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Journal of Arid Land  2021, Vol. 13 Issue (9): 881-890    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-021-0084-3
Research article     
Spatiotemporal changes in water, land use, and ecosystem services in Central Asia considering climate changes and human activities
YU Yang1,2,3,4, CHEN Xi1,2,*(), Ireneusz MALIK1,4, Malgorzata WISTUBA1,4, CAO Yiguo5, HOU Dongde5, TA Zhijie6, HE Jing1,2, ZHANG Lingyun1,2, YU Ruide1,2,4,7, ZHANG Haiyan1,2,4, SUN Lingxiao1,2,4
1State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3Cele National Station of Observation & Research for Desert Grassland Ecosystem in Xinjiang, Cele 848300, China
4Polish-Chinese Centre for Environmental Research, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Bankowa 12, 40-007 Katowice, Poland
5Advanced Research Institute, Southwest University of Political Science & Law, Chongqing 401120, China
6School of Tourism & Research Institute of Human Geography, Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an 710128, China
7School of Environment and Material Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
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Abstract  

Central Asia is located in the hinterland of Eurasia, comprising Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan; over 93.00% of the total area is dryland. Temperature rise and human activities have severe impacts on the fragile ecosystems. Since the 1970s, nearly half the great lakes in Central Asia have shrunk and rivers are drying rapidly owing to climate changes and human activities. Water shortage and ecological crisis have attracted extensive international attention. In general, ecosystem services in Central Asia are declining, particularly with respect to biodiversity, water, and soil conservation. Furthermore, the annual average temperature and annual precipitation in Central Asia increased by 0.30°C/decade and 6.9 mm/decade in recent decades, respectively. Temperature rise significantly affected glacier retreat in the Tianshan Mountains and Pamir Mountains, which may intensify water shortage in the 21st century. The increase in precipitation cannot counterbalance the aggravation of water shortage caused by the temperature rise and human activities in Central Asia. The population of Central Asia is growing gradually, and its economy is increasing steadily. Moreover, the agricultural land has not been expended in the last two decades. Thus, water and ecological crises, such as the Aral Sea shrinkage in the 21st century, cannot be attributed to agriculture extension any longer. Unbalanced regional development and water interception/transfer have led to the irrational exploitation of water resources in some watersheds, inducing downstream water shortage and ecological degradation. In addition, accelerated industrialization and urbanization have intensified this process. Therefore, all Central Asian countries must urgently reach a consensus and adopt common measures for water and ecological protection.



Key wordswater resources      land-use changes      ecosystem services      climate changes      human activities      Aral Sea     
Received: 27 August 2021      Published: 10 September 2021
Corresponding Authors: CHEN Xi     E-mail: chenxi@ms.xjb.ac.cn
Cite this article:

YU Yang, CHEN Xi, Ireneusz MALIK, Malgorzata WISTUBA, CAO Yiguo, HOU Dongde, TA Zhijie, HE Jing, ZHANG Lingyun, YU Ruide, ZHANG Haiyan, SUN Lingxiao. Spatiotemporal changes in water, land use, and ecosystem services in Central Asia considering climate changes and human activities. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(9): 881-890.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-021-0084-3     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2021/V13/I9/881

Fig. 1 Annual average temperature (a) and precipitation (b) in Central Asia during 2000-2020
Fig. 2 Socioeconomic development of five Central Asian countries. (a), population; (b), agricultural land; (c), forest area; (d), CO2 emissions; (e), gross domestic product (GDP) growth; (f), GDP added value of agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Data source: World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org.cn/).
Study area Ecosystem type Category of ES studies Methodology/Tool Reference
Central Asia Mixed ecosystems Net primary productivity, actual evapotranspiration, and crop production Global production efficiency model Chen et al. (2013)
Kyrgyz Republic Mixed ecosystems Provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services Evaluation method based on money supply, contribution rate analysis, and sensitivity analysis Shan et al. (2013)
Turkmenistan Mixed ecosystems Provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services Economic valuation Yao et al. (2014)
Kyrgyz Republic Mixed ecosystems Payment of ecosystem services Economic valuation Saraswat et al. (2015)
Tajikistan Forest ecosystem Provisioning, regulating, habitat, and cultural services Questionnaire Mislimshoeva et al. (2016)
Ili Delta Wetland and catchment ecosystems Service function of vegetation ecosystem RapidEye and Landsat satellite images Thevs et al. (2017)
Central Asia Mixed ecosystems Provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services GIS, CA-Markov model, and IDRISI Li et al. (2019)
Baghbazm Basin Semi-arid watershed Forage production, water yield, carbon stock, soil retention, and soil formation InVEST and ArcGIS Mashizi et al. (2019)
Central Asia Mixed ecosystems Soil conservation, sand fixation, and net primary productivity RUSLE, revised wind erosion equation, and CASA Li et al. (2020)
Central Asia Mixed ecosystems Vegetation carbon sequestration, soil conservation, water supply and conservation, and biodiversity conservation PSO-SOFM Yan et al. (2021)
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