Changes in soil and vegetation on moving sand dunes after exclosure in Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China

In the semiarid Horqin Sandy Land of northern China, land desertification is the main causation in vegetation degradation and formation of moving dunes. A study was conducted from 1996 to 2005 to monitor the changes of vegetation characteristics and soil properties after moving dunes were fenced. The changes were compared between moving sand dunes with exclosure and without exclosure to evaluate the effectiveness of vegetation and soil restoration after exclosure establishment. The results show that exlosure establishment facilitated the colonization and development of plant species by ameliorating stressful environmental conditions. Species diversity, average coverage, and plant density significantly increased after exclosure of moving sand dunes along sequence compared with sand dunes without exclosure. Vegetation recovery on moving sand dunes accelerated by exclosure resulted in significant changes in soil properties including increased silt and clay contents, organic C and total N and decreased sand content, especially at the 0-5 cm depth. The results implied that moving sand dunes can be rapidly fixed by construction of exclosure.