Research on the Sustainable Development in the Desertification Prevention in Northwest China: Innovative Management of Vegetation Planting Sequence along the Southwest Margin of Mu Us Sandy Land

Abstract

Vegetation planting along the southwest margin of Mu Us Sandy Land is an effective way of desertification prevention. The traditional solutions were not fully effective, because the climate and human behaviors in modern China have been full of uncertainties and it was infeasible to pre-evaluate whether the vegetation planting results are truly scientific. Therefore, its urgent to find a way of planting to prevent desertification scientifically and effectively, with the strategy of sustainable development as a core in desertification prevention in farms and pasturing areas. The objects of the study are 18 kinds of plants that are usually planted for restoration of ecology in the southwest margin of Mu Us Sandy Land. According to the afforestation experiment and the survey on the growth status, the paper finds that the proper sequence for planting is as follows: Caragana Korshinskii Kom, Hedysarum fruticosum Pall. var. mongolicum (Turcz.) Turcz., Hedysarum scoparium Fisch. et Mey., Artemisia desterorum Spreng Syst. Veg., Sabina vulgaris, Amorpha fruticosa Linn., Populus alba var. pyramidalis Bge, Elaeagnus angustifolia Linn., Caryopteris clandonensis, Pinus sylvestris L. var. mongolica Litv., Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco. During the process of addressing land desertification and degradation in southwest margin of Mu Us Sandy Land, the concept of innovative management should be followed, and the plant species should be selected in the sequence mentioned above.