Su Yonghong

Effect of climatic changes and human activity on soil carbon in desertified regions of China

A total of 340 soil samples from 17 different types of sandy land regions in China were analyzed for soil organic carbon (SOC). Stepwise regression served to identify correlations betweenSOCand a number of climatic factors measured at the sampling sites: winter, summer, nighttime and daytime air temperatures (AT) and precipitation. In desertified lands SOC showed a direct correlation with precipitation, but no significant relationship with the mean air temperature. However, in northwest and northeast China decreases in SOC were linked to rises in day/night and seasonal temperatures, while in north China they were linked to a rise in mean temperature. Over the entire study period (1950–1990), precipitation in the region decreased by 25 mm decade-1, while the mean air temperature increased by 0.14◦, 0.28◦ and 0.15◦ decade-1 in the northwest, northeast and north central regions, respectively. Driven by rises in day/night and seasonal temperatures, long-term alterations to global ecosystem processes, particularly the carbon cycle, may significantly alter the number and diversity of plants in desertified ecosystems. Based on multiple regression analysis, over the past 40 years, about 20% of emissions from SOC in the northeast were attributable to air temperature; in the north central region 31 and 16% of emissions were attributable to precipitation and mean AT, respectively; while in the northwest 28, 18 and 32% of the emissions were attributable to mean AT, nighttime temperature, and decreasing precipitation, respectively. It is obvious that human activities are the main single causative factor in the release of SOC-derived greenhouse gases to the atmosphere from desertified areas.

Ejina Desert Oasis: A Fragile "Ecological Screen" in Inland Region of Northwest China

The deterioration of global eco-environment is seriously threatening human development, this is particularly true for most arid and semiarid zones in the world due to dry climate, meagre water resource, fragile ecosystem and prominent contradiction between the environment and development. How can we conduct eco-environmental construction is a difficult problem confronting people in these regions. This paper, taking northwest Chinas dry land miniature - Ejina desert oasis at the terminus of the Heihe River as an example and starting with the regions eco-environmental evolution, elucidates the cause of arid eco-environmental deterioration - interacted result of natural and human factors, analyze the restorability of eco-environment, discusses the problems in the eco-environmental construction in arid regions, and revealed results have a common reference value to the study of environmental evolution and eco-environmental construction in arid regions under the combined actions of natural and human factors.

Impact of desertification and global warming on soil carbon in northern China

While the global rise in mean day/night and seasonal air temperatures ( ATE) of recent decades is well documented, its influence on levels of soil-sequestered organic carbon, and on emission rates of CO2 and other greenhouse gases emanating therefrom, is only beginning to garner serious attention. This has resulted in a limited but growing understanding, particularly in the context of the lands of the Chinese subcontinent, of the mechanisms underlying such emissions. Some 340 soil samples from 12 different sandy land regions in China were analyzed for soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Stepwise regression identified correlations between SOC and a number of climatic factors measured at the sampling sites: winter, summer, nighttime and daytime ATE, and precipitation. In desertified lands, net SOC losses showed a direct correlation with precipitation but no significant relationship with mean ATE. However, in northwest and northeast China, decreases in SOC were linked to rises in day/night and seasonal ATE, while in north central China they were linked to a rise in mean ATE. Between 1900 and 1998, mean ATE in the northwest, northeast, and north central regions rose by 0.14E, 0.28E, and 0.15E decade(-1), respectively. Meanwhile, precipitation dropped by 25 mm decade(-1) across these regions. In this study, day/night and seasonal ATE showed differing levels of significance with respect to their linear relationships with SOC content. Driven by rises in day/night and seasonal ATE, long-term alterations to global ecosystemic processes, particularly the carbon cycle, may quantitatively and qualitatively alter the flora of desertified ecosystems. Our study suggests that, over the last 40 years, anthropogenic factors, precipitation, and rises in ATE (particularly nighttime and winter) have contributed 47%, 26%, and 20%, respectively, of greenhouse gas emissions from SOC. It is apparent that for Chinas desertified lands, human activity is the primary causative factor in the release of SOC-derived greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, while geography and climatic extremes individually play a lesser role.