PARENT SESSION
Symposium 14: Ecological impacts of Asia on global sustainability at multiple scales
Organized by: YD Choi, S Miao, and C Peng
Wednesday, August 10, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 517 B, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Desertification in east Asia and it's ecological background.
Ci, Longjun*,1, Yang, Xiaohui1, Yang, Youlin2, 1 Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing2 Asia Regional Coordination Unit of the UNCCD, Beijing
ABSTRACT- Desertification is a form of land degradation mainly caused by human activities such as overgrazing and land mismanagement. The current expense of eastern Asian deserts includes northwestern China and southern Mongolia, and extends to Dzungaria, Sinkiang, Gobi, Bei Shan, Ala Shan, Ordos, Qaidam and Tibet. These deserts are now expanding through degraded agricultural and rangelands. The process of desertification normally initiate with anthropogenic devegetation, followed by one or more of biophysical processes such as wind erosion with eolian process, water erosion with alluvial process, and freezing/melting process. Soil salinization in water-logged soil of certain agricultural land is also responsible for land degradation. Moreover, global climatic changes, along with unbalance between water and thermal capacity and air, would very likely accelerate the process of desertification. This paper will present the impacts of desertification and dust/sand storms on water balance, nutrient cycling, and primary production in arid and semi-arid lands of eastern Asia.
Key words: desertification, East Asia, Feature, Ecological background