Regime Shifts in the Hexi Oases over the Past Three Decades: The Case of the Linze Oasis in the Middle Reaches of the Heihe River

Jinglin Zhang, Wei Zhang, Dongsheng Li, Xueliang Chen and Wei Zhang ()
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Jinglin Zhang: School of Geographic Information and Tourism, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou 239000, China
Wei Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730030, China
Dongsheng Li: Institute of Water Science and Technology, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Xueliang Chen: Water Conservancy Bureau of Linze County, Linze 734200, China
Wei Zhang: School of Geographic Information and Tourism, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou 239000, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: Oases regime shifts in the context of integrated water resource management have a significant impact on ecosystem functions and services and affect regional sustainable development and human wellbeing. Taking the Linze Oasis in the middle reaches of the Heihe River as a case study, we evaluated the regime shifts of the oases over the past 30 years from the two perspectives of scale and structure, considering the structural diversity index ( H ), water savings ( C n ), productivity (WP), and other indicators. Furthermore, the driving factors of the socio-hydrological processes and the corresponding effects of the regime stages were discussed. The results indicate that the oases expanded concurrently with the increase in the regional water consumption from 1.09 × 10 8 m 3 to 1.93 × 10 8 m 3 . The production of low-water-consumption and high-yield crops was found to be the main cause for the oases structure’s adjustment. The regime shifts in the oases comprised three main stages from 1990 to 2020, based on the interaction of socio-ecological elements. Water management policies promoted the regime shift process, while economic factors determined the long-term shifts. The improvement in water-saving practices driven by economic benefits is an effective way to realize the sustainable development of the Hexi oases.

Keywords: oases economy; regime shifts; water management policies; water savings; water productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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