Land degradation neutrality assessment and factors influencing it in China's arid and semiarid regions

Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V..

The ecosystems in China's arid and semiarid regions are notably fragile and experiencing dramatic land degradation. At the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP12) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in October 2015, a definition for land degradation neutrality (LDN) was proposed and subsequently integrated into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Research on LDN has developed in terms of conceptual framework constructions, quantitative assessments, and empirical studies. However, LDN and its drivers must be clarified in China's arid and semiarid regions since some representative processes have yet to be fully considered in the assessment. Here, we develop an LDN indicator system specialised for the area, assess their LDN status, and determine the impacts of human activities and climate change on LDN. Our research aims to refine the LDN indicator system tailored for China's arid and semiarid regions by incorporating the trends of wind and water erosion. We also identify the influence of human activity and climate change on LDN, which provides insightful strategies for ecological restoration and sustainable development in drylands with climate-sensitive ecosystems. The results show that: (1) In 2020, more than half of areas of China's arid and semiarid regions achieved LDN, with more pronounced success in the southeastern areas compared to the central regions. (2) For LDN drivers, elevation shows negligible influence on LDN, whereas increased temperature promotes LDN achievement. Conversely, factors like vapour pressure deficit and v-direction wind speed hinder it. In conclusion, China's arid and semiarid regions achieved LDN, and the dominant factor that substantially influences LDN varies across geographical zones, with higher wind speeds and elevated GDP levels generally obstructing LDN in most areas.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:925

Enthalten in:

The Science of the total environment - 925(2024) vom: 15. März, Seite 171735

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Feng, Siyuan [VerfasserIn]
Zhao, Wenwu [VerfasserIn]
Yan, Jinming [VerfasserIn]
Xia, Fangzhou [VerfasserIn]
Pereira, Paulo [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

China's arid and semiarid regions
Influencing factors
Journal Article
LDN
Land degradation
Land degradation neutrality
SDG

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 29.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171735

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369837061