Relationship between vegetation coverage and spring dust storms over northern China

Desertification is a form of land degradation principally in semi-arid and arid areas influenced by climatic and human factors. As a country plagued by extensive sandy desertification and frequent sandstorms and dust storms, China has been trying to find ways to achieve the sustainable management of desertified lands. This paper reviewed the impact of climate change and anthropogenic activities on desertified areas, and the effort, outcome, and lessons learned from desertification control in China. Although drying and warming trends and growing population pressures exist in those areas, the expanding trend of desertified land achieved an overall reversal. In the past six decades, many efforts, including government policies, forestry, and desertification control programs, combined with eco-industrialization development, have been integrated to control the desertification in northern China. Positive human intervention including afforestation, and the rehabilitation of mobile sandy land, and water conservation have facilitated the return of arid and semi-arid ecosystems to a more balanced state. China’s practices in desertification control could provide valuable knowledge for sustainable desertified land management on a global scale.

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Dust Storms in Northern China: Long-Term Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Climate Controls

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-16-0795.1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (17) ◽

pp. 6683-6700 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Qingyu Guan ◽

Xiazhong Sun ◽

Jing Yang ◽

Baotian Pan ◽

Shilei Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wind Speed ◽

Dust Storm ◽

Northern China ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Effect Of Temperature ◽

Mean Annual Precipitation ◽

Mean Annual Temperature ◽

Spatiotemporal Characteristics ◽

Dust Generation ◽

The Mean

Airborne dust derived from desertification in northern China can be transported to East Asia and other regions, impairing human health and affecting the global climate. This study of northern China dust provides an understanding of the mechanism of dust generation and transportation. The authors used dust storm and climatological data from 129 sites and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) datasets in northern China to analyze spatiotemporal characteristics and determine the main factors controlling dust storms occurring during 1960–2007. Dust storm–prone areas are consistent with the spatial distribution of northern China deserts where the average wind speed (AWS) is more than 2 m s−1, the mean annual temperature (MAT) ranges from 5° to 10°C, and the mean annual precipitation (MAP) is less than 450 mm. Dust storms commonly occur on spring afternoons in a 3- to 6-h pattern. The three predominant factors that can affect DSF are the maximum wind speed, AWS, and MAT. During 1960–2007, dust storm frequency (DSF) in most regions of northern China fluctuated but had a decreasing trend; this was mainly caused by a gradual reduction in wind speed. The effect of temperature on DSF is complex, as positive and negative correlations exist simultaneously. Temperatures can affect source material (dust, sand, etc.), cyclone activity, and vegetation growth status, which influence the generation of dust storms. NDVI and precipitation are negatively correlated with DSF, but the effect is weak. Vegetation can protect the topsoil environment and prevent dust storm creation but is affected by the primary decisive influence of precipitation.

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How grass contributes to controlling hillslope erosion

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-9170 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chengzhong Pan ◽

Lan Ma

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Northern China ◽

Bare Soil ◽

Soil Characteristics ◽

Vegetation Coverage ◽

Grass Cover ◽

Run Off ◽

Set Up

<p>The aim of this study was to investigate how the spatial distribution of grass influenced run-off and erosion from a hillslope with loess and cinnamon soils in the rocky area of Northern China. We set up a trial to test the two soils with different treatments, including bare soil (BS), grass strips on the upper (UGS) and lower (DGS) parts of the slope, grass cover over the entire slope (GS), and a grass carpet on the lower part of the slope (GC), under simulated rainfall conditions. The results showed that the run-off coefficients for the loess and cinnamon soils decreased by between 4% and 20% and by between 2% and 37%, respectively, when covered with grass. Grass spatial distribution had little effect on the run-off, but more effect on erosion than vegetation coverage degree. The most effective location of grass cover for decreasing hillslope erosion was at the foot, and the high efficiency was mainly due to controlling of rill formation and sediment deposition. The soil loss from GS, DGS, and GC on the loess and cinnamon soils was between 77% and 93% less and 55% and 80% less, respectively, compared with the loss from BS. However, the soil characteristics had little effect on soil erosion for well-vegetated slopes. The results highlight the importance of vegetation re-establishment at the foot of hillslope in controlling soil erosion.</p>

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Long-range transport of spring dust storms in Inner Mongolia and impact on the China seas

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.09.058 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 299-308 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

Sai-Chun Tan ◽

Guang-Yu Shi ◽

Hong Wang

Keyword(s):

Long Range ◽

Inner Mongolia ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Long Range Transport ◽

China Seas ◽

Range Transport ◽

Spring Dust ◽

The China Seas

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Mesoscale characteristics of dust storms and mineral dust aerosol's spectral optical depth over Northern China (Invited Paper)

10.1117/12.619646 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Daren Lu ◽

Wenxing Zhang ◽

Hongzhou Li

Keyword(s):

Optical Depth ◽

Mineral Dust ◽

Northern China ◽

Dust Storms

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Quantitative effects of wind erosion on the soil texture and soil nutrients under different vegetation coverage in a semiarid steppe of northern China

Plant and Soil ◽

10.1007/s11104-013-1606-3 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 369 (1-2) ◽

pp. 585-598 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Yuchun Yan ◽

Xiaoping Xin ◽

Xingliang Xu ◽

Xu Wang ◽

Guixia Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Nutrients ◽

Soil Texture ◽

Wind Erosion ◽

Northern China ◽

Vegetation Coverage

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Onset of frequent dust storms in northern China at ~AD 1100

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/srep17111 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Yuxin He ◽

Cheng Zhao ◽

Mu Song ◽

Weiguo Liu ◽

Fahu Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Northern China ◽

Dust Storms

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Research on Wind Erosion of Xilamuren Grassland, Inner Mongolia

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.955-959.3505 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 955-959 ◽

pp. 3505-3508 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tian Ming Gao ◽

Rui Qiang Zhang ◽

Jian Ying Guo

Keyword(s):

Inner Mongolia ◽

Wind Erosion ◽

Initial Period ◽

Northern China ◽

Vegetation Coverage ◽

Available Phosphorus ◽

Grassland Vegetation ◽

Available Nitrogen ◽

Vegetation Height ◽

Degraded Grassland

In northern China, grassland has degraded severely and wind erosion occurs remarkably due to irrational land use in recent years. By employing sand sampler and mobile wind tunnel, an observation for 6 years was made to analyze the mechanisms of wind erosion in Xilamuren grassland, the central of Yinshan Mountains, Inner Mongolia. Results show that: (1) vegetation is the decisive factor for controlling wind erosion and the inhibiting effect of vegetation height on wind erosion is greater than that of vegetation coverage. (2) Wind erosion modulus in the initial period of enclosure reaches 1313.7 t km-2a-1 and with the improvement of the grassland vegetation, wind erosion decreases year by year. (3) For every 1000 kg soil eroded by wind, 15 kg organic matter, 227g available nitrogen, 262g available phosphorus and 120g available potassium lose in the region at the same time, being a tremendous fertility loss. Therefore, the protection of base grassland and restoration of degraded grassland are two fundamental approaches to control wind erosion on the grassland.

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