Impacts of anthropogenic land use/cover changes on soil wind erosion in China

Assessing the impacts of land use/cover change (LUCC) on the aeolian process is crucial for improving regional ecosystem services and sustainable development. The objective of the study were to 1) examine the spatiotemporal patterns of the soil wind erosion modulus (SWEM) in China from 1990 to 2015, and 2) reveal the contributions of LUCC to SWEM dynamics. The annual SWEM derived by the revised wind erosion equation (RWEQ) was analyzed at regional and sub-regional scales using statistical analysis. The impacts of various LUCCs on SWEM were further assessed in each county. The results showed that the regions that experienced severe wind erosion (SWEM > 50 t/(ha·a)) accounted for 8.91% of all of China. The average SWEM generally decreased by half from 1990 to 2015. Large SWEM differences were found among various land use/cover types. The SWEM from desert was two times or higher than that from sparse grass, cropland, and woodland; moreover, that of dense grass was the lowest in arid/semiarid areas. The conversion of grassland/woodland to cropland and desert expansion during 1990-2000 induced a net increase in total soil wind erosion of approximately 1205 × 10⁴ t. With the implementation of ecological projects starting in the early 2000s, woodland/grassland was reconverted from cropland, and the eco-restoration of sparse grass and desert induced a net decrease in wind erosion of 278 × 10⁴ t. All these indicated that anthropogenic activities in ecological projects had positive impacts in terms of reducing aeolian erosion intensity. We suggest that eco-restoration should be protected and consolidated in the future. Adaptive management is required to control wind erosion and improve ecosystem services and human wellbeing for people in China.