Semi-natural areas of Tarim Basin in northwest China: Linkage to desertification

Semi-natural lands are not intensively managed lands, which have ecological significance in protecting artificial oasis and preventing desertification in arid regions. The significant shrinkage and degradation of semi-natural lands in the land-use intensification process have caused severe desertification. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the spatio-temporal pattern and detailed classification of semi-natural lands and its quantitative relationship with desertification. Taking the Tarim Basin as an example, we proposed a comprehensive classification system to identify semi-natural lands for 1990, 2000, and 2010, respectively, using multi-source datasets at large scales. Spatio-temporal changes of semi-natural lands were then characterized by map comparisons at decade intervals. Finally, statistical relationships between semi-natural lands and desertification were explored based on 241 watersheds. The area of semi-natural lands in Tarim Basin was 10.77×10⁴km² in 2010, and desert-vegetation type, native-oasis type, artificial-oasis type, saline type and wetland type accounted for 59.59%, 14.65%, 11.25%, 9.63% and 4.88% of the total area, respectively. A rapid loss of semi-natural lands (9769.05km²) was demonstrated from 1990 to 2010. In the fragile watersheds, the semi-natural lands were mainly converted to desert; while in the watersheds with advanced oasis agriculture, artificial-oasis type reclaimed to arable land was the major change. The occurrence of desertification was closely related to the type, area proportion and combination patterns of semi-natural lands. Desertification was prone to occur in regions abundant in desert-vegetation type and saline type, while less serious desertification was observed in regions with high proportion of artificial-oasis type and wetland type. Policy intervention and reasonable water resource allocation were encouraged to prevent the substantial loss of semi-natural lands, especially for the water-limiting watersheds and periods.