Sandy desertification trend in western Northeast China Plain in the past 10 years

The west sandy land of the Northeast China Plain is located in the eastern huge sandy belt of mid-latitude in Eurasia and the eastern fringe of desertified land with best bio-climatic conditions in China. Over-extensive regional development has made the desertified landscape very obvious, especially in Horqin Sandy Land where desertification is more serious than that in Hushandake Sandy Land with worse bio-climatic conditions. There were some researches on the desertification in western No…     

吉林省西部土地沙化动态变化

The sandy land of the western part of Jilin Province is located in the ecotone of semi-humid and semi-arid area in the temperate zone of China. The sandy desertification has widely spread in the region because of the vulnerable natural conditions and the unreasonable human activity; as a result of this, the precious land resources and the economic development in the area have been seriously impacted. In this paper, the sandy land ecologic environment geographic information system is established based on the multi-spectral, multi-temporal Landsat TM images and field investigation. The comprehensive indexes of sandy desertification extent assessment which include vegetation degradation, wind erosion extent and soil depth are presented to classify the sandy land in western Jilin into three levels--slight, moderate and severe sandy desertification with the support of GIS platform. The results demonstrate that the sandy desertification has been partly controlled in the past twenty years, except some small sites. However, this doesn‘t necessarily mean that there is nothing for more concern. The two main causes of sandy desertification have not been eliminated yet, one is its natural factor, especially the physical and chemical characters of sandy soil and dry climate; another is the immoderate economic activity of human being that has highly accelerated the sandy desertification process.     

The causes and processes responsible for rocky desertification in karst areas of southern China

The karst region of southern China is a fragile ecological zone with widespread rocky desertification. This paper describes the rocky desertification occurring in this region in terms of both natural and anthropogenic factors. During geological time periods, the region’s changing environment governed the natural rocky desertification processes, whereas during historical and modern times, anthropogenic processes have been superimposed on these natural processes. Human activities have accelerated and exacerbated rocky desertification. The period from the beginning to the middle of the Qing dynasty was an important transitional period in which human activities began to exert a particularly strong influence on rocky desertification. Since then, the effect of anthropogenic factors has increasingly exceeded the effect of natural factors. The rocky desertification process in southern China’s karst region combines surface ecological processes (including vegetation degradation and loss, soil erosion, surface water loss, and bedrock solution) with a reduction of the land’s biological productivity, leading to degradation that produces rocky desert. Controlling rocky desertification requires comprehensive development of sustainable agriculture and economic development that provides employment alternatives to agriculture and thereby promotes the rehabilitation of rocky desertified land.     

Development of land use transitions research in China

With the introduction of the concept of land use transition into China, related researches have been carried out extensively in the past two decades, which enrich the knowledge of land system science. This paper describes the development of research on land use transitions in China from the perspectives of conceptual connotations, theoretical model, research methods, and research progress and prospects. With the in-depth investigation of land use transitions, the concept and connotations of land use morphology are developed and encapsulated as two kinds, i.e., dominant morphology and recessive morphology. The dominant morphology refers to the land use structure of a certain region over a certain period of time, with features such as the quantity and spatial pattern of land use types. While the recessive morphology includes the land use features in the aspects of quality, property rights, management mode, input, output and function. Accordingly, the concept of land use transition is further developed, and the theoretical model of regional land use transitions is established. Thereafter, three innovative integrated approaches to study land use transitions are put forward, i.e., multidisciplinary research framework for recessive land use transition, transect and horizontal comparison. To date, there have been 62 Ph.D. and 166 M.S. dissertations on the topic of "land use transition" in China. During 2002–2019, the National Natural Science Foundation of China has funded 48 research programs on the theme of "land use transition". As such, the Chinese scholars have adapted the concept derived from western literature to the situations and experiences in China.     

Assessment of sandy desertification trends in the Shule River Basin from 1978 to 2010

Sandy desertification in the Shule River Basin has expanded dramatically during the past 30 years. We evaluated the status, evolution, and main causes of sandy desertification by interpreting Landsat images which were acquired in 1978, 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010, and analyzing the relevant meteorological data. The results show there was 3,477.95 km2, 3,733.32 km2, 3,620.29 km2, 3,565.65 km2, and 3,557.88 km2 of sandy desertified land in 1978, 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010, respectively. From 1978 to 1990, not only the area of sandy desertified land （SDL） but also the degree of SDL levels increased. From 1990 to 2010 there was widespread restoration of SDL but the recovery trend of SDL gradually slowed. Although climate change contributes to expanding sandy desertification, human activities can either accelerate or reverse trends of natural sandy desertification. Some detrimental human activities can accelerate sandy desertification, but, conversely, desertification control measures such as the Three-North Shelter Forest Project and watershed rehabilitation programs in areas including the Shule River Basin resulted in many SDL being turned into grasslands or forest lands when shrubs and trees were planted to fix mobile sands at the edges of oases and cities. With population growth, much SDL has been reclaimed as farm land using water-saving agricultural methods or has been turned into built-up land as a result of urbanization.     

中国山区农村土地利用转型及其对土地整治的政策启示（英文）

The cultivation of mountainous land results in water loss and soil erosion. With rapid urbanization and industrialization in China, labor emigration relieves the cultivation of mountainous areas in regions with high poverty and leads to a significant land use transition. This research built an analysis framework for "land use transition – driving mechanism – effects –responses" for mountainous areas of China undergoing land use transition and then proposed the direction of mountainous land consolidation. The results showed that the turning point of land use morphology was the core of rural land use transition in mountainous areas. The expansion of cropland and the contraction of forestland have transitioned to the abandonment of cropland and the expansion of forestland; this transition was the main characteristic of the dominant land use change. Land marginalization and land ecological functional recovery were the main characteristics of the recessive land use transition in mountainous areas. Socioeconomic factors were the primary driving forces during land use transition in mountainous areas, with labor emigration being the most direct force. The rising costs of farming and the challenging living conditions causing labor emigration were fundamental driving forces. Rural land use transition in mountainous areas reduced the vulnerability of the ecological function of land ecosystems. The advantages and disadvantages of the socioeconomic effects should focus on rural development of mountainous areas as well as the livelihood of farmers; this should be further supported by empirical and quantitative research. Rural land use transition of mountainous areas improves natural restoration and is related to socioeconomic development. Rural land consolidation of mountainous areas should conform to land use transition,with the goal of shifting from the increase of cultivated land to the synergies of ecological and environmental protection.     

Land use change in Bohai Rim: a spatial-temporal analysis

Land use change is one of the important aspects of global change[1-3]. The Bohai Rim is a hot spot of economic development in China, where land use changes remarkably. Analyzing land use change in this area is significant to the research of global change and regional sustainable land use. Although there has been much work undertaken on regional land use change in China, it was mainly on urban land use change[4-11], and few researches integrated remote sensing and GIS method. Based on data f…     

21世纪初中国土地利用变化的空间格局与驱动力

Land use and land cover change as the core of coupled human-environment systems has become a potential field of land change science (LCS) in the study of global environmental change. Based on remotely sensed data of land use change with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km on national scale among every 5 years, this paper designed a new dynamic regionalization according to the comprehensive characteristics of land use change including regional differentiation, physical, economic, and macro-policy factors as well. Spatial pattern of land use change and its driving forces were investigated in China in the early 21st century. To sum up, land use change pattern of this period was characterized by rapid changes in the whole country. Over the agricultural zones, e.g., Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the southeast coastal areas and Sichuan Basin, a great proportion of fine arable land were engrossed owing to considerable expansion of the built-up and residential areas, resulting in decrease of paddy land area in southern China. The development of oasis agriculture in Northwest China and the reclamation in Northeast China led to a slight increase in arable land area in northern China. Due to the "Grain for Green" policy, forest area was significantly increased in the middle and western developing regions, where the vegetation coverage was substantially enlarged, likewise. This paper argued the main driving forces as the implementation of the strategy on land use and regional development, such as policies of "Western Development", "Revitalization of Northeast", coupled with rapidly economic development during this period.     

发展地理学视角下中国区域均衡发展

Large regional differences and uneven regional development are fundamental challenges for China. Balanced regional development is an important issue in research on development geography. This study reviews the course of balanced regional development in China and summarizes its characteristics in each period. The results show that inter-regional development in China has undergone successive periods of balanced and unbalanced development. Each period has enhanced social development and contributed to a more balanced regional development. This paper discusses the scientific connotation of balanced regional development, and invokes sustainable development theory to argue that we should pay attention to the differences in resource endowments among regions, and solves the imbalance among the economy, humans, and nature to promote the spatial balance of regional development and green development for better coordination between economy and ecology. The balanced promotion of the well-being of people in each region is the ultimate goal of balanced regional development. We then use concepts from development geography to examine China’s path of balanced regional development from the three perspectives of society, the economy, and ecology. Suggestions are also provided for the balanced development of China’s regions and the improvement of public well-being.     

Current developments of research on permafrost engineering and cold region environment: a report of the 8th International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering

The Eighth International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering was held in Xi’an,China,October 2009.The major topics discussed in the symposium included:permafrost engineering (involving design,construction and evaluation);mitigation of frost hazards in the regions affected by seasonally frozen ground;properties of frozen soils,model development and their applications;frost hazards and periglacial environments in mountain and plateau regions;climatic,environmental and cryospheric changes;and permafrost hydrology,cold regions water resources and land uses.The papers submitted to the symposium and lectures during the meeting represented some new developments of research on cold region engineering and environment.Here we summarized the works of the symposium in topics including:Permafrost engineering;General geocryology;Properties of frozen soils:model development and their applications;And climatic,environmental and cryospheric changes.During the symposium,the attendees pointed out that future studies should pay more attention to theoretical study and engineering mechanism study,and also on interaction between climate change and cold region environments and their engineering affects.     

Progress in sandy desertification research of China

Desertification is one of the most serious environmental and socio-economic problems facing the world today. Because the rapid expansion of desertification has resulted in serious environmental deterioration, economic loss, locally unsteadiness political situation and social upheaval, it has become a hot-spot issue of worldwide concern. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the catastrophic drought in the west Africa greatly accelerated the development of desertification, the desertificati…     

Progress in sandy desertification researchof China

Sandy desertification is land degradation characterized by wind erosion mainly resulted from the excessive human activities in arid, semiarid and part of sub-humid regions in northern China. The research on sandy desertification has experienced more than 5 decades of arduous course of the struggle along with the establishment and development of China's desert science. Researches in this field have made a great contribution to the national economic construction, and environmental protection. This paper focuses on presenting the major progress and achievements in the sandy desertification research during the last 50 years, including the stages of study on sandy desertification, background environment of sandy desertification and its changes, the conception, causes, process, monitoring and assessment of sandy desertification, the vegetation succession, landscape ecology, plant physiology, impacts on ecosystem, high-effective use of water and land resources and sustainable development in sandy desertified regions, sandy desertification control models and techniques etc.     

我国沙漠化研究的若干问题--1.沙漠化的概念及其内涵

荒漠化就是土地退化,主要由沙漠化、水土流失和盐渍化3个部分组成,其中沙漠化是中国北方广大地区主要的土地退化形式。在简要回顾了国际国内对沙漠化概念研究和认识的基础上,根据20多年来在中国北方土地退化区域的研究与实践,作者认为：沙漠化是干旱、半干旱及部分半湿润地区由于人地关系不相协调所造成的以风沙活动为主要标志的土地退化。并在时间、空间、成因、景观、发展趋势和造成的结果等内涵方面给予了概括性的描述;同时,从形成演变的时空差别、成因、过程和防治利用的不同等方面将原生沙漠、戈壁与沙漠化土地区分开来,认为沙漠的形成演变主要受控于气候变化,而人类既是沙漠化的导致者,也是沙漠化的受害者,更是沙漠化的防治者。所以,沙漠化的研究应主要侧重在人地关系及其相互作用等方面。     

近50年来中国北方沙漠化土地的时空变化

中国北方在过去的近50年里,沙漠化土地以其广泛的分布和迅速发展构成了区域主要的环境和社会经济问题。遥感监测和评价结果表明,到2000年沙漠化土地已达到 38.57×104 km₂,其中潜在和轻度沙漠化土地13.93×104 km₂,中度沙漠化土地9.977×104 km₂,重度沙漠化土地7.909×104km₂,严重沙漠化土地面积 6.756×104 km₂,它们主要分布在农牧交错带及其以北的草原牧业带、半干旱雨养农业带和绿洲灌溉农业与荒漠过度带。对上世纪50年代后期、1975年、1987年和2000年沙漠化土地遥感监测结果进行对比分析显示,我国北方沙漠化土地自20世纪50年代后期以来一直处于加速发展的态势,沙漠化土地年均发展速率20世纪50年代到70年代中期为1 560 km₂,1976年到1988年提高到2 100 km₂,1988年到2000年之间达到3 600 km₂。“整体恶化,局部治理”是近50年来北方沙漠化土地的变化的基本趋势。沙漠化土地的迅速发展不仅使中国北方的生态环境面临严峻的挑战,而且将严重影响中国整个区域国民经济的发展以及人民生活水平的提高。     

中国土地沙漠化问题的环境伦理学思考

从环境伦理学视角分析了中国的土地沙漠化问题,认为我国土地沙漠化的发生发展有科学环境伦理观缺失的原因,但环境伦理问题并不是中国土地沙漠化的唯一根源,故我国土地沙漠化问题的根除也不是仅仅通过环境伦理学途径就可以完全解决的,但环境伦理学的建设及大众环境伦理意识的提高对土地沙漠化的防治将产生重要作用。同时,在当前环境伦理研究与体系构建已成为人地关系研究的重要前沿领域的情况下,必须加强对土地沙漠化的环境伦理学视角的分析与研究,如研究环境伦理对土地沙漠化影响与作用的范围、方式、程度等。     

科尔沁沙地沙漠化过程中土壤有机碳含量变化特征及影响因素北大核心CSCD

科尔沁沙地是中国半干旱地区沙漠化发展的典型地区和沙漠化防治的重点区域。本研究以科尔沁沙地为研究区域,以沙漠化逆转不同阶段的沙地为研究对象,通过野外调查和室内分析,采用空间代替时间的方法,在区域尺度上探讨了土壤有机碳对沙漠化过程的响应规律,并结合气候、植被和地形因子阐释了该区域土壤有机碳空间变异的主导因素。结果表明:(1)土壤有机碳含量随沙漠化程度的加剧表现出疏林草地(未沙漠化)>固定沙地(轻度沙漠化)>半固定沙地(中度沙漠化)>半流动沙地(重度沙漠化)>流动沙地(极重度沙漠化)。(2)固定沙地、半固定沙地、半流动沙地和流动沙地土壤有机碳密度分别比疏林草地降低了29.1%、49.3%、62.9%和84.1%。(3)随着沙漠化的发展,土壤质地发生粗化现象,即中、细砂粒含量明显增加,而土壤细颗粒(极细砂和黏粉粒)含量明显下降。(4)科尔沁沙地沙漠化过程中,土壤黏粉粒的损失是土壤粗化、有机碳含量下降的主要原因,而pH的变化受沙漠化影响较小。(5)气候因子是导致SOC含量受经纬度影响的主要因素,而地形因子的影响次之。     

中国北方农牧交错区沙漠化发展过程及其成因分析

通过历史文献记载、遥感监测和野外调查等手段,研究了中国北方农牧交错区历史时期以来的沙漠化发展过程,认为在晚全新世气候干湿波动的背景上,研究区的沙漠化状况在20世纪80年代以前以发展为主,而在之后的近20a里则出现逆转。对研究区近50a来的气候及土地利用方式变化的分析表明,气候因素中降水的多变性是研究区土地沙漠化发生的自然背景,而滞后于气候变化的土地利用方式改变则是研究区沙漠化最主要的成因。     

我国半干旱地区现代沙漠化驱动因素的定量辩识

现代沙漠化的成因是目前沙漠化研究中争论较大的问题之一,其根源在于对现代沙漠化驱动因素的辨识不清,难以确定现代沙漠化过程中的主要驱动因素。本文对位于我国半干旱地区的主要沙漠化地区科尔沁、浑善达克、乌盟后山、共和盆地、藏北高原和藏南河谷地区内各选择一个典型区,分别是白音他拉、那日图、西井子、共和盆地、那曲地区和扎囊县,利用主成分分析和相关分析等定量方法,分析了6个典型区现代沙漠化过程中多种影响因素的作用,找出了现代沙漠化过程中的主要驱动因素。研究结果,6个典型研究区现代沙漠化的驱动因素具有综合性、地域性和主导因素的差异性,说明在我国半干旱地区的现代沙漠化是一个自然与人为因素共同作用的综合过程,其驱动因素有着较大的地域性和差异性。推广之,对我国沙漠化驱动力或成因的认识也不能一概而论,现代沙漠化的成因应具有一定的地域性。     

黑河中游张掖地区沙漠化土地动态变化

在我国的西北干旱区,由于所处的自然地理位置生态环境脆弱,加之人类不合理的经济活动,使得该区土地沙漠化现象严重,生态环境恶化。位于黑河流域中游的张掖地区,是我国西北地区重要的商品粮生产基地。由于近年来人口、经济快速增长的压力和人类对土地资源不合理的开发利用,产生了土地沙漠化等一系列环境问题,而且土地沙漠化总体呈上升扩展的趋势,严重地阻碍了绿洲经济和社会的持续、稳定发展。以1994年和2000年具有相同时相(秋季)的Landsat TM4、3、2波段(分别赋予红、绿、蓝三种颜色)、分辨率为30m的标准假彩色合成卫星影像的两期TM影像为信息源,利用Erdas8．4遥感图象处理软件、Arcinfo8．1和Arcview3．2等GIS软件,对黑河流域中游张掖地区的沙漠化土地进行了动态监测研究和分析。结果表明：研究区的沙漠化土地类型共有8类,分别为流动沙地(丘)、半固定沙地(丘)、固定沙地(丘)、风蚀残丘、戈壁、闯田、潜在沙漠化土地和非生物治沙工程地;张掖地区各类沙漠化土地发展和逆转同时存在,1994-2000年沙漠化土地面积增加了642．17km^2。其中,临泽、山丹、民乐和肃南4县的沙漠化土地面积增加了714．85km^2,而张掖市和高台县沙漠化土地面积减少了72．68km^2。从总体上来看,全区的各类沙漠化土地变化仍呈上升扩展的趋势。     

青藏高原沙漠化研究的进展与问题

青藏高原土地沙漠化研究具有十分重要的理论与实践意义,近年来国内积极开展了对青藏高原土地沙漠化问题的调查与研究,并取得了一系列成果,本文对该项研究所取得的主要进展及存在问题进行了综述。首先,回顾了青藏高原沙漠化研究的发展历程,其中50年代至70年代为第一阶段,该阶段的研究主要侧重于进行沙漠考察与沙害治理,沙漠化研究还未真正开展起来;80年代为第二阶段,期间青藏高原沙漠化研究已逐步开展起来,尤其是重点对青海共和盆地的沙漠化问题进行了研究与分析;进入90年代为第三阶段,青藏高原沙漠化研究全面展开,研究区域广泛,研究内容系统、全面,研究成果丰硕,是该区沙漠化研究最为重要的时期。其次,总结了青藏高原沙漠化研究的现状与主要进展,包括经过广泛研究,基本上查清了青藏高原土地沙漠化的类型、面积、分布与危害等,填补了沙漠化研究在青藏高原地区的空白;青藏高原沙漠化研究中特别重视了其成果的应用问题,将区域土地沙漠化现状、成因、趋势、防治对策与措施及其规划作为一个有机整体进行系统研究,拓展和完善了沙漠化研究的内容;研究中首次确定了沙砾质、沙漠化土地类型,并提出了沙漠化成因的多因性和地域性,发展了沙漠化研究的基本理论;同时,还加强了沙漠化防治实用技术的研究。最后,分析了研究中存在的主要问题,如研究区域不尽平衡、基础研究较为薄弱、理论研究有待深入和防治技术亟待提高等,提出今后青藏高原沙漠化研究的主攻方向与主要研究项目。