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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2024, Vol. 16 Issue (3): 315-330    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-024-0055-6
Research article     
Ecological problems and ecological restoration zoning of the Aral Sea
BAO Anming1,2,*(), YU Tao1,2,3, XU Wenqiang1,2, LEI Jiaqiang1, JIAPAER Guli1,2, CHEN Xi1,2,4, Tojibaev KOMILJON5, Shomurodov KHABIBULLO5, Xabibullaev B SAGIDULLAEVICH6, Idirisov KAMALATDIN6
1State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
2Key Laboratory of GIS & RS Application, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, China
3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
4CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Urumqi 830011, China
5Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent 100125, Uzbekistan
6International Innovation Center for Aral Sea Basin under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Nukus 230100, Uzbekistan
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Abstract  

The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world but it has shrunk dramatically as a result of irrational human activities, triggering the "Aral Sea ecological crisis". The ecological problems of the Aral Sea have attracted widespread attention, and the alleviation of the Aral Sea ecological crisis has reached a consensus among the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan). In the past decades, many ecological management measures have been implemented for the ecological restoration of the Aral Sea. However, due to the lack of regional planning and zoning, the results are not ideal. In this study, we mapped the ecological zoning of the Aral Sea from the perspective of ecological restoration based on soil type, soil salinity, surface water, groundwater table, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), land cover, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) data. Soil salinization and salt dust are the most prominent ecological problems in the Aral Sea. We divided the Aral Sea into 7 first-level ecological restoration subregions (North Aral Sea catchment area in the downstream of the Syr Darya River (Subregion I); artificial flood overflow area in the downstream of the Aral Sea (Subregion II); physical/chemical remediation area of the salt dust source area in the eastern part of the South Aral Sea (Subregion III); physical/chemical remediation area of severe salinization in the central part of the South Aral Sea (Subregion IV); existing water surface and potential restoration area of the South Aral Sea (Subregion V); Aral Sea vegetation natural recovery area (Subregion VI); and vegetation planting area with slight salinization in the South Aral Sea (Subregion VII)) and 14 second-level ecological restoration subregions according to the ecological zoning principles. Implementable measures are proposed for each ecological restoration subregion. For Subregion I and Subregion II with lower elevations, artificial flooding should be carried out to restore the surface of the Aral Sea. Subregion III and Subregion IV have severe salinization, making it difficult for vegetation to grow. In these subregions, it is recommended to cover and pave the areas with green biomatrix coverings and environmentally sustainable bonding materials. In Subregion V located in the central and western parts of the South Aral Sea, surface water recharge should be increased to ensure that this subregion can maintain normal water levels. In Subregion VI and Subregion VII where natural conditions are suitable for vegetation growth, measures such as afforestation and buffer zones should be implemented to protect vegetation. This study could provide a reference basis for future comprehensive ecological management and restoration of the Aral Sea.

Key words： ecological restoration zoning      salt and dust storms      soil salinization      ecological crisis      Aral Sea      Central Asia     
Received: 09 October 2023      Published: 31 March 2024
Corresponding Authors: *BAO Anming (E-mail: baoam@ms.xjb.ac.cn)
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BAO Anming
YU Tao
XU Wenqiang
LEI Jiaqiang
JIAPAER Guli
CHEN Xi
Tojibaev KOMILJON
Shomurodov KHABIBULLO
Xabibullaev B SAGIDULLAEVICH
Idirisov KAMALATDIN
Cite this article:

BAO Anming, YU Tao, XU Wenqiang, LEI Jiaqiang, JIAPAER Guli, CHEN Xi, Tojibaev KOMILJON, Shomurodov KHABIBULLO, Xabibullaev B SAGIDULLAEVICH, Idirisov KAMALATDIN. Ecological problems and ecological restoration zoning of the Aral Sea. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(3): 315-330.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-024-0055-6     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2024/V16/I3/315

Fig. 1 Geographical location of the Aral Sea and the extent of ecological restoration zoning region based on the satellite image (a), and the landscape of the field survey sites (b and c). The left panel was from the Esri, Maxar, Geographics and the GIS User Community (https://community.esri.com/).
Data Acquisition time Spatial resolution (m) Source
MODIS AOD 2000 and 2018 1000 https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/
Landsat5 TM 1990 and 2000 30 https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
Landsat8 OLI 2018 30 https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
Soil type 2008 30 UNEP (Dukhovny et al., 2008)
Groundwater table 2008 30 UNEP (Dukhovny et al., 2008)
Soil salinity 2008 30 UNEP (Dukhovny et al., 2008)
Land cover 1990 and 2018 30 http://www.egi.ac.cn/
DEM - 5 ZiYuan-3 surveying satellite (http://114.116.226.59/chinese/satellite/chinese/zy3)
Water area 1974-2020 - http://www.cawater-info.net
Table 1 Description of the data used in this study
Fig. 2 Spatial (a-f) and temporal (g) variations in the water area of the Aral Sea from 1974 to 2020. The data were obtained from the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia (ICW) (http://www.cawater-info.net).
Fig. 3 Spatial distributions of land cover types (a and b) and NDVI (c and d) in the Aral Sea in 1990 and 2018. NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index.
Fig. 4 Spatial distributions of soil salinity degree (a), DEM (b), soil type (c), and groundwater table (d) in the Aral Sea in 2008. DEM, digital elevation model.
Fig. 5 Spatial distributions of AOD in the Aral Sea in 2000 (a) and 2018 (b). AOD, aerosol optical depth.
Fig. 6 Spatial distribution of the first-level zoning of ecological restoration of the Aral Sea and the area of each subregion
Second-level zoning Name Area
(×103 km2)
I North Aral Sea catchment area in the downstream of the Syr Darya River (Kazakhstan) 7.54
II-1 Artificial flood overflow area in the downstream of the Aral Sea (Kazakhstan) 6.23
II-2 Artificial flood overflow area in the downstream of the Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) 3.02
III-1 Physical/chemical remediation area of the salt dust source area in the eastern part of the South Aral Sea (Kazakhstan) 4.21
III-2 Physical/chemical remediation area of the salt dust source area in the eastern part of the South Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) 0.98
IV-1 Physical/chemical remediation area of severe salinization in the central part of the South Aral Sea (Kazakhstan) 0.16
IV-2 Physical/chemical remediation area of severe salinization in the central part of the South Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) 4.16
V-1 Existing water surface and potential restoration area in the South Aral Sea (Kazakhstan) 5.15
V-2 Existing water surface and potential restoration area in the South Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) 7.00
VI-1 Natural restoration area for vegetation of sandy land in the eastern part of the South Aral Sea (Kazakhstan) 11.47
VI-2 Natural restoration area for vegetation of sandy land in the eastern part of the South Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) 5.69
VI-3 Natural restoration area of vegetation in the downstream of the Amu Darya River in the South Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) 4.93
VII-1 Vegetation planting area with slight salinization in the South Aral Sea (Kazakhstan) 1.93
VII-2 Vegetation planting area with slight salinization in the South Aral Sea (Uzbekistan) 5.25
Table 2 Second-level zoning of ecological restoration of the Aral Sea
Fig. 7 Spatial distribution of the second-level zoning of ecological restoration of the Aral Sea. The names of the second-level subregions are shown in Table 2.
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