Comparing Land Degradation and Regeneration Trends in China Drylands

作者：Gabriel Del BARRIO,Zhihai GAO,Jaime Martinez-VALDERRAMA,Xiaosong LI,Maria ESANJUAN,Bin SUN,Alberto RUIZ,Bengyu WANG,Juan PUIGDEFABREGAS

摘要：The aim of this paper is to offer a statistically sound method to make a precise account of the speed of land degradation and regeneration processes.Most common analyses of land degradation focus instead on the extent of degraded areas,rather than on the intensity of degradation processes.The study was implemented for the Potential Extent of Desertification in China(PEDC),composed by arid,semi-arid,and dry sub-humid regions and refers to the period 2002 to 2012.The metrics were standard partial regression coefficients from stepwise regressions,fitted using Net Primary Productivity as the dependent variable,and year number and aridity as predictors.The results indicate that:①the extension of degrading lands(292896 km 2 or 9.12%of PEDC)overcomes the area that is recovering(194560 km 2 or 6.06%of PEDC);and②the intensity of degrading trends is lower than that of increasing trends in three land cover types(grassland,desert,and crops)and in two aridity levels(semi-arid and dry sub-humid).Such an outcome might pinpoint restoration policies by the Chinese government,and document a possible case of hysteresis.

发文机构：Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas Research Institute of Forest Resource Information Techniques Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science

关键词：landdegradationPotentialExtentofDesertificationinChinaenvironmentalmonitoringvegetationtemporaltrendsstandardpartialregressioncoefficients

分类号： U23[交通运输工程—道路与铁道工程]