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What Has Caused Desertification in China?

Qi Feng1, Hua Ma2, Xuemei Jiang3

  • 1Cold and Arid Regions Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 320, Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, P.R. China.

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Human activities significantly drive desertification in China, while both human and climate factors impact vegetation cover. Effective control requires integrated strategies addressing both socioeconomic and natural influences.

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Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Ecology
  • Climate Change Research

Background:

  • Desertification results from complex interactions between climate change and human activities.
  • Previous research often focused on individual factors, lacking quantitative assessments of their combined effects and long-term monitoring.
  • The precise roles of climate change and human factors in desertification remain uncertain.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantitatively assess the relative contributions of climate change and human activities to desertification and vegetation cover changes in China.
  • To understand the interaction between these factors and their influence on the success of mitigation programs.
  • To inform effective desertification control strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a pooled regression model with panel data from 1983 to 2012.
  • Analyzed the impact of socioeconomic and environmental factors on desertified land area.
  • Measured vegetation cover using the Normalized-Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).

Main Results:

  • Socioeconomic factors were the dominant driver of desertification, accounting for 79.3% of the effects.
  • Climate change contributed 20.6% to desertification.
  • Both socioeconomic and environmental factors had similar effect magnitudes on NDVI (vegetation cover), while climate change accounted for 46.6% of the effects on NDVI.

Conclusions:

  • Desertification control programs in China must adopt integrated strategies that consider both socioeconomic drivers and natural environmental factors.
  • Understanding the interplay between human activities and climate change is crucial for successful land restoration.
  • Policy interventions should target socioeconomic factors as the primary leverage for combating desertification.