[Objective] The research aimed to study the groundwater environment related to vegetation in Mu Us Desert.[Method] Choosing the hinterland of Mu Us Desert,the relationship between vegetation and groundwater in the des...[Objective] The research aimed to study the groundwater environment related to vegetation in Mu Us Desert.[Method] Choosing the hinterland of Mu Us Desert,the relationship between vegetation and groundwater in the desert was studied.The indicator system for the relationship between vegetation and groundwater in the sandy area was established,including vegetation population,vegetation cover,groundwater depth,vadose zone moisture content,groundwater mineralization and vadose zone salinity,as well as the corresponding field work methods.[Result] The result showed that the nine primary vegetation populations were distributed in the study area,and Artemisia,Salix and Cares were the dominant vegetation species.The groundwater mineralization in the sand dunes was 100-300mg/L,and 800mg/L in the beach,vadose zone moisture content remained at 8%-16%.The dunes salinity was less than 0.2%,and beaches were higher than 0.3%.[Conclusion] These results provided a basis for study on the relationship between vegetation and groundwater in Mu Us Desert.展开更多
[Objective] In order to study plant adaptation mechanism under different landforms in drought regions.[Method] Observe soil moisture dynamic of Salix psammophila sample areas on the dune and depression with neutron mo...[Objective] In order to study plant adaptation mechanism under different landforms in drought regions.[Method] Observe soil moisture dynamic of Salix psammophila sample areas on the dune and depression with neutron moisture gauge and research the roots distribution of Salix psammophila sample areas on the dune and depression respectively by digging method.[Result] The quantity of Salix psammophila roots on the dune exponentially decreases while that on the depression decreases by power function in horizontal direction.In vertical direction,Salix psammophila roots on the dune are mainly distributed in 0-30 and 80-120 cm layers as 72% of all,while Salix psammophila roots on the depression are mainly distributed in 0-40 cm layers as 54% of all.[Conclusion] Salix psammophila roots on the dune not only use surface soil water but also use middle-layer groundwater.Salix psammophila roots on the depression primarily use surface soil water.展开更多
Mu Us Desert, a region with high aeolian activity, is at extremely high risk of sandy desertification. Using surface soil samples collected from Mu Us Desert of northern China, we evaluated the effects of aeolian proc...Mu Us Desert, a region with high aeolian activity, is at extremely high risk of sandy desertification. Using surface soil samples collected from Mu Us Desert of northern China, we evaluated the effects of aeolian processes on nutrient loss from surface soils by employing wind tunnel experiments. The experiments were conducted using free-stream wind velocities of 14, 16, 18 and 22 m/s. Our results showed that the fine particles （〈50 pm in diameter; 12.28% of all transported materials） carrying large nutrient Ioadings were exported outside the study area by ae- olian processes. After the erodible fine particles were transported away from the soil surfaces at low wind velocity （i.e. 14 m/s）, the following relatively high wind velocity （i.e. 22 m/s） did not have any significant effect on nutrient export, because the coefficients of variation for soil organic matter, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and available potassium were usually 〈5%. Our experimental results confirmed that aeolian processes result in a large amount of nutrient export, and consequently increase the risk of sandy desertification in arid and semi-arid ecosystems.展开更多
The variation of the Asian winter monsoonal strength has seriously affected the climate and environmental conditions in the Asian monsoonal region, and even in marginal islands and the ocean in the East Asian region. ...The variation of the Asian winter monsoonal strength has seriously affected the climate and environmental conditions in the Asian monsoonal region, and even in marginal islands and the ocean in the East Asian region. However, relevant under-standing remains unclear due to the lack of suitable geological materials and effective proxies in the key study areas. Here, we present a grain-size record derived from the palaeo-aeolian sand dune in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, together with other proxies and OSL dating, which reflect a relatively detailed history of the winter monsoon and abrupt environmental events during the past 4.2 ka. Our grain-size standard deviation model indicated that 〉224 μm content can be considered as an indicator of the intensity of Asian winter monsoon, and it shows declined around 4.2–2.1 ka, enhanced but unstable in 2.1–0.9 ka, and obviously stronger since then. In addition, several typical climate events were also documented, forced by the periodic variation of winter monsoonal intensity. These include the cold intervals of 4.2, 2.8, 1.4 ka, and the Little Ice Age （LIA）, and relatively warm sub-phases around 3.0, 2.1, 1.8 ka, and the Medieval Warm Period （MWP）, which were roughly accordant with the records of the aeolian materials, peat, stalagmites, ice cores, and sea sediments in various latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Combined with the previous progresses of the Asian summer monsoon, we prelimi-narily confirmed a millennial-scale anti-correlation of Asian winter and summer monsoons in the Late Holocene epoch. This study suggests that the evolution of the palaeo-aeolian sand dune has the potential for comprehending the history of Asian monsoon across the desert regions of the modern Asian monsoonal margin in northern China.展开更多
Artemisia ordosica is an excellent sand-fixing shrub for sand stabilization in northwestern China. Sand dune stabilization, a critically important process, leads changes in abiotic factors, such as soil structure and ...Artemisia ordosica is an excellent sand-fixing shrub for sand stabilization in northwestern China. Sand dune stabilization, a critically important process, leads changes in abiotic factors, such as soil structure and nutrient contents. However, the effects of factors on an A. ordosica community following sand stabilization remain unclear. In this study, we used canonical correspondence analysis （CCA） to examine the relationships between A. ordosica communities and environmental factors at three habitats： semi-fixed dune （SF）, fixed dune with low-cov- erage biological soil crust （F）, and fixed dune with high- coverage biological soil crust （FC） in Mu Us desert. The mean height and coverage of plants increased with sand stabilization, while species diversity and richness increased initially and then reduced significantly. Correlation analysis and CCA revealed that slope, soil organic carbon, and nutrient contents, proportion of fine soil particles, soil moisture, and thickness of biological soil crust were all highly correlated with vegetation characteristics. These environmental factors could explain 40.42 % of the vege- tation-environment relationships at the three habitats. The distribution of plant species was positively related to soil moisture in the SF dune. Soil moisture, soil nutrient, and fine-particle contents mainly affected plants distribution in the F dune. In the FC dune, distribution of plant species was positively and negatively correlated with the thickness of biological soil crust and soil moisture at a depth 0-20 cm, respectively. The dominance value of typical steppe species increased significantly following sand-dune stabilization and relations between species and samples in CCA ordination bi-plots showed that perennial grasses could invade the A. ordosica community on FC, indicating A. ordosica communities had a tendency to change into typical steppe vegetation with the further fixation. We conclude that the significant differentiation not only occurred in community characteristics, but also in the relationships between vegetation and environmental factors among the three stages of dune fixation. So, restoration of degraded dune ecosystems should be based on habitat conditions and ecological needs.展开更多
In the semi-arid and arid regions of northern China,geochemical behavior of the aeolian deposit is closely related to climatic and environmental changes,which was used to reconstruct the past history of environmental ...In the semi-arid and arid regions of northern China,geochemical behavior of the aeolian deposit is closely related to climatic and environmental changes,which was used to reconstruct the past history of environmental evolution and possibly forcing mechanisms.However,the related result was still scarce due to the lack of detailed geochemical analysis results in the desert sediments.In the present study,we systematically analyzed the geochemical components and parameters of the paleo-aeolian sand dune and modern mobile sand deposits in the Mu Us Desert and discuss the climatic variation inferred from the paleo-aeolian sand dune during the past 4.2 ka BP.The results indicated that （1） geochemical composition of the sandy deposits were dominated by SiO_2,Al_2O_3 and Na_2O and the deposits probably originated from the widespread upper continental crust （UCC） and were formed by long-term weathering,transport and re-deposition;（2） these sandy deposits were subjected to weaker weathering or uneven weathering under cold and dry conditions,and had highly similar material sources and degrees of weathering and leaching in general;and （3） the direct OSL （Optically Stimulated Luminescence） dating ages and geochemical parameters from the palaeosol-aeolian sand dune indicated that the regional climate change experienced several typically cold and warm intervals.These intervals are 4.2,2.8 ka BP and Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period,which probably attributed to periodic variations of the Asian summer monsoonal strength and cold events of the northern Atlantic Ocean in low and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.Our results suggest that the development of the sand dune in the Mu Us Desert provided a suitable archive for understanding the past local climatic change,which is linked to the global climatic change.展开更多
The recent ecological improvement in the Mu Us Desert of China, largely attributed to large-scale afforestation projects, has created new opportunities for cultivation activities. However, the subsequent rapid increas...The recent ecological improvement in the Mu Us Desert of China, largely attributed to large-scale afforestation projects, has created new opportunities for cultivation activities. However, the subsequent rapid increase in reclamation on desertification land and its impact on desertification have raised concerns. In this study, we first extracted data on cultivated land and desertification land in 1975,1990, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 through the human-computer interaction visual interpretation method. By overlaying the cultivated land dynamics and desertification land, we subsequently explored the effect of cultivation activities on desertification in the Mu Us Desert during the six periods from 1975 to 2020(1975–1990, 1990–2000, 2000–2005, 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020). The results showed that cultivated land in the Mu Us Desert showed a fluctuating and increasing trend from 3769.26 km~2 in 1975 to 4865.73 km~2 in 2020, with 2010 as the turning point for the recent rapid increase. The main contributors included the large and regular patches distributed in Yuyang District and Shenmu of Shaanxi Province, and relatively smaller patches concentrated in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The increased cultivated land from the reclamation on desertification land was dominated by moderate and severe desertification lands, and the decreased cultivated land that was transferred into desertification land as abandoned cultivated land was dominated by slight and moderate desertification lands. The effect of cultivation activities on desertification reversal(average area proportion of 10.61% for reversed desertification land) was greater than that of the development of desertification(average area proportion of 5.82% for developed desertification land). Nevertheless, compared to reversed desertification land,both the significant increase of developed desertification land during the periods of 2000–2005 and 2005–2010 and the insignificant decrease during the periods of 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020 implied a potential remobilization risk. Therefore, this study provides a significant theoretical reference for the formulation of ecological restoration projects and regional macroeconomic development policies by considering the influence of cultivation activities, to ensure the overall environmental stability and sustainability in desertification land where reclamation and abandonment activities have taken place.展开更多
In semi-arid and arid desert regions of northern China, aeolian deposits document the framework variation of an Asian monsoon during the late Quaternary. However, there is still a lack of detailed data pertaining to H...In semi-arid and arid desert regions of northern China, aeolian deposits document the framework variation of an Asian monsoon during the late Quaternary. However, there is still a lack of detailed data pertaining to Holocene Asian monsoonal variation especial in the modern Asian summer monsoonal boundary belt. In this study, we reconstructed Holocene millennial-scale climatic changes in the Mu Us Desert, northern China, through systematic analysis of the variation of trace elements(324 samples) in different lithological units of the palaeosol-aeolian sand deposit, in combination with14 C and OSL chronology. Statistical results, correlation and clustering analysis indicate that the high content of 11 trace elements(V, Y, Cr, Nb, P, Mn, Cu, Zr, As, Ni and Rb, represented by P) and lower Sr content corresponding to periods of palaeosol development, marked increase of vegetation, weathering degree, and enhanced Asian summer monsoonal strength. In contrast, their opposed variation are coincident with accumulated aeolian sand layers, implying weaker summer monsoons and less geochemical weathering and degraded vegetation. These associations can be considered as signaling regional humid and dry changes of the Holocene environment. Accordingly, relatively arid conditions dominated the region before 7.2 ka, and there was an optimal humid climate in 7.2-4.6 ka. Afterwards, the climate became obviously dry, accompanied with several cycles of relatively wet and dry, such as relatively wet intervals around 4.1-3.7 ka, 3.5-3.3 ka and 2.5 ka. In addition, six millennial-scale dry events were recorded, and these events were consistent with weaker Asian summer monsoonal intervals in low latitudes, declined palaeosol development and precipitation in middle latitudes, as well as increased winter monsoon and periodic ice-rafting events in high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, within limits of accuracy of existing dating ages. This possibly suggests a noteworthy synchronism between millennial-scale climatic changes in this region and on a global scale.展开更多
Milanggouwan stratigraphical section" named lately takes down 27 cycles of alternately evolutionary histories of desert depositions in the Mu Us area with the fluviolacustrine facies and palaeosols since 150 ka B...Milanggouwan stratigraphical section" named lately takes down 27 cycles of alternately evolutionary histories of desert depositions in the Mu Us area with the fluviolacustrine facies and palaeosols since 150 ka B.P. Studies show that the sedimentary form was induced by the growth and decline and confrontation each other between the winter monsoon and the summer monsoon of East Asia in the past 150 ka.展开更多
The estimation of above-ground biomass(AGB) and carbon storage is very important for arid and semi-arid ecosystems.HJ-1A/B satellite data combined with field measurement data was used for the estimation of shrub AGB a...The estimation of above-ground biomass(AGB) and carbon storage is very important for arid and semi-arid ecosystems.HJ-1A/B satellite data combined with field measurement data was used for the estimation of shrub AGB and carbon storage in the Mu Us desert,China.The correlations of shrub AGB and spectral reflectance of four bands as well as their combined vegetation indexes were respectively analyzed and stepwise regression analysis was employed to establish AGB prediction equation.The prediction equation based on ratio vegetation index(RVI)was proved to be more suitable for shrub AGB estimation in the Mu Us desert than others.Shrub AGB and carbon storage were mapped using the RVI based prediction model in final.The statistics showed the western Mu Us desert has relatively high AGB and carbon storage,and that the gross shrub carton storage in Mu Us desert reaches 16 799 200 t,which has greatly contributed to the carbon fixation in northern China.展开更多
This article takes the two segments of the Ming Great Walls,Dabian and Erbian,and their associated barracks and forts as geographical references. Based on a detailed scrutiny of historical records of the Ming and Qing...This article takes the two segments of the Ming Great Walls,Dabian and Erbian,and their associated barracks and forts as geographical references. Based on a detailed scrutiny of historical records of the Ming and Qing dynasties,and on field surveys,the southern boundaries of the sand dunes and sand shifts of the Mu Us Desert in the Ming and Qing dynasties are carefully reconstructed. A comparison of the southern boundaries of the sand dunes and sand shifts of the Mu Us Desert in Ming and Qing with the modern boundary revealed in remote sensing imagery clearly shows that the southern boundary of dunes and shifts in the Mu us Desert has expanded only in a few areas and on a small scale. In the area to the south of Changle Fort,along the direction of annually prevailing winds,sand drifts have pene-trated through the Jialu River valley into the loess region and have formed a sand strip of 32 km long and 3 km wide. To the east of Qingping Fort,sand drifts penetrated toward the eastern loess region through the Luhe River valley and have formed another sand strip of 8 km long and 2 km wide. Gener-ally speaking,though the intensity of human activity has been increasing in this area since the Ming Dynasty,the Mu Us Desert has not significantly expanded toward the southeast or southwest. The sand-loess boundary in the southern fringe of the Mu Us Desert has been almost unchanged since the Ming Dynasty.展开更多
Comprehensive correlation and analysis on the stratigraphic structure of the Quaternaryeolian sand in the Mu Us Desert comfirm that the Desert has been in existenceintermittently since the initial stage of the Quatern...Comprehensive correlation and analysis on the stratigraphic structure of the Quaternaryeolian sand in the Mu Us Desert comfirm that the Desert has been in existenceintermittently since the initial stage of the Quaternary at latest. The Desert is asteppe type sandy desert characterized by mosaic distribution of shifting, semi-shifting, semi-fixed and fixed dune and areas of loess grass land. It did not evolve toward uniform shift-ing sand, but underwent a series of normal and reverse development processes from the occur-rence of shifting sand to the spread, fixation and reduction of the sandy desert to grassland.Climatic fluctuation since the Quaternary is the primary factor for the formation and evolutionof the Desert, while neotectonics and human activities are the secondary factors.展开更多
Field experiments of dust production have been seldom performed in Chinese deserts that are identified as one of main dust sources in the world, and such an experiment to validate a dust production model (DPM) has not...Field experiments of dust production have been seldom performed in Chinese deserts that are identified as one of main dust sources in the world, and such an experiment to validate a dust production model (DPM) has not been made in China until now. Saltation flux, dust emission flux, surface features and meteorological parameters (U*, Z0, Ri, etc.) were investigated in Mu Us Desert of China to verify the DPM model and accumulate dust emission data during the spring of 2002. It indicates that observed saltation fluxes from 0.07 to 8.00 g·m?1·s?1 are in good agreement with the ones predicted by the DPM model when the constant of the saltation flux equation is tuned to about 2.61, which corresponds to wind fric- tion velocities from 0.26 to 0.35 m·s?1. Unfortunately, during three local dust emission events, the observed dust fluxes are from 1 to 3 μg· m?2· s?1, lower than the modeled ones, implying that the model needs to be improved further under lower wind velocity. In comparison with data from a sandy soil with physical crust and a loam soil, saltation fluxes of the loose sandy soil in Mu Us Desert are obviously higher, which suggests that deserts and sandy land with desertification are major dust sources in northern China.展开更多
This work sets out to simulate landscape model of Mu Us Desert in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China at different spatial resolution using remote sensing images and distinguished landscape heterogeneity among d...This work sets out to simulate landscape model of Mu Us Desert in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China at different spatial resolution using remote sensing images and distinguished landscape heterogeneity among different spatial resolutions. Landscape models were created from classification image of SPOT satellite data with 20m resolution and NOAA data with 1 km resolution. This study created landscape models of different scales by resampling the SPOT classified image using majority rule. The pixel resolution was increased from the finest scale of 20m by 20m up to 1000m by 1000m that was the coarsest spatial resolution. The Shannon diversity index was used to compare landscape models between different scales. At the finer scale the verify small patches such as deciduous forest, shrub and reedswamp with high vegetation coverage set on matrices with low vegetation cover (moving sand dune and sparse grassland) were verified. Broadening of scale resulted to the loss of small patches and at 1000m resolution, matrix classes were dominant. At 1km resolution of NOAA data, the matrix classes which greatly related to the topography of Mu Us Desert were detected. Diversity index decreased during scale broadening and the difference between SPOT 1km scale model and AVHRR data was not significant. The results showed that SPOT 20m model is good for the use of ecotone oriented revegetation planning, and NOAA 1km model is good for the seasonal and annual monitoring of each landscape unit, and revegetation planning at the regional level.展开更多
基金Supported by The Key Grant Project of Chinese Ministry of Education(308021)Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT0811)Geological Survey Project of China Geological Survey (1212010331302)
文摘[Objective] The research aimed to study the groundwater environment related to vegetation in Mu Us Desert.[Method] Choosing the hinterland of Mu Us Desert,the relationship between vegetation and groundwater in the desert was studied.The indicator system for the relationship between vegetation and groundwater in the sandy area was established,including vegetation population,vegetation cover,groundwater depth,vadose zone moisture content,groundwater mineralization and vadose zone salinity,as well as the corresponding field work methods.[Result] The result showed that the nine primary vegetation populations were distributed in the study area,and Artemisia,Salix and Cares were the dominant vegetation species.The groundwater mineralization in the sand dunes was 100-300mg/L,and 800mg/L in the beach,vadose zone moisture content remained at 8%-16%.The dunes salinity was less than 0.2%,and beaches were higher than 0.3%.[Conclusion] These results provided a basis for study on the relationship between vegetation and groundwater in Mu Us Desert.
基金Supported by Science and Technology Research Major Project ofthe Ministry of Education (308021)Publicly-Traded Research Pro-ject of the Ministry of Land and Resources (200911004)~~
文摘[Objective] In order to study plant adaptation mechanism under different landforms in drought regions.[Method] Observe soil moisture dynamic of Salix psammophila sample areas on the dune and depression with neutron moisture gauge and research the roots distribution of Salix psammophila sample areas on the dune and depression respectively by digging method.[Result] The quantity of Salix psammophila roots on the dune exponentially decreases while that on the depression decreases by power function in horizontal direction.In vertical direction,Salix psammophila roots on the dune are mainly distributed in 0-30 and 80-120 cm layers as 72% of all,while Salix psammophila roots on the depression are mainly distributed in 0-40 cm layers as 54% of all.[Conclusion] Salix psammophila roots on the dune not only use surface soil water but also use middle-layer groundwater.Salix psammophila roots on the depression primarily use surface soil water.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41225001)
文摘Mu Us Desert, a region with high aeolian activity, is at extremely high risk of sandy desertification. Using surface soil samples collected from Mu Us Desert of northern China, we evaluated the effects of aeolian processes on nutrient loss from surface soils by employing wind tunnel experiments. The experiments were conducted using free-stream wind velocities of 14, 16, 18 and 22 m/s. Our results showed that the fine particles （〈50 pm in diameter; 12.28% of all transported materials） carrying large nutrient Ioadings were exported outside the study area by ae- olian processes. After the erodible fine particles were transported away from the soil surfaces at low wind velocity （i.e. 14 m/s）, the following relatively high wind velocity （i.e. 22 m/s） did not have any significant effect on nutrient export, because the coefficients of variation for soil organic matter, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and available potassium were usually 〈5%. Our experimental results confirmed that aeolian processes result in a large amount of nutrient export, and consequently increase the risk of sandy desertification in arid and semi-arid ecosystems.
基金funded by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZZD-EW-04-04)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos., 41271215, 41501220)+1 种基金the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2015M570861)the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University (No. 2015-KF-13)
文摘The variation of the Asian winter monsoonal strength has seriously affected the climate and environmental conditions in the Asian monsoonal region, and even in marginal islands and the ocean in the East Asian region. However, relevant under-standing remains unclear due to the lack of suitable geological materials and effective proxies in the key study areas. Here, we present a grain-size record derived from the palaeo-aeolian sand dune in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, together with other proxies and OSL dating, which reflect a relatively detailed history of the winter monsoon and abrupt environmental events during the past 4.2 ka. Our grain-size standard deviation model indicated that 〉224 μm content can be considered as an indicator of the intensity of Asian winter monsoon, and it shows declined around 4.2–2.1 ka, enhanced but unstable in 2.1–0.9 ka, and obviously stronger since then. In addition, several typical climate events were also documented, forced by the periodic variation of winter monsoonal intensity. These include the cold intervals of 4.2, 2.8, 1.4 ka, and the Little Ice Age （LIA）, and relatively warm sub-phases around 3.0, 2.1, 1.8 ka, and the Medieval Warm Period （MWP）, which were roughly accordant with the records of the aeolian materials, peat, stalagmites, ice cores, and sea sediments in various latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Combined with the previous progresses of the Asian summer monsoon, we prelimi-narily confirmed a millennial-scale anti-correlation of Asian winter and summer monsoons in the Late Holocene epoch. This study suggests that the evolution of the palaeo-aeolian sand dune has the potential for comprehending the history of Asian monsoon across the desert regions of the modern Asian monsoonal margin in northern China.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of P.R.China(973 Program,2013CB429901)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of P.R.China(BJFU-TD2011-04)National Technology and Science Support Program of P.R.China(2012BAD16B02)
文摘Artemisia ordosica is an excellent sand-fixing shrub for sand stabilization in northwestern China. Sand dune stabilization, a critically important process, leads changes in abiotic factors, such as soil structure and nutrient contents. However, the effects of factors on an A. ordosica community following sand stabilization remain unclear. In this study, we used canonical correspondence analysis （CCA） to examine the relationships between A. ordosica communities and environmental factors at three habitats： semi-fixed dune （SF）, fixed dune with low-cov- erage biological soil crust （F）, and fixed dune with high- coverage biological soil crust （FC） in Mu Us desert. The mean height and coverage of plants increased with sand stabilization, while species diversity and richness increased initially and then reduced significantly. Correlation analysis and CCA revealed that slope, soil organic carbon, and nutrient contents, proportion of fine soil particles, soil moisture, and thickness of biological soil crust were all highly correlated with vegetation characteristics. These environmental factors could explain 40.42 % of the vege- tation-environment relationships at the three habitats. The distribution of plant species was positively related to soil moisture in the SF dune. Soil moisture, soil nutrient, and fine-particle contents mainly affected plants distribution in the F dune. In the FC dune, distribution of plant species was positively and negatively correlated with the thickness of biological soil crust and soil moisture at a depth 0-20 cm, respectively. The dominance value of typical steppe species increased significantly following sand-dune stabilization and relations between species and samples in CCA ordination bi-plots showed that perennial grasses could invade the A. ordosica community on FC, indicating A. ordosica communities had a tendency to change into typical steppe vegetation with the further fixation. We conclude that the significant differentiation not only occurred in community characteristics, but also in the relationships between vegetation and environmental factors among the three stages of dune fixation. So, restoration of degraded dune ecosystems should be based on habitat conditions and ecological needs.
基金funded by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZZD-EW-04-04)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271215,41501220)+2 种基金the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M570861)the Excellent Youth Scholars of Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute,Chinese Academy of Sciences (51Y451211)the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology,Beijing Normal University (2015-KF-13)
文摘In the semi-arid and arid regions of northern China,geochemical behavior of the aeolian deposit is closely related to climatic and environmental changes,which was used to reconstruct the past history of environmental evolution and possibly forcing mechanisms.However,the related result was still scarce due to the lack of detailed geochemical analysis results in the desert sediments.In the present study,we systematically analyzed the geochemical components and parameters of the paleo-aeolian sand dune and modern mobile sand deposits in the Mu Us Desert and discuss the climatic variation inferred from the paleo-aeolian sand dune during the past 4.2 ka BP.The results indicated that （1） geochemical composition of the sandy deposits were dominated by SiO_2,Al_2O_3 and Na_2O and the deposits probably originated from the widespread upper continental crust （UCC） and were formed by long-term weathering,transport and re-deposition;（2） these sandy deposits were subjected to weaker weathering or uneven weathering under cold and dry conditions,and had highly similar material sources and degrees of weathering and leaching in general;and （3） the direct OSL （Optically Stimulated Luminescence） dating ages and geochemical parameters from the palaeosol-aeolian sand dune indicated that the regional climate change experienced several typically cold and warm intervals.These intervals are 4.2,2.8 ka BP and Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period,which probably attributed to periodic variations of the Asian summer monsoonal strength and cold events of the northern Atlantic Ocean in low and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.Our results suggest that the development of the sand dune in the Mu Us Desert provided a suitable archive for understanding the past local climatic change,which is linked to the global climatic change.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41971277, 41730752)。
文摘The recent ecological improvement in the Mu Us Desert of China, largely attributed to large-scale afforestation projects, has created new opportunities for cultivation activities. However, the subsequent rapid increase in reclamation on desertification land and its impact on desertification have raised concerns. In this study, we first extracted data on cultivated land and desertification land in 1975,1990, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 through the human-computer interaction visual interpretation method. By overlaying the cultivated land dynamics and desertification land, we subsequently explored the effect of cultivation activities on desertification in the Mu Us Desert during the six periods from 1975 to 2020(1975–1990, 1990–2000, 2000–2005, 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020). The results showed that cultivated land in the Mu Us Desert showed a fluctuating and increasing trend from 3769.26 km~2 in 1975 to 4865.73 km~2 in 2020, with 2010 as the turning point for the recent rapid increase. The main contributors included the large and regular patches distributed in Yuyang District and Shenmu of Shaanxi Province, and relatively smaller patches concentrated in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The increased cultivated land from the reclamation on desertification land was dominated by moderate and severe desertification lands, and the decreased cultivated land that was transferred into desertification land as abandoned cultivated land was dominated by slight and moderate desertification lands. The effect of cultivation activities on desertification reversal(average area proportion of 10.61% for reversed desertification land) was greater than that of the development of desertification(average area proportion of 5.82% for developed desertification land). Nevertheless, compared to reversed desertification land,both the significant increase of developed desertification land during the periods of 2000–2005 and 2005–2010 and the insignificant decrease during the periods of 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020 implied a potential remobilization risk. Therefore, this study provides a significant theoretical reference for the formulation of ecological restoration projects and regional macroeconomic development policies by considering the influence of cultivation activities, to ensure the overall environmental stability and sustainability in desertification land where reclamation and abandonment activities have taken place.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41501220, 41671204)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2015M570861+2 种基金 2017T100783)Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, China (1506RJZA287)Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmen tal and Engineering Research Institute, CAS (KLDD2017-002)
文摘In semi-arid and arid desert regions of northern China, aeolian deposits document the framework variation of an Asian monsoon during the late Quaternary. However, there is still a lack of detailed data pertaining to Holocene Asian monsoonal variation especial in the modern Asian summer monsoonal boundary belt. In this study, we reconstructed Holocene millennial-scale climatic changes in the Mu Us Desert, northern China, through systematic analysis of the variation of trace elements(324 samples) in different lithological units of the palaeosol-aeolian sand deposit, in combination with14 C and OSL chronology. Statistical results, correlation and clustering analysis indicate that the high content of 11 trace elements(V, Y, Cr, Nb, P, Mn, Cu, Zr, As, Ni and Rb, represented by P) and lower Sr content corresponding to periods of palaeosol development, marked increase of vegetation, weathering degree, and enhanced Asian summer monsoonal strength. In contrast, their opposed variation are coincident with accumulated aeolian sand layers, implying weaker summer monsoons and less geochemical weathering and degraded vegetation. These associations can be considered as signaling regional humid and dry changes of the Holocene environment. Accordingly, relatively arid conditions dominated the region before 7.2 ka, and there was an optimal humid climate in 7.2-4.6 ka. Afterwards, the climate became obviously dry, accompanied with several cycles of relatively wet and dry, such as relatively wet intervals around 4.1-3.7 ka, 3.5-3.3 ka and 2.5 ka. In addition, six millennial-scale dry events were recorded, and these events were consistent with weaker Asian summer monsoonal intervals in low latitudes, declined palaeosol development and precipitation in middle latitudes, as well as increased winter monsoon and periodic ice-rafting events in high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, within limits of accuracy of existing dating ages. This possibly suggests a noteworthy synchronism between millennial-scale climatic changes in this region and on a global scale.
文摘Milanggouwan stratigraphical section" named lately takes down 27 cycles of alternately evolutionary histories of desert depositions in the Mu Us area with the fluviolacustrine facies and palaeosols since 150 ka B.P. Studies show that the sedimentary form was induced by the growth and decline and confrontation each other between the winter monsoon and the summer monsoon of East Asia in the past 150 ka.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China("973"Project)(Grant No.2007CB714404)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.40871173)the Special Grantfor Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases(2008ZX10004-012)
文摘The estimation of above-ground biomass(AGB) and carbon storage is very important for arid and semi-arid ecosystems.HJ-1A/B satellite data combined with field measurement data was used for the estimation of shrub AGB and carbon storage in the Mu Us desert,China.The correlations of shrub AGB and spectral reflectance of four bands as well as their combined vegetation indexes were respectively analyzed and stepwise regression analysis was employed to establish AGB prediction equation.The prediction equation based on ratio vegetation index(RVI)was proved to be more suitable for shrub AGB estimation in the Mu Us desert than others.Shrub AGB and carbon storage were mapped using the RVI based prediction model in final.The statistics showed the western Mu Us desert has relatively high AGB and carbon storage,and that the gross shrub carton storage in Mu Us desert reaches 16 799 200 t,which has greatly contributed to the carbon fixation in northern China.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.40371109)the Key Research Project of the Key Research Base on Humanities supported by Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 05JJDZH235)
文摘This article takes the two segments of the Ming Great Walls,Dabian and Erbian,and their associated barracks and forts as geographical references. Based on a detailed scrutiny of historical records of the Ming and Qing dynasties,and on field surveys,the southern boundaries of the sand dunes and sand shifts of the Mu Us Desert in the Ming and Qing dynasties are carefully reconstructed. A comparison of the southern boundaries of the sand dunes and sand shifts of the Mu Us Desert in Ming and Qing with the modern boundary revealed in remote sensing imagery clearly shows that the southern boundary of dunes and shifts in the Mu us Desert has expanded only in a few areas and on a small scale. In the area to the south of Changle Fort,along the direction of annually prevailing winds,sand drifts have pene-trated through the Jialu River valley into the loess region and have formed a sand strip of 32 km long and 3 km wide. To the east of Qingping Fort,sand drifts penetrated toward the eastern loess region through the Luhe River valley and have formed another sand strip of 8 km long and 2 km wide. Gener-ally speaking,though the intensity of human activity has been increasing in this area since the Ming Dynasty,the Mu Us Desert has not significantly expanded toward the southeast or southwest. The sand-loess boundary in the southern fringe of the Mu Us Desert has been almost unchanged since the Ming Dynasty.
文摘Comprehensive correlation and analysis on the stratigraphic structure of the Quaternaryeolian sand in the Mu Us Desert comfirm that the Desert has been in existenceintermittently since the initial stage of the Quaternary at latest. The Desert is asteppe type sandy desert characterized by mosaic distribution of shifting, semi-shifting, semi-fixed and fixed dune and areas of loess grass land. It did not evolve toward uniform shift-ing sand, but underwent a series of normal and reverse development processes from the occur-rence of shifting sand to the spread, fixation and reduction of the sandy desert to grassland.Climatic fluctuation since the Quaternary is the primary factor for the formation and evolutionof the Desert, while neotectonics and human activities are the secondary factors.
文摘Field experiments of dust production have been seldom performed in Chinese deserts that are identified as one of main dust sources in the world, and such an experiment to validate a dust production model (DPM) has not been made in China until now. Saltation flux, dust emission flux, surface features and meteorological parameters (U*, Z0, Ri, etc.) were investigated in Mu Us Desert of China to verify the DPM model and accumulate dust emission data during the spring of 2002. It indicates that observed saltation fluxes from 0.07 to 8.00 g·m?1·s?1 are in good agreement with the ones predicted by the DPM model when the constant of the saltation flux equation is tuned to about 2.61, which corresponds to wind fric- tion velocities from 0.26 to 0.35 m·s?1. Unfortunately, during three local dust emission events, the observed dust fluxes are from 1 to 3 μg· m?2· s?1, lower than the modeled ones, implying that the model needs to be improved further under lower wind velocity. In comparison with data from a sandy soil with physical crust and a loam soil, saltation fluxes of the loose sandy soil in Mu Us Desert are obviously higher, which suggests that deserts and sandy land with desertification are major dust sources in northern China.
文摘This work sets out to simulate landscape model of Mu Us Desert in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China at different spatial resolution using remote sensing images and distinguished landscape heterogeneity among different spatial resolutions. Landscape models were created from classification image of SPOT satellite data with 20m resolution and NOAA data with 1 km resolution. This study created landscape models of different scales by resampling the SPOT classified image using majority rule. The pixel resolution was increased from the finest scale of 20m by 20m up to 1000m by 1000m that was the coarsest spatial resolution. The Shannon diversity index was used to compare landscape models between different scales. At the finer scale the verify small patches such as deciduous forest, shrub and reedswamp with high vegetation coverage set on matrices with low vegetation cover (moving sand dune and sparse grassland) were verified. Broadening of scale resulted to the loss of small patches and at 1000m resolution, matrix classes were dominant. At 1km resolution of NOAA data, the matrix classes which greatly related to the topography of Mu Us Desert were detected. Diversity index decreased during scale broadening and the difference between SPOT 1km scale model and AVHRR data was not significant. The results showed that SPOT 20m model is good for the use of ecotone oriented revegetation planning, and NOAA 1km model is good for the seasonal and annual monitoring of each landscape unit, and revegetation planning at the regional level.
