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Ecological restoration and recovery in the wind-blown sand hazard areas of northern China: relationship between soil water and carrying capacity for vegetation in the Tengger Desert

Science China Life Sciences volume 57, pages 539–548 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The main prevention and control area for wind-blown sand hazards in northern China is about 320000 km2 in size and includes sandlands to the east of the Helan Mountain and sandy deserts and desert-steppe transitional regions to the west of the Helan Mountain. Vegetation recovery and restoration is an important and effective approach for constraining wind-blown sand hazards in these areas. After more than 50 years of long-term ecological studies in the Shapotou region of the Tengger Desert, we found that revegetation changed the hydrological processes of the original sand dune system through the utilization and space-time redistribution of soil water. The spatiotemporal dynamics of soil water was significantly related to the dynamics of the replanted vegetation for a given regional precipitation condition. The long-term changes in hydrological processes in desert areas also drive replanted vegetation succession. The soil water carrying capacity of vegetation and the model for sand fixation by revegetation in aeolian desert areas where precipitation levels are less than 200 mm are also discussed.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    XingRong Li, ZhiShan Zhang, HuiJuan Tan, YanHong Gao, LiChao Liu & XingPing Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Stress Physiology and Ecology in Cold and Arid Regions of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    XingRong Li, ZhiShan Zhang, HuiJuan Tan, YanHong Gao, LiChao Liu & XingPing Wang

Authors
  1. XingRong Li
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  2. ZhiShan Zhang
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  3. HuiJuan Tan
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  4. YanHong Gao
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  5. LiChao Liu
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  6. XingPing Wang
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Correspondence to XingRong Li.

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This article is published with open access at link.springer.com

Biographical Sketch

Li XinRong obtained his Ph.D. of geobotany and ecology from Department of Biology of Moscow State Lomonosov University in 1995. He worked as a research professor and doctoral advisor for the former Lanzhou Institute of Desert Research in 1998. Now he is research professor and doctoral advisor of Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, director of Division of Ecology and Agriculture, director of Key Laboratory for Stress Ecophysiology in Cold and Arid Regions of Gansu Province, station master of Shapotou Desert Research & Experiment National Station, and professor of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is also a National Outstanding Youth Fund Winner, Member of New Century National Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project, Principal Scientist of National Basic Research Program of China, Outstanding Experts in Gansu Province, Leading Talent in Gansu Province, and the State Council Special Allowance Winner.

Dr. Li is mainly engaged in ecological research in arid land, and has published more than 100 articles. He won the Second-Class of Science and Technology Progress Award (ranked first) in 2009, the First-Class Award for Gansu Natural Science (ranked first) in 2008, the First-Class Award for Ningxia Science and Technology Progress Award (ranked first) in 2007.

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Li, X., Zhang, Z., Tan, H. et al. Ecological restoration and recovery in the wind-blown sand hazard areas of northern China: relationship between soil water and carrying capacity for vegetation in the Tengger Desert. Sci. China Life Sci. 57, 539–548 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-014-4633-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-014-4633-2

Keywords

  • desert areas
  • sand fixation by plant
  • succession of the artificial vegetation
  • soil water dynamics
  • carrying capacity for vegetation