Spatiotemporal variations and driving factors for potential wind erosion on the Mongolian Plateau

Xianhua Wei; Xiaodong Wu; Dong Wang; Tonghua Wu; Ren Li; Guojie Hu; Defu Zou; Keyu Bai; Xin Ma; Yadong Liu; Xuchun Yan; Xiaoying Fan; Xiaoyan Cao; Avirmed Dashtseren

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160829

Spatiotemporal variations and driving factors for potential wind erosion on the Mongolian Plateau

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Mar 1:862:160829. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160829. Epub 2022 Dec 9.

Authors

Xianhua Wei¹, Xiaodong Wu², Dong Wang¹, Tonghua Wu³, Ren Li⁴, Guojie Hu⁴, Defu Zou⁴, Keyu Bai⁵, Xin Ma¹, Yadong Liu¹, Xuchun Yan¹, Xiaoying Fan¹, Xiaoyan Cao¹, Avirmed Dashtseren⁶

Affiliations

¹ Cryosphere Research Station on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² Cryosphere Research Station on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: wuxd@lzb.ac.cn.
³ Cryosphere Research Station on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou 511458, China.
⁴ Cryosphere Research Station on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
⁵ Alliance of Bioversity International and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, Beijing 100081, China; Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
⁶ Institute of Geography and Geoecology of Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 15170, Mongolia.

PMID: 36509272
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160829

Abstract

Wind erosion can cause desertification and sandstorms in arid and semiarid areas. However, quantitative studies of the dynamic changes in wind erosion over long time periods are relatively rare, and this knowledge gap hinders our understanding of desertification under the conditions of a changing climate. Here, we selected the Mongolian Plateau as the study area. Using the revised wind erosion equation (RWEQ) model, we assessed the spatial and temporal dynamics of wind erosion on the Mongolian Plateau from 1982 to 2018. Our results showed that the wind erosion intensity on the Mongolian Plateau increased from northeast to southwest. The annual mean wind erosion modulus was 46.5 t·ha^-1 in 1982-2008, with a significant decline at a rate of -5.1 t·ha^-1·10 yr^-1. The intensity of wind erosion was the strongest in spring, followed by autumn and summer, and was weakest in winter. During 1982-2018, wind erosion showed a significant decreasing trend in all seasons except winter. The wind erosion contribution of spring to the total annual wind erosion significantly increased, while that of summer significantly decreased. These results can help decision-makers identify high-risk areas of soil erosion on the Mongolian Plateau and take effective measures to adapt to climate change.

Keywords: Climate change; Desertification; Land cover type; Soil erosion.

MeSH terms

China
Climate Change
Conservation of Natural Resources
Seasons
Soil*
Wind*

Substances

Soil