Research progress of desert science in China

Abstract

Research of desert science in China began in the 1930s, when Chen Zongqi et al. first made a preliminary investigation in several deserts. Shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China a few studies were carried out to meet the demand for the establishment of windbreak and sandbreak forests, for example, the studies of moving sand dunes in Yulin, Jingbian and Dingbian legions of Shaanxi Province. However, the comprehensive study of desert science in China was initiated in 1959, in that year the Desert Control Team under the Chinese Academy of Sciences was founded and the large-scale comprehensive investigations in deserts and gobi were conducted. In the same year, several desert experiment and research stations were established in six provinces and autonomous regions in northwestern China to study measures for preventing shifting sand encroachment on croplands and railways. Through over 40 years of painstaking efforts outstanding achievements have been obtained in the studies of deserts, desertification and its control. However, although land desertification in local places has been brought under control, on the whole, the situation has deteriorated and is far from being reversed. Hence, the review on the research progress of desert science will no doubt contribute to the control of deserts and desertification and the further development of desert science in China.