The rapid desertification of grasslands in Inner Mongolia of China poses a significant ecological threaten to northern China. The combined effects of anthropogenic disturbances （e.g., overgrazing） and biophysical pr...The rapid desertification of grasslands in Inner Mongolia of China poses a significant ecological threaten to northern China. The combined effects of anthropogenic disturbances （e.g., overgrazing） and biophysical processes （e.g., soil erosion） have led to vegetation degradation and the consequent acceleration of regional desertification. Thus, mitigating the accelerated wind erosion, a cause and effect of grassland desertification, is critical for the sustainable management of grasslands. Here, a combination of mobile wind tunnel experiments and wind erosion model was used to explore the effects of different levels of vegetation coverage, soil moisture and wind speed on wind erosion at different positions of a slope inside an enclosed desert steppe in the Xilamuren grassland of Inner Mongolia. The results indicated a significant spatial difference in wind erosion intensities depending on the vegetation coverage, with a strong decreasing trend from the top to the base of the slope. Increasing vegetation coverage resulted in a rapid decrease in wind erosion as explained by a power function correlation. Vegetation coverage was found to be a dominant control on wind erosion by increasing the surface roughness and by lowering the threshold wind velocity for erosion. The critical vegetation coverage required for effectively controlling wind erosion was found to be higher than 60%. Further, the wind erosion rates were negatively correlated with surface soil moisture and the mass flux in aeolian sand transport increased with increasing wind speed. We developed a mathematical model of wind erosion based on the results of an orthogonal array design. The results from the model simulation indicated that the standardized regression coefficients of the main effects of the three factors （vegetation coverage, soil moisture and wind speed） on the mass flux in aeolian sand transport were in the following order： wind speed〉vegetation coverage〉soil moisture. These three factors had different levels of interactive e展开更多
Desertification is one of the most serious environmental problems in the world,especially in the arid desert regions.Combating desertification,therefore,is an urgent task on a regional or even global scale.The Taklima...Desertification is one of the most serious environmental problems in the world,especially in the arid desert regions.Combating desertification,therefore,is an urgent task on a regional or even global scale.The Taklimakan Desert in China is the second largest mobile desert in the world and has been called the''Dead Sea''due to few organisms can exist in such a harsh environment.The Taklimakan Desert Highway,the longest desert highway(a total length of 446 km)across the mobile desert in the world,was built in the 1990s within the Taklimakan Desert.It has an important strategic significance regarding oil and gas resources exploration and plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of southern Xinjiang,China.However,wind-blow sand seriously damages the smoothness of the desert highway and,in this case,mechanical sand control system(including sand barrier fences and straw checkerboards)was used early in the life of the desert highway to protect the road.Unfortunately,more than 70%of the sand barrier fences and straw checkerboards have lost their functions,and the desert highway has often been buried and frequently blocked since 1999.To solve this problem,a long artificial shelterbelt with the length of 437 km was built along the desert highway since 2000.However,some potential problems still exist for the sustainable development of the desert highway,such as water shortage,strong sandstorms,extreme environmental characteristics and large maintenance costs.The study aims to provide an overview of the damages caused by wind-blown sand and the effects of sand control measures along the Taklimakan Desert Highway.Ultimately,we provide some suggestions for the biological sand control system to ensure the sustainable development of the Taklimakan Desert Highway,such as screening drought-resistant species to reduce the irrigation requirement and ensure the sound development of groundwater,screening halophytes to restore vegetation in the case of soil salinization,and planting cash crops,such as Cistanche,Wolfberry,Ap展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science of Foundation of China(51769019)the Excellent Youth Foundation of Inner Mongolia Agricultural University(2014XYQ-8)
文摘The rapid desertification of grasslands in Inner Mongolia of China poses a significant ecological threaten to northern China. The combined effects of anthropogenic disturbances （e.g., overgrazing） and biophysical processes （e.g., soil erosion） have led to vegetation degradation and the consequent acceleration of regional desertification. Thus, mitigating the accelerated wind erosion, a cause and effect of grassland desertification, is critical for the sustainable management of grasslands. Here, a combination of mobile wind tunnel experiments and wind erosion model was used to explore the effects of different levels of vegetation coverage, soil moisture and wind speed on wind erosion at different positions of a slope inside an enclosed desert steppe in the Xilamuren grassland of Inner Mongolia. The results indicated a significant spatial difference in wind erosion intensities depending on the vegetation coverage, with a strong decreasing trend from the top to the base of the slope. Increasing vegetation coverage resulted in a rapid decrease in wind erosion as explained by a power function correlation. Vegetation coverage was found to be a dominant control on wind erosion by increasing the surface roughness and by lowering the threshold wind velocity for erosion. The critical vegetation coverage required for effectively controlling wind erosion was found to be higher than 60%. Further, the wind erosion rates were negatively correlated with surface soil moisture and the mass flux in aeolian sand transport increased with increasing wind speed. We developed a mathematical model of wind erosion based on the results of an orthogonal array design. The results from the model simulation indicated that the standardized regression coefficients of the main effects of the three factors （vegetation coverage, soil moisture and wind speed） on the mass flux in aeolian sand transport were in the following order： wind speed〉vegetation coverage〉soil moisture. These three factors had different levels of interactive e
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31971731,41771121)the Xinjiang National Key Research and Development Program(2019B00005)+1 种基金the National Key Research and Development Program(2017YFC0506705)the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences(2017476).
文摘Desertification is one of the most serious environmental problems in the world,especially in the arid desert regions.Combating desertification,therefore,is an urgent task on a regional or even global scale.The Taklimakan Desert in China is the second largest mobile desert in the world and has been called the''Dead Sea''due to few organisms can exist in such a harsh environment.The Taklimakan Desert Highway,the longest desert highway(a total length of 446 km)across the mobile desert in the world,was built in the 1990s within the Taklimakan Desert.It has an important strategic significance regarding oil and gas resources exploration and plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of southern Xinjiang,China.However,wind-blow sand seriously damages the smoothness of the desert highway and,in this case,mechanical sand control system(including sand barrier fences and straw checkerboards)was used early in the life of the desert highway to protect the road.Unfortunately,more than 70%of the sand barrier fences and straw checkerboards have lost their functions,and the desert highway has often been buried and frequently blocked since 1999.To solve this problem,a long artificial shelterbelt with the length of 437 km was built along the desert highway since 2000.However,some potential problems still exist for the sustainable development of the desert highway,such as water shortage,strong sandstorms,extreme environmental characteristics and large maintenance costs.The study aims to provide an overview of the damages caused by wind-blown sand and the effects of sand control measures along the Taklimakan Desert Highway.Ultimately,we provide some suggestions for the biological sand control system to ensure the sustainable development of the Taklimakan Desert Highway,such as screening drought-resistant species to reduce the irrigation requirement and ensure the sound development of groundwater,screening halophytes to restore vegetation in the case of soil salinization,and planting cash crops,such as Cistanche,Wolfberry,Ap
基金Project Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(51277073)The National High Technology Research and Development of China 863 Program(2012AA050802)~~
