desertification in different regions of arid and semiarid China. In general, the results of systematic monitoring, and analyses of the causes of desertification and the contemporaneous human impacts, suggest that desertification in China has been primarily caused by climate change, and particularly by strong wind regimes (with high sand transport potential) accompanied by decreased spring precipitation. Unfortunately, although numerous scientists have claimed that desertification in China is primarily due to human impacts; there is surprisingly little unassailable evidence to support this claim. The review presented in this paper show that desertification in China is likely to be controlled by climate change and geomorphological processes, even though human impacts have undeniably exacerbated their effects. Our arguments for both climate change and human activity as factors responsible for the observed changes in desertification rely primarily on inferences based on correlations between trends, thus future research must seek stronger and more direct evidence for the causal relationships that we have proposed as possibilities. This improved information is essential to provide a firm basis for future policy decisions on how best to combat desertification.
Results of a comparative analysis of a 4-year set of monthly samples of airfall dust with samples from surface alluvial fan deposits, desert sand dunes and late Pleistocene loess and palaeosols in Gansu Province, northern China, are summarized. They suggest a qualification of the conventional view that the sand deserts were the primary single source of the Quaternary loess. It is argued that silts deflated from the surfaces of the large and numerous piedmont alluvial fans in the Hexi Corridor, Gansu, constituted a major contribution to the loess column in the western region of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The present dust fall regime in the Hexi Corridor suggests that distribution and rate of accumulation of airfall silt in the present interglacial is similar to that in parts of the Pleistocene loess record.
By analyses of the dust layers in the Malan ice core from the northern Tibetan Plateau, it was found that dirty ratio in this
core might be a good proxy for dust event frequency. The variations in the dirty ratio displayed a decrease trend over the
past 200 years, which implies that dust events became less frequent during the study period. The decrease trend in the variations
in dust event frequency might be caused mostly by the natural processes, including increasing precipitation and weakening
westerly which might be related with global warming. Furthermore, significant negative correlation was found between the dirty
ratio and °18O in the Malan ice core. This is highly important for studying the effect of atmospheric dust on climate change.
This paper focuses on the evolution of Greenway planning and implementation in China, and provides a historical context to the Greenway concept. It was found that:(1)Although the concept of Greenway was an adaptation from the Western World, the Chinese have a history of more than 2000 years of Greenway planning and implementation. Chinese Greenways have been called various names and were planned for various reasons.(2)The long history of Greenway planning and implementation in China was mainly a “top-down” approach, which, while very effective under a centralized administrative system, often lacked a scientific basis and significant public participation.(3)The functions of the Greenways were mainly protection and productive, with little concern for human uses such recreational uses of cycling and hiking.Greenways in China are discussed chronologically and in three categories:(1)Riparian Greenways run along rivers, streams and water channels. The history of these Greenways dates more than 2000 years, since a time when trees were grown along canals and city moats. They have in modern times evolved into a network of drainage channels.(2)Greenways along transportation corridors. These Greenways run parallel to state and provincial highways, railroads, country roads and urban streets and evolved from tree plantings along highways. Used exclusively by emperors, the green corridor networks have been systematically planned and constructed at a national scale and directly organized by the central government.(3)Greenways along farmland for wind protection. These plantings evolved from individual segments of windbreak rows to a network of protective windbreaks and the large, regional scale “Green Great Wall” project running along the northern edge of China.As Greenways have evolved in China, they reflect changes in ideology, utilization and scale; from protection of production or beautification to ecological and multiple uses, and from small-scale fragments to a systematic regional and national network. The occurrence of disasters, the involvement of state leaders and the influence of science played an important role in the evolution of Greenways in China.The paper also argues that:•the traditional top-down approach in Greenway planning and implement should be integrated with scientifically based methods;•recreational uses should be considered and integrated into existing and planned Greenways;•the recently invoked “city beautiful”, or cosmetic approach to Greenway planning and implementation should be stopped; and•Greenways should be planned as an critical strategic element of ecological infrastructure at both the regional and urban scale during current rapid and extensive urbanization occurring in China.
T raditional Chinese approaches to ecosystem restoration have focused on affores-tation as an important tool for controlling desertification. However, the long-term results of this practice increasingly show that these projects are actually increasing environmental degradation in arid and semiarid regions, with ecosystems deteriorating and wind erosion increasing. Rather than focusing solely on affores-tation, it would be more effective to focus on re-creating natural ecosystems that are more suitable for local environments and that can thus provide a better chance of combating desertification. Arid and semiarid regions make up ~40% of the earth's land surface and are home to ~20% of the human population, but these areas are increasingly being affected by desertification (1). A half-century policy of forest exploitation, livestock overgraz-Trenches were dug parallel to the contours during planting to prevent downslope erosion and collect slope runoff for the trees. The decreased vegetation cover can offset this advantage by increasing wind erosion.
Shrubs are widely distributed in "Three Norths' of China, being an important component of shelter-forest systems. Based on the investigations and analyses of distribution, growing status, biomass, main nutrient in leaves and calorific value of 10 or so species of shrubs in Wulanaodu experimental area (which locates in the western end of Keerxing desert), quantitative evaluations of the efficiencies of shrubs for shelter, forage, fuel and weave are made in this paper. -English summary
Purpose of this article is to evaluate the climatic and ecological effects of protection forest in surrounding green land area, of west Wulanbuhe Desert in Inner Mongolia, analyze change tendency of climatic and ecological effects with forest cover rate change during prior, first and second phases to construction of the "Three North" protection forest. The results show that (1) change of protection forest influence calamity climatic factor (wind speed, gale days, raising sand days, and sand storm days). Protective forest produce protective screen effect. (2) change of protection forest can't influence routine climatic factor (temperature, humidity, precipitation, continue dry days, and frost season), because those climatic factors are control mainly by atmospheric circulation.
Sandy desertification is a major kind of land desertification in the world. According to our research and practice on land degradation in northern China for nearly 30 years, we define the sandy desertification is land degradation mainly resulted from the human impacts through wind erosion in the arid, semiarid and sub-humid regions in northern China. The results of monitoring, based on remote sensing and GIS, show that the total area of sandy desertified land was 38.57×104 km2 in 2000, of which the slight and potential lands were 13.93×104 km2, moderate land was 9.977×104 km2, severe and very severe lands were 7.909×104 km2 and 6.756×104 km2. The sandy desertified land is mainly distributes in the interlacing agro-pastoral region, grassland, semiarid rainfed cropland and oasis irrigated cropland regions. To compare the analytical results of remote sensing data in the late 1950s, 1975, 1987 and 2000, we summarize that the development of sandy desertified land in northern China had been accelerated for the last 5 decades, as its annual expanded rate was 1 560 km2 during the late 1950s and 1975, 2 100 km2 between 1975 and 1987 and 3 600 km2 from 1987 to 2000. The whole situation of sandy desertification comes to depravation and only part of it had been controlled. While most parts of regions had been suffered continually by the spread of sandy desertified land, some desertified areas in the interlacing agro-pastoral region and rainfed cropland region had been improved to be avail farmland and grassland resulted ftom favorable policy and patterns of landuse, which proved that the process of sandy desertified land could be managed when the fashion and intension of landuse come to be reasonable.
Vast belts of forest planted across the northern arid lands of China, called ``The Great Green Wall,'' are probably one of the most aggressive weather modification programs in the twentieth century. The purpose is to reduce eolian transport of dust from the Gobi Desert. Preliminary data indicate a negative trend in dust-storm frequency and duration since the 1960s. Effects on atmospheric radiation and cloud microphysics appear to be statistically insignificant in the studied period. However, only time can show any long-term impact on our environment.
Sand desert developmental trend in China was revealed for the first time using maps, remote sensing and field investigation methods. The general evolutional trend of sand desert in China is the slowly developing reclamation and oasisification with a rate of 445 km2 year−1; in the meantime, it is also continuing to expand at a rate of 310 km2 year−1, and in the coming 50 years sand lands in east China will be gradually fixed.
Climate data from 339 meteorological stations collected from the 1950s to the early 2000s was employed to discuss aeolian activity in arid and semiarid northern China. The results show that at decadal time scales, erosivity varied greatly in this region. Most of arid and semiarid northern China was characterised by environments with moderate to low wind energy. After the 1980s, the erosivity was only 20 to 50% of that beforehand, and this difference had a significant impact on the environmental changes observed during the two periods. The dune mobility index was consistent with the observed dune activity. After the 1980s dune activity decreased and in some deserts with vegetated dune systems during the 1970s most of the dune plinths were active until the 1980s, after which only the crests were active. Some mobile dunes that had developed at the margins of mobile deserts were replaced by semi-anchored or anchored dunes. Because most desert areas with vegetated dune systems in arid and semiarid northern China are used for farming or grazing, the results of our monitoring show that the desertification trends were consistent with the trends in erosivity and dune activity in this region. Desertification was controlled much more by climatic changes than has previously been acknowledged, and especially by fluctuations in wind energy.
Many previous studies have attributed the degradation in the Mu Us Desert in China to many centuries of human activity. The present study includes analysis of proxies of human activity such as arable land area, population and livestock number, and variations of precipitation, evaporation, temperature, sand-driving wind and dust events, covering the period since 1950. It is demonstrated that desertification and vegetation rehabilitation during this period were principally related to the climatic variation, especially correlated to sand-driving winds. It also suggests that the desert evolution in the past 2000 years was controlled by climate change rather than human activity. Although human activity was significant in the desert evolution processes over the past 50 years, the impacts seems to be overestimated in previous studies. Desertification and desert evolution in the Mu Us Desert are mainly in response to climatic trends and fluctuations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Minqin Oasis and its adjacent regions in northern China experienced significant desertification beginning 2,000years
ago and continuing to the present, and numerous studies have claimed that human activities, especially the flourishing of
agriculture, have played a major role in environmental change in this region. Our analysis suggests that the observed desertification
was mainly controlled by changes in the water component of the ecosystem and the arid climate. The impacts of cultivation
on desertification from 2,000years ago to the mid-1900s appear to have been relatively minor compared to the impacts of the
area’s arid climate and its native geomorphological processes. Although human activity has increased from the late-1940s to
the present, and the areas of the oasis reclaimed for agriculture have reached a maximum, desertification over the past 50years
appears to be a continuing process that began thousands of years ago, and is mainly controlled by decreasing water levels
caused by the arid climate, local geomorphological processes and overuse of water in the upstream. Although both human activities
and climate variation are important drivers of the desertification process, and it is not possible to completely separate
the human influence from the climate impact, key factors on controlling desertification should be investigated before we place
the blame solely on the flourishing of agriculture in this region.
In order to document the status and causes of desertification development in the Mu Us Sandland located in the agro-pastoral transitional zone in northern China, we interpreted and analysed satellite images, historical maps, meteorological and socio-economic data to assess landscape change from the 1950s to the 1990s. During the intervening 35-year period, landscapes have changed significantly in this area. The shifting and semi-fixed sandy lands have increased by 540,915·3 and 399,302·2 ha, respectively, and now cover 44·53% and 21·44% of the area of the Mu Us Sandland, in the meantime the fixed sandy land has decreased by 572,130·6 ha and covers only 7·22% of the sandland. The rate of desertification in the middle and northwest, where there is only pasture, is much higher than that in the east and south, where farmland and pasture exist together. In most of the sandland, desertification has developed rapidly, while rehabilitation of vegetation has occurred only in marginal areas in the east and south. The main causes of desertification development in the Mu Us Sandland are intensified and irrational human activities, such as over-reclaiming, over-grazing and over-cutting.
This paper discusses the sources, spatial distribution, frequency and trend of dust storms in China. Most dust storms in China originate from one of three geographic areas: the Hexi (River West) Corridor and western Inner Mongolia Plateau, the Taklimakan Desert, and the central Inner Mongolia Plateau. Dust is most likely from deteriorated grasslands, Gobi, alluvial, lacustrine sediments and wadis at the outer edge of deserts. But deserts themselves contribute only slightly to the dust storm directly. Two geographic areas frequently have dust storms: one is in the western Tarim Basin, a ground surface of deteriorated land and wadi, but it only affects its neighboring areas, and the other one is in the western Inner Mongolia Plateau, a ground surface of Gobi, alluvial and lacustrine sediments, but it causes most of the dust storms in north China. Generally speaking, dust storms have reduced in most regions of China from the 1950 to 2000. Dust storms are highly correlated with human activities and climate changes.
Many previous studies have attributed desertification in semiarid China over the past 50 years to over-grazing, over-reclamation, land misuse, and population pressures. The present study, which covers the period from the 1950s to the early 2000s, includes an analysis of proxies for human activity, such as the area of arable land, number of livestock, and population size, and of variations in climatic indices, such as precipitation, evaporation, temperature, frequency of sand-driving winds, and drift potential, to evaluate the key contributors to desertification or rehabilitation in this region. We demonstrate that although human activities and anthropogenic pressures have both promoted desertification, two climatic indices (drift potential and the frequency of sand-driving winds) had a much stronger effect than has been appreciated in previous research. The impact of human activity on environmental change may thus have been overestimated in previous studies.
The degree to which dust emissions are controlled by geomorphic conditions, wind environments and land use was investigated using the dust storm frequency (DSF) and data from more than 300 meteorological stations throughout northern China. Our analysis showed that most dust emissions originated in gobi deserts that developed in piedmont alluvial fans of the Kunlun, Qilian and Helan mountains. Dust emissions are low from other gobi desert regions, such as the northern Gurbantunggut and eastern Taklimakan, where high vegetation coverage restrained dust emissions or where dust-size particles are not abundant after a long period of strong wind erosion. Sandy deserts with relatively high vegetation coverage or an extensive cover by mobile sands are not a major dust source. Although the highest dust emissions did not appear in regions with the highest wind energy, DSF trends in each region from 1960 to 2003 were closely related to local wind activity. DSF was low in regions with high levels of human activity, where the mean DSF from 1960 to 2003 did not exceed 4 days/year; even from the 1960s to the early 1970s, the period with the greatest DSF, frequency did not exceed 8 days/year, which indicates that extensive land use did not contribute to DSF. The low DSF in these areas might result from the fact that although land use could produce abundant fine soil fractions, vegetation coverage and soil moisture remained higher than in the gobi deserts of arid China, thereby decreasing dust-storm occurrence.
Up to 91-layer arachidic acid (AA) LB (Langmuir–Blodgett) films containing photofunctional molecules, tris(1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) chloride hexahydrat (Ru(II)), were deposited by using Ru(II) aqueous solution as a subphase without any other ions. The AA LB films on Ru(II) subphase was characterized by the UV–visible, photo-induced emission spectra and low angle X-ray diffraction. Both absorption and fluorescence spectra have shown that the LB films have good optical properties in visible region. As many as five Bragg's diffraction peaks were observed in the 2θ angle range of 1 to 10°, indicating that the LB films have good arrangement with the Ru(II) ions on the end of the AA chain homogeneously.
With the start of economic reforms in 1978, China's forest sector was caught up in a whirlwind of change. It began with the devolution of forest tenures in rural areas, but led to reform of state-owned forest enterprises via introduction of stumpage fees and liberalized forest product prices. From the early 1990s to 1998, while China increasingly embraced the market economy, the nation's natural forests continued to be depleted despite repeated emphasis on sustainable development. Then, in the wake of the 1998 floods in the Yangtze River basin, there was a shift in focus from timber production to environmental protection, with policy redirected toward the rehabilitation of damaged forest ecosystems, afforestation in desertified and degraded areas, and a ban on logging in natural forests. We provide an overview of the central themes of reform in China's forestry sector, identify the major factors that influenced policy formulation, and show that the outcomes of China's forest policy changes in the aggregate represent a paradigm shift.
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