Effects of Climate Change on Soil Salinization in Xinjiang Oasis, China
Desertification has been recognized as a major environmental problem for many years, and salinization has increased dramatically over the past several decades in the oasis of arid zone in China. This paper identifies the opportunities for establishing closer links between salinization and researches on other aspects of global change, which include integrating biophysical and social science disciplines. Using field and meteorological data of 92 meteorological stations around Tarim River Basin in Xinjiang of 38 years (1961-1998), we analyzed the characteristics of water-salt movement in Kuqa-Xinhe-Xayar Oasis, Tarim River Basin. The results showed that temperature and precipitation are both increasing gradually in the research area;the climate tends to be warmer and wetter. But the aridity index of the Oasis is up to about 20,which showed that the climate is still very dry. Owing to the proper drainage system in recent years, the quantity of salt discharged is more than that introduced. Water and salt are basically at equilibrium in this region. This indicates that the climate may not be the key reason for salinization. Instead, socio-economic factors related to human activities should be mainly responsible for such changes, which was confirmed by our further analysis. Also, temperature rise obviously affects salt accumulation rates in the topsoil, but the influence is restrained by groundwater level, whose threshold is-2 m. As a result, climate change and water-salt conditions have positive effects on ecological regeneration and agricultural development in Tarim River Basin.
Desertification Soil salinization Climate change Kuqa-Xinhe-Xayar Oasis Tarim River Basin Arid zone China
Huang J F Wang R H Zhao Z Y Zhang H Z
Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China;Gradu Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
国际会议
北京
英文
306-313
2006-10-14（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）