Spatiotemporal Changes and Driving Force Analysis of Land Sensitivity to Desertification in Xinjiang Based on GEE

Yazhou Zhao, Shengyu Li (), Dazhi Yang, Jiaqiang Lei and Jinglong Fan
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Yazhou Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Shengyu Li: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Dazhi Yang: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Jiaqiang Lei: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Jinglong Fan: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Land desertification profoundly affects economic and social development, thus necessitating a collective response. Regional land control planning needs to assess the land sensitivity to desertification across different regions. In this study, we selected 12 factors from soil, vegetation, climate, and terrain aspects to calculate and evaluate Xinjiang’s land sensitivity to desertification, from 2001 to 2020, and analyzed its trends and drivers. The results indicated that the region is highly (22.93%) to extremely sensitive (34.63%) to desertification. Of these, deserts, Gobi lands, oasis–desert transitional zones, and the downstream of rivers are highly and extremely sensitive areas. Mountainous areas, oases, and along rivers are non- and mildly sensitive areas. Over the past two decades, most areas have experienced stability (45.07%) and a slight improvement of desertification (26.18%), while the Junggar Basin and Central Taklamakan Desert have seen slight and severe intensification trends, respectively. Climate-related indicators, such as surface temperature and potential evapotranspiration (PET), were identified as the most important drivers of changes in land sensitivity to desertification. Having an integrated water resource allocation and establishing the long-term monitoring of land sensitivity to desertification would have positive implications for desertification control.

Keywords: land sensitivity to desertification; spatiotemporal changes; Geodetector; Google Earth Engine; Xinjiang (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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