Restoration of desertified grassland and challenges in northern China-for the possibility of sustained desertification reversion

摘要

@@Key points: There is about 0.39 billion ha of grassland in China,covering about 40％ of the country.s land,of which 52％ is in the western five provinces. However, about 70％ of the grassland is desertified due to climate and land use changes. Through more than 50 years of efforts in combating desertification,grassland desertification was reversed in northern China,particularly in Horqin Sand Land of Inner Mongolia. Research in Horqin Sand Land showed that desertification of grassland has been reversed since the middle of the 1980s. Reversion occurs over a much longer time period than degradation and the restoration of grassland function is far slower than that of grassland vegetation characteristics, such as height and coverage. However, this reversion is challenged by several factors, such as reduction of water availability and increasing land use change.