Analysis of critical land degradation and development processes and their driving mechanism in the Heihe River Basin

Yaqi Shao; Qun'ou Jiang; Chunli Wang; Meilin Wang; Ling Xiao; Yuanjing Qi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137082

Analysis of critical land degradation and development processes and their driving mechanism in the Heihe River Basin

Sci Total Environ. 2020 May 10:716:137082. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137082. Epub 2020 Feb 3.

Authors

Yaqi Shao¹, Qun'ou Jiang², Chunli Wang¹, Meilin Wang¹, Ling Xiao¹, Yuanjing Qi³

Affiliations

¹ School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
² School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China; Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: jiangqo@bjfu.edu.cn.
³ School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China; Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: qiyuanjing@bjfu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32044494
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137082

Abstract

In arid regions, land development and degradation (LDD) is sustained by the undesirable land development, human production and living, and climate change. Therefore, the understanding of LDD processes and their driving mechanism in the arid or semi-arid regions is significant to guarantee the sustainable development of ecological environment. This study explored the critical LDD processes in the Heihe River Basin (HRB) during 1990-2010 with the spatio-temporal evaluation of critical land use dynamics and its land quality changing trends. Then, the driving mechanism of cultivated land development process, grassland degradation process and water resource change process were analyzed by a simultaneous equations model which took the interaction of three processes into account. The results showed that the mutual transfers of cultivated land were primarily gathered in the middle reaches from 1990 to 2010. Its area grew by 13.5% and the average dynamic degree remained at 0.61%. The transfers between grassland and cultivated land, unused land were more remarkable, which led to the decline of grassland quality and even grassland degradation. Water area maintained a dynamic balance with almost unchanged area, but its dynamic trend was initially increasing and then decreasing. However, the average degradation of land quality in the whole study area is continuously alleviated. These changes were mainly due to the interaction of the LDD processes above, as well as socio-economic and climate change. Among them，agricultural research investments could restrain the unordered expansion of cultivated land resource for a relatively short period of time. Meanwhile, the variable of whether it is the main grain producing county is the main driver of grassland and water resource degradation in this region. These conclusions will provide scientific references for ecological land restoration and land quality improvement in the HRB.

Keywords: Driving mechanism; Environmental management; Heihe River Basin; Land degradation and development; Simultaneous equations model.