Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, China
The Tarim Basin is a typical arid area and has the world’s most severe desertification of natural and semi-natural land due to limited water resources. However, knowledge about the impacts of changes in water resources on the spatio-temporal dynamics of natural and semi-natural land is still limited...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac07d7 |
| _version_ | 1797747593174843392 |
|---|---|
| author | Fang Liu Zhuxiao Yu Erqi Xu Dajing Li Hongqi Zhang Yuanwei Qin |
| author_facet | Fang Liu Zhuxiao Yu Erqi Xu Dajing Li Hongqi Zhang Yuanwei Qin |
| author_sort | Fang Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Tarim Basin is a typical arid area and has the world’s most severe desertification of natural and semi-natural land due to limited water resources. However, knowledge about the impacts of changes in water resources on the spatio-temporal dynamics of natural and semi-natural land is still limited. We analyzed the spatio-temporal changes in natural and semi-natural land and the associations with desertification in the Tarim Basin during the period 1990–2015. We then investigated the changes in water resources and the consequent impacts on the spatio-temporal changes of natural and semi-natural land by integrating Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment territorial water storage data and field observations. The results showed that a total area of 10.32 × 10 ^3 km ^2 of natural and semi-natural land was converted to desert during the period 1990–2015. Desert vegetation type and saline type were the natural and semi-natural land types most sensitive to conversion to desert. The area of natural and semi-natural land decreased by 0.83% every year, and the proportion of desertified land was 34.79% on average during the period 2000–2010; this is less than for the period 1990–2000 (1.14% yr ^−1 and 52.01%) due to increased availability of water resources from the water conveyance program. However, the rate of decrease of natural and semi-natural land area (0.93% yr ^−1 ) and the proportion of desertified land (58.88%) rose again during the period 2010–2015 due to the rapid decrease in water resources. During the period 2000–2015, the rate of loss of natural and semi-natural land area (7.89%) in the region with decreased water resources was about twice that in the region with increased water resources (3.88%), highlighting the critical role of water resources in maintaining natural and semi-natural land and slowing desertification. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:52:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-69752ddc56da46f5b2ece071684dc40d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:52:49Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-69752ddc56da46f5b2ece071684dc40d2023-08-09T15:03:13ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262021-01-0116808500110.1088/1748-9326/ac07d7Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, ChinaFang Liu0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2692-0924Zhuxiao Yu1Erqi Xu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3255-3959Dajing Li3Hongqi Zhang4Yuanwei Qin5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5181-9986Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma , Norman, OK 73019, United States of AmericaThe Tarim Basin is a typical arid area and has the world’s most severe desertification of natural and semi-natural land due to limited water resources. However, knowledge about the impacts of changes in water resources on the spatio-temporal dynamics of natural and semi-natural land is still limited. We analyzed the spatio-temporal changes in natural and semi-natural land and the associations with desertification in the Tarim Basin during the period 1990–2015. We then investigated the changes in water resources and the consequent impacts on the spatio-temporal changes of natural and semi-natural land by integrating Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment territorial water storage data and field observations. The results showed that a total area of 10.32 × 10 ^3 km ^2 of natural and semi-natural land was converted to desert during the period 1990–2015. Desert vegetation type and saline type were the natural and semi-natural land types most sensitive to conversion to desert. The area of natural and semi-natural land decreased by 0.83% every year, and the proportion of desertified land was 34.79% on average during the period 2000–2010; this is less than for the period 1990–2000 (1.14% yr ^−1 and 52.01%) due to increased availability of water resources from the water conveyance program. However, the rate of decrease of natural and semi-natural land area (0.93% yr ^−1 ) and the proportion of desertified land (58.88%) rose again during the period 2010–2015 due to the rapid decrease in water resources. During the period 2000–2015, the rate of loss of natural and semi-natural land area (7.89%) in the region with decreased water resources was about twice that in the region with increased water resources (3.88%), highlighting the critical role of water resources in maintaining natural and semi-natural land and slowing desertification.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac07d7natural and semi-natural landdesertificationwater resourcesremote sensingarid region |
| spellingShingle | Fang Liu Zhuxiao Yu Erqi Xu Dajing Li Hongqi Zhang Yuanwei Qin Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, China Environmental Research Letters natural and semi-natural land desertification water resources remote sensing arid region |
| title | Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, China |
| title_full | Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, China |
| title_fullStr | Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, China |
| title_short | Natural and semi-natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the Tarim Basin, China |
| title_sort | natural and semi natural land dynamics under water resource change from 1990 to 2015 in the tarim basin china |
| topic | natural and semi-natural land desertification water resources remote sensing arid region |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac07d7 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fangliu naturalandseminaturallanddynamicsunderwaterresourcechangefrom1990to2015inthetarimbasinchina AT zhuxiaoyu naturalandseminaturallanddynamicsunderwaterresourcechangefrom1990to2015inthetarimbasinchina AT erqixu naturalandseminaturallanddynamicsunderwaterresourcechangefrom1990to2015inthetarimbasinchina AT dajingli naturalandseminaturallanddynamicsunderwaterresourcechangefrom1990to2015inthetarimbasinchina AT hongqizhang naturalandseminaturallanddynamicsunderwaterresourcechangefrom1990to2015inthetarimbasinchina AT yuanweiqin naturalandseminaturallanddynamicsunderwaterresourcechangefrom1990to2015inthetarimbasinchina |