The vegetation ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, considered to be the ′′natural laboratory′′ of climate change in the world, has undergone profound changes under the stress of global change. Herein, we analyzed and discussed the spatial-temporal change patterns and the driving mechanisms of net primary productivity (NPP) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 2000 to 2015 based on the gravity center and correlation coefficient models. Subsequently, we quantitatively distinguished the relative effects of climate change (such as precipitation, temperature and evapotranspiration) and human activities (such as grazing and ecological construction) on the NPP changes using scenario analysis and Miami model based on the MOD17A3 and meteorological data. The average annual NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau showed a decreasing trend from the southeast to the northwest during 2000-2015. With respect to the inter-annual changes, the average annual NPP exhibited a fluctuating upward trend from 2000 to 2015, with a steep increase observed in 2005 and a high fluctuation observed from 2005 to 2015. In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the regions with the increase in NPP (change rate higher than 10%) were mainly concentrated in the Three-River Source Region, the northern Hengduan Mountains, the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, and the eastern parts of the North Tibet Plateau, whereas the regions with the decrease in NPP (change rate lower than -10%) were mainly concentrated in the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and the Ali Plateau. The gravity center of NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has moved southwestward during 2000-2015, indicating that the increment and growth rate of NPP in the southwestern part is greater than those of NPP in the northeastern part. Further, a significant correlation was observed between NPP and climate factors in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The regions exhibiting a significant correlation between NPP and precipitation were mainly located in the central and eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the regions exhibiting a significant correlation between NPP and temperature were mainly located in the southern and eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Furthermore, the relative effects of climate change and human activities on the NPP changes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau exhibited significant spatial differences in three types of zones, i.e., the climate change-dominant zone, the human activity-dominant zone, and the climate change and human activity interaction zone. These research results can provide theoretical and methodological supports to reveal the driving mechanisms of the regional ecosystems to the global change in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Since the Grain for Green (GFG) program was implemented in 1999, most steeply sloping farmlands in the Loess Plateau of China have been returned to forestland and grassland. To understand its impact on the food production, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal changes of food crop production (FCP) in the plateau and quantified the contribution of sown area and yield changes to the total FCP during 1998-2014 using factor decomposition models, and then discussed the impact of GFG program on the FCP based on literature data. With the implementation of GFG program, total sown area in the Loess Plateau quickly deceased by 17.3% from 1998 to 2003, and then gradually restored to 1.03×10⁷ hm² in 2010. Thereafter, it slightly decreased to 1.02×10⁷ hm² (94.6% of the area in 1998) in 2014. By contrast, total FCP generally showed an apparent growth trend, averagely increased by 1.71% per year in the whole plateau during 1998-2014. This increase was jointly contributed by the improved yield of individual crops, and the adjustment of cropping structure, i.e., the expansion of high yield maize crop. The factor decomposition analysis results indicate that the sown area shrinkage only reduced the growth rate of total FCP by 0.29% per year during 1998-2014, although a significant impact was found for the early stage of 1999-2003. The results suggest that the implementation of GFG program would not induce an obvious risk of the food security. Therefore, it is suggested that the GFG program should be set as a long-term strategic policy, by not only supporting the conversion of slope farmlands, but also helping local farmers to seek sustainable ways of land use to improve the income and livelihood. It can be combined with the poverty eradication program, to simultaneously achieve the national goals of ecological civilization building and the livelihood improvement of rural people in the Loess Plateau. Considering rainfall limitation, the conversion of slope farmlands should be prioritized to grasslands.

Land cover in the Chinese Loess Plateau has undergone dramatic changes since the late 1980s. Revealing the trend in land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units in this stage is a realistic requirement for promoting sustainable development of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Based on the data of geomorphic units and land cover in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 of the Chinese Loess Plateau, we studied the trend of land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units by using a significance index of land cover change, a proportion index of land cover change and an eco-environmental response model. The results indicated that from 1990 to 2018, the areas of forestland and construction land substantially increased, whereas those of cropland, grassland, wetland and unused land considerably decreased. Land cover change exhibited large geomorphic differences, and the main conversion of land cover was from cropland into other land types. Unstable trend of land cover change in the loess tablelands and sandy loess hills declined, whereas the unstable trends in the other geomorphic units enhanced. Eco-environmental quality varied among different geomorphic units. The expansion of construction land and degradation of forestland, grassland and wetland resulted in the deterioration of eco-environmental quality. The conversion of cropland and unused land into forestland and grassland, and the conversion of grassland into forestland were the main factors that drove the improvement of eco-environmental quality. The findings of this study may provide theoretical reference and support decision making for the optimization of land use structure and the improvement of eco-environmental quality on the Chinese Loess Plateau.

The Chinese Loess Plateau is known as one of the most severe soil erosion regions in the world. Two ecological restoration projects, i.e., the integrated soil conservation project since the 1970s and the ''Grain for Green'' project since 1999, have been progressively implemented to control the soil erosion in this area. Ecological restoration has greatly changed flow regime over the past five decades. However, the mechanism of how flow regime responds to ecological restoration among landforms remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the temporal dynamics of flow regime in three catchments, i.e., Wuqi, Honghe and Huangling hydrological stations, respectively representing the loess hilly-gully, loess table-gully and rocky mountain (covered by secondary forest) areas in the Chinese Loess Plateau, using daily hydrological data during the 1960s-2010s. The nonparametric Mann-Kendall test, Pettitt's test and daily flow series were used to investigate the changes of flow regime. Significantly negative trends of annual streamflow were detected at the Wuqi and Honghe stations, except for the Huangling station. The annual baseflow at the Wuqi station showed a significantly positive trend whereas a significantly negative trend was observed at the Honghe station, and there was no significant trend at the Huangling station. It was interesting that baseflow index significantly increased during the whole period in all catchments. However, the trends and change points of daily flow series derived by different percentages of exceedance and extreme series in different consecutive days varied among individuals. Based on the change points analysis of annual streamflow, we divided data series into three periods, i.e., the baseline period (from 1959 and 1963 to 1979, PI), the integrated soil conservation period (1980-1999, PII) and the ''Grain for Green'' period (2000-2011, PIII). We found that streamflow decreased due to the reduction of high streamflow (exceeding 5% of time within a year) and median streamflow (50%) in PII and PIII at the Wuqi and Honghe stations. However, low flow (95%) increased in PII and PIII at the Wuqi station while decreased at the Honghe station. Streamflow change at the Huangling station was more stable, thus potentially resulting in much less soil erosion in the forestry area than in the other areas. The great improvement in ecological environment on the Chinese Loess Plateau revealed the advantages of ecological restoration in reducing flood amount and compensating streamflow at a regional scale.

Detecting change features of climate variables in arid/semi-arid areas is essential for understanding related climate change patterns and the driving and evolution mechanism between climate and arid/semi-arid ecosystems. This paper takes Inner Mongolia of China, a unique arid/semi-arid ecosystem, as the study area. We first detected trend features of climate variables using the linear trend analysis method and then detected their trend-shift features using the breaks for additive seasonal and trend method based on the time-series of monthly precipitation and monthly mean temperature datasets from 1962 to 2016. We analyzed the different change features of precipitation and temperature on a regional scale and in different ecological zones to discover the spatial heterogeneity of change features. The results showed that Inner Mongolia has become warmer-wetter during the past 54 years. The regional annual mean temperature increased 0.4°C per decade with a change rate of 56.2%. The regional annual precipitation increased 0.07 mm per decade with a slightly change rate of about 1.7%, but the trend was not statistically significant. The warmer trend was contributed by the same positive trend in each season, while the wetter trend was contributed by the negative trend of the summer precipitation and the positive trend of the other three seasons. The regional monthly precipitation series had a trend-shift pattern with a structural breakpoint in the year 1999, while the regional monthly mean temperature series showed an increasing trend without a periodical trend-shift. After the year 2000, the warmer-wetter trend of the climate in Inner Mongolia was accelerated. The late 20^th century was a key period, because the acceleration of the wetter trend in some local zones (I and II) and the alleviation of the warmer trend in some local zones (VII, VIII and IX) occurred simultaneously. Moreover, the change features had a strong spatial heterogeneity, the southeastern and southwestern of Inner Mongolia went through a warmer-drier trend compared with the other areas. The spatio-temporal heterogeneity of the climate change features is a necessary background for various types of research, such as regional climate change, the evolution of arid/semi-arid ecosystems, and the interaction mechanisms between climate and arid/semi-arid ecosystems based on earth-system models in Inner Mongolia.

In arid areas, ecological degradation aroused by over-exploitation of fresh water, expansion of artificial oasis and shrinkage of natural oasis, has drawn attention of many scholars and officials. The water and ecological footprints can be used to quantitatively evaluate the water consumption of social-economic activities and their influence on the eco-environments. In addition, increase of the water footprint indicates the expansion of artificial oasis, and the influence on the natural oasis could be reflected by the variation of the ecological footprint. This study was conducted to answer a scientific question that what is the quantitative relationship between the expansion of the artificial oasis and the degradation of the natural oasis in the arid environments of Xinjiang, China. Thus, based on the social-economic data, water consumption data and meteorological data during 2001-2015, we calculated the water and ecological footprints to express the human-related pressure exerted on the water resources and arid environments in Xinjiang (including 14 prefectures and cities), and explore the relationship between the water and ecological footprints and its mechanism by using the coupling analysis and Granger causality test. The results show that both the water and ecological footprints of Xinjiang increased significantly during 2001-2015, and the increasing rate of the ecological footprint was much faster than that of the water footprint. The coupling degree between the water and ecological footprints was relatively high at the temporal scale and varied at the spatial scale. Among the 14 prefectures and cities examined in Xinjiang, the greater social-economic development (such as in Karamay and Urumqi) was associated with the lower coupling degree between the two footprints. Increases in the water footprint will cause the ecological footprint to increase, such that a 1-unit increase in the consumption of water resources would lead to 2-3 units of ecological degradation. The quantitative relationship between the increases of the water and ecological footprints, together with the intensities of water consumption both in the natural and artificial oases of Tarim River Basin, have approved the fact that the formation and expansion of 1 unit of the artificial oasis would bring about the degradation of 2 units of the natural oasis. These conclusions not only provide a technical basis for sustainable development in Xinjiang, but also offer a theoretical guide and scientific information that could be used in similar arid areas around the world.

Jizzakh Province in Uzbekistan is one of the largest irrigated areas in Central Asia without natural drainage. In combination with aridity, climate change and extensive irrigation practices, this has led to the widespread salinization of agricultural land. The aim of this study was to identify opportunities to improve the reclamation status of the irrigated area and how best to effectively use the water resources in Jizzakh Province based on investigations conducted between 1995 and 2016. A database of field measurements of groundwater levels, mineralization and soil salinity conducted by the provincial Hydro-Geological Reclamation Expeditions was used in the study. The total groundwater mineralization was determined using a portable electric conductometer (Progress 1T) and the chloride concentration was determined using the Mohr method. The soil salinity analyses were conducted by applying two different methods: (1) the extraction and assessment of the soluble salt content, and (2) using an SM-138 conductivity sensor applied to a 1:1 mixture of soil sample and water. The analyses of the monitoring results and the salt balance in the "irrigation water-soil-drainage water" system clearly demonstrated that the condition of the irrigated land in the province was not significantly improved. Under these conditions, the stability of crop yields is achieved mainly through the use of large volumes of fertilizer. However, excess amounts of mineral fertilizers can also cause the salinization of soils. The average groundwater salinization value in most of the irrigated land (75.3%) fluctuated between 1.1 and 5.0 g/L, while the values were less than 1.0 g/L in 13.1% of the land and in the range of 5.1-10.0 g/L in 10.5% of the land. During the period of 1995-2016 the salinization level of the irrigated land in Jizzakh Province increased slightly and the area could be divided into the following classes: no salinity (17.7% of the total area), low salinity (51.3%), moderate salinity (29.0%), and high salinity (2.0%). Detailed studies of the salt balance in irrigated land, the impact of climate change, increased fertilizer use, and repeated remediation leaching on the groundwater level and mineralization should be conducted in the future, due to the possibility of accelerated salinization, fertility decline, and reduced yields of agricultural crops.

Talinopsis frutescens (Anacampserotaceae, a family that is close related to Cactaceae) is a succulent species endemic to North America. The aim of this study was to explore, using Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM), changes in potential distribution ranges considering different climate scenarios: past conditions during the Last Inter Glacial (LIG) and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the present and projections for 2070 (RCP 2.6 to 8.5). A pattern of contraction is observed during the LIG, which agrees with other studies focused in species from arid environments. This pattern was followed by a migration towards the south during the LGM and a possible recent expansion to the north as is observed in the present scenario. All future projections show the same contraction and fragmentation patterns, resulting in three discontinuous areas: the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert, the southern-central part of the Mexican Plateau, and the smallest one in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley. Our projections for future scenarios agree with other studies and support that global climate change tends to alter the current distribution of arid environment species.

Tamarix taklamakanensis, a dominant species in the Taklimakan Desert of China, plays a crucial role in stabilizing sand dunes and maintaining regional ecosystem stability. This study aimed to determine the water use strategies of T. taklamakanensis in the Taklimakan Desert under a falling groundwater depth. Four typical T. taklamakanensis nabkha habitats (sandy desert of Tazhong site, saline desert-alluvial plain of Qiemo site, desert-oasis ecotone of Qira site and desert-oasis ecotone of Aral site) were selected with different climate, soil, groundwater and plant cover conditions. Stable isotope values of hydrogen and oxygen were measured for plant xylem water, soil water (soil depths within 0-500 cm), snowmelt water and groundwater in the different habitats. Four potential water sources for T. taklamakanensis, defined as shallow, middle and deep soil water, as well as groundwater, were investigated using a Bayesian isotope mixing model. It was found that groundwater in the Taklimakan Desert was not completely recharged by precipitation, but through the river runoff from snowmelt water in the nearby mountain ranges. The surface soil water content was quickly depleted by strong evaporation, groundwater depth was relatively shallow and the height of T. taklamakanensis nabkha was relatively low, thus T. taklamakanensis primarily utilized the middle (23%±1%) and deep (31%±5%) soil water and groundwater (36%±2%) within the sandy desert habitat. T. taklamakanensis mainly used the deep soil water (55%±4%) and a small amount of groundwater (25%±2%) within the saline desert-alluvial plain habitat, where the soil water content was relatively high and the groundwater depth was shallow. In contrast, within the desert-oasis ecotone in the Qira and Aral sites, T. taklamakanensis primarily utilized the deep soil water (35%±1% and 38%±2%, respectively) and may also use groundwater because the height of T. taklamakanensis nabkha was relatively high in these habitats and the soil water content was relatively low, which is associated with the reduced groundwater depth due to excessive water resource exploitation and utilization by surrounding cities. Consequently, T. taklamakanensis showed distinct water use strategies among the different habitats and primarily depended on the relatively stable water sources (deep soil water and groundwater), reflecting its adaptations to the different habitats in the arid desert environment. These findings improve our understanding on determining the water sources and water use strategies of T. taklamakanensis in the Taklimakan Desert.

Functional structure and diversity of soil free-living nematodes in a desert environment depend on plant gender and sampling site. The objective of this study was to compare the composition, abundance and tropic group of soil free-living nematodes in the upper 0-10 cm soil layer under the male and female Acanthosicyos horridus Welw. ex Hook. f. plants and in the inter-shrub open areas (control) in the Namib Desert, Namibia in April 2015. Soil moisture, organic matter (OM) and pH was also analyzed. Free-living nematodes were extracted from 100 g soil using the Baermann funnel procedure, and total number of nematodes was counted under a microscope. Community composition and diversity of soil free-living nematodes were analyzed using 18S rDNA sequences. Results indicated that a total of 67 groups, including 64 species, 2 genera and 1 family were identified. Feeding behavior of 58 species were identified as follows: 15 bacteria-feeding species, 12 fungi-feeding species, 10 plant-parasite species, 5 omnivorous-predator species, 8 animal-parasite species, 5 invertebrate-parasite species and 3 non-free-living nematodes, known as marine species. Moreover, soil free-living nematodes were found to be affected by sampling locations and plant gender, and community composition and density of these nematodes were strongly influenced by soil OM content. Result confirmed that spatial location and plant cover were main factors influencing the diversity of soil free-living nematodes. Moreover, molecular tools were found to be very useful in defining the richness of soil non-free-living nematodes. In conclusion, the results elucidated the importance of biotic variables in determining the composition and abundance of soil free-living nematodes in the Namib Desert, Namibia.

Understanding variability in seed germination among populations is essential for planning an effective germplasm collection for restoration and conservation purposes. The knowledge of germination and dormancy patterns among populations of desert grasses is crucial for determining the potential of the species and populations to be used for restoration and conservation as well as forage production. Variability in seed germination of Panicum turgidum Forssk and Pennisetum divisum (Gmel.) Henr. in the desert of Kuwait was evaluated in different populations in May 2017. Experiment of seed germination (25 seeds and 4 replicates) was conducted for each population at night/day temperatures of 15°C/20°C and 20°C/30°C under the following light condition: continuous darkness or 12 h/12 h light/dark. Results showed that seed masses of both species strongly varied according to their seed provenances, and both species produced heavier seeds in population with a higher soil electrical conductivity. Seed germination percentage considerably varied between two species, and the variation in P. turgidum was greater (17%-49%) than that of P. divisum (72%-93%). Germination percentage in P. turgidum was greater at high temperature (20°C/30°C) than at low temperature (15°C/20°C). However, temperature regimes had no effect on germination percentage of P. divisum seeds. Mean germination time of both species exhibited significant inter-population variability. This result is especially relevant to assure the selection of the best population of each species and the regeneration success of the species. Besides this, inter-population variability also provides valuable information for enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate seed germination and how they might be related to seed provenance.

Many desert expressways are affected by the deposition of the wind-blown sand, which might block the movement of vehicles or cause accidents. W-beam central guardrails, which are used to improve the safety of desert expressways, are thought to influence the deposition of the wind-blown sand, but this has yet not to be studied adequately. To address this issue, we conducted a wind tunnel test to simulate and explore how the W-beam central guardrails affect the airflow, the wind-blown sand flux and the deposition of the wind-blown sand on desert expressways in sandy regions. The subgrade model is 3.5 cm high and 80.0 cm wide, with a bank slope ratio of 1:3. The W-beam central guardrails model is 3.7 cm high, which included a 1.4-cm-high W-beam and a 2.3-cm-high stand column. The wind velocity was measured by using pitot-static tubes placed at nine different heights (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 30 and 50 cm) above the floor of the chamber. The vertical distribution of the wind-blown sand flux in the wind tunnel was measured by using the sand sampler, which was sectioned into 20 intervals. In addition, we measured the wind-blown sand flux in the field at K50 of the Bachu-Shache desert expressway in the Taklimakan Desert on 11 May 2016, by using a customized 78-cm-high gradient sand sampler for the sand flux structure test. Obstruction by the subgrade leads to the formation of two weak wind zones located at the foot of the windward slope and at the leeward slope of the subgrade, and the wind velocity on the leeward side weakens significantly. The W-beam central guardrails decrease the leeward wind velocity, whereas the velocity increases through the bottom gaps and over the top of the W-beam central guardrails. The vertical distribution of the wind-blown sand flux measured by wind tunnel follows neither a power-law nor an exponential function when affected by either the subgrade or the W-beam central guardrails. At 0.0H and 0.5H (where H=3.5 cm, which is the height of the subgrade), the sand transport is less at the 3 cm height from the subgrade surface than at the 1 and 5 cm heights as a result of obstruction by the W-beam central guardrails, and the maximum sand transportation occurs at the 5 cm height affected by the subgrade surface. The average saltation height in the presence of the W-beam central guardrails is greater than the subgrade height. The field test shows that the sand deposits on the overtaking lane leeward of the W-beam central guardrails and that the thickness of the deposited sand is determined by the difference in the sand mass transported between the inlet and outlet points, which is consistent with the position of the minimum wind velocity in the wind tunnel test. The results of this study could help us to understand the hazards of the wind-blown sand onto subgrade with the W-beam central guardrails.

The Penman-Monteith (PM) method is the most widely used technique to estimate potential worldwide evapotranspiration. However, current research shows that there may be significant errors in the application of this method in arid areas, although questions remain as to the degree of this estimation error and how different surface conditions may affect the estimation error. To address these issues, we evaluated the uncertainty of the PM method under different underlying conditions in an arid area of Northwest China by analyzing data from 84 meteorological stations and various Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products, including land surface temperature and surface albedo. First, we found that when the PM method used air temperature to calculate the slope of the saturation vapor pressure curve, it significantly overestimated the potential evapotranspiration; the mean annual and July-August overestimation was 83.9 and 36.7 mm, respectively. Second, the PM method usually set the surface albedo to a fixed value, which led to the potential evapotranspiration being underestimated; the mean annual underestimation was 27.5 mm, while the overestimation for July to August was 5.3 mm. Third, the PM method significantly overestimated the potential evapotranspiration in the arid area. This difference in estimation was closely related to the underlying surface conditions. For the entire arid zone, the PM method overestimated the potential evapotranspiration by 33.7 mm per year, with an overestimation of 29.0 mm from July to August. The most significant overestimation was evident in the mountainous and plain non-vegetation areas, in which the annual mean overestimation reached 5% and 10%, respectively; during July, there was an estimation of 10% and 20%, respectively. Although the annual evapotranspiration of the plains with better vegetation coverage was slightly underestimated, overestimation still occurred in July and August, with a mean overestimation of approximately 5%. In order to estimate potential evapotranspiration in the arid zone, it is important that we identify a reasonable parameter with which to calibrate the PM formula, such as the slope of the saturation vapor pressure curve, and the surface albedo. We recommend that some parameters must be corrected when using PM in order to estimate potential evapotranspiration in arid regions.