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Dynamic and dry/wet variation of climate in the potential extent of desertification in China during 1981–2010

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Abstract

The potential extent of desertification in China (PEDC), composed by arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions, was re-determined using a high spatial resolution meteorological dataset (1981–2010) and by applying the Thornthwaite method, which was recommended by the UNCCD for division of dryland zones (extremely arid, arid, semi-arid, dry sub-humid zones). The dynamic and the dry/wet trends in climatic variation in the general PEDC during 1981–2010 were statistically analyzed using several different methods. The newly calculated area of the general PEDC is approximately 3.222 × 106 km2, accounting for 33.6 % of China’s terrestrial. However, the results of a decadal spatial analysis indicated that the actual reduction appeared in the western region, where the general PEDC shrank to lower altitude areas. Meanwhile, the eastern border of the general PEDC was expanded to the east and southeast. Over three decades, the lower mountainous areas in northwestern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have experienced an obviously alternating process of drought–wetness–drought, the semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions in the east of the Helan Mountains as well as the Junggar Basin have experienced an alternating process of wetness–drought–wetness, and the vast arid region in the west of the Helan Mountains has experienced a process of drought–drought–wetness. In the most recent decade, most areas, except for the major western mountainous regions, have been experiencing a wet trend, which is favorable for combating desertification.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Data Assimilation and Modeling Center for Tibetan Multi-Spheres, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences for developing and providing the meteorological dataset used in the study. The study was funded by National Key Technology R & D Program of China (No. 2011BAH23B04) and National Major Program of China (21-Y30B05-9001-13/15). The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forest Resource Information Techniques, Chinese Academy of Forestry, No. 1 Dong Xiao Fu, Haidian district, Beijing, 100091, China

    Bin Sun, Zhihai Gao, Zengyuan Li, Bengyu Wang & Junjun Wu

  2. Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100094, China

    Hongyan Wang & Xiaosong Li

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  1. Bin Sun
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  2. Zhihai Gao
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Correspondence to Zhihai Gao.

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Sun, B., Gao, Z., Li, Z. et al. Dynamic and dry/wet variation of climate in the potential extent of desertification in China during 1981–2010. Environ Earth Sci 73, 3717–3729 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3659-x

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